Guang Qin

Who was Guang Qin?

Guang Qin was a renowned Buddhist monk, teacher and cultivator.

Born Huang Wenlai in 1892 in Huian County, Fukien Province, China. Due to his family's extreme poverty, he was sold to the Li family. The Lei were not wealthy either and had a fruit growing business that allowed them to barely scrape together a living. His parents died in 1902 when he was only 11 years old. He realied how impermanent human life was and took refuge with Master Rui Fang of the famous Cheng Tian Chan Monastery. In 1927, he took ordination at the same monastery.

From the very beginning, Guang Qin was an ascetic practitioner. In the monastery, one of his duties was to ring the morning wake-up bell. One morning, he accidentally over-slept and missed ringing the bell at the correct time. After that, he never lay down to sleep for the rest of his life and sat up in his sleep.

In 1985 at the age of 95, on the first day of the Chinese New Year, he called together all of his disciples who were in charge of his different monasteries. He told them that he would pass away soon and that they should divide his relics among Cheng Tian Temple and other temples, monasteries and nunneries. He later went to Miao Tong Temple, the place where he would manifest stillness.