The Dharma Lineage of Master Xu Yun Suffered the Loss of a Great Pillar
According to the news acquired by takungpao.com on January 16 (by Reporter Shi Liwei), recently, the news about the Chinese Elder Monk Yi Zhao entering parinirvana spread indirectly from Taiwan to mainland and Hong Kong. After seeking confirmations from multiple sources, the reporter learned that Elder Monk Yi Zhao had passed away at the time of 5:20pm, on January 5, 2013, at Yan Chai Hospital located in Tsuen Wan District, Hong Kong. The reporter also went to the Chuk Lam Sim Monastery in Tsuen Wan to seek confirmation and truly saw that a mourning hall for Elder Monk Yi Zhao inside the Kuan Yin Hall in the back court. That proved that Elder Monk Yi Zhao had passed away.
Elder Monk Yi Zhao was a disciple with high achievement of Master Xu Yun, the eminent monk of the modern time. He held the lineage of Elder Monk Xu Yun. His leaving is another loss suffered by the dharma lineage of Master Xu Yun’s Rinzai Sect of Buddhism, after the passing away of Elder Monk Ben Huan, who was a prominent leader of Buddhism in China.
Elder Monk Yi Zhao became a monastic person in 1941 and was ordained at the Nanhua Temple in Guangdong in 1944. He once followed Master Xu Yun closely to listen to his teaching and learning dharmas and ways from him. There are many good stories about this pair of master and disciple that people are still talking about fondly. Later, Elder Monk Yi Zhao came to Hong Kong. He was first at the Koon Ngam Ching Yuen Temple in Shatin, Hong Kong and then come to the Chuk Lam Sim Monastery to serve as the abbot until now.
Elder Monk Yi Zhao was the successor to the dharma lineage of Master Xu Yun’s Rinzai Sect of Buddhism. He was a holy and virtuous one of the present-day Zen Buddhism. In order to rescue and liberate living beings in the six realms from suffering, the elder monk regarded Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva as his role model and made the following vow: “As long as there is any living being in the earthly realm, I vow not to become a Buddha.” He has been praised as being the nirmanakaya of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. We have learned that Elder Monk Yi Zhao once received a Nectar Empowerment Initiation from H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III and was praised by H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III as being a rare and outstanding monk who became enlightened by abiding by the precepts and good cultivation.
[See interview given my Elder Monk Yi Zhao after receiving the nectar initiation.]