The "Yonghegong" series of special courses are organized based on the Himalayan audio of teacher Xianzhe Zhiwuya. The transcript is compiled and provided by the group owner An Rui and the group friend team. First school: An Duan, Heng Shen, Lao Fei Ge, Strawberry, Sheng Xian, Shi

[Thanks]

The "Yonghegong" series of special courses are compiled based on the Himalayan audio of teacher Xianzhe Zhiwuya. The text of

is compiled and provided by the group owner An Rui and the group friend team. The list of group friend teams is as follows (sorted by course program number):

First draft: Tianxin, Qingyu case

First school: An Duan, Hengshen, Lao Feige, Strawberry, Shengxian, Shiliang, 123, Ren Xiaozhan, Zhou Xinwei, Mei, Fu En, Lingxi, Ming, Wuyun, Edward, Wang Junyu, Dadong

Final school: An Duan, Tianlianghaochiu, Lingxi, Ming, Edward, Jing Neng Sheng Hui, Wu Yun, Heng Shen, Ren Xiaozhan, Shengxian, Lao Feige, Mei

This course is online for the first time: 2019.12.1

In the East Side Hall on the east side of Wanfu Pavilion Square, the position corresponding to the Yamuda Gar Tower in the West Side Hall is an upper and lower The two-story, identical building is called "Zhao Fo Building". There is a large bronze Buddha statue enshrined here.

Zhaofo Tower is the private Buddhist hall of Emperor Qianlong's mother Empress Xiaoshengxian . This Empress Xiaoshengxian, we talked about it in Yongyou Hall, is... the Lingxiu Green Tara Thangka hanging on the west wall is her work (Related reference reading Yonghegong Lesson 29) .

Some classmates told me that... Empress Xiaoshengxian is Niu Hulu·Zhen Huan in "The Legend of Zhen Huan", well... she swore... the biological mother of Emperor Qianlong. Emperor Qianlong's biological mother was indeed promoted from Concubine Xi to Noble Concubine Xi, and Empress Xiaoshengxian was indeed Niu Hulu, but was her Niu Hulu surname followed by "Zhen Huan"? I don't know.

The standard of Zhaofo Tower is very special! The Zhaofo Tower is the east side hall, facing west and east. It is a side building, so...as for the Buddha inside, it should face west. Ah...Students in Beijing may have a clearer concept of east, south, west, and north. Students from other places need to take a look and they will have an idea of ​​east and west. It is located in the side hall, but it is arranged according to the pattern of the main hall. What does that mean? That is, this hall is on the west side, and where to worship Buddha, it should face the west... Oh, no! This hall is on the east side, and where the Buddha is placed, it should face west! However, it is just like the main hall. The altar of Chantan Buddha faces south and faces north, and is arranged according to the main hall! Explanation - The level of this hall in Zhaofo Tower is very high!

If arranged in this way, then...the east wall of this hall and the east side hall will be empty, that is - as soon as you enter the door, you will face the east wall, and there will be nothing! It turns out that there are two large paintings hanging on the east wall, one is a portrait of Zhan Tan Buddha, and the other is a picture of the Six Paths of Reincarnation. This picture of the Six Paths of Reincarnation is one of the most famous thangkas in the Lama Temple! But now we can only see it in the information... There is no more on the wall now.

Let’s talk about the Sandalwood Buddha statue... that is, what is the main Buddha in Zhaofo Tower? What is the Sandalwood Buddha? These two words are particularly difficult to recognize! When Tang Monk was studying for scriptures, his final title was " Tantan Merit Buddha". You can take a look at these two words... you... can't write... "惃 sandalwood ", its original meaning is a red flag, so the title of Tang Monk, his full name should be "Zhan Tan Guang Merit Buddha"! What's the meaning? That's it - red light...the meritorious Buddha emitting red light.

This statue of Sandalwood Buddha is not a Sanskrit-style statue, but a typical Tang-style statue. As we mentioned before... there are two types of statues - Tang style and Sanskrit style. Tang style, which is our Chinese style, combines Chinese aesthetics, well... it can be used more freely. As for the Sanskrit style, it has a fixed format because it is compared with several sutras such as "Image Measurement Sutra", "Image Measurement Sutra" and "Mahayana Image Measurement Sutra".

Tang-style Buddha statues have four major patterns in the process of sinicization! Let’s talk about this... Since the introduction of Buddhist statues from India, there have been four major development models in China throughout the ages... So are the portraits, and so are the statues! These are the four major styles in painting, which are called Zhang Family Style, Cao Family Style, Wu Family Style, and Zhou Family Style. This sandalwood Buddha statue is the Cao family model among the four major models. We have two idioms in Chinese, one is called "Cao Yi comes out of the water" and the other is called "Wu Dai is in the wind". Why! It all describes that image...what image? Cao Yi is out of water. And the shape of this sandalwood Buddha statue is that of the Cao family, "Cao's clothes come out of the water".

What is the Cao family style of "Cao Yi comes out of water"? The clothes of this Buddha statue are very thin and cling tightly to the body, hey! You can all see it - they're all attached! Well, Wu Dai’s sleeves were so big that he looked like he was following the trend... he was fat. And this kind of thing is...all the clothes are stuck together, as if the person has just come out of the water, and then the clothes are all removed...and there are circles and circles of water on the clothes. Ripples...this is the Cao family style of "Cao Yi comes out of water".

I talked about it in "Buddhist Art" - Mahayana art is divided into three streams...that is, Mahayana art is divided into three streams. We used to think that the Chinese style of Cao Yichushui's sculptures belonged to the Gandhara art of Mahayana Buddhism, that is to say, it was influenced by Gandhara art. This Gandhara art is a mixed art style of ancient Indian art plus Greek art . In other words - we used to think that the statues and portraits of Cao Yichushui in China were influenced by the Greek style! That’s how I’ve always looked at it. But now...it's wrong! This has been overturned by research in recent years...!

As for the Cao family, it does not belong to the Gandhara art among the three streams of Mahayana art, but to another branch, which is the Mathura art style. Mathura's artistic style embodies the national style of India's native civilization, such as - round face, big eyes, thin clothes that fit the body... It's hot, so it's definitely not good to wear... thin clothes if it's hot... It's close to the body, exposing the right shoulder of the cassock... only half of it is exposed... Well, this is more professional... Let's talk about it in a popular direction, the so-called Sandalwood Buddha is another form of the statue of water - the clothes are all attached On the body.

Well, Buddha, we are actually by the water, and our clothes are indeed wet and have water ripples. Why does the sandalwood Buddha statue...this form of statue have water ripples on its clothes? We said - after you get out of the water, you just have to peel off some wrinkles. Why are there circles and circles of water ripples? Chantan Buddha also comes from this meaning... This answer was given by the first general khenpo of Yonghe Temple! That is... the third generation Zhangjia Living Buddha - Zhangjia·Ruobi Dorje [Also translated as: Ruobai Dorje, Ruobi Dorje; also known as Zhangjia Yixidanbei Zhongmei, Zhangjia Yixi Tempeh quasi besambu】.

Among the statues in the Lama Temple, he wrote a special children's book called "Han Dizhao Buddha Statue Explanation", which is to explain these statues. He said - After Sakyamuni became enlightened... the World Honored One became enlightened. ...I want to go to the Trayastrim Palace to preach the Dharma for my mother! Anyone who is familiar with the history of Buddhism will know this, that is to say - Sakyamuni... After Sakyamuni attained enlightenment, he went to the Heavenly Palace to preach to his mother, but his disciples were reluctant to leave... So, the guru was leaving... Well, the master was leaving. (The disciples) wanted to make a portrait to keep as a memorial. But I can’t draw! why? Because when the disciple wanted to draw the Buddha, the Buddha's body appeared so bright that it was so dazzling that he couldn't open it, so he couldn't draw it! Just...just, shine!

So, the World-Honored One walked to the river, and then, according to the reflection in the water... You can't see clearly when you look at the Buddha, is it okay to look at the reflection? The disciples painted the Buddha statue based on the reflection in the water.This is why the clothes of the Chantan Buddha statue have water ripples, because you, the Chantan Light Merit Buddha, are Chantan Light, and you magnify the light. We can't draw it, so we painted the Chantan Light Buddha in the water, so this clothes has There are water ripples. The standing Buddha built based on this water ripple image is called "Zhantanguang Buddha". This is the origin of this Buddha statue...the origin of its style.

This statue... that is, there are two theories about the actual origin of this Buddha: One theory is that - this Buddha was created when Yonghe Temple was built, Yangxin Hall was modeled after Hongren Temple statue. This Empress Xiaoshengxian...this one was made. Another one said - this was originally a relic of the Yuan Dynasty, salvaged from Shichahai . Bronze statues are easier to preserve, so where exactly does it come from? It’s hard to say. I prefer the former! why? Because of this...if she is Niu Hulu Zhen Huan, she was born in the Han Army Banner, he Han Chinese still likes this Han statue. If it is a relic from the Yuan Dynasty, we know that - as for the relic from the Yuan Dynasty, it is a Sanskrit statue, but this Sandalwood Buddha is indeed a Han-style statue.

The Sandalwood Buddha in Zhaofo Tower is unique, not only in the statue itself, but also in its Buddhist niche! His Buddhist niche is entirely made of golden nanmu . It has three layers inside and outside, with a total of ninety-nine large and small golden dragons engraved on it! It is known as "the three unique wood carvings of Yonghe Temple". We have talked about the first two of the "Three Unique Wood Sculptures of the Lama Temple" - the first, "Red Sandalwood Five Hundred Arhat Mountain"; the second, "White Sandalwood Maidala Buddha". The third one is this "Zhaofo Tower Golden Silk Nanmu Buddhist Niche". You see, golden nanmu, rosewood, white sandalwood, the best woods are all used for this.

This sandalwood Buddha statue also has another feature, that is - backlight. We want to talk about...because before us, Kongpai didn't talk about it, that is - there is a "white sandalwood three-leaf crown standing statue of Guanyin" on the east side of Fa Lun Hall (related reference reading Yonghe Temple Lesson 52, 57) . We said at the time that His backlight was very special, just like this Sandalwood Buddha! Because we can't see the "Three-Leaf Crown Guanyin", it's too small! We can only see this - the backlight of the Chantan Buddha.

Under normal circumstances, the backlight of a Buddha statue is a light plate with a flame pattern or lotus pattern on the edge. But backlighting in Tibetan Buddhism is very complicated! Among them, the most advanced backlight is this one, with six hidden animals! As for the backlight of these six animals, sometimes they are not engraved on the backlight, but sometimes they are also engraved on the lotus seat where the Buddha stands, or on this platform - the base. These six animals are - the Garuda , the big fish [the divine whale] , virgins, virgins, lions and elephants.

Moreover, the corresponding meaning has been given in the "Image Measurement Sutra", it is called - Dapeng , showing the sign of mercy! That’s it…the birds in the greenhouse show mercy! This big fish [sacred whale] shows a protective look! Dragon Girl , showing signs of salvation! Boy, show your wealth and blessings! Lion, show your ease! The elephant king shows the appearance of a good teacher. Well, these six animals are all called " Six Holding Tools ". The word "take" was assigned to us by the Japanese... that is, we didn't care what it was called originally, it was just the six animals. Ah...the Japanese call it "Six Nag". "Take" means - "six are all there" means...that is - six, all are there! This kind of backlight is called "six-handle backlight" and is the most advanced kind of backlight.

On the east side of Zhaofo Tower, there turns out to be a door. We said - there is a door behind the Yamdaga Tower on the west side...well, there is a secret passage leading...to the buildings on the west side. On the east side of Zhaofo Tower, there used to be a door, well... it was blocked, and now it's a wall. (Original) The east road leading directly to the Yonghe Temple complex is the East Academy of the Yonghe Temple.

After Prince Yong’s Mansion was converted into a temple, that was... The Prince's Mansion was first upgraded to a temporary palace, and then the things were still there, but after the temple was remodeled, the furniture, furnishings, jewelry, antiques, collections... none of them were moved away! Because the emperor has entered the palace and it is better there, so there is no need to move, right? So they all moved to the East Academy. Then, every year, the emperor, we say that he will come to worship at the summer solstice (for related reference, read Lesson 10 of Yonghe Temple) , he will come three times a year... After coming to worship, he cannot rest in the temple, right? Bar? You, where are you staying? He returned to his former residence, Dongshuyuan.

Later, when the emperors came to worship Qianlong, they also worshiped in the East Academy... His image is in the East Academy. Therefore, the East Academy of the Lama Temple is equivalent to the Li Palace, which is... an imperial study room of the Li Palace. Moreover, the treasures collected in the East Academy of the Lama Temple are not of ordinary value, because they belong to the emperor's private study room outside the palace. They are all...his favorite important antiques!

But unfortunately - this East Academy was burned down by a fire! I have seen some information saying that it was this... the Japanese came to burn it in the past three years or so. In fact, this is very unfair! This fire was burned in 1900. I estimate that the nature is similar to the burning of the Old Summer Palace! It’s just that…there are too many ordinary people participating in the robbery! I'm afraid that the court will come back to investigate in the future, right... You foreigners have finished robbing... After robbing, you can leave after robbing, right? You don't have to burn it! So, the people just... simply set it on fire.

As for the stuff from East Academy, the situation should be similar! It’s just that...the thieves stole too much, what should I do? It's like what "The Granary of the World" said, right... Granary, if you don't check it at ordinary times, the granary will be full. If you just check, the grain depot will be on fire, right? Everyone is just...pretending to be confused while pretending to understand.

After liberation, a large number of private houses were built on the site where the East Academy became. Now we no longer have the East Academy, so there is no place to see the relics and physical objects of the East Academy. We can see it in the history books.

[Information]

According to the "Image Measurement Sutra", the six holding tools are:

1. Gadana means Dapeng, which means compassion.

2． Bruna means whale, which means protection.

3． Nalona means dragon girl, which means salvation.

4． Bona Na means boy, which represents blessings.

5． Fulona means the king of beasts. It is usually painted as a lion, which is a metaphor for the state of freedom.

6. Save Channa, which means the king of elephants, and the good teacher.

Because the six of them all end with the word "na", they are collectively called "six Na tools".