Expert - Great Traveler

It happened more than six hundred years ago. A merchant ship left the island of Zambujeira and anchored off the coast of Lanka. The ship belonged to the merchants of Zambujeira, who were preparing to sell their goods in Lanka and buy the gems from that island and continue their journey. As the ship was about to leave, an old monk of about eighty years old arrived at the port with a bee. From the look of the monk's complexion and facial features, it was clear that he was not a monk from Lanka. The monk approached the captains of the merchant ship and apologized.

“Daka, I am a Chinese Buddhist monk. It has been fourteen years since I left China. It took me six years to travel to Zambudipa. I have been wandering around Zambudipa for exactly six years. It has been two years since I arrived in Lankadipa. I have been waiting for a ship to return to China for a few months now. Now that I have heard that the Dakka ship is going to China, I have come to ask for your forgiveness. Monk, please let me go to China on the Dakka ship.”

An old Chinese monk brought a large package. The package contained nothing but bamboo planks tied with ropes and a few Buddha images. When the merchants saw the old monk's belongings, they were amazed at the monk who had returned from a long journey to a wealthy country like Zamboanga, but had brought nothing of value with him. They thought he was a strange man. Then they took pity on the old monk and brought him on board their ship.

The ship arrived at sea. One day, while the ship was sailing at sea, a storm unexpectedly broke out. The sky suddenly turned dark. The wind also became stronger. The rain also fell. The waves rose. The terrifying storm became more and more violent. The merchant ships, who had been sailing back and forth along the sea, had never experienced such a terrible storm in their entire lives. They were worried that their ship would not be able to overcome the huge waves that were rolling up.

They don't think this storm, which they have never seen before in their lives, is an ordinary occurrence. They think there must be something special about it. So they look for a reason. And they find a reason. It's precious.

The Chinese monk's bag, which was among the stones and rubies, would be a curse. This was the first time such an item had been carried on a ship. This time, it would be the first time that such a bad luck had beenfallen. The hand of this bad luck must have been the Chinese monk's bag.

With this thought in mind, the merchants decided to throw the Chinese monk's package into the sea.

"Chinese monk, the package you are carrying is a package of misfortune. It is because of your package that this storm has come. Your package must be thrown into the sea. Then our ship will be saved from the storm and we will all be saved."

When the merchants said this, the Chinese monk, in a panic, held the bee and his bundle in his arms and apologized to the merchants.

"Daka, this storm is not caused by my luggage as you think. Do not throw my luggage into the sea. The things in this luggage are more valuable than my life."

The Chinese monk pleaded, but the merchants would not budge. They tried to force the Chinese monk's bundle away from them, in order to throw it into the sea as they had decided. Then the Chinese monk, with tears streaming down his face, stood firm and did not let go of the bundle.

“Lord Buddha, please protect your disciple’s bag from damage and decay. Please protect this precious treasure that your disciple has brought with him so that it reaches his kingdom.”

As soon as the Chinese monk uttered this affirmation, whether it was due to the effect of the affirmation or just a coincidence, suddenly the sun appeared from behind the dark clouds. The wind's fury subsided. The blue sky smiled at the ship. The storm also stopped.

That Chinese monk was none other than Fa Heian, a famous Chinese monk in world history and the history of Buddhism.

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Buddhism spread to China during the reign of the Han Dynasty (58-75 AD). In the 2nd century, Buddhist monks from India and other Buddhist countries came to China to spread Buddhism. The main work of the Buddhist monks from India and other Buddhist countries who came to China over a period of three hundred years, starting from the early 2nd century to the end of the 4th century, was to translate Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. Thanks to the efforts of these Buddhist monks, Buddhist scriptures spread throughout China. However, the Vinaya Pitaka was not included in the Buddhist scriptures translated into Chinese until then.

Meanwhile, Buddhist monasteries flourished in China.

1. Fa-Hien or Fa-hsien

The number of Buddhist monks has increased. When an organization is formed, it cannot exist without rules and regulations. Although the number of Buddhist monks in China has increased, the Chinese Buddhist monks and nuns still do not have a Vinaya, which is the rule book for the monks. This is a huge gap for the Chinese Buddhist monks and nuns. Among the Chinese monks who want to fill this gap is the monk Fa Heyan.

Fa Heian's common name was "Kong". "Fa Heian" is the title of monk. He was from Guiyang County, Pinyang County, Shaanxi Province. He had three older brothers. All three of his older brothers died when he was young. He was very handsome when he was young, so his father sent him to a monastery when he was three years old. When he was ordained as a monk in a monastery, he immediately recovered. When he was ten years old, his father died. Then his uncle told him to change into a human being and go home. He replied, "My father didn't ask me to change into a human being. I entered the religious order because I was tired of society." When his mother died, he returned home for a while. However, he returned to the monastery immediately after the cremation.

One day, the monk Fa Heian was harvesting rice in the field with other monks for the monks. At that moment, some bad people came and stole the rice they had harvested. Then the other monks also ran away because they were afraid of the bad people. The monk Fa Heian did not run away. He faced the bad people.

"You can take the rice we have so laboriously harvested for the monks if you want. But I have one thing to say."

I want to say. You are living in such a different world because you did not have the seed of goodness in your past lives. Now, are you trying to steal the property of the monks and nuns again? If you do this, I am afraid that you will be even more miserable in your next life.”

Having said this, the ascetic Fa Hien returned to the monastery. The monks in the monastery surrounded him and gave him applause.

The ascetic Fa-hian became the young monk Fa-hian. The young monk Fa-hian became the elder monk Fa-hian. The elder monk Fa-hian studied the Buddhist scriptures that had been translated into Chinese. However, he was hesitant because he did not find the complete Vinaya, the code of conduct for the monks, in the Buddhist scriptures that had been translated into Chinese. Therefore, he decided to study the Vinaya Pitaka and take the Vinaya Pitaka with him on his return journey to India, the homeland of Buddhism.

Fa Heian set out from Chang'an, China, in 399 AD. He was 65 years old at the time. From a modern perspective, it would be unthinkable for a 65-year-old man who was already in his prime to undertake a journey of hundreds of thousands of miles, crossing vast forests and mountains. However, Fa Heian's determination to achieve his great goal was not deterred by his advanced age. The vast forests, the mountains, the narrow deserts, the dangers