Seeking a Pure Land: A Kongshan Temple Anecdote (Part 4)

Initially, the land the New York lay practitioners requested the Teacher (老師) to visit was not the site that is now Kongshan Temple.

The Teacher visited several properties in total, personally walking through each one to sense its atmosphere and determine which location would bring the greatest benefit to the Dharma and the most advantage to the disciples' practice.

When the Teacher first arrived at the site of Kongshan Temple, they lingered for a very long time. Not just the Teacher, but many accompanying Venerables also felt a distinctly different atmosphere in this place—it was exceptionally quiet and remarkably mind-gathering (收攝), as if they had arrived in a celestial realm.

The Teacher expressed the hope that they would be able to lead the disciples in retreat practice (閉關學修) here in the future, sensing that this location would give rise to many accomplished practitioners!

The Venerables recalled that as the Teacher’s car slowly drove into the Kongshan Temple grounds, seven or eight deer in the stable and residential area on the other side of the main temple compound quietly observed the Teacher and the Venerables. Around thirty large geese on the property stared intently at the convoy, as if welcoming their arrival. The Teacher was extremely pleased by this sight.

The natural beauty, purity, and serenity of the Kongshan Temple land have truly made it a Pure Land where many beings peacefully coexist.