The Old Venerable Monk Xu Yun is an outstanding representative of this process who tried his best to revitalize Ch’an Buddhism from within the late Qing Dynasty. He preached the Dharma throughout his life, and continued the Five Schools of Ch’an with a straight and capable heir. He studied the Sutras deeply, practiced meditation profoundly and mastered many different meditation methods, He understood Ch’an Practice, how to apply Ch’an practic and how to deal with the many false-paths and dead insights that many encounter whilst practicing Ch’an meditation or experiencing the Ch’an method. In-short, Master Xu Yun recovered the entire pathway of authentic Chinese Ch’an Buddhist practice. With a broad and all-encompassing mind, he united and consolidated the Five Schools of Ch’an, and encouraged an integration between Ch’an and the Pure Land School. This is why in China today he is known as the ‘禅宗泰斗’ (Chan Zong Tai Dou) - or ‘Ch’an Lineage Leading Authority’.
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相对于唐宋时期的兴盛,禅宗在清中叶以后逐渐凋零,到清末已衰颓至极。但是,禅宗与中华本土文化经过长期的融合,根深蒂固,终未至于失传绝嗣的地步,至民国时期,禅宗仍然法脉绵延,宗风犹存,不仅有敬安法师、圆瑛法师、太虚大师、虚云老和尚、来果禅师、明真法师、印顺法师、月溪禅师等一批高僧大德主持佛法,重振禅宗,更有袁焕仙、贾题韬、南怀瑾等一批长者、居士大力扶持,继承变革,成为禅宗由近代走向现代的滥觞。
虚云老和尚是晚清以来竭力振兴禅宗的杰出代表。他毕生弘法,以一身直嗣或远续了禅门五宗的法脉。他深究经藏,修习禅定,在禅修方法、禅境分析、禅病对治等方面都有见地,形成一套完整系统的禅学理论。又以广博的胸怀,融会诸宗,禅净双修,广弘禅教,被誉为“禅宗泰斗”。下面就虚云老和尚的弘教事业和禅学思想分别介绍。