Hsin Ping

Hsin Ping (Chinese: 心平和尚; pinyin: Xīnpíng Héshàng) (June 30, 1938- April 7, 1995) was the fourth and fifth abbot of Fo Guang Shan and the dharma heir to Hsing Yun, founder of Fo Guang Shan. Hsin Ping was the forty-ninth lineage-holder of the Linji school through Hsing Yun.

Venerable Hsin Ping entered the Buddhist sangha in 1963. Hsin Ping went on to receive the precepts under Master Tao Yuan of Hai Hui Temple in Keelung in 1963, and went on to attend Shou Shan Buddhist College and the Chinese Buddhist Research Institute at Fo Guang Shan. For lengths of time during the earliest days of Fo Guang Shan, Hsin Ping was stationed in the construction quarters. In 1973, he became first in line of Fo Guang Shan’s order of precedence.

Admired for his melodious voice in chanting and his kind, easygoing character, Hsin Ping was known to have been one of the best loved of the leading monastics. Shown for being sincere and compassionate towards monastics and lay practitioners, he, along with the support of monastics, built temples worldwide so they could strengthen the order as well as to propagate Buddhism. He had also made affinities with people through Buddhist music.

In April 1995, Hsin Ping died suddenly after suffering from illness. The Venerable Hsin Ting served the rest of Hsin Ping's term until 1997, when he was elected head abbot. A portion of his ashes are interred in the United States at the Buddhist columbarium at Rose Hills in California, the rest are in the Longevity Memorial Park in Fo Guang Shan.