My previous article focused on the Great Sage Monastery of Bamboo Grove on Mount Wutai and its abbot, Venerable Master Miaojiang, director of the Buddhist Association of Shanxi Province and deputy director of the Buddhist Association of China. I had an opportunity to sit down with Venerable Miaojiang for an in-depth interview in which he not only shared his views on the Buddhist Association of China, Mount Wutai, and Manjusri’s wisdom, but also revealed much of his personal experience, his childhood, and the masters that helped shape who he is today.
Buddhistdoor Global: Venerable Miaojiang, could you please share your childhood experiences with us? Why did you decide to join the sangha?
Venerable Miaojiang: People join the sangha because of different causes and under different conditions. As for myself, I was perhaps born to be a monk. I was born in 1952 in a village near Datong, Shanxi Province. Today, the village is still there and people are still there. Before I was born, my mother had given birth to nine children, but only two of my sisters survived. My mother was raised as a Buddhist. When she was pregnant with me, she prayed in the local monastery that if the baby was to be a boy, he would join the sangha.
Venerable Master Miaojiang. Photo by Feixue
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