Bái Pǔrén 白普仁 (1870-1927)
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Bái Pǔrén 白普仁 (1870-1927) was a Mongolian Lama of the Gelug order, and a resident of Yōnghé Temple 雍和宮 in Běijīng 北京.
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Born in Eastern Mongolia, Bái Lama was a noted exponent of Mongolian Gelug Buddhism in the Republican period. He famously met with Manjuśrī 文殊 on Wǔtái shān 五台山, which made him famous in Mongolia.
He had tens of thousands of refuge-disciples in Jehol Province, where he often recited the Sūtra of Golden Light 金光明最勝王經 for the protection of the area. In 1914 he and six other lamas stopped a flood by entering meditation and defeating the dragon that was causing it. He was the only monk of the group that did not become ill or die after forcing the dragon to retreat.
In 1924, Dàyǒng 大勇 came to Běijīng to transmit the Shingon 真言 Esoteric Buddhism (also called 東密) he had learned in Japan. After meeting with Bái, he decided to abandon Japanese Esoteric Buddhism in favor of Tibetan Esoteric Buddhism 西密. This meeting also led Dàyǒng to decide to establish the Buddhist Tibetan Language College 藏文學院.
In 1925 the Panchen Lama 班禪 arrived in Běijīng 北京 and, having heard about Bái Lama, he made Bái the abbot (Kambu 堪布) of Yōnghé Temple 雍和宮. That year the Northern Government asked him to lead 108 lamas in reciting the Sūtra of Golden Light for 21 days. In June, he and 28 others went to Shànghǎi 上海 and other parts of Western China to perform the same ceremony and to grant esoteric initiation (abhiṣeka) to many Buddhists there. The publisher and lay Buddhist Fàn Gǔnóng 范古農 accompanied him on this dharma tour.
Bái died in 1927 at Yōnghé Temple.