Shanyin 善因

Shànyīn 善因 (dates unknown)

Shànyīn and Kōngyě 空也 were Tàixū’s 太虛 early right-hand men. Shànyīn was particularly interested in Consciousness-Only 唯識 and Madhyamaka thought.

• Said to be from Húnán 湖南 but his birth and ordination dates are unknown
• Could have been approximately the same age as Tàixū

Biography

Shànyīn was very impressed by a lecture that Tàixū gave on the Śūraṃgama Sūtra in Lìlín 蒞臨, Húběi 湖北 in 1920 (This talk was later published as 楞嚴經研究講義).

In 1924, Tàixū asked Shànyīn to come help out at the Wuchang Buddhist Seminary 武昌佛學院, partly to replace Kōngyě, who had let after teaching there for one year. When Tàixū left in September of 1924 due to illness, Shànyīn became acting principal of the Seminary.

At some point during these years, Shànyīn also served as editor for the Hǎicháo yīn 海潮音.

In 1926, Tàixū returned to Wuchang and Shànyīn gave up his post. Shànyīn disappears from textual records after 1947.

References:

• Shì Dōngchū 釋東初. Zhōngguó Fójiào jìndài shǐ 中國佛教近代史 (A History of Early Contemporary Chinese Buddhism), in Dōngchū lǎorén quánjí 東初老人全集 (Complete Collection of Old Man Dongchu), vols. 1-2. Taipei: Dongchu, 1974 Pp. 2.830-834.
• 互動-善因法師