YIXING, China — During a visit last fall to the Temple of Great Awakening, the sprawling complex built by the Buddhist organization Fo Guang Shan in Yixing, we were greeted by an unexpected host: the Venerable Master Hsing Yun, the group’s founder and one of modern China’s most prominent religious figures.

Master Hsing Yun established Fo Guang Shan, or Buddha’s Light Mountain, in Taiwan. But he was visiting mainland China to attend a ceremony and had stopped by the temple to inspect the construction of a new hall. At 89, he is mostly blind and suffers from diabetes, but he spoke with us for more than an hour, adeptly responding to questions that the authorities might find objectionable, including any suggestion that Fo Guang Shan is proselytizing in mainland China. Here is an edited excerpt from our conversation:

What are the goals of Fo Guang Shan in promoting Buddhism in mainland China?

I don’t want to promote Buddhism! I only promote Chinese culture to cleanse humanity.

What are the spiritual needs of ordinary Chinese people nowadays? How can Fo Guang Shan satisfy their spiritual needs?

I offer people what they want. I think, in the secular world, they want money and love. But they also need peace, safety and happiness. In this regard I offer them encouragement, truth and transcendence. By influencing them, I make them relieved both physically and mentally, unrestrained and stable.