ABOUT MASTER SHENG-YEN

Background Master Sheng-yen is both the founder and current president of the Institute of Chung-Hwa Buddhist Culture, as well as the resident teacher at the Ch'an Meditation Center. Born on a farm outside Shanghai in 1930, he became a monk at the age of thirteen. In 1949, during the Communist takeover, he moved to Taiwan to continue his study and practice. After ten years of practice, one night during a dialogue with Ch'an Master Ling-yuan he spoke at great length about the difficulties and doubts in his practice. Suddenly Master Ling-yuan said, "Put down!" At that moment Master Sheng-yen shattered all doubts and experienced his initial enlightenment. In 1963, Master Sheng-yen began a six-year solitary retreat in the mountains. After the retreat, Master Sheng-yen devoted himself to stemming the decline in Chinese Buddhism by reviving the tradition of rigorous education for monks and nuns. Thus, Master Sheng-yen went to Japan, and in six years he received his master's degree and doctorate in Buddhist literature from Rissho University. Ch'an Master In 1975 Master Sheng-yen received transmission from Ch'an Master Tung-chu of the Ts'ao-tung (Jp. Soto) tradition of Ch'an. In 1978, he received transmission from Ch'an Master Ling-yuan of the Lin-chi (Jp. Rinzai) tradition of Ch'an, becoming the second generation descendant of Ch'an Master Hsu-yun, the greatest contemporary patriarch and reviver of Ch'an Buddhism. Master Sheng-yen, acting on the invitation of the Buddhist Association of the United States, came to this country to spread Buddhadharma. Since then, he has taught and given lectures in universities throughout the United States. In 1978, Master Sheng-yen became the abbot of Nung Ch'an Monastery in Taiwan; currently more than sixty ordained monks and nuns live and practice there.

Educator

In 1985 he founded the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies in Taiwan -- a graduate school with ten faculty members and ten new students annually. The institute holds international Buddhist conferences once every two or three years. Over 50 scholars from America, Europe, Japan and other parts of the world participate in this event.

In 1980, 240 acres of land outside Taipei were purchased and was named Dharma Drum Mountain. A Buddhist university and monastery are scheduled to open there in 1999.

Environmentalist

Traditionally, the Chinese hold elaborate, extravagant and wasteful wedding receptions and funeral rituals resulting in waste and pollution. Dharma Drum has been promoting more modest, less wasteful and spiritual practices. The foundation hopes that, in time, the message will have a wider impact in society and that people will conduct themselves more responsibly in their everyday lives.

Protecting the natural environment is closely related to protecting the spiritual environment. Buddhism has taught us not to kill or waste. Promoting the correct Buddha way is a philosophy which coincides with modern environmental protection concepts. Through environmental protection we can purify our minds and improve our character.