Venerable Master Sheng Yen
Organisation: Dharma Drum Mountain

Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM) was established by Master Sheng Yen in 1989. DDM emphasizes on spreading and promoting the authentic teachings of Buddhism, particularly Chan.

DDM's mission is to "uplift the character of humanity and build a pure land on earth." In order to implement this ideal, we advocate the protection of the spiritual environment and the fivefold spiritual renaissance, as well as the three types of education: education through academics, education through public outreach and education through caring service. In addition, DDM offers various programs to meet the spiritual and educational needs of people at all stages of their lives. Some of these programs include international Buddhist conferences, ecological seminars and lectures, social welfare programs and meditation retreats.

Lineage: Master Sheng Yen is a fifty-seventh generation descendant of Master Lin-chi (?-866), and a third-generation descendant of Master Hsu-yun (1840-1959). In the Caodong lineage, Master Sheng Yen is the fifty-second generation descendant of co-founder Master Tung-shan (807-869), and the direct descendant of Master Tung-chu (1908-1977).

Biographical note: Master Sheng Yen is a living gem of the contemporary Buddhist world. He is credited, locally as well as internationally, for sparking a revival of Chinese Buddhism.

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama once described Master Sheng Yen as "extremely modest, a true spiritual practitioner of deep and broad learning."

Master Sheng Yen was appointed as one of the chairs of the World Council of Religious Leaders, an official unit of the United Nations to aid the Secretary General on religious matters.

An opinion poll conducted by the "Common Wealth", a famous Taiwan magazine, selected Master Sheng Yen as one of "the 50 most influential people in Taiwan in the past 400 years."

Master Sheng Yen has received Dharma transmission in the two major branches of Chan Buddhism, the Linji (Japanese Rinzai), and the Caodong (Japanese Soto). In genealogical terms, Master Sheng Yen is a sixty-seventh (within the Linji lineage) or sixty-second (within the Caodong lineage) generation descendant of Bodhidharma ( ?-ca. 530), the First patriarch of Chan, and the sixty-second (Linji) or fifty-seventh (Caodong) generation descendant of Hui-neng (638-713), the Sixth Patriarch of Chan.

Main Centre:

Dharma Drum Mountain
No. 14-5, Seven Ling Bon Ling
San Chieh Village
Ching-Shan Township, Taipei County, Taiwan R.O.C
Tel: (02) 2498-7171. Fax: 2498-7174
Email: ddm@ms15.hinet.net or hansenco@ficnet.net
Web site: www.ddm.org.tw/english/index.htm

Official Web site: www.dharmadrum.org

DDM Affiliates Overseas Location

AMERICA, EUROPE, ASIA, TAIWAN, OCEANIA

Web page: www.dharmadrum.org/Affiliates.asp

Books by Master Sheng Yen

• Subtle Wisdom
• Dharma Drum: The Life and Heart of Chan Practice
• The Sword of Wisdom: A Commentary on the Song of Enlightenment
• Hoofprint of the Ox
• Chan Comes West
• Zen Wisdom
• Complete Enlightenment
• Illuminating Silence: The Practice of Chinese Zen
• There Is No Suffering: A Commentary on the Heart Sutra