Dharma-Master Hsin Tao(English)
Shih Hsin Tao, born October 11, 1948, in Myanmar with a secular surname of Yang, is a Buddhist monk (bhikkhu) in Taiwan and the Founding Abbot of the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society (LJM). He also founded the Museum of World Religions (MWR) and the NGO initiative ‘Global Family for Love & Peace’ (GFLP).
Master Hsin Tao is a bearer of the Triyana legacy that spans all three major vehicles of Buddhism, i.e. Theravada, Vajrayana, and Mahayana. Formal recognition of his respective lineage in the afore-said traditions took place in 1994, 2001, and 2007 respectively, with the ritual bestowment of a given alias in the corresponding Buddhist sect individually for all three legacies. Details follow.
In 1994, with the transmission of Myanmar’s National Buddhist Advisor U Kuothala on the Three Platforms of Precepts of Theravada Buddhism, Master Hsin Tao acquired the auspicious name U Ku Tha Qla (meaning ‘Eradicating all obstacles’) for his Dharma lineage of the Theravada tradition.
In 2001, Master Hsin Tao received initiation into Vajrayana from His Holiness Mozha Rinpoche of Nyingma Kathog School of Tibetan Buddhism. Master Hsin Tao was justified with the achievement of the Rainbow Body in a previous life and was given the Dharma name Baji Dorje (meaning ‘Auspicious Vajra’).
In 2007, the Master was recognized by Elder Master Ben Huan who entrusted him with the legacy of the Linji School of Chan Buddhism as the 45th Patriarch of the Xuyun lineage. Elder Master Ben Huan presented him the Dharma name Chang Miao Hsin Tao (meaning ‘the always wonderful Hsin Tao’).
In 2013, the Master further received Dharma recognition from Venerable Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan Monastery (FGS) and was certified as the 49th Patriarch of the Chi Xia Zhong Xing lineage of the Linji School of Chan Buddhism. Master Hsin Tao was bestowed with another Dharma name Hsin Tao Jih Da (meaning ‘Hsin Tao has achieved with wisdom’).
Prioritizing the practice of Compassion & Chan (Zen) Meditation as its tradition, Master Hsin Tao launched the LJM in 1983 and the Wu-Sheng Monastery in 1984, followed by the construction of thirty-plus temples, academies, branches, meditation centers, and assembly centers at home and abroad over the years, dedicating to the promotion of Buddhadharma, charity, culture, and social education. The MWR was founded in 2001 as a catalyst to garner strengths and influence for the Master’s effort in interfaith promotion. The Master’s endeavor in recent years can be witnessed in the creation of a future university in Myanmar - the University for Life & Peace (ULP) - with a focus on the education of spiritual ecology alongside the Master’s long-term commitment to the ideal of ‘Loving the Earth, Loving Peace’.
Awards & Citations:
Outstanding Contribution to the Propagation of Buddhism Award (the Highest Sri Lankan honor for a Buddhist Leader), 2005
Pt. Motilal Nehru National Award for Peace, Tolerance and Harmony, India, 2005
Aggamahāsaddhammajotikadhaja (the Highest National honor of Myanmar), 2006
Excellence in Teaching Meditation Award (Mahākammaṭṭhānācariya) from the Myanmar Government, 2010
The Interfaith Visionary Award from the Temple of Understanding, USA, 2010
The Second benefactor of Buddhism Award from the Thai Royal Buddhist monastery Wat Bowonniwet Vihāra Committee, 2013
The Highest Meditation Achievement Award (Aggamahākammaṭṭhānācariya) from the Myanmar Government , 2014
The R.O.C. Cultural Collaboration Medal, Ministry of Cultural Affairs (4), 2021
Early Years
Birth
Born in 1948 in Laikan Village, Laidaoshan Region, Lashio, Myanmar, to parents of Chinese origin from the Province of Yunnan. The given name was YANG Xiao-Sheng(5).
Childhood
His father YANG Xiao-Cai was killed in 1952 and his mother LI Shuz-Jen went missing with his younger sister YANG Xiao-Ping and were never to hear from again. War-orphaned at the age of 4, YANG Xiao-Sheng was first raised by his aunt YANG Xiao-Si who passed away shortly thereafter and his uncle-in-law YIN Hu-Nan took him along into the mountains as a hobo until 1957, when Uncle Yin’s buddy army officer LU Dingz-Zhou encouraged to have the 9-year old join the guerilla army to have access to learning things. His given name was changed to YANG Jian-Sheng but misspelled as YANG Jin-Sheng for formalities. During their period as a child foot soldier, he was commissioned to carry supplies of ammunition on numerous occasions and thereby witnessed the violence and cruelty of war and the impermanence of life. He thus became resentful of war and vowed to seek peace.
Arrival in Taiwan
Yang was with the Solitary Army when it retreated to Taiwan in 1961 and was enrolled in the Company of Youngster Soldiers stationed in the Chengkungling Army Training Center. He was admitted to the Xin-Xing Elementary School of Tan-zi Township in Taichung County in early 1963 but later started schooling at the Yuan-shu-lin Elementary School at Da-si Township, Taoyuan, when the army base was moved to Taoyuan.
Spiritual Journey
Taking refuge in Bodhisattva Guanyin
He couldn’t stop his tears upon first hearing the holy name of Bodhisattva Guanyin from army doctor ZHANG Qi-Fu in 1963, who made him a gift of a daily prayer book. Yang began to chant the Great Compassion Mantra and recite the Universal Gate Chapter of the Lotus Sutra when he also read Buddha's life stories. He took refuge in Bodhisattva Guanyin, making the acquaintances of Master Yuan Guang and Master Chang Yuan and embarked on learning of Buddhadharma at the Chao-Yin Temple. From then on, Yang made the lifelong commitment to practice Buddhadharma. On his arms and torso, there are tattoos that read ‘I shall never rest until attaining the perfect enlightenment’, ‘Regaining the Buddha nature as the supreme offering to Bodhisattva Guanyin’, ‘Liberating sentient beings with Tathagatagarbha,’ as well as the swastika symbol ‘卍’ of Sanskrit which means "conducive to well-being".
Before becoming a monk
He passed the examination for admission to the Long-Tan Vocational School of Agriculture in Taoyuan in 1964 but transferred to the Guanxi Junior High School in Hsinchu in 1965. He was nicknamed Jai-Gong (Ol’ Vegan) for being a vegetarian and came into contact with Yiguandao preacher Xie Feng-Ying for help and support and the latter’s religious teachings. He then passed the examination for admission to the First Academy for Army Sergeants at Lung-Gang, Zhong-Li, in Taoyuan. In 1967, he formed the Mei Oath Party with his bosom pal LI Feng-Chun and tried to return to Myanmar to rescue his folks there by sailing a bamboo raft that capsized and aborted his adventure. He went to the police and confessed his illegal exit and forfeited the no-charge release. Yang requested to be prosecuted as a felony and voluntarily went to prison for eight months for an excuse to be formally discharged from the army once and for all. His wish was fulfilled in 1968 upon receiving a formal order of discharge from the army and a long period of short-lived, temp jobs followed when he earned his living as a handyman, a delivery boy, a tea-factory worker, even a grocery clerk selling rice. Job-hopping afforded him a glimpse into different walks of life alongside a host of different faiths ranging from Taoism, folklore cults, to Confucianism. The death of LI Feng-Chun in 1972 sharpened his sense of impermanence. Yang comprehended that life is suffering, making his mind up to become a monk.
Entering the monastic way of life and taking vows as a fully-ordained monk
On September 19 of the lunar calendar in 1973 that coincided with a special day of Bodhisattva Guanyin, Yang was clean-shaven to become a monk with the blessing of Master Hsing Yun of the Fo Guang Shan Monastery (FGS). He was given the Dharma name ‘Hsin Tao’ and a courtesy name ‘Huei Zhong’. He was admitted to the Tsung-Lin University of the FGS. The same year also saw him receive precepts at the Fa-Yun Temple in Miao-Li, with Master Ming Chang, Master Nan Ting, and Master Tao An as the Triple Mentors. The formal ritual of the Grand Tri-Altars ordination was presided over by senior Grand Master Jeh Der, who had since then developed a close Dharma bond with Master Hsin Tao and played a prominent role at the LJM Water Land Dharma Assembly. The ordination ritual was flanked by Master Wu Yi and Master Cheng Yi. Master Ren Hai, who was a fellow recipient of precepts at the same ritual, later shared with Master Hsin Tao the method of the ‘Silent Illumination Meditation’. Master Hsin Tao was able to register fast-paced advancement and his meditation sessions would last from evening until dawn. It quickly became apparent to Master Hsin Tao that ascetic monasticism was the way for him to advance further.
Practice of Dhutanga
Master Hsin Tao took leave of absence from the FGS in August 1974 and went to stay in solitude at an idled greenhouse for orchids at the residence of Master Yuan Guang in Wai-Shuang-Xi, Taipei. The solitary retreat was meant to help concentrate on the practice of Dhutanga, aimed specifically at achieving a thorough understanding of solitude and fear. A poem Master Hsin Tao wrote during this period reads ‘The moon is alone and the clouds remain quiet; in serenity, there was this sense of realization.’
The Charnel-ground-dwellers Practice (susanik'anga)
Under an arrangement facilitated by Grand Master Hsing Yun, Master Hsin Tao went to the Lei Yin Temple in Yi-Lan for practice in retreat in late February 1975. The plan was let go 15 days later as a nearby blacksmith workshop made the desired quiet impossible. Grand Master Hsing Yun instructed anew and the venue designated was the Yuan Ming Temple at the Er-Jie Village of Jiao-Xi in Yi-Lan. Built in 1917, the temple received Grand Master Ci-Hang and Grand Master Hsing Yun in earlier years, but its remote location and difficult access turned visitors away and the structure of the building was critically time-challenged. There was a cemetery to the north of the rundown temple and people hardly ever passed by, which suited Master Hsin Tao just fine. He started the first ever Charnel-ground-dweller's Practice (susanik'anga) on March 14, 1975, practicing meditation day in and day out, attachment-free. In 1976, he took in his first disciple in the laity, Hsu Chung-Chih.
A major overhaul for the Yuan Ming Temple went underway in 1977 and Master Hsin Tao relocated to the Ling Shan Pagoda about 100 meters away. The night before the move, he dreamed of Bodhisattva Wei Tuo (Skanda) appearing in the golden body of a giant, chanting the Diamond Sutra, the Heart Sutra, and the Great Compassion Mantra. The last verse that ‘The Buddha Light Illuminating All’ was clearly picked up by the ear. The pagoda was surrounded by tombs scattered around randomly. Master Hsin Tao began his second Charnel-ground-dweller's practice here and focused on mastering the practice of meditative absorption. In his spare time the Master went to a veterans' home at the foot of the mountain to help move and cleanse corpses or help the elderlies take a shower. The Ling Shan Pagoda period was the time when Master Hsin Tao gained the most traction and advancement in meditation practice throughout the decades. He nicknamed his place of stay there the ‘Ah! Ling Shan Chan Villa’. One day he experienced the union of mind and spiritual awareness and the verses of a poem emerged: ‘The essence is serene. Emptiness has no essence. By residing in emptiness, one’s never parted from the form.’
Later, another poem came to Master Hsin Tao as follows -
The body is solitary, Body is empty, and impermanence is empty, no separated from the essence of emptiness phnomena「體性寂然，虛無體性，常住虛無，不離體相。」：Spiritual Luminous light is empty, The nature is only based on Chinese words, whereas the real meaning need explanation「靈明虛照大千界，寂滅性空體如如。」)Spiritual luminosity
During his years of practicing meditation in rundown cemeteries, Master Hsin Tao often picked up the wailing sorrows of sentient beings in darkness. His compassion turned into his daily chanting of the Great Compassion Mantra and the Diamond Sutra to help liberate sufferings in another dimension. He further vowed to elevate sentient beings from suffering in the three lower realms. These pledges resulted in the later establishment of the LJM, the holding of regular rituals for all-encompassing puja offerings as alms for lost souls, and the staging of the annual signature LJM Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly in lunar July. In one of his meditations, the Master saw the embodiment of Milarepa who touched his forehead and bestowed the auspicious name ‘Pu Ren’ (Widely shared benevolence), which later became the name of the scholarship the LJM gives out every semester of the school year. Master Hsin Tao relocated his place of stay for the practice of solitary meditation in cemetery yet another time to the mountain slope next to the Long Tan Lake in Yi Lan. The place was named the ‘Illusion-like Mountain Dwelling’ to borrow from the paraphrase ‘impermanence of life & death is comparable to dreams and illusions’. That was where the Master began his third Charnel-ground-dweller's practice, spending nights and an 18-hour average daily practice of meditation for four consecutive years. A poem gave a vivid account: ‘For One who has perfected the Listening Meditation, there is no more arising, cessation, and nirvana.’
( Things came to a completely silent state, there is no arising, cessation, Nirvana)( The translation of this poem is only based on Chinese words, whereas the real meaning needs explanation)
With visitors and followers steadily growing in numbers, simple housing facilities with tile roofs were constructed to serve as the place for Dharma practice and teaching. A four-character phrase ‘Chan Ji Guang Tu’ meaning ‘the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light’ often appeared in his visualization, so the Master named the newly constructed temple ‘Ji Guang Monastery’. In 1980, Master Hsin Tao received the Kalachakra Empowerment given by Kalu Rinpoche of the Karma Kagyu tradition, being bestowed with the Dharma name ‘無畏’ meaning ‘Fearless.’ He also learned from the Rinpoche the teaching of Mahamudra meditation and the Four-Armed Avalokiteshvara practice. In the same year, Master Hsin Tao took in his first male monastic disciple, Master Ji Guang. In 1981, he took in his first female monastic disciple, Master Fa Xing.
Fasting Retreat
In late 1982 the Master dreamed of a surgical removal of his stomach. He thought long and hard about it after waking up to decide to fast over an extended period. He acquired textual guidance on the practice of ‘Bigu’ (grain avoidance) with a systematic approach plus the formula for making herbal pills with floral essence for a nutritional supplement of the fasting meditation. Master Hsin Tao began his fasting retreat in early April 1983, and relocated to a historic site nearby two weeks later. He relocated again in June and practiced fasting retreat for over three months in a cave at the Gong-Nan Temple in Fulong. On September 21 which coincided with the lunar Moon Festival that year, a final relocation saw the site change to the Fa-Hwa Cave on the premises where the LJM is now located. The long-term fasting went on until April 1985, when the Master left for a pilgrimage to India.
Dedication to Promote Buddha’s Teachings
Founding of the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society (LJM)
The LJM was launched on the Moon Festival on September 21, 1983. The main hall of the Monastery was formally inaugurated on June 19 of the lunar calendar in 1984. The name of the temple was originally ‘Bu-Dong Temple’ (Immovable Monastery), but it was suggested by Master Fa Xing to change to ‘Wu Sheng Monastery’. The number of the Master’s disciples and followers began to grow and the LJM nowadays enjoys a global following. To promote Buddhadharma and reach the greatest audiences possible, the Master founded the LJM Prajna Culture Foundation in 1989, the LJM Association of Dharmapalas in 1990, the LJM Charity Foundation and a development fund for the planned Museum of World Religions in 1994. In 1997, he set up the LJM Foundation for Buddhism in 1997. Parallelly, constructions for the LJM temples, monasteries, lecture halls, meditation centers, and meeting places sprang up at home in Taiwan and overseas including Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and New York City in the United States to promote Buddha’s teachings alongside social and cultural activities for educational purposes. The Master internalized ‘Practice of Compassion and Chan Meditation’ as the LJM tradition, encouraging disciples to implement daily meditation practice on life and routine at work. He further pioneered the ‘Peace Chan Meditation’ based on the Dharma practice of Bodhisattva Guanyin’s Perfect Listening via the ‘Root Organ of Hearing’, adding his own experiences in meditation over decades. Master Hsin Tao’s method facilitates access to meditation for people to find the way to harmonize body and mind with clear awareness so that they can ultimately regain inherent spirituality.
Initiating the LJM Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly
Always thinking back to the vows he made during his time practicing solitary meditation in cemeteries, Master Hsin Tao led the Four Groups of Buddhist disciples and followers to initiate the first LJM Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly in Taichung in 1994. The LJM tradition was thus cemented to continue over time uninterrupted and the 28th annual Dharma Assembly in 2021 was just as solemn and spectacular as a LJM signature offering despite the pandemic. To benefit both the living and the dead, the Master has tall demands for all requirements pertinent to rituals and stipulations for the implementation of the Water-Land Liberation Rites. Over time, the LJM Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly has grown to become one of the most prominent Dharma events of its league. On its 20th anniversary in 2013, Master Hsin Tao unveiled that the LJM Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly should be a ‘Grand and Universal Offering’ to ‘the sentient beings of all ten directions, offering them bliss and relief from suffering by observing precepts and going deep into the Sutra treasure, while cleaning the mind with humble repentance’. The instruction reflects the essence of the Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly of ‘Compassion, Solemnity, and Equality’.
Founding the Museum of World Religions(MWR)
‘What can we do to benefit mankind by religion, let people forget their differences so that they can appreciate learning from one another, let them all be properly placed and provided for? The answer must be (honoring) the spirit of religion to practice mutual respect, all-embracing tolerance, and life-loving altruism that collectively advance love and peace.’ Such had always been Master Hsin Tao’s ideals when the Preparatory Office for the Museum of World Religions(MWR) came into being in 1990. With the donation of a prime-location office space up to 6,600 square meters in New Taipei City by the Master’s devout follower and patron CHIU Tze-Dong, the Development Foundation of MWR was established in 1994 to help expedite the project. After more than a decade of dedicated work, the MWR was inaugurated on November 9, 2001, with its Opening Date officially labeled the ‘World Religions’ Day of Harmony’ and some 120 religious leaders and representatives from 38 countries were at hand for celebrations and interfaith exchanges. Upholding the ideals of ‘Respect for All Faiths, Tolerance for All Cultures, and Love for All Lives’, the MWR has been hosting an annual spring prayer session since 2008 to usher in peace and blessings for the lunar Chinese New Year. The gathering affords another case in point to manifest the LJM’s resolve as a collective platform for ongoing interfaith dialogue.
Launching Long-term International Campaigns for World Peace
In 1996, the Master flew out to the Middle East to visit Turkey and Israel and delivered speeches when he met with religious representatives of Islam, Judaism, and the Bahá'í Faith. He went to Thailand in the same year to attend the Asian Conference on Religion & Peace(ACRP). The Master was invited to attend the third PoWR (Parliament of the World’s Religions) in Capetown, South Africa, for the first time in 1999. He delivered two speeches, “Spiritual Challenges Facing the New Millennium” and “Buddhism in the 21st Century”. He also played an engaging panelist for interactions with an international audience on topics of religion and world peace. The Master has become a regular feature of the PoWR ever since and attended all its congregations from the 4th to the 8th Conference back to back. The Master also honored the United Nations invitation to the ‘Millennium Peace Summit of Religious & Spiritual Leaders’ in 2000 to deliver a prayer text. He was later invited to get involved with the UN Interfaith Peace Corp.
In 2002, the LJM established the New York-based NGO initiative ‘Global Family of Love & Peace’ (GFLP). The Master was then invited to attend the UN’s 55th Annual NGOs Assembly, and was joined by the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a collective prayer session on the 9/11 Anniversary. The same year also saw the kickoff of the first Muslim - Buddhist Dialogue at the campus of Columbia University in the United States. From there onwards and over the span of two decades, the interfaith dialogue has been going on in European, Asian, and African metropolises from Jakarta, Paris, Teheran, Barcelona, Morocco, Beijing to Taipei. The 17th Muslim - Buddhist Dialogue with an added feature of the second Muslim - Buddhist Dialogue of the Youth in 2021 zoomed in on the theme ‘Actions Recommended for Spiritual Ecology’.
In 2003, Master Hsin Tao delivered a speech entitled ‘Religious Dialogue Contributes to Peace’ at the NGO General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters. In 2004, the Master’s keynote speech ‘Global Ethics & World Peace Are Religion’s Duty Now’ was delivered at the international conference on ‘Spirituality & Sustainability of Ecology: Water as Our Common Origin’ co-organized by the Museum of World Religions, Goldin Institute for Partnership and Peace, and the City Government of Taipei. The Master then traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland, to attend the second Spirit of Humanity Forum and address the importance of Love & Compassion in 2014. Master Hsin Tao visited Vienna, Austria, in 2016 to share his interfaith experiences by speaking on ‘Loving the Earth, Loving Peace’ at the KAICIID Dialogue Center.
In 2017, Master Hsin Tao visited the Vatican to meet in person His Holiness Pope Francis and extended a personal invitation to the Pope to endorse the LJM signature peace initiative ‘Loving the Earth, Loving Peace’. The Master instructed the LJM Buddhist Society to co-work and curate the sixth International Symposium on Buddhist-Christian Dialogue with the theme of ‘Buddhists and Christians Walk Together Side-by-Side to Stop Violence’ in the same year. The Master then led the LJM in 2021 to participate in the teleconference series of ‘Faith and Science: towards COP26’ co-organized by the Vatican, the UK, and the Italian Embassy to the Vatican. The telecon series was designed as an interfaith contribution to the COP26 Summit in Glasgow in late 2021. The Master submitted his input to highlight the idea of ‘returning to the spiritual wisdom that all things stem from the same origin’ to emphasize that ‘it is categorically necessary to stop wars and abolish nuclear weapons to preserve ecological sustainability.’
On March 3, 2022, Master Hsin Tao made a public appeal that ‘we must stop the war for the sake of ecology’ as his response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Master invited all religions to pray for peace in the world and pray for all persons suffering from war(6).
Lifelong Commitments to Education, Culture, & Charity
Master Hsin Tao cares about society and the general public. He often reminds his disciples and followers that life is all about service and dedication. He spares no efforts when it comes to the promotion of education, culture, and charity. The LJM Prajna Cultural Foundation was established in 1989. The LJM Dharmapalas Association was set up in 1990, and the LJM Charity Foundation came into operation in 1994. The LJM affiliates have gained recognition from government authorities including the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Culture, and the New Taipei City Government for being a role model for religious and charitable organizations. The Master established the Triyana Buddhist Academy in 2003 to inject innovation and vitality into the education of monastics, and meditation retreats remain a strict requirement there. For followers in the general public, a wide selection of Dharma activities is available to meet individual demand, ranging from standard meditation, and pilgrimage to Dharma functions. There are Buddhist camps for people of different age groups from youngsters to senior citizens, and outreach initiatives of education on emotional intelligence (EQ) which have reached school campuses nationwide. Starting 2014, the LJM launched the four-phase Buddhist education that interprets Buddha’s teachings with Master Hsin Tao’s Dharma realization. The four-phase Buddhist education, which features the practice of meditation, is divided into the Āgama, the Prajna, the Lotus, and the Avatamsaka stages which allow the disciples to explore the behavioral standard of monks as well as the laity, Buddhist precepts and rituals, structure of monastic community and Dharma preaching. The system is both a way to learn Buddha’s teachings and a path to achieve enlightenment.
Master Hsin Tao believes that culture transcends people and helps them retrieve the lost value of ethics. The LJM, therefore, launched the Award for Religious Literature in 2002. The LJM Prajna Culture Foundation, meanwhile, established a publishing house to produce print and electronic publications on classic scriptures, studies of Buddha teachings, and other religion-related topics. The publishing also covers religious journals and academic periodicals including the International Studies on Buddhism, Transcription & Translation, Prajna Teachings, The Connected Ones, The MWR Bi-Monthly, Research on New Era Religion, the Life Education Semi-Annually, the Life & Peace Bi-Monthly, and the Naungmon Quarterly. The LJM publishing arm also curates seminars, lectures, exhibits, and other events. For charity drives, the Master instructed the establishment of the Pu-Jen Scholarships in 2003 to help students in need to pay for their tuition. Large quantities of commodities such as rice, salt, and cooking oil are collected every year at the LJM signature Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly to present to the communities and individuals below the poverty line.
Since 1999 when Taiwan suffered the second-deadliest earthquake in the island’s recorded history on September 21, the LJM and its followers started to honor Buddha’s teachings of caring for all sentient beings. They offered disaster relief services, hosted collective prayers and sutra recitations, and dedicated all the merit in the end to the victims. The practice continued all these years from the 1999 earthquake in Taiwan to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the extremely severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis that struck Myanmar in 2008, the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, the Haiti earthquake in 2010, and the strong earthquake that ravaged central Nepal in 2015. Nowadays, the LJM charity practice covers medical assistance, accommodation help, supply of food and drinking water, care for young children and the elderly, and counseling help. All these and many more are just manifestations of the Master’s compassion.
Founding the University for Life & Peace (ULP)
For the overall health of the Earth’s ecology, sustainability of life, and awakening of spiritual ecology, Master Hsin Tao has since long been planning to found the University for Life & Peace (ULP) as a platform to link and unite all people dedicated to the ideal of ‘Loving the Earth, Loving Peace’ for further cooperation. The Master instructed the ULP to serve as a multi-functional bastion of peace, featuring capabilities of education, culture, religion, organic agriculture, medicine, and charity. The LJM School for Sramanas at Naungmon, Myanmar, was inaugurated in June, 2016, and the Master declared on the occasion that the school planned on recruiting more pupils as seeds for Dharma preaching and promotion of peace. The ULP’s International Head Office was set up in Manhattan, New York City, in 2017, and later the same year, the first ULP Think-tank Meeting was convened in Regensburg, Germany, on May 29 and 30. The second ULP Think-tank Meeting occurred on September 27 - 30, 2017, in Myanmar.
On October 8 and October 10, 2017, the LJM held one concert each in Kaohsiung and Taipei, both themed on Life & Peace, on which occasions the Master himself made it official and public that the University for Life & Peace will now begin to be built. In January 2018, Governor Phyo Min Thein of Yangon Province, Myanmar, paid an official visit to Master Hsin Tao to personally convey the official message that ULP would receive government support for its construction. Some 600 hectares of land was purchased as the designated seat for the ULP campus in February 2018. The third Thinktank Meeting was convened in Austria on May 23 - 24. On January 9 - 23, 2019, the first Winter School of ULP was held in Yangon, Myanmar, to focus on the theme of ‘Marching toward New Strategies for the Root Causes of Ecological Crises’. The second Winter School took place from January 8 to 18, 2020, to run on the theme of ‘Healing the Earth: Interchangeable Actions between Ecology & Technology’. The third Winter School was taken online for the two time slots on January 22-23 and 29-30, 2021, to explore the theme of ‘Decision-making: How Do We Make & Implement Decisions Corresponding to Ecology's Dire Status Quo?’ On December 18, 2021, Master Hsin Tao signed a joint MOU with Rector Eddy Moors of the UNESCO-affiliated IHE Delft Institute for Water Education for long-term cooperation in the space of water and environmental education.
Honors & Awards
Outstanding Contribution to the Propagation of Buddhism Award (the Highest Sri Lankan honor for a Buddhist Leader ), 2005
Pt. Motilal Nehru National Award for Peace, Tolerance and Harmony, India, from the Inter-Faith Harmony Foundation of India, 2005
Aggamahāsaddhammajotikadhaja (the Highest National honor of Myanmar), 2006
Excellence in Teaching Meditation Award (Mahākammaṭṭhānācariya) from the Myanmar Government, 2010
The Interfaith Visionary Award from the Temple of Understanding, USA, 2010
The Second benefactor of Buddhism Award from the Thai Royal Buddhist monastery Wat Bowonniwet Vihāra Committee, 2013
The Highest Meditation Achievement Award (Aggamahākammaṭṭhānācariya) from the Myanmar Government, 2014
The R.O.C. Cultural Collaboration Medal, Ministry of Culture, 2021
Publications in Foreign Languages
Birds in the Heart （1999） the Ling Jiou Mountain Press
Weisheit und Barmherzigkeit （January 2001） Aquamarin Verlag GmbH
Mountain, Ocean, Space, People （2007） Ling Jiou Mountain Prajna Cultural and Educational Foundation
The Way of the Heart: The Teachings of Dharma Master Hsin Tao （November 2016） CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
The Buddhist Voyage Beyond Death （November 2016） Cambridge Scholars Publishing
The Power of Zen Meditation: Ten Spiritual Dialogues With Dharma Master Hsin Tao （September 2018） Balboa Press
Living Zen Happy Life: Timeless Zen Wisdom for your Daily Joy and Ultimate Peace （September 2021） Balboa Press
Master Hsin Tao is a bearer of the Triyana legacy that spans all three major vehicles of Buddhism, i.e. Theravada, Vajrayana, and Mahayana. Formal recognition of his respective lineage in the afore-said traditions took place in 1994, 2001, and 2007 respectively, with the ritual bestowment of a given alias in the corresponding Buddhist sect individually for all three legacies. Details follow.
In 1994, with the transmission of Myanmar’s National Buddhist Advisor U Kuothala on the Three Platforms of Precepts of Theravada Buddhism, Master Hsin Tao acquired the auspicious name U Ku Tha Qla (meaning ‘Eradicating all obstacles’) for his Dharma lineage of the Theravada tradition.
In 2001, Master Hsin Tao received initiation into Vajrayana from His Holiness Mozha Rinpoche of Nyingma Kathog School of Tibetan Buddhism. Master Hsin Tao was justified with the achievement of the Rainbow Body in a previous life and was given the Dharma name Baji Dorje (meaning ‘Auspicious Vajra’).
In 2007, the Master was recognized by Elder Master Ben Huan who entrusted him with the legacy of the Linji School of Chan Buddhism as the 45th Patriarch of the Xuyun lineage. Elder Master Ben Huan presented him the Dharma name Chang Miao Hsin Tao (meaning ‘the always wonderful Hsin Tao’).
In 2013, the Master further received Dharma recognition from Venerable Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan Monastery (FGS) and was certified as the 49th Patriarch of the Chi Xia Zhong Xing lineage of the Linji School of Chan Buddhism. Master Hsin Tao was bestowed with another Dharma name Hsin Tao Jih Da (meaning ‘Hsin Tao has achieved with wisdom’).
Prioritizing the practice of Compassion & Chan (Zen) Meditation as its tradition, Master Hsin Tao launched the LJM in 1983 and the Wu-Sheng Monastery in 1984, followed by the construction of thirty-plus temples, academies, branches, meditation centers, and assembly centers at home and abroad over the years, dedicating to the promotion of Buddhadharma, charity, culture, and social education. The MWR was founded in 2001 as a catalyst to garner strengths and influence for the Master’s effort in interfaith promotion. The Master’s endeavor in recent years can be witnessed in the creation of a future university in Myanmar - the University for Life & Peace (ULP) - with a focus on the education of spiritual ecology alongside the Master’s long-term commitment to the ideal of ‘Loving the Earth, Loving Peace’.
Awards & Citations:
Outstanding Contribution to the Propagation of Buddhism Award (the Highest Sri Lankan honor for a Buddhist Leader), 2005
Pt. Motilal Nehru National Award for Peace, Tolerance and Harmony, India, 2005
Aggamahāsaddhammajotikadhaja (the Highest National honor of Myanmar), 2006
Excellence in Teaching Meditation Award (Mahākammaṭṭhānācariya) from the Myanmar Government, 2010
The Interfaith Visionary Award from the Temple of Understanding, USA, 2010
The Second benefactor of Buddhism Award from the Thai Royal Buddhist monastery Wat Bowonniwet Vihāra Committee, 2013
The Highest Meditation Achievement Award (Aggamahākammaṭṭhānācariya) from the Myanmar Government , 2014
The R.O.C. Cultural Collaboration Medal, Ministry of Cultural Affairs (4), 2021
Early Years
Birth
Born in 1948 in Laikan Village, Laidaoshan Region, Lashio, Myanmar, to parents of Chinese origin from the Province of Yunnan. The given name was YANG Xiao-Sheng(5).
Childhood
His father YANG Xiao-Cai was killed in 1952 and his mother LI Shuz-Jen went missing with his younger sister YANG Xiao-Ping and were never to hear from again. War-orphaned at the age of 4, YANG Xiao-Sheng was first raised by his aunt YANG Xiao-Si who passed away shortly thereafter and his uncle-in-law YIN Hu-Nan took him along into the mountains as a hobo until 1957, when Uncle Yin’s buddy army officer LU Dingz-Zhou encouraged to have the 9-year old join the guerilla army to have access to learning things. His given name was changed to YANG Jian-Sheng but misspelled as YANG Jin-Sheng for formalities. During their period as a child foot soldier, he was commissioned to carry supplies of ammunition on numerous occasions and thereby witnessed the violence and cruelty of war and the impermanence of life. He thus became resentful of war and vowed to seek peace.
Arrival in Taiwan
Yang was with the Solitary Army when it retreated to Taiwan in 1961 and was enrolled in the Company of Youngster Soldiers stationed in the Chengkungling Army Training Center. He was admitted to the Xin-Xing Elementary School of Tan-zi Township in Taichung County in early 1963 but later started schooling at the Yuan-shu-lin Elementary School at Da-si Township, Taoyuan, when the army base was moved to Taoyuan.
Spiritual Journey
Taking refuge in Bodhisattva Guanyin
He couldn’t stop his tears upon first hearing the holy name of Bodhisattva Guanyin from army doctor ZHANG Qi-Fu in 1963, who made him a gift of a daily prayer book. Yang began to chant the Great Compassion Mantra and recite the Universal Gate Chapter of the Lotus Sutra when he also read Buddha's life stories. He took refuge in Bodhisattva Guanyin, making the acquaintances of Master Yuan Guang and Master Chang Yuan and embarked on learning of Buddhadharma at the Chao-Yin Temple. From then on, Yang made the lifelong commitment to practice Buddhadharma. On his arms and torso, there are tattoos that read ‘I shall never rest until attaining the perfect enlightenment’, ‘Regaining the Buddha nature as the supreme offering to Bodhisattva Guanyin’, ‘Liberating sentient beings with Tathagatagarbha,’ as well as the swastika symbol ‘卍’ of Sanskrit which means "conducive to well-being".
Before becoming a monk
He passed the examination for admission to the Long-Tan Vocational School of Agriculture in Taoyuan in 1964 but transferred to the Guanxi Junior High School in Hsinchu in 1965. He was nicknamed Jai-Gong (Ol’ Vegan) for being a vegetarian and came into contact with Yiguandao preacher Xie Feng-Ying for help and support and the latter’s religious teachings. He then passed the examination for admission to the First Academy for Army Sergeants at Lung-Gang, Zhong-Li, in Taoyuan. In 1967, he formed the Mei Oath Party with his bosom pal LI Feng-Chun and tried to return to Myanmar to rescue his folks there by sailing a bamboo raft that capsized and aborted his adventure. He went to the police and confessed his illegal exit and forfeited the no-charge release. Yang requested to be prosecuted as a felony and voluntarily went to prison for eight months for an excuse to be formally discharged from the army once and for all. His wish was fulfilled in 1968 upon receiving a formal order of discharge from the army and a long period of short-lived, temp jobs followed when he earned his living as a handyman, a delivery boy, a tea-factory worker, even a grocery clerk selling rice. Job-hopping afforded him a glimpse into different walks of life alongside a host of different faiths ranging from Taoism, folklore cults, to Confucianism. The death of LI Feng-Chun in 1972 sharpened his sense of impermanence. Yang comprehended that life is suffering, making his mind up to become a monk.
Entering the monastic way of life and taking vows as a fully-ordained monk
On September 19 of the lunar calendar in 1973 that coincided with a special day of Bodhisattva Guanyin, Yang was clean-shaven to become a monk with the blessing of Master Hsing Yun of the Fo Guang Shan Monastery (FGS). He was given the Dharma name ‘Hsin Tao’ and a courtesy name ‘Huei Zhong’. He was admitted to the Tsung-Lin University of the FGS. The same year also saw him receive precepts at the Fa-Yun Temple in Miao-Li, with Master Ming Chang, Master Nan Ting, and Master Tao An as the Triple Mentors. The formal ritual of the Grand Tri-Altars ordination was presided over by senior Grand Master Jeh Der, who had since then developed a close Dharma bond with Master Hsin Tao and played a prominent role at the LJM Water Land Dharma Assembly. The ordination ritual was flanked by Master Wu Yi and Master Cheng Yi. Master Ren Hai, who was a fellow recipient of precepts at the same ritual, later shared with Master Hsin Tao the method of the ‘Silent Illumination Meditation’. Master Hsin Tao was able to register fast-paced advancement and his meditation sessions would last from evening until dawn. It quickly became apparent to Master Hsin Tao that ascetic monasticism was the way for him to advance further.
Practice of Dhutanga
Master Hsin Tao took leave of absence from the FGS in August 1974 and went to stay in solitude at an idled greenhouse for orchids at the residence of Master Yuan Guang in Wai-Shuang-Xi, Taipei. The solitary retreat was meant to help concentrate on the practice of Dhutanga, aimed specifically at achieving a thorough understanding of solitude and fear. A poem Master Hsin Tao wrote during this period reads ‘The moon is alone and the clouds remain quiet; in serenity, there was this sense of realization.’
The Charnel-ground-dwellers Practice (susanik'anga)
Under an arrangement facilitated by Grand Master Hsing Yun, Master Hsin Tao went to the Lei Yin Temple in Yi-Lan for practice in retreat in late February 1975. The plan was let go 15 days later as a nearby blacksmith workshop made the desired quiet impossible. Grand Master Hsing Yun instructed anew and the venue designated was the Yuan Ming Temple at the Er-Jie Village of Jiao-Xi in Yi-Lan. Built in 1917, the temple received Grand Master Ci-Hang and Grand Master Hsing Yun in earlier years, but its remote location and difficult access turned visitors away and the structure of the building was critically time-challenged. There was a cemetery to the north of the rundown temple and people hardly ever passed by, which suited Master Hsin Tao just fine. He started the first ever Charnel-ground-dweller's Practice (susanik'anga) on March 14, 1975, practicing meditation day in and day out, attachment-free. In 1976, he took in his first disciple in the laity, Hsu Chung-Chih.
A major overhaul for the Yuan Ming Temple went underway in 1977 and Master Hsin Tao relocated to the Ling Shan Pagoda about 100 meters away. The night before the move, he dreamed of Bodhisattva Wei Tuo (Skanda) appearing in the golden body of a giant, chanting the Diamond Sutra, the Heart Sutra, and the Great Compassion Mantra. The last verse that ‘The Buddha Light Illuminating All’ was clearly picked up by the ear. The pagoda was surrounded by tombs scattered around randomly. Master Hsin Tao began his second Charnel-ground-dweller's practice here and focused on mastering the practice of meditative absorption. In his spare time the Master went to a veterans' home at the foot of the mountain to help move and cleanse corpses or help the elderlies take a shower. The Ling Shan Pagoda period was the time when Master Hsin Tao gained the most traction and advancement in meditation practice throughout the decades. He nicknamed his place of stay there the ‘Ah! Ling Shan Chan Villa’. One day he experienced the union of mind and spiritual awareness and the verses of a poem emerged: ‘The essence is serene. Emptiness has no essence. By residing in emptiness, one’s never parted from the form.’
Later, another poem came to Master Hsin Tao as follows -
The body is solitary, Body is empty, and impermanence is empty, no separated from the essence of emptiness phnomena「體性寂然，虛無體性，常住虛無，不離體相。」：Spiritual Luminous light is empty, The nature is only based on Chinese words, whereas the real meaning need explanation「靈明虛照大千界，寂滅性空體如如。」)Spiritual luminosity
During his years of practicing meditation in rundown cemeteries, Master Hsin Tao often picked up the wailing sorrows of sentient beings in darkness. His compassion turned into his daily chanting of the Great Compassion Mantra and the Diamond Sutra to help liberate sufferings in another dimension. He further vowed to elevate sentient beings from suffering in the three lower realms. These pledges resulted in the later establishment of the LJM, the holding of regular rituals for all-encompassing puja offerings as alms for lost souls, and the staging of the annual signature LJM Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly in lunar July. In one of his meditations, the Master saw the embodiment of Milarepa who touched his forehead and bestowed the auspicious name ‘Pu Ren’ (Widely shared benevolence), which later became the name of the scholarship the LJM gives out every semester of the school year. Master Hsin Tao relocated his place of stay for the practice of solitary meditation in cemetery yet another time to the mountain slope next to the Long Tan Lake in Yi Lan. The place was named the ‘Illusion-like Mountain Dwelling’ to borrow from the paraphrase ‘impermanence of life & death is comparable to dreams and illusions’. That was where the Master began his third Charnel-ground-dweller's practice, spending nights and an 18-hour average daily practice of meditation for four consecutive years. A poem gave a vivid account: ‘For One who has perfected the Listening Meditation, there is no more arising, cessation, and nirvana.’
( Things came to a completely silent state, there is no arising, cessation, Nirvana)( The translation of this poem is only based on Chinese words, whereas the real meaning needs explanation)
With visitors and followers steadily growing in numbers, simple housing facilities with tile roofs were constructed to serve as the place for Dharma practice and teaching. A four-character phrase ‘Chan Ji Guang Tu’ meaning ‘the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light’ often appeared in his visualization, so the Master named the newly constructed temple ‘Ji Guang Monastery’. In 1980, Master Hsin Tao received the Kalachakra Empowerment given by Kalu Rinpoche of the Karma Kagyu tradition, being bestowed with the Dharma name ‘無畏’ meaning ‘Fearless.’ He also learned from the Rinpoche the teaching of Mahamudra meditation and the Four-Armed Avalokiteshvara practice. In the same year, Master Hsin Tao took in his first male monastic disciple, Master Ji Guang. In 1981, he took in his first female monastic disciple, Master Fa Xing.
Fasting Retreat
In late 1982 the Master dreamed of a surgical removal of his stomach. He thought long and hard about it after waking up to decide to fast over an extended period. He acquired textual guidance on the practice of ‘Bigu’ (grain avoidance) with a systematic approach plus the formula for making herbal pills with floral essence for a nutritional supplement of the fasting meditation. Master Hsin Tao began his fasting retreat in early April 1983, and relocated to a historic site nearby two weeks later. He relocated again in June and practiced fasting retreat for over three months in a cave at the Gong-Nan Temple in Fulong. On September 21 which coincided with the lunar Moon Festival that year, a final relocation saw the site change to the Fa-Hwa Cave on the premises where the LJM is now located. The long-term fasting went on until April 1985, when the Master left for a pilgrimage to India.
Dedication to Promote Buddha’s Teachings
Founding of the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Society (LJM)
The LJM was launched on the Moon Festival on September 21, 1983. The main hall of the Monastery was formally inaugurated on June 19 of the lunar calendar in 1984. The name of the temple was originally ‘Bu-Dong Temple’ (Immovable Monastery), but it was suggested by Master Fa Xing to change to ‘Wu Sheng Monastery’. The number of the Master’s disciples and followers began to grow and the LJM nowadays enjoys a global following. To promote Buddhadharma and reach the greatest audiences possible, the Master founded the LJM Prajna Culture Foundation in 1989, the LJM Association of Dharmapalas in 1990, the LJM Charity Foundation and a development fund for the planned Museum of World Religions in 1994. In 1997, he set up the LJM Foundation for Buddhism in 1997. Parallelly, constructions for the LJM temples, monasteries, lecture halls, meditation centers, and meeting places sprang up at home in Taiwan and overseas including Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and New York City in the United States to promote Buddha’s teachings alongside social and cultural activities for educational purposes. The Master internalized ‘Practice of Compassion and Chan Meditation’ as the LJM tradition, encouraging disciples to implement daily meditation practice on life and routine at work. He further pioneered the ‘Peace Chan Meditation’ based on the Dharma practice of Bodhisattva Guanyin’s Perfect Listening via the ‘Root Organ of Hearing’, adding his own experiences in meditation over decades. Master Hsin Tao’s method facilitates access to meditation for people to find the way to harmonize body and mind with clear awareness so that they can ultimately regain inherent spirituality.
Initiating the LJM Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly
Always thinking back to the vows he made during his time practicing solitary meditation in cemeteries, Master Hsin Tao led the Four Groups of Buddhist disciples and followers to initiate the first LJM Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly in Taichung in 1994. The LJM tradition was thus cemented to continue over time uninterrupted and the 28th annual Dharma Assembly in 2021 was just as solemn and spectacular as a LJM signature offering despite the pandemic. To benefit both the living and the dead, the Master has tall demands for all requirements pertinent to rituals and stipulations for the implementation of the Water-Land Liberation Rites. Over time, the LJM Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly has grown to become one of the most prominent Dharma events of its league. On its 20th anniversary in 2013, Master Hsin Tao unveiled that the LJM Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly should be a ‘Grand and Universal Offering’ to ‘the sentient beings of all ten directions, offering them bliss and relief from suffering by observing precepts and going deep into the Sutra treasure, while cleaning the mind with humble repentance’. The instruction reflects the essence of the Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly of ‘Compassion, Solemnity, and Equality’.
Founding the Museum of World Religions(MWR)
‘What can we do to benefit mankind by religion, let people forget their differences so that they can appreciate learning from one another, let them all be properly placed and provided for? The answer must be (honoring) the spirit of religion to practice mutual respect, all-embracing tolerance, and life-loving altruism that collectively advance love and peace.’ Such had always been Master Hsin Tao’s ideals when the Preparatory Office for the Museum of World Religions(MWR) came into being in 1990. With the donation of a prime-location office space up to 6,600 square meters in New Taipei City by the Master’s devout follower and patron CHIU Tze-Dong, the Development Foundation of MWR was established in 1994 to help expedite the project. After more than a decade of dedicated work, the MWR was inaugurated on November 9, 2001, with its Opening Date officially labeled the ‘World Religions’ Day of Harmony’ and some 120 religious leaders and representatives from 38 countries were at hand for celebrations and interfaith exchanges. Upholding the ideals of ‘Respect for All Faiths, Tolerance for All Cultures, and Love for All Lives’, the MWR has been hosting an annual spring prayer session since 2008 to usher in peace and blessings for the lunar Chinese New Year. The gathering affords another case in point to manifest the LJM’s resolve as a collective platform for ongoing interfaith dialogue.
Launching Long-term International Campaigns for World Peace
In 1996, the Master flew out to the Middle East to visit Turkey and Israel and delivered speeches when he met with religious representatives of Islam, Judaism, and the Bahá'í Faith. He went to Thailand in the same year to attend the Asian Conference on Religion & Peace(ACRP). The Master was invited to attend the third PoWR (Parliament of the World’s Religions) in Capetown, South Africa, for the first time in 1999. He delivered two speeches, “Spiritual Challenges Facing the New Millennium” and “Buddhism in the 21st Century”. He also played an engaging panelist for interactions with an international audience on topics of religion and world peace. The Master has become a regular feature of the PoWR ever since and attended all its congregations from the 4th to the 8th Conference back to back. The Master also honored the United Nations invitation to the ‘Millennium Peace Summit of Religious & Spiritual Leaders’ in 2000 to deliver a prayer text. He was later invited to get involved with the UN Interfaith Peace Corp.
In 2002, the LJM established the New York-based NGO initiative ‘Global Family of Love & Peace’ (GFLP). The Master was then invited to attend the UN’s 55th Annual NGOs Assembly, and was joined by the then UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a collective prayer session on the 9/11 Anniversary. The same year also saw the kickoff of the first Muslim - Buddhist Dialogue at the campus of Columbia University in the United States. From there onwards and over the span of two decades, the interfaith dialogue has been going on in European, Asian, and African metropolises from Jakarta, Paris, Teheran, Barcelona, Morocco, Beijing to Taipei. The 17th Muslim - Buddhist Dialogue with an added feature of the second Muslim - Buddhist Dialogue of the Youth in 2021 zoomed in on the theme ‘Actions Recommended for Spiritual Ecology’.
In 2003, Master Hsin Tao delivered a speech entitled ‘Religious Dialogue Contributes to Peace’ at the NGO General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters. In 2004, the Master’s keynote speech ‘Global Ethics & World Peace Are Religion’s Duty Now’ was delivered at the international conference on ‘Spirituality & Sustainability of Ecology: Water as Our Common Origin’ co-organized by the Museum of World Religions, Goldin Institute for Partnership and Peace, and the City Government of Taipei. The Master then traveled to Reykjavik, Iceland, to attend the second Spirit of Humanity Forum and address the importance of Love & Compassion in 2014. Master Hsin Tao visited Vienna, Austria, in 2016 to share his interfaith experiences by speaking on ‘Loving the Earth, Loving Peace’ at the KAICIID Dialogue Center.
In 2017, Master Hsin Tao visited the Vatican to meet in person His Holiness Pope Francis and extended a personal invitation to the Pope to endorse the LJM signature peace initiative ‘Loving the Earth, Loving Peace’. The Master instructed the LJM Buddhist Society to co-work and curate the sixth International Symposium on Buddhist-Christian Dialogue with the theme of ‘Buddhists and Christians Walk Together Side-by-Side to Stop Violence’ in the same year. The Master then led the LJM in 2021 to participate in the teleconference series of ‘Faith and Science: towards COP26’ co-organized by the Vatican, the UK, and the Italian Embassy to the Vatican. The telecon series was designed as an interfaith contribution to the COP26 Summit in Glasgow in late 2021. The Master submitted his input to highlight the idea of ‘returning to the spiritual wisdom that all things stem from the same origin’ to emphasize that ‘it is categorically necessary to stop wars and abolish nuclear weapons to preserve ecological sustainability.’
On March 3, 2022, Master Hsin Tao made a public appeal that ‘we must stop the war for the sake of ecology’ as his response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Master invited all religions to pray for peace in the world and pray for all persons suffering from war(6).
Lifelong Commitments to Education, Culture, & Charity
Master Hsin Tao cares about society and the general public. He often reminds his disciples and followers that life is all about service and dedication. He spares no efforts when it comes to the promotion of education, culture, and charity. The LJM Prajna Cultural Foundation was established in 1989. The LJM Dharmapalas Association was set up in 1990, and the LJM Charity Foundation came into operation in 1994. The LJM affiliates have gained recognition from government authorities including the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Culture, and the New Taipei City Government for being a role model for religious and charitable organizations. The Master established the Triyana Buddhist Academy in 2003 to inject innovation and vitality into the education of monastics, and meditation retreats remain a strict requirement there. For followers in the general public, a wide selection of Dharma activities is available to meet individual demand, ranging from standard meditation, and pilgrimage to Dharma functions. There are Buddhist camps for people of different age groups from youngsters to senior citizens, and outreach initiatives of education on emotional intelligence (EQ) which have reached school campuses nationwide. Starting 2014, the LJM launched the four-phase Buddhist education that interprets Buddha’s teachings with Master Hsin Tao’s Dharma realization. The four-phase Buddhist education, which features the practice of meditation, is divided into the Āgama, the Prajna, the Lotus, and the Avatamsaka stages which allow the disciples to explore the behavioral standard of monks as well as the laity, Buddhist precepts and rituals, structure of monastic community and Dharma preaching. The system is both a way to learn Buddha’s teachings and a path to achieve enlightenment.
Master Hsin Tao believes that culture transcends people and helps them retrieve the lost value of ethics. The LJM, therefore, launched the Award for Religious Literature in 2002. The LJM Prajna Culture Foundation, meanwhile, established a publishing house to produce print and electronic publications on classic scriptures, studies of Buddha teachings, and other religion-related topics. The publishing also covers religious journals and academic periodicals including the International Studies on Buddhism, Transcription & Translation, Prajna Teachings, The Connected Ones, The MWR Bi-Monthly, Research on New Era Religion, the Life Education Semi-Annually, the Life & Peace Bi-Monthly, and the Naungmon Quarterly. The LJM publishing arm also curates seminars, lectures, exhibits, and other events. For charity drives, the Master instructed the establishment of the Pu-Jen Scholarships in 2003 to help students in need to pay for their tuition. Large quantities of commodities such as rice, salt, and cooking oil are collected every year at the LJM signature Water-Land-Air Dharma Assembly to present to the communities and individuals below the poverty line.
Since 1999 when Taiwan suffered the second-deadliest earthquake in the island’s recorded history on September 21, the LJM and its followers started to honor Buddha’s teachings of caring for all sentient beings. They offered disaster relief services, hosted collective prayers and sutra recitations, and dedicated all the merit in the end to the victims. The practice continued all these years from the 1999 earthquake in Taiwan to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the extremely severe Cyclonic Storm Nargis that struck Myanmar in 2008, the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, the Haiti earthquake in 2010, and the strong earthquake that ravaged central Nepal in 2015. Nowadays, the LJM charity practice covers medical assistance, accommodation help, supply of food and drinking water, care for young children and the elderly, and counseling help. All these and many more are just manifestations of the Master’s compassion.
Founding the University for Life & Peace (ULP)
For the overall health of the Earth’s ecology, sustainability of life, and awakening of spiritual ecology, Master Hsin Tao has since long been planning to found the University for Life & Peace (ULP) as a platform to link and unite all people dedicated to the ideal of ‘Loving the Earth, Loving Peace’ for further cooperation. The Master instructed the ULP to serve as a multi-functional bastion of peace, featuring capabilities of education, culture, religion, organic agriculture, medicine, and charity. The LJM School for Sramanas at Naungmon, Myanmar, was inaugurated in June, 2016, and the Master declared on the occasion that the school planned on recruiting more pupils as seeds for Dharma preaching and promotion of peace. The ULP’s International Head Office was set up in Manhattan, New York City, in 2017, and later the same year, the first ULP Think-tank Meeting was convened in Regensburg, Germany, on May 29 and 30. The second ULP Think-tank Meeting occurred on September 27 - 30, 2017, in Myanmar.
On October 8 and October 10, 2017, the LJM held one concert each in Kaohsiung and Taipei, both themed on Life & Peace, on which occasions the Master himself made it official and public that the University for Life & Peace will now begin to be built. In January 2018, Governor Phyo Min Thein of Yangon Province, Myanmar, paid an official visit to Master Hsin Tao to personally convey the official message that ULP would receive government support for its construction. Some 600 hectares of land was purchased as the designated seat for the ULP campus in February 2018. The third Thinktank Meeting was convened in Austria on May 23 - 24. On January 9 - 23, 2019, the first Winter School of ULP was held in Yangon, Myanmar, to focus on the theme of ‘Marching toward New Strategies for the Root Causes of Ecological Crises’. The second Winter School took place from January 8 to 18, 2020, to run on the theme of ‘Healing the Earth: Interchangeable Actions between Ecology & Technology’. The third Winter School was taken online for the two time slots on January 22-23 and 29-30, 2021, to explore the theme of ‘Decision-making: How Do We Make & Implement Decisions Corresponding to Ecology's Dire Status Quo?’ On December 18, 2021, Master Hsin Tao signed a joint MOU with Rector Eddy Moors of the UNESCO-affiliated IHE Delft Institute for Water Education for long-term cooperation in the space of water and environmental education.
Honors & Awards
Outstanding Contribution to the Propagation of Buddhism Award (the Highest Sri Lankan honor for a Buddhist Leader ), 2005
Pt. Motilal Nehru National Award for Peace, Tolerance and Harmony, India, from the Inter-Faith Harmony Foundation of India, 2005
Aggamahāsaddhammajotikadhaja (the Highest National honor of Myanmar), 2006
Excellence in Teaching Meditation Award (Mahākammaṭṭhānācariya) from the Myanmar Government, 2010
The Interfaith Visionary Award from the Temple of Understanding, USA, 2010
The Second benefactor of Buddhism Award from the Thai Royal Buddhist monastery Wat Bowonniwet Vihāra Committee, 2013
The Highest Meditation Achievement Award (Aggamahākammaṭṭhānācariya) from the Myanmar Government, 2014
The R.O.C. Cultural Collaboration Medal, Ministry of Culture, 2021
Publications in Foreign Languages
Birds in the Heart （1999） the Ling Jiou Mountain Press
Weisheit und Barmherzigkeit （January 2001） Aquamarin Verlag GmbH
Mountain, Ocean, Space, People （2007） Ling Jiou Mountain Prajna Cultural and Educational Foundation
The Way of the Heart: The Teachings of Dharma Master Hsin Tao （November 2016） CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
The Buddhist Voyage Beyond Death （November 2016） Cambridge Scholars Publishing
The Power of Zen Meditation: Ten Spiritual Dialogues With Dharma Master Hsin Tao （September 2018） Balboa Press
Living Zen Happy Life: Timeless Zen Wisdom for your Daily Joy and Ultimate Peace （September 2021） Balboa Press