Buddhist Master Sheng Yen (聖嚴法師), founder of the Taipei-based Dharma Drum Mountain Culture and Education Foundation, died at 4pm yesterday at Dharma Drum Mountain in Taipei County’s Jinshan Township’s (金山). He was 79 years old.
On the foundation’s Web site, an announcement said: “Though the Master’s body passed today … Master Sheng Yen has not left us. His preachings touch our daily lives; at this time, what we need most is to calm our hearts and recite Buddha’s name.”
The foundation said Sheng Yen had been battling with chronic kidney ailments and had been on dialysis at National Taiwan University Hospital. After being diagnosed with urological cancer in December, Sheng Yen was hospitalized on Jan. 5.
PHOTO: CNA
The hospital said Sheng Yen voluntarily checked out of the hospital at around 3pm on Monday to return to his temple.
Although Sheng Yen had been advised by the hospital about the option of a kidney transplant, speaking of his illness in 2007, he said he declined the surgery because, “The kidney fails as a function of nature; there is no need to do unnecessary and extra procedures to [prevent it].”
Sheng Yen was named as one of the 50 most influential people in Taiwan’s history by Common Wealth magazine in 1998 and advised politicians, business leaders and celebrities.
Born in 1930 in China’s Suzhou Province, Sheng Yen was tonsured as a monk at the age of 13.
His religious career was interrupted for 10 years when he was drafted into the army during China’s Civil War. He came to Taiwan in 1949 and became a monk again in 1959.
Sheng Yen, who received masters degree and a doctorate in Buddhist literature from Japan’s Rissho University, began to preach to large crowds of followers in 1985 as the founder and the director of the Institute of Chinese Buddhism Study in Peitou (北投), Taipei.
He founded the Dharma Drum Mountain Culture and Education Foundation in 1989, emphasizing attention to techniques to command one’s “mental ways” and “self-extrication.”
The temple went through a 16-year construction process before being opened in 2005 and now has branches worldwide.
One of Sheng Yen’s unfinished legacies is the Buddhist University, a project he announced in 1996 but has yet to receive sufficient funding to establish.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) paid a visit to Dharma Drum Mountain last night to pay tribute to Sheng Yen.
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
RSS