Welcome!

Teachings of my guru, His Holiness Living Buddha Sheng-yen Lu's have been compiled here for English readers. Great time and effort were put in by other disciples to translate this material from Chinese. May this collection provide insight and guidance to your daily life. This website is maintained for us to study, practice, read and re-read for the ultimate self-development. I hope you find this website useful!

Teachings

Lineage Verse

"A particular lineage master wanted me to read the verses he once wrote. I jotted them down to share with you. It has to do with achieving awakening,

Buddha nature deep as sea,
Middle and side see differently,
The way is between existence and void,
Verbal interpretation trifling.

Monks with fame and riches,
Ludicrous desire for motley of doctrines,
Greed and temper still bound,
Beginning and cessation never depart.

Buddhas of three ages,
Never apart from root wisdom,
Relinquish it to seek Bodhi,
Who attains Bodhi-hood?

Enlightened master understands this heart,
Relinquish all conditioned phenomena,
I have no grasp of time,
Disremembering the meaning of my words.

These verses are my token of appreciation for all of you who came to commemorate my birthday."

Master Sheng-yen Lu
(65th birthday June 2009)

The Iroha

Though the flowers are fragrant,
They will fade and fall.
In this world, what remains unchanged?

The steep mountains of adversity,
The transitory dreams --
All are evanescent . . .

Kobo Daishi (774-835)

It is not that we claim nonexistence, we merely remove claims for existing existents.

Buddhapalita (470-550)