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Our primary teacher is Chan Master Sheng Yen, who has taught Buddhism in the West since 1976. He is widely recognized as one of the foremost contemporary Buddhist teachers, and is a spiritual leader whose compassionate model guides and inspires all who know his work. In 2000 he was one of the keynote speakers of the Millennium Religious Summit held at the United Nations. Recently, Venerable Sheng Yen saw the completion of the Dharma Drum Mountain World Center for Buddhist Education, located in Taipei, Taiwan. In describing his vision for the center, Ven. Sheng Yen proposed four kinds of environmentalism: - Protection of the spiritual environment: to cultivate peace and stability in our mind.
- Protection of the social environment: the harmonious interaction between human beings.
- Protection of the living environment: to treasure, reduce the consumption of, and reuse natural resources.
- Protection of the natural environment: the policy making of large enterprise and governments to reduce destruction of the natural environment.
Through education, public outreach and dedicated service, Dharma Drum Mountain hopes to cultivate widespread practice of the four kinds of environmentalism, and make our world a better place to live. |
