New Sheng Yen Professor in Chinese Buddhist Studies

On May 10th, 2007 at a ceremony in Low Library at Columbia University, the Sheng Yen Professorship in Chinese Buddhist Studies was formally inaugurated. This represents the first endowed chair in Chinese Buddhism in North America, and is funded by the Sheng Yen Education Foundation. Venerable Master Sheng Yen (聖嚴法師) is a Chinese Chan Buddhist master who is the founder of the Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist organization in Taiwan. He is also the founder of two Chung Hwa Institutes of Buddhist Studies, one in New York and one in Taipei.While Venerable Master Sheng Yen could not attend the ceremony due to health reasons, representatives of his foundation were on hand. Support for the chair reflects Master Sheng Yen's commitment to promoting the study of Modern and Contemporary Chinese Buddhism, the relationships between East Asian Buddhism and other Buddhist traditions in the world as well as the increasingly important role Buddhism plays in the modern age. Master Shang Yen is especially known for his doctrine of "Environmentalism of the Mind", which seeks to first purify one's spirit before purifying one's environment.

The first holder of the chair is Prof. Chun-fang Yü (于君芳), a Columbia graduate and professor in the department of Religion. She is the author of The Renewal of Buddhism in China: Chu-hung and the Late Ming Synthesis (Columbia University Press, 1981), Kuan-yin, the Chinese Transformation of Avalokitesvara (Columbia University Press, 2001), and the co-editor of Pilgrims and Sacred Sites in China (Univ of California Press, 1992). Prof. Yü was also one of Sheng Yen's first students when he arrived in New York in the 1970s to teach Chan Buddhism both to Chinese immigrant communities and to Western students.

Links:
On "Environmentalism of the Mind >>"
Sheng Yen Education Foundation >>
Dharma Drum Mountain >>
The Chung Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies >>
Dharma Drum Mountain Center, Amhearst, NY >>
Professor Chun-fang Yü >>

Image credit: Dharma Drum Mountain website

Comments

[Jimmy Yu]

Under the news item, "New Sheng Yen Professor in Chinese Buddhist Studies," one of the links for Dharma Drum Mountian says: "Amhearst, NY." It should be "Elmhust, NY."