Venerable Master Hsing Yun

Founding President, World Headquarters, Buddha's Light International Association

Venerable Master Hsing Yun, born in Jiangdu, Jiangsu Province of China in 1927, is the 48th Patriarch of the Linji School. He moved to Taiwan in 1949 and became the guiding teacher for the Buddhist Chanting Association of Yilan in 1953, thus establishing the basis for his propagation of the Dharma. In 1967, he founded the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist Order with the objective of promoting undertakings that include culture, education, and charity. Venerable Master has successively established over two hundred temples around the world, founded sixteen Buddhist Colleges, Pu-Men Senior High School, Nanhua University, Fo Guang University, University of the West in the U.S, Nan Tien Institute in Australia, and Guang Ming College in the Philippines. His other establishments include a newspaper, the Merit Times Daily News, and a television station, Beautiful Life Television. In 1991, the Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) was established and Venerable Master Hsing Yun was elected president of the World Headquarters, as well as the Honorary President of the World Fellowship of Buddhists. His works include the Biography of Sakyamuni Buddha, Hsing Yun’s Chan Talk, Hundred Sayings Series, The Rabbit’s Horn: A Commentary on the Platform Sutra, Humble Table Wise Fare, Essential Guides to Buddhism, Fo Guang Textbooks, Between Ignorance and Enlightenment, Ten Thousand Affairs in the World, Buddhist Affinities Across 100 Years, Collection of Papers on Humanistic Buddhism, and audiobooks.