Founder and origins of Fo Guang Shan
Venerable Master Hsing Yun, born in Jiangdu, Jiangsu Province in 1927, is the 48th patriarch of the Linji School.
He came to Taiwan in 1949, and established Fo Guang Shan in 1967. He has been devoted to cultural, educational, and charitable undertakings. At home and abroad, he established 16 Buddhist colleges to foster Buddhist talent. He also founded Pu-men High School, Jiunn-yi and Jiunn-tou Elementary and Junior High Schools, Nanhua University and Fo Guang University in Taiwan, University of the West in the United States, and Nantien University in Australia. The Merit Times daily newspaper and the Beautiful Life Television were established to promote social education.
After his abdication of the Head Abbot in 1985, he started to propagate the Dharma worldwide. In 1991, he established the Buddha’s Light International Association to promote Humanistic Buddhism in the hope that “the Buddha’s light can shine throughout the universe and the Dharma water flow throughout the world.”
Fo Guang Shan, situated in Dashu, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, is composed of five ridges shaped like petals of a lotus. The architectural layout shows the miniature of the four great mountains in China. Fo Guang Shan has become the biggest Buddhist monastery in Taiwan and a Buddhist holy site recognized worldwide. In 33 countries, he has established over 200 branches, and the members of the Buddha’s Light International Association are also worldwide.
Based on the principles of “giving people confidence, happiness, hope, and comfort,” Fo Guang Shan members have actively promoted the ideal “to do good deeds, speak good words, and think good thoughts” advocated by the Venerable Master. Fo Guang Shan has become a Buddhist order that has propagated the traditional and modern culture, education, charity, and cultivation.