Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM; ) is an international

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

spiritual, cultural, and educational foundation founded by late

Chan Chan may refer to: Places *Chan (commune), Cambodia * Chan Lake, by Chan Lake Territorial Park in Northwest Territories, Canada People *Chan (surname), romanization of various Chinese surnames (including 陳, 曾, 詹, 戰, and 田) *Chan Caldw ...

master

Sheng-yen Sheng Yen (), born Zhang Baokang (), (January 22, 1931 – February 3, 2009) was a Taiwanese Buddhist monk, religious scholar, and writer. He was one of the mainstream teachers of Chan Buddhism. He was a 57th generational dharma heir of Li ...

(1931 – 2009). The center focuses on educating the public in Buddhism with the goal of improving the world and establishing a "Pure Land on Earth" through Buddhist education. The international headquarters of this organization is located at Jinshan District,

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a special municipality located in northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 3,974,683 as of 2022, making it the most populous city of Taiwan, and also the second largest special municipality by area, b ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

. Dharma Drum Mountain is one of the most influential Buddhist organizations in

Chinese Buddhism Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism which has shaped Chinese culture in a wide variety of areas including art, politics, literature, philosophy, ...

. In Taiwan, Master Sheng-yen was considered one of the "

Four Heavenly Kings The Four Heavenly Kings are four Buddhist gods, each of whom is believed to watch over one cardinal direction of the world. In Chinese mythology, they are known collectively as the "Fēng Tiáo Yǔ Shùn" () or "Sìdà Tiānwáng" (). In the ...

" and Dharma Drum Mountain one of the " Four Great Mountains" or four major Buddhist organizations of Taiwanese Buddhism, along with Tzu Chi, Fo Guang Shan, and Chung Tai Shan.

History

Long before the establishment of the Jinshan headquarters, the development of Dharma Drum originated in the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Culture (CHIBC) and Nung Chan Monastery. Both were founded by Dongchu, a prominent Chan monk back in

Mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the China, People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming Island, Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territorie ...

and later in

, who was also disciple of renowned modernist monk, Grand Master

Taixu Taixu (Tai Hsu) (), (January 8, 1890 – March 17, 1947) was a Buddhist modernist, activist and thinker who advocated for a reformation and revival of Chinese Buddhism by drawing upon eclectic domestic and foreign sources and ideologies. Biogra ...

. CHIBC was founded in 1956 and primarily active in promoting Buddhist culture mainly through publishing journals, such as the periodical ''Humanity Magazine''. ''Nung Chan'' ('Farming Chan') was established in 1975. Dongchu died two years later, and at 1978, his principal disciple and Dharma heir,

became the new abbot of both Nung Chan and CHIBC. Under Sheng-yen's leadership, both institutions grew rapidly, the number of devotees in Nung Chan and students in CHIBC overwhelmed the building capacity. Therefore, in 1989, the institutions bought a plot of hilly land in Jinshan,

in order to build a new monastery that would accommodate the increasing devotees and students. Sheng-yen named the new monastery Dharma Drum Mountain – creating the Dharma Drum Mountain organization. The

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

ural design of the monastery took seven years; the

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and ...

process took further time. Sheng-yen, in the framework of his

environmentalism Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad Philosophy of life, philosophy, ideology, and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment (biophysical), environment, par ...

campaign, insisted the monastery buildings to follow and adjust to the natural contour of the hills – therefore it didn't change much of its natural geomorphologic features. He personally oversaw the whole process and carefully looked after the details. The first phase of DDM broke ground in 1993. The first phase of the project, which consists most of the complex of DDM we see today, was completed and inaugurated at 2001. In 2006, Master Sheng-yen's student Venerable Guo Dong succeeded him as abbot. The organization's main focus is on teaching Buddhism to the public with the goal of improving the world for the benefit of all. Dharma Drum Mountain does do charity projects but mostly does so indirectly through the funding of other charities. As of 2005, the organization was estimated to have about 400,000 members.

At Jinshan, New Taipei City

Dharma Drum Mountain at Jinshan is a complex of monasteries and education centers. Aside from being the international headquarters of Dharma Drum Mountain, it also serves as the campus of

Dharma Drum Sangha University Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

(DDSU),

Dharma Drum Buddhist College Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

(DDBC) and

Dharma Drum University Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

(DDU). DDSU is specified for monastic training for monks both from Taiwan and various other countries. It had three

fields of study Fields may refer to: Music * Fields (band), an indie rock band formed in 2006 * Fields (progressive rock band), a progressive rock band formed in 1971 * ''Fields'' (album), an LP by Swedish-based indie rock band Junip (2010) * "Fields", a song b ...

: ''Basic Training'', ''Buddhist Study'', and ''Chan Study''. DDBC is for both monastic and lay men. It opens graduate and post-graduate program for ''Buddhist Study'' and ''Buddhist

informatics Informatics is the study of computational systems, especially those for data storage and retrieval. According to ACM ''Europe and'' '' Informatics Europe'', informatics is synonymous with computer science and computing as a profession, in which t ...

''. DDU is currently under development. DDU, however, had opened registration for its first students with its preliminary office located at Beitou, Taipei City, just 15 minutes drive from Nung Chan. The complex of Dharma Drum Mountain at Jinshan consists of several buildings
DDM Map Guide
(from the entrance): * Building II ** 1st level: Bus terminal ** 2nd level: Visitor Service Center, Briefing room–theater, Dharma Shop–book store ** 3rd level: The

Guanyin Guanyin () is a Bodhisattva associated with compassion. She is the East Asian representation of Avalokiteśvara ( sa, अवलोकितेश्वर) and has been adopted by other Eastern religions, including Chinese folk religion. She ...

Hall (with a tranquility pond in the front and waterfall in the background) ** 4th level: Dining hall (vegetarian) * Building I (''note'': as DDM buildings mirror the natural contour of the land, the ground floor of Building I is actually the 3rd level) ** 3rd level: Founding History Memorial Hall ** 4th level: Auxiliary Hall (artworks display) ** 5th level: Multipurpose Exhibition Room ** 6th level: Grand Buddha Hall * Chan Hall * Dharma Drum Buddhist College * Library and Audio-Visual rooms * Dharma Drum Sangha University * Dharma Drum University (under construction) * Monks quarter * Nuns quarter DDM Complex also has several distinguished features, such as: * DDM Emblem Rock * A stone inscription, "A Spiritual Mountain and Sublime Environment" * Statue of welcoming

* World's largest Lotus bell * Statue of founding

* Statue of the Medicine Buddha * Seven walking paths with various attractions, from the splashing streams that pass through the land, a bamboo forest, and dense woodland with varieties of birds and insects

Vision, spirit, and ideas

Vision and spirit

Dharma Drum Mountain Entrance Road Sign 20110206

Dharma Drum's vision is to "uplift the character of

human Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...

ity and build a pure land on earth." Its spirit is to "give of ourselves for the benefit of all.

Three types of education

Dharma Drum's educational approach is summarized in three types of education: * ''Education through Academics'' – to cultivate high-caliber Buddhist talent in the fields of research, teaching,

Dharma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for '' ...

propagation, or service through formal academic training. * ''Education through Public Outreach'' – to promote or deepen the teachings of the Buddha through traditional Buddhist practices such as

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

or recitation of the Buddha's name as well as modern cultural activities. * ''Education through Caring Services'' – to uplift the level of caring service through education, and realizing the educational goals through caring service. In the past, DDM had provided emergency assistance for natural disasters both in

and other countries, notably the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern ...

and the

2006 Yogyakarta earthquake The 2006 Yogyakarta earthquake (also known as the Bantul earthquake) occurred at with a moment magnitude of 6.4 and a maximum MSK intensity of VIII (''Damaging''). Several factors led to a disproportionate amount of damage and number of casual ...

Four kinds of environmentalism

Dharma Drum promotes the four kinds of

- these are manifestation of ideas and concepts in

Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

to the frame of modern

. Portrayed as an offer of guidance for living in the 21st century * Protecting the spiritual environment: ** Ch'an

** The Fivefold Spiritual Renaissance Campaign * Protecting the

natural Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

environment: ** Recognizing blessings ** Cherishing blessings ** Nurturing blessings ** Sowing the seeds of blessings * Protecting the living environment. * Protecting the

social environment The social environment, social context, sociocultural context or milieu refers to the immediate physical and social setting in which people live or in which something happens or develops. It includes the culture that the individual was educate ...

: ** The Six Ethics of the Mind ** Buddhist-Style Joint Weddings ** Buddhist-Style Joint Birthday Celebration for the Elderly ** Buddhist-Style Joint Natural Funerals

Fivefold spiritual renaissance campaign

* Four Fields for Cultivating Peace — A Proposition for Uplifting the Character of Humanity: ** Cultivating a peaceful mind lies in reducing desires ** Cultivating a peaceful body lies in hard work and thrift ** Cultivating a peaceful family lies in love and respect ** Cultivating peaceful activity lies in being honest and upright * Four Steps for Handling a Problem- A Proposition for Resolving the Difficulties of Life: ** Face it: face the difficulty squarely ** Accept it: accept the reality of the difficulty ** Deal with it: deal with the difficulty with wisdom and compassion ** Let it go: afterwards, let go of it * Four Practices for Helping Oneself and Others — A Proposition for Getting Along with Others: ** Feeling grateful for the chance to develop ** Feeling thankful for the opportunity to hone your practice ** Reforming yourself through the Dharma ** Influencing others through virtuous action * Four Ways to Cultivate Blessings — A Proposition for Increasing Blessings: ** Recognizing blessings is the greatest happiness ** Cherishing blessings is the best way of saving ** Nurture blessings, and you'll always be blessed ** Sow the seeds of blessings that blessings may be shared by all

Six ethics of mind

* Family Ethics * Living Ethics * School Ethics * Environmental Ethics * Workplace Ethics * Ethics between Ethnic Groups

Global affiliates

Dharma Drum Mountain has affiliated centers and temples in fourteen countries spread across North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.Dharma Drum Mountain: Global Affiliates

References

External links

* {{coord, 25.2403, N, 121.6151, E, source:wikidata, display=title 2001 establishments in Taiwan Chan temples Buddhist temples in Taiwan Buddhist organizations based in Taiwan Temples in New Taipei