Lu Sheng-yen
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Lu Sheng-Yen (, born 27 June 1945), commonly referred to by followers as ''Grand Master Lu'' (師尊) is the founder and spiritual leader of the
True Buddha School The True Buddha School () is a relatively new (Vajrayana oriented) Buddhist sect, that includes practices and deities from Taoism, and thus could arguably be defined as a new religious movement. Its headquarters are in Redmond, WA, USA, and the ...
, a
new religious movement A new religious movement (NRM), also known as alternative spirituality or a new religion, is a religious or spiritual group that has modern origins and is peripheral to its society's dominant religious culture. NRMs can be novel in origin or th ...
with teachings from
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 gra ...
&
Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
. Lu is known by the sect as ''Living Buddha Lian Sheng'' (蓮生活佛, ''Liansheng Huófó'') and is revered by his disciples as a ''
Living Buddha A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor. High-profile examples ...
''. Lu Sheng-Yen's sect says that it has five million followers worldwide, the majority of whom hails from
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 nort ...
,
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
and
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. There are more than four hundred local chapters of the True Buddha School over the world. He holds dual American and Taiwanese citizenship, and often travels between the two countries. Lu Sheng-Yen is married to Lian Hsiang, who is also a vajra master, and is referred as ''Grand Madam Lu'' in Chinese. Prior to becoming a monk, the couple already had two children.


Life

Lu Sheng-Yen was born in
Chiayi County Chiayi County ( Mandarin pinyin: ''jiā yì xiàn''; Hokkien POJ: ''Ka-gī-koān'') is a county in southwestern Taiwan surrounding but not including Chiayi City. It is the sixth largest county in Taiwan. Name The former Chinese placename wa ...
,
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 nort ...
in 1945. Lu was raised a
Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
and attended a
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
school. He graduated from Chung Cheng Institute of Technology with a degree in Survey Engineering. In his early twenties he was both a survey engineer and a Sunday School Bible teacher. Though his parents were not Christians, he had joined Kaohsiung New Presbyterian Church, in which he became an active member. In a biography, Lu wrote that his third eye was activated by the Golden Mother of the Jade Pond in 1969, and followed the instructions of Monk Liao Ming (of the Taoist Ching Zhen Sect) and the Three Mountains and Nine Marquis. The Three Mountains is said to represent
Dharmakāya The ''dharmakāya'' ( sa, धर्म काय, "truth body" or "reality body", zh, t=法身, p=fǎshēn, ) is one of the three bodies ('' trikāya'') of a buddha in Mahāyāna Buddhism. The ''dharmakāya'' constitutes the unmanifested, "incon ...
(
Vairocana Buddha Vairocana (also Mahāvairocana, sa, वैरोचन) is a cosmic buddha from Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism. Vairocana is often interpreted, in texts like the ''Avatamsaka Sutra'', as the dharmakāya of the historical Gautama Buddha. In East ...
) Sambhogakaya (Locana Buddha), Nirmanakaya (
Sakyamuni Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
Buddha) while "Nine Marquis" represents a combination of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, each corresponding to different directions. They are named to be, Mahavairocana Buddha (Centre),
Aksobhya Akshobhya ( sa, अक्षोभ्य, ''Akṣobhya'', "Immovable One"; ) is one of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, a product of the Adibuddha, who represents consciousness as an aspect of reality. By convention he is located in the east of the ...
Buddha (East), Ratnasambhava Buddha (South),
Amitābha Amitābha ( sa, अमिताभ, IPA: ), also known as Amitāyus, is the primary Buddha of Pure Land Buddhism. In Vajrayana Buddhism, he is known for his longevity, discernment, pure perception, purification of aggregates, and deep awarene ...
Buddha (West), Amoghasiddhi Buddha (North),
Samantabhadra Bodhisattva Samantabhadra (lit. "Universal Worthy", "All Good") is a great bodhisattva in Buddhism associated with practice and meditation. Together with Shakyamuni Buddha and the bodhisattva Mañjuśrī, he forms the Shakyamuni Triad in Mahayana Buddhis ...
(South East), Manjushri Bodhisattva (South West), Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (North West),
Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit: ) or Metteyya (Pali: ), also Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha, is regarded as the future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. As the 5th and final Buddha of the current kalpa, Maitreya's teachings will be aimed at ...
Bodhisattva in the (North East). He then actively practiced Taoism, Geomancy, Sutrayana and
Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
Buddhism, through which he cited that a mystical experience led him to seek twenty-one human gurus in Taoism, Sutra, and Tantra. In 1982, Lu and a small following of his disciples moved to the United States, settling in the state of Washington. Lu Sheng-Yen is a prolific writer who has authored two hundred and eighty-five (as of June 2021) Chinese books. His books have also been translated into Japanese, English, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Bahasa Indonesia, Spanish and other languages. All these books have been made available to read for free online. Lu's paintings have also been compiled into nine volumes. Prior to the internet, his sermons were recorded into various formats and distributed worldwide. His weekly ceremonies are now broadcast live on YouTube i
Chinese
with realtim
English translation
He went into retreat for six years in late 2000, spending most of his time in Tahiti, and to a lesser extent in Taiwan. Today he predominantly lives in Taiwan and
Redmond, Washington Redmond is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located east of Seattle. The population was 73,256 at the 2020 census, up from 54,144 in 2010. Redmond is best known as the home of Microsoft and Nintendo of America. With an an ...
. In a sermon, he told his disciples that he aspires to never abandon any sentient being.


Teachings

Lu Sheng-Yen teaches the
Mahamudra Mahāmudrā (Sanskrit: महामुद्रा, , contraction of ) literally means "great seal" or "great imprint" and refers to the fact that "all phenomena inevitably are stamped by the fact of wisdom and emptiness inseparable". Mahāmudr ...
method of attaining Buddhahood. His teachings contain the traditional stages of the practice of the Four Preliminaries, followed by
Guru Yoga In Vajrayana, guru yoga (Tib: ''bla ma'i rnal 'byor'') is a tantric devotional practice in which the practitioner unites their mindstream with the mindstream of the body, speech, and mind of their guru. Guru yoga is akin to deity yoga since the ...
,
Deity Yoga The fundamental practice of Vajrayana and Tibetan tantra is deity yoga (''devatayoga''), meditation on a chosen deity or "cherished divinity" (Skt. ''Iṣṭa-devatā,'' Tib. ''yidam''), which involves the recitation of mantras, prayers and vi ...
, the Vajra Practices, and finally
Highest Yoga Tantra Classes of Tantra in Tibetan Buddhism refers to the categorization of Buddhist tantric scriptures in Indo-Tibetan Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhism inherited numerous tantras and forms of tantric practice from medieval Indian Buddhist Tantra. There were ...
. Lu has lineages from
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, ...
, & all four major schools of
Tibetan Buddhism Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
, namely
Nyingma Nyingma (literally 'old school') is the oldest of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism. It is also often referred to as ''Ngangyur'' (, ), "order of the ancient translations". The Nyingma school is founded on the first lineages and transl ...
,
Kagyu The ''Kagyu'' school, also transliterated as ''Kagyü'', or ''Kagyud'' (), which translates to "Oral Lineage" or "Whispered Transmission" school, is one of the main schools (''chos lugs'') of Tibetan (or Himalayan) Buddhism. The Kagyu lineag ...
,
Sakya The ''Sakya'' (, 'pale earth') school is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. It is one of the Red Hat Orders along with the Nyingma and Kagyu. Origins Virūpa, 16th century. It depic ...
, and
Gelug file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India). The Gelug (, also Geluk; "virtuous ...
, though instruction is imparted in Chinese, translations, including into English, are almost always available. Lu's documented spiritual gurus include the Monk Liao Ming, the 16th Karmapa Rangjung Rigpe Dorje,
Dezhung Rinpoche Dezhung Rinpoche Kunga Tenpai Nyima (), born Kunchok Lhundrup (February 26, 1906–1987), was a Tibetan lama of the Sakya school. Sakya is one of four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, the others being the Nyingma, Kagyu, and Gelug. In 1960 he ...
, and
Tai Situ Rinpoche Tai or TAI may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tai (comics) a fictional Marvel Comics supervillain *Tai Fraiser, a fictional character in the 1995 film ''Clueless'' *Tai Kamiya, a fictional character in ''Digimon'' Businesses and organisations ...
among others. He says he is an emanation of Padmakumara, which he explains, is itself a transformation body of Amitabha Buddha. Lu's teachings are made available to lay practitioners, &
Vajrayana Vajrayāna ( sa, वज्रयान, "thunderbolt vehicle", "diamond vehicle", or "indestructible vehicle"), along with Mantrayāna, Guhyamantrayāna, Tantrayāna, Secret Mantra, Tantric Buddhism, and Esoteric Buddhism, are names referring t ...
practices are open to those who have taken refuge, provided they have received the appropriate empowerment for each practice (& completed preliminary requirements), not just to those who live a monastic life, & thus the consumption of meat is not prohibited for his disciples, though
bardo In some schools of Buddhism, ''bardo'' ( xct, བར་དོ་ Wylie: ''bar do'') or ''antarābhava'' (Sanskrit, Chinese and Japanese: 中有, romanized in Chinese as ''zhōng yǒu'' and in Japanese as ''chū'u'') is an intermediate, transitio ...
deliverance of the animal's soul is practiced prior to consumption. For monks and nuns, alcohol consumption is prohibited, & the usual Buddhist vows regarding good conduct are observed. All practitioners are expected to closely adhere to the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha (
Gautama Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in Lu ...
) & observe the 14 root vows (
samaya The samaya (, Japanese and , J: ''sanmaya-kai'', C: ''Sān mè yē jiè''), is a set of vows or precepts given to initiates of an esoteric Vajrayana Buddhist order as part of the abhiṣeka (empowerment or initiation) ceremony that creates a bon ...
) of Vajrayana Buddhism. In an interview from Taiwanese media in 2010, he explained: "In Tantric Buddhism, we don't differentiate if a disciple wants to consume vegetables or meat. If a disciple wants to consume vegetables, we let her consume vegetables. If a disciple is not willing to consume meat, it is convenience. For those ordained (monks, nuns, etc) if able to consume vegetables, then we always try our best to consume vegetables. If he cannot consume vegetables, it is also convenience. But this convenience is also different. Because there is a difference of Theravada and Tantric in Buddhism, tantric masters or monks firstly have to make offering of the food they consume to the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Secondly, they also have to salvage the spirits of those they consume and cleanse their spirits to pure lands or higher realms. So for tantric buddhism, there are ways to convert the spirits we consume to a better places or realms for their good before we consume. However, for theravada buddhism, they emphasize we do not consume meat. But for tantric, because we have a method of salvation, we are able to consume meat. The most important precept is we must not witness the slaughtering or hear the slaughtering or slaughter animals for our desire as a guest. According to Buddha, this is known as "three cleansed meat" or 3 types of cleansed meat." Lu is said to be the first person to hold the Adharma Buddha and Mahottara Heruka (the wrathful emanation or the other side of Adharma Buddha) ceremony on a large scale to benefit the sentient beings. Before this first ceremony in 2015, there is no information on the mantra of Adharma Buddha or Mahottara Heruka. In Sutrayana, Adharma Buddha is called ''Samantabhadra Tathagata'' and also "Dorje Chang". In other English translated version, it is known as Adi Buddha. Grandmaster Lu explained: "Adharma Buddha is a 16th-ground buddha and extremely venerable. Adharma Buddha has said that as long as one receives his empowerment, learns his practice, and attains spiritual union with him, one is sure to attain buddhahood within seven lifetimes. He is the highest. There is none higher than him. There is another point. Once you have received the empowerment of this deity you will never again reincarnate into the three evil realms (three lowest realms in six mundane realms). Adharma Buddha is the primordial buddha, the original buddha. He is primordial and original. In Buddhism he is supreme, the most venerable, the highest and the most sacred. He is the most saintly and the greatest. By praying to or supplicating this deity it is certain that your prayers will be granted. All buddhas, all bodhisattvas, all deities, dakinis and protectors are emanations of Adharma Buddha."


Controversies

Lu made headlines during an investigation by the
Washington State Public Disclosure Commission The Washington State Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) is an agency of the Washington state government that regulates candidates, campaigns and lobbyists. It enforces the state's disclosure and campaign finances laws, and provides public access to ...
, prompted by media reporting, into a collective cash donation to then-
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Gary Locke Gary Faye Locke (born January 21, 1950) is an American politician and diplomat serving as the interim president of Bellevue College, the largest of the institutions that make up the Washington Community and Technical Colleges system. Locke serv ...
after a speaking engagement at the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple. Lu hoped Locke might eventually run for the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
. Locke was cleared of any wrongdoing by the commission in 1998. Further, this did not affect Locke in his pursuit for confirmation as
U.S. Secretary of Commerce The United States secretary of commerce (SecCom) is the head of the United States Department of Commerce. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States on all matters relating to commerce. The secretary rep ...
. Lu and the Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple Seattle were sued unsuccessfully in civil court by a former Malaysian immigrant disciple over an allegation of sexual misconduct while living in the temple dormitories. The
King County, Washington King County is located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 13th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle, also the st ...
prosecutor declined to file charges for lack of evidence. The case was dismissed by King County Superior Court Judge Kathleen Learned citing constitutional issues. In the case ''S.H.C. v. Sheng-Yen Lu'',
S.H.C. and F.M., Appellants, v. Sheng-Yen LU, an individual;  and Ling Shen Ching Tze Temple, Inc., a corporation, Respondents
'
the Court of Appeals of Washington, Division 1, granted the Temple's motion for summary judgment, and the Court of Appeals later "affirm dthe order granting summary judgment of dismissal to the Temple." Of the incident, Lu said:


Notes


See also

*
List of Buddha claimants This is a list of notable people who have claimed to have attained enlightenment and become buddhas, claimed to be manifestations of bodhisattvas, identified themselves as Gautama Buddha or Maitreya Buddha, or been honored as buddhas or bodhisattv ...


References

* Lu, Sheng-yen (1995). ''A Complete and Detailed Exposition on the True Buddha Tantric Dharma''. San Bruno, CA: Purple Lotus Society.


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lu, Sheng Yen 1945 births Living people Buddhist writers Taiwanese Buddhists American Buddhists American people of Taiwanese descent Converts to Buddhism from Protestantism People from Redmond, Washington Female Buddhist spiritual teachers People from Chiayi County