Forum on Buddism: Peace & Mind – Biographies

Reverend Ani Kunga Chodron teaches Buddhism at George Washington University in Washington DC. She is co-founder of a Tibetan Buddhist temple in upstate New York that is the U.S. headquarters of the Sakya Order of Tibetan Buddhism in the United States. She also serves as president of Sakya Phuntsok Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies and Meditation in Silver Spring Maryland.

Born in Seattle Washington, Ani Kunga has been a Buddhist nun for 20 years. She has received many teachings from great Tibetan Buddhist masters including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and His Holiness the Sakya Trizin.

Before becoming a nun, she received a doctorate in education from Harvard University, and has authored several books and many articles on education in Asia. Ani Kunga speaks and reads the Tibetan language, and has co-translated a number of books on Buddhist philosophy, prayers, and rituals.  She has also been active in developing Buddhist curriculum materials and teaching approaches for children.

Venerable Bhikkhu Vūpasama, a Chinese born Theravada monk, is the founder and spiritual leader of Vūpasamana Anuvicca Arañña Vihāra in Taiwan. In 33-year span of practicing Buddhism, with over 16 years of studying Mahayana Buddhism, he has a deep and broad scope of the Prajna Paramita Sutra and Mulamadhyamaka-karika as well as Zen meditation. He received full ordination from Baddanta Zagarabhiwuntha, a Theravada master of Sutra, Vinaya and Abidharma in Burma.

In quest of Buddhism core teachings, Bhikkhu Vūpasama primarily adopted and delineated Buddha’s discourses collected by the disciples at the First Council (3 months after Buddha’s passing) – Samyutta-Nikaya (Pali translation), Agama Sutra (Chinese translation).  He gives a step by step explanation of “Dependant Origination”, with its application to ultimate liberation. With constant references to Buddha’s original teachings, and analogies with present day examples, his lectures and meditation sessions are helpful for the understanding of the Path to Enlightenment/Liberation.

Bhikkhu Vūpasama periodically traveled to major cities in U.S for dharma teachings. He is also an instructor of The Original Buddhism Meditation Society of Enlightenment in New York. www.arahant.org

Dharma Master Dayi, graduated CUNY in 2001 majoring in Asian Studies and subsequently earned a MA. in History (2003).  He is currently the abbot of Cham Shan Temple Toronto, overseeing the operations of all Cham Shan Temple’s ten other affiliated Buddhist Centers in Canada.

Dharma Master Dayi born 1967 in China was ordained in 1983 at Nanhua Temple and practiced Ch’an meditation and Pure Land traditions.  He attended Minnan Buddhist College and upon graduation in 1989, he lectured at the College and served as the Supervisory Director at the Nanputuo Monastery. In 1991, Dharma Master Dayi arrived New York on invitation by Venerable Elder Master Lok To of the Young Men’s Buddhist Association of America.  He assisted in sutra translation while attending CUNY.

After his graduation from CUNY graduate school, Dharma Master Dayi relocated to Toronto, Canada and received the joint Dharma transmission from Venerable Elders: Sing Hung, Shing Cheung and Lok To, to become the 46th generation lineage master of the Tiantai Sect.  In his endeavor to spread the Buddha Dharma in North America, Venerable Dayi has promoted and firmly followed the path of Humanistic Buddhism, striving to help people purify their minds and to benefit society. One of his many recent projects includes the quarterly English/Chinese Magazine on “ Buddhism in Canada” that started in 2005.

He is currently overseeing a plan to develop  “The Four Great Bodhisavattas”, Bodhimandala (Wutai Shan, E¡mei Shan, Puto shan and Jiuhua Shan) in North America.  It is a gigantic project, involving building a temple complex from the Tang Dynasty.  The objective is of germinating and flourishing Dharma Seeds for spreading of Buddhism throughout the world.

URL: www.chamshantemple.org

Gopal Sukhu is an Assistant Professor of Chinese at Queens College, CUNY. Prof. Sukhu teaches Classical Chinese (introductory and poetry, especially), and has participated in teaching the elementary courses; he teaches the pre-modern portions of the East Asian literature and culture in-translation courses and developed the writing-intensive course on Asian Religion. His research centers on Classical poetry and its Classical interpretations, to which he brings special interests in religion (especially shamanism and Buddhism) and the relation of ritual and ideology. He also translates Classical Chinese.

Master Jen–Chun, Bodhi Monastery’s founder and spiritual leader, has written extensively on the Buddha Dharma and has lectured throughout the United States and in many other countries around the world. Born in Jiangsu Province, China, in 1919, he embraced the monastic life at age 7 under the guidance of Ven. Master Chuan–Dao. At age 20 he entered the Buddhist academy of Tian–Ning Temple. Thereafter he studied at the Ming–Nan Buddhist Academy, beginning his teaching career after graduation. In 1949, he moved to Hong Kong where he met Master Yin–Shun and became his disciple. He then moved with Master Yin–Shun to Taiwan where he taught at the Fu–yan Buddhist Academy.

In 1973, Master Jen–Chun was invited by the Buddhist Association of the United States (BAUS) to be the abbot of the Great Enlightenment Temple in The Bronx, New York City. He was also appointed Chairman of BAUS. For approximately the last 20 years, Master Jen–Chun has led a simple life in New Jersey, teaching numerous followers. His goal is to create a pure form of Buddhism in the United States by emphasizing the study and practice of Dharma instead of ritual practices and ceremonies.

Through Master Jen–Chun’s influence, the Yin Shun Foundation was created to translate Master Yin Shun’s works into English. In response to his followers’ urging to pass on his great learning to the next generation, he founded Bodhi Monastery with help from the Yin Shun Foundation.

Venerable Ji-Xing is currently the President of the Buddhist Association of the United States (BAUS). He is also the Superintendent of the Buddhist Triple Wisdom Hall in Penang, Malaysia and a lecturer at the Malaysian Buddhist Institute.

Venerable Man Kuang graduated from Queens College, the City University of New York. In 1988, he ordained at Hsi Lai Temple in Los Angeles. Under the guidance of Master Hsin Yun, the founder of Fo Guang Shan, Ven. Man Kuang has served in the International Department, Editorial Department and Buddhist College at the Headquarter of Fo Guang Shan. Ven. Man Kuang taught English, Buddhism theories, the history of Indian Buddhism and the art of Buddhism in the monastic school. She is currently the abbess of Boston Buddhist Cultural Center in Boston.