Lu Sheng-yen facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Lu Sheng-yen |
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| 盧勝彥 (蓮生活佛) | |
Statue of Living Buddha Lian Sheng
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| Religion | Buddhism |
| School | True Buddha School |
| Other names | Living Buddha Lian Sheng Grand Master Lu Huaguang Zizai Fo White Lotus Padmakumara |
| Personal | |
| Nationality | Taiwanese American |
| Born | June 27, 1945 (5th month, 18th day of the Lunar Calendar) Tainan Prefecture, Japanese Taiwan (now Chiayi County) |
| Spouse | Lu Li-hsiang (Lian Hsiang) |
| Senior posting | |
| Based in | Redmond, Washington State |
| Title | Grand Master |
| Religious career | |
| Website | TBSN |
Lu Sheng-Yen (Chinese: 盧勝彥; pinyin: Lú Shèngyàn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Lô Sèng-gān, born 27 June 1945), commonly referred to by followers as Grand Master Lu (師尊), is a Taiwanese-born American Buddhist teacher who is the founder and spiritual leader of the True Buddha School, a new religious movement with teachings from Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism. 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.
Lu’s sect claims to have more five million followers worldwide, of whom the majority hail from Taiwan, China, Macau, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. Lu Sheng-Yen holds dual American and Taiwanese citizenship, and often travels between the two countries.
Life
Lu Sheng-Yen was born in present-day Chiayi County, Taiwan in 1945. Lu was raised a Christian and attended a Protestant 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 for the Taiwan military 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 he had a Zen-style instant awakening to the first stage of enlightenment by the Golden Mother of the Jade Pond in 1969, who opened his third eye during a visit to a Taoist temple, revealing to him his true nature and purpose. She directed him to follow the instructions of Reverend Liao Ming 清真 (of the Taoist Ching Zhen Sect, also a lineage holder of the Kagyu school of Vajrayana Buddhism) and the Three Mountains and Nine Marquis.
Lu is a prolific author and has produced a large body of work over a span of 40 years. This has resulted in 240 books published in Traditional Chinese.
Personal life
Lu Sheng-Yen is married to Lian Hsiang, who is also a vajra master, and is referred as Shimu in Chinese, which translates as Grand Madam in English, the standard Chinese title for a woman married to a Grandmaster. Prior to becoming a monk, the couple already had two children.
