Establishing Centers of Cultivation and Bringing People Together

The Venerable Master Hua's three great vows after leaving the home-life were (1) to promote and develop education in the Buddhist tradition, (2) to translate the Buddhist Canon, and (3) to establish a foundation for Buddhism in America. In order to make these vows a reality, the Venerable Master based himself in the Three Great Principles and the Six Great Guidelines. Courageously facing every hardship, he founded monasteries, schools, and centers in the West, drawing in living beings and teaching them on a vast scale. Over the years, he founded the following institutions:

The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas

Purchased in 1974, the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is the hub of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association. The City is located in Talmage, Mendocino County, 110 miles north of San Francisco. The grounds cover 488 acres, and there are approximately 80 acres in active use. In the Jewelled Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas at the City, there is a large image of Guanyin Bodhisattva with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes. The four walls inside the Jewelled Hall are covered with over ten thousand small Buddha statues. The four assemblies of disciples gather daily in this Hall for the morning and evening recitation ceremonies, and after evening recitation they listen to the Venerable Master's lectures on the Mahayana Sutras. Whenever there are intensive sessions for reciting the name of a Buddha or Bodhisattva, devotees from all directions come together to cultivate. During the annual Jewelled Repentance before the Ten Thousand Buddhas, the Hall is filled with the vigorous energy of cultivation. There are many other buildings and schools on the grounds of the City, including the elementary schools and secondary schools, the university, the Sangha and Laity Training Programs, Tathagata Monastery, Great Compassion House, Joyous Giving House, Wonderful Words Hall, the Ordination Hall, the Library, Tower of Blessings (a seniors' center), and a vegetarian restaurant. There are more than seventy major buildings. The pure and peaceful atmosphere and the clean air at the City provide an ideal environment for study and spiritual cultivation.
 
Although the Venerable Master Hua belonged to the ninth generation in the lineage of the Wei Yang Sect of the Chan School, all the plans, Dharma events, and practices at the City give equal emphasis to the methods of cultivation of the Five Schools--the Chan School, the Pure Land School, the Esoteric School, the Vinaya School, and the School of Doctrine. Thus each person may choose the most appropriate method of practice to investigate and cultivate at a deeper level. That is also in accord with what the Buddha said, "The Dharma is level and equal, with no high or low." At the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, the rules of purity are upheld strictly and carefully. All residents of the City undertake to regulate their own conduct and to cultivate with constant vigor. Taking refuge in the Proper Dharma, they lead pure and unselfish lives, and attain peace in body and mind. All residents are expected to dedicate themselves mentally and physically, follow the five precepts of Buddhism, and practice the principles of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. In this way they can nurture lofty moral character, activate their pure, inherent wisdom, and work for the prosperity of Buddhism.

Instilling Goodness Elementary School, Developing Virtue
Secondary School, Dharma Realm Buddhist University

The Venerable Master Hua saw clearly that in order to save the world, the most urgent priority is to develop good education. If we want to save the world, we have to bring about a complete change in people's minds and guide them to cast out unwholesomeness and to pursue goodness. For this purpose the Master founded Instilling Goodness Elementary School in 1974, and he founded Developing Virtue Secondary School and Dharma Realm Buddhist University in 1976.

The Master indicated that the elementary school should teach students to be filial to parents and respectful to teachers and elders, the secondary school should teach students to be good citizens, and the university should teach the principles of humaneness, righteousness, the Way, and virtue. Instilling Goodness Elementary School and Developing Virtue Secondary School merge the best of contemporary and traditional methods and of Western and Eastern cultures. Due to the emphasis on moral virtue and spiritual development, in addition to the required academic curriculum, courses are offered in ethics, meditation, Buddhist studies, and so on, giving students a foundation in virtue and guiding them gradually to know themselves and to explore the truths of the universe. At the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, the elementary and secondary schools offer bilingual education (Chinese and English). Boys and girls are educated separately in order to avoid distractions and preserve their pure natures. Due to the many different cultures and nationalities that are represented among the teaching staff and student body, multiple grades are grouped together to allow students more flexibility in academic progress. Students learn to open their minds to respect and appreciate different cultural traditions. In offering an education based on virtue, Instilling Goodness Elementary School and Developing Virtue Secondary School hope to guide students to become good and capable citizens of the world, thus benefiting all of humankind. Aside from the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, branches of the schools have also been formed at other affiliated monasteries with the aim of widely propagating filial piety and ethical education.

Dharma Realm Buddhist University does not merely transmit academic knowledge. It emphasizes a foundation in virtue, which expands into the study of how to help all people and all living beings return to their inherent nature. Thus Dharma Realm Buddhist University advocates a spirit of shared inquiry and free exchange of ideas, encouraging students to study various texts and use different experiences and learning styles to tap their inherent wisdom and fathom the meanings of those texts. Students are then encouraged to practice the principles they have understood and thus integrate the Buddhadharma into their lives. They will then be able to nurture their wisdom and become replete with virtue. The University aims to produce outstanding individuals of high moral character who will be able to bring benefit to all sentient beings.

The content of the courses taught by Dharma Realm Buddhist University consists primarily of the Proper Dharma. Faculty and students alike see this as the goal of their efforts in study and cultivation. Everyone investigates together in order to attain the ultimate state of wisdom and compassion. In such an environment, everyone's lifestyle is characterized by rigorous self-discipline. Whether students or teachers, monastics or laity, male or female, young or old, everyone is regarded with equal kindness. There are no distinctions of class and no personal differences. Every individual and the customs of every cultural tradition are respected. Beyond the physical manifestations of students, teachers, textbooks, and classrooms, the genuine and profound hallmark of the Dharma Realm Buddhist University is its spirit of taking the Dharma Realm as its substance and the Proper Dharma as its function. There is no place that is not a classroom, and nothing that is not a learning resource. There is no time when people are not mutually honing and refining each other's characters and talents. All people, events, and objects can be learned from and constantly give us good opportunities to accumulate blessings, grow in wholesome Dharma, and perpetuate wisdom.

Sangha and Laity Training Programs,
Proper Dharma Buddhist Academy

In the Dharma-Ending Age, in both Eastern and Western societies there are very few monasteries that actually practice the Buddha's regulations