Thai Venerable Master Ren De visits DDM in commemoration of Venerable Master Sheng Yen
In the afternoon of 5 April 2009, Thai based Venerable Master Ren De from Bangkok, along with a group of his pupils and lay practitioners, paid an exclusive and earnest tribute to the memory of Venerable Master Sheng Yen at the Dharma Drum Mountain World Center for Buddhist Education. Venerable Master Ren De was one of Venerable Master Sheng Yen's closest Dharma friends from abroad.
DDM Abbot President Venerable Guo Dong welcomed the group on behalf of the DDM Sangha community and guided their visit around the Center to the Grand Buddha Hall, the Wish Fulfilling Guan Yin Hall and the Founding History Memorial Hall. During the guided tour, the group was also briefed about the ideas of DDM, the characters of the Center and the features of Chan upheld by DDM.
Venerable Master Ren De had visited Venerable Master Sheng Yen at Taipei's Nung Chan Monastery in 2000, and again in 2004, to share ideas regarding the promotion of Sangha education.
Venerable Master Ren De recalled from the meetings that Venerable Master Sheng Yen had invited him to visit the Center, if he were to revisit later. Venerable Master Ren De also reported that some of his pupils have chosen to further their study of Dharma in Taiwan since Sangha education in Taiwan has become very mature.
Venerable Master Ren De, a fluent Mandarin speaker and a proficient Chinese calligrapher, is the Abbot of Pu Men Bao En Temple in Bangkok, and is graced by His Royal Highness King Adulyadej of Thailand as the most prestigious Abbot in Thai Buddhism.
In the spirit of sustaining an already long standing friendship between the two organizations, Venerable Master Ren De warmly invited Venerable Guo Dong, Venerable Guo Hui, Venerable Guo Yuan and Venerable Guo Fang to visit his temple in Thailand before leaving the Center.
(translated by Jin Yang/edited by DDM Australia Editing Team)
