Celebrating the Inauguration of the Tien Nan Monastery

After over two years of construction, on the morning of February 27, 2010, Tien Nan Monastery of Dharma Drum Mountain was officially inaugurated. DDM’s Abbot President, Venerable Guo Dong, Taiwan’s Vice President, Mr. Vincent Siew (Wan-Chang, Siew), Magistrate of Taipei County, Mr. Hsi-Wei Chou, local celebrities, as well as more than three thousand devotees attended the event to offer their warmest blessings.

Tien Nan Monastery is situated on the hill of Xinan Mountain of Shanxia Township of Taipei County. The monastery occupies approximately 9917.4 square meters of land, and is surrounded by green hills where visitors can enjoy a bird’s eye view of Shanxia Township. The late Venerable Master Sheng Yen had once described Tien Nan Monastery as a little Dharma Drum Mountain.


Venerable Guo Dong expressed that the inauguration of Tien Nan Monastery symbolizes DDM’s commitment to promoting the ideal of purifying people’s mind, which is in line with the vision of ‘building a pure land on earth’ advocated by the late Venerable Master Sheng Yen. The Abbot President went on to say that the monastery will thus serve as DDM’s hub for spreading orthodox Chinese Buddhism and teaching Chan practice in Taipei County.


The Tien Nan Monastery was originally owned by Mr. Chun-Mu Chiu, who had expressed his wish of turning the land into a Buddhist practice center before he passed away. In order to fulfill their father’s wish, Mr. Chiu’s 11 children unanimously agreed to donate the land to DDM; moreover, they also kindly undertook the responsibility of funding the construction of the monastery so as to support the late Venerable Master Sheng Yen’s effort toward the goal of uplifting the character of humanity and building a pure land on earth.

(by Jin Yang)

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