Chan Master Sheng Yen in Moscow

7/16/2003

Chan Master Sheng Yen, Litt.D., Buddhist Chan Master in the Linji and Caodong lineages, founder of the Dharma Drum Mountain Organization and co-chair of the World Council of Religious Leader, traveled to Moscow for an ecumenical meeting and to lead a 7-day intensive Chan retreat May 6th through May 16th. On behalf of the United Nation's World Council of Religious Leaders, Chan Master Sheng Yen extended an invitation to the Russian religious leaders to host a future meeting of the World Council of Religious Leaders in Moscow. Hosting of such an event would open Russia to receiving the kindly intentions of various religious organizations from around the world and be an occasion to further the dialogue on the ongoing efforts for achieving world peace. 

Chan Master Sheng Yen updated those in attendance of the World Council of Religious Leaders efforts and accomplishments over the past two years. These accomplishments include attendance at World Economic Forum; the conference in the U.N. regional office in Bangkok where the Council was formally established; the conference of female religious leaders in Geneva; and the Council's planning to convene the World Youth Peace Conference to be held in the regional office in Kenya, Africa, October 2004 (2,000 to 5,000 youth are expected to participate in the event). Furthermore, he updated them on the Council's current efforts to raise funds to develop a program for psychological rebuilding in post-war Iraq.

During a previous trip to Russia, Chan Master Sheng Yen led a meditation retreat in St. Petersburg in which he gained his first Chan disciple in Russia, Alexander Zhitomirsky. Zhitomirsky subsequently formed a Buddhist organization dedicated to the practice of Chan. Two books based on Chan Master Sheng Yen's discourses have been translated into Russian by the organization. For this trip, Zhitomirsky arranged for Chan Master Sheng Yen to deliver lectures on Chan practice May 7th at a Korean monastery and May 8th in an office building in the center of Moscow. The audiences for both lectures were comprised of young Russians seeking to know more about Chan. Following the lectures, the Moscow Times interviewed Chan Master Sheng Yen.

On the afternoon of May 8th, Chan Master Sheng Yen attended a meeting arranged by the World Council of Religious Leaders. The meeting was held in the Svyato-Danilov Monastery, the oldest and largest monastery in Moscow. Svyato-Danilov Monastery is also the administrative center for the Russian Orthodox Church. During the meeting, Chan Master Sheng Yen met with religious leaders representing Orthodox Christianity, Islam and Buddhism throughout Russia. They exchanged opinions regarding what religions have already accomplished and what more they can do together to further world peace. Chan Master Sheng Yen also led a seven-day Chan Retreat from May 9th through May 16th at the Vysokoye guesthouse located on land once owned by an aristocrat.

A Dharma Drum Chan meditation center (affiliate) was also established during this trip, with the hope to deepen and broaden the spread of Chinese Buddhism and to share the teachings of the Dharma with Russian society. 

The conclusion of the trip was highlighted with the Russian religious leaders indicating their willingness to consider at their next inter-religious forum the possibility, of serving as host of a future assembly of the World Council of Religious Leaders. Chan Master Sheng Yen's efforts and the openness of the religious leaders in attendance constituted a meaningful first step in this historical process.