About Us

CMC History

How It All Got Started

The Chan Meditation Center, located in Elmhurst (Queens), New York, was founded by the late Chan Master Sheng Yen in 1977 with the purpose of bringing Chinese Chan [Zen] Buddhism to the Western world.

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Our Resident Monastics

Meet the Fashis

The Center is also a small monastery where bhikshus and bhikshunis (fully ordained monks and nuns) live and practice the traditional precepts.

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Teachers

Dharma Teachers in Training

The Dharma Teacher Training (DTT) program began in 1997 under the direction of Master Sheng Yen. In 2003, Guo Gu became the trainer of DTT members. In 2008, Venerable Guo Xing assumed the trainer’s role. The DTT courses have the dual emphasis of Chinese Buddhist and Chan doctrines and practices, theories and methods. Several DTT members are now meditation instructors and Dharma lecturers. A few are on their way to becoming lay Dharma teachers. The Dharma Drum Chan Lineage is currently planning to extend the DTT program to potential candidates living in North America and Europe.

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Dharma Drum Retreat Center

Dharma Drum Retreat Center

Dharma Drum Retreat Center (DDRC) was founded by the renowned scholar and teacher of Chinese Chan Buddhism, the late Chan Master Sheng Yen. DDRC is located in Pine Bush, NY, 90 miles northwest of New York City. The center lies below the ecologically protected Shawangunk Ridge amid 125 acres of woods and meadowland. A tributary of the Verkeerder Kill flows from below Sam’s Point Preserve on the ridge down through the property, where it forms a tranquil pond (Murray Pond) not far from the Chan hall.


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Directions

directions

Need to find directions to cmc by car or public transportation?

FAQs

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Getting Involved

Have Some Free Time?

Volunteering provides an excellent opportunity to strengthen our practice, cultivate loving kindness toward others, further one's connection to the community, and make the Center one's true refuge (home).

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