About our teacher – Venerable Master Miao Lien
Venerable Master Miao Lien was born in China in 1922 and became a novice monk at the age of nine. At twenty he took the Bhikshu Precepts and was ordained at the Baohua Mountain Temple in Nanjing. He then went to the Lingyen Mountain Temple in Suzhou to receive orthodox monastic training. At twenty-eight, he withdrew for twenty years into the Lantau Island and Castle Peak hermitages in Hong Kong.
There he studied the Buddhist canon, recited the name of Amitabha Buddha, and completed twenty sessions of Pratyutpanna-Samadhi, a difficult practice which required him to prostrate and pace around the Buddha Hall while reciting the Buddha’s name without stopping or resting for 90 days.
In 1975, he traveled to Taiwan to publish The Mahaprajna-Paramita Sastra. While preaching the Dharma in Taiwan, he vowed to build a monastery that would reproduce traditional Chinese Buddhism in Taiwan and transform the land into a Buddhist country, and ultimately the whole world into a Pure Land. In 1986, he initiated construction of Taiwan Lingyen Mountain Temple, a spiritually inspiring and majestic monastery dedicated to training the Sangha and delivering all sentient beings from suffering. With the blessings of the Buddhas and support from the laity, additional branches of Lingyen Mountain Temple soon rose from the ground in various corners of the world, including Canada, the United States, and Australia.
The Venerable Master represented purity and virtue, had a profound knowledge of Buddhism, and lived his life in the most simple and disciplined manner. In keeping with his compassionate vows, the Venerable Master traveled internationally even in his old age to help oversee temple construction, propagate the Dharma, and educate the Sangha. He devoted his entire life to the propagation of Pure Land teachings, and exerted every ounce of his energy to strengthen and prolong the Sangha lineage. All who met him were deeply touched by his spirit of sacrificing himself to relieve the suffering of others.
On June 25, 2008, at the age of eighty-eight, Venerable Master Miao Lien entered Nirvana in a state of tranquility at the Lingyen Mountain Temple in Nantou, Taiwan. He had been a fully ordained monk for sixty-eight years. Physical existence is transient, but the legacy of compassion and virtue the Venerable Master painted during his lifetime will continue to extend beyond the limits of time and space to find manifestation in every Bodhi Mind.
Our Abbot – Venerable Master Tze Cheng
Venerable Master Tze Cheng was born in 1978 in the city of Taoyuan, Taiwan. He entered monastic life in 1987 under Venerable Master Miao Lien of Taiwan Lingyen Mountain Temple. In 2002, he took the full monastic precepts at Sun Moon Temple. Soon afterwards, he went to study under Venerable Master Wu Ming of Haiming Temple. In 2011, he established the Pure Land Temple in Taiwan. In 2012, he was appointed as Director and Vice Abbot of Cihming Temple. In 2015, he was appointed as Abbot of Zulin Mountain Temple. He is now the Abbot of Pure Land Temple in Taiwan.
Throughout more than thirty years of monastic life, Venerable Master Tze Cheng has taken on the mission of Venerable Master Miao Lien by propagating the Pure Land Dharma method. In particular, he has done extensive research on Buddhist ceremonies and chanting. His hard work and natural talents in these areas have earned him tremendous respect from Buddhists in Taiwan. People are often taken in by his pure and harmonious Dharma sounds. Those who know him describe Venerable Master Tze Cheng as a sincere and honest person who leads a simple life. His compassion permeates through all his interactions with others. All members of the Fourfold Assembly look up to him and his spirit to sacrifice his own well-being for the sake of the Dharma. He continues to spare no efforts in propagating the Dharma, hosting Water and Land Dharma Services, Short-term Monastic Retreats and other major Buddhist ceremonies all across the world, in places such as China, the United States, and Southeast Asia.
On September 14, 2019, under the support and anticipation of the Fourfold Assembly, Venerable Master Tze Cheng officially became the Abbot of Lingyen Mountain Temple (Canada), a role in which he will work hard to carry on Venerable Master Miao Lien’s compassionate vows to build monasteries and guide sentient beings. We trust that under Venerable Master Tze Cheng’s leadership, we will raise the Dharma banner and hang the wisdom lamp, guiding people of all cultures to practice Buddhism. By introducing a new innovative force into the propagation of Buddhism in Canada, Lingyen Mountain Temple (Canada) will be transformed into a Pure Land for everyone.
About Toronto Lingyen Pure Land Monastery
Toronto Lingyen Pure Land Monastery was consecrated and opened on January 25, 2025. It is a branch of Lingyen Mountain Temple in Eastern Canada. Since 2013, the monks of Lingyen Mountain Temple have traveled eastward several times to Ottawa and Toronto to spread the Dharma, establish a Dharma Protection Association, launch seven-day Buddhist retreats and lectures on Buddhism, and hold Buddhist ceremonies such as bathing the Buddha and repentance rituals, spreading the nectar of Buddhism throughout Eastern Canada.
For many years, the Dharma Masters' aspiration to propagate the Dharma and benefit all beings has never ceased, and they have worked diligently step by step. In 2019, the Abbot personally visited Toronto to conduct in-depth surveys for the construction of the branch temple. After years of effort, land for the temple was finally found in the North York area. On September 16, 2024, the property rights were officially transferred, and the Toronto Lingyen Pure Land Monastery was established. In December 2024, the Dharma Masters began to move into the Toronto branch temple and actively carried out preparatory work. In a very short time, they completed the layout of the Buddha Hall, the planning of the space and sound facilities, the cleaning of the environment, and the planning of Dharma assemblies.
On January 25, 2025, Lingyen Pure Land Monastery held a ceremony to consecrate and purify the Buddha statues. More than 300 monks and devotees gathered to witness this historic moment. From this day forward, Lingyen Pure Land Monastery will be officially open to the public, hosting various Dharma assemblies and activities to guide believers from all directions, cultivate blessings and wisdom, and plant the seeds of Bodhi.
On Sundays, Buddhist children's classes and Buddhist youth classes are offered to nurture the seeds of enlightenment in children and young students. Various spiritual promotion courses are also available, such as Buddhist studies, meditation, sutra copying, Buddhist painting, flower arranging, Tai Chi, vegetarianism, and tea ceremony, for people from all walks of life to participate in and cultivate their minds and bodies. A volunteer mobilization has also been launched to clean the environment and create a harmonious community. May all beings embark on this journey of compassion, support the temple, cultivate themselves and benefit others, nurture blessings and wisdom, and together reach the other shore.
