Dharma Realm Buddhist Association
The Dharma Realm Buddhist Association is a non-profit religious institution dedicated to establishing and supporting religious, educational, and social programs and services at its various branch establishments in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Asia. The Association has grown and now includes a large body of dedicated students and a worldwide supporting membership that numbers in the hundreds of thousands.
Taking the Dharma Realm as its scope and the peace and prosperity of all living beings as its own responsibility, the Association is dedicated to bringing the genuine teachings of the Buddha to the entire world in various ways:
- by establishing centers that offer a complete cross-section of Buddhist studies and practices so that people may engage in a rigorous schedule of personal cultivation;
- by supporting the translation of Buddhist scriptures into the major languages of the world; and
- by sponsoring programs of compassionate social engagement and cultural exchange to promote happiness and peace among all beings.
In all its activities, the Association is guided by six fundamental principles: not fighting; not being greedy; not being selfish; not seeking personal gratification; not pursuing personal gain; and not lying. Each of the Association’s members aspires to these principles in his or her daily life.
Buddhist Text Translation Society
The Buddhist Text Translation Society, under the auspices of the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association, is composed of both the clergy and the laity who study and practice the Buddha’s teachings. The goal of the Society is to produce accurate and lively translations that can inspire and guide personal cultivation, so as to continue the pulse of the living tradition. More than two hundred works have been published by the Society to date. The translations of major Sutra, Vinaya, and Shastra texts from the Buddhist Canon are accompanied by interlinear commentaries by the Venerable Master Hua designed for modern audiences.
Aware that the Buddhist Tripitaka is a work of such magnitude that its translation could never be entrusted to a single individual, the Society has devised a method of group participation to translate, revise, edit, and certify each volume prior to publication. Because the members of this translation group include the monks and nuns who dedicate themselves to daily practice of the Canon’s principles, the Buddhist Text Translation Society’s translations closely accord with the Buddha’s intent. Translations are published on the Association’s monthly journal, Vajra Bodhi Sea.
Dharma Realm Buddhist University
In 1976, the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association established Dharma Realm Buddhist University at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. The University offers an undergraduate degree in liberal arts and a graduate degree in Buddhist Classics, as well as a variety of Extension courses. The University’s purpose is fourfold: to explain and propagate the Buddha’s teachings; to develop straightforward minds; to benefit society; and to enlighten all living beings.
Elementary & Secondary Schools
Instilling Goodness Elementary School and Developing Virtue Secondary School, have been operating at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas since 1973 and 1976 respectively.
Daily Cultivation
The Association also sponsors intensive retreats and meditation sessions; daily lectures on the Buddhist Sutras; and, periodic ordinations of Bhikshus and Bhikshunis (monks and nuns) into the orthodox Buddhist Sangha.