DDM Abbot President Visited USYD to Deepen Academic Exchanges

At the invitation of Dr. Mark Allon, Chair of Discipline of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and Associate Professor of South Asian Buddhist Studies of the University of Sydney (USYD), on November 1^st, 2024, Ven. Guo Huei (果暉法師), Abbot President of Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM), visited the USYD. Accompanying him were Ven. Guo Chwan (果傳法師), the Monastic Advisor of DDM Association of Dharma Supporters in Australia, and Huang Chu-chi (黃楚琪), the President of DDM Honorary Board of Directors. There, they had a meeting with Dr. Allon as well as other USYD faculty members, including Dr. Chiew Hui Ho (何秋輝), Senior Lecturer in East Asian Buddhism, and Dr. Flavio Geisshuesler, Senior Lecturer in Tibetan Buddhism. 

As Dr. Allon mentioned, he has established a good and close cooperation with DDM Sydney Chapter since 2009. In order to promote the propagation of Chinese Buddhism in Australia and to support related academic researches, he established the "Master Sheng Yen Lecture in Chinese Buddhism" at the USYD in 2015, which invites internationally renowned scholars in Chinese Buddhism to give public lectures every year. In addition, he also mentors students from DDM's Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies and continues to promote the academic exchanges on religious studies between Taiwan and Australia.

Ven. Guo Huei and Dr. Allon first met at the International Association of Buddhist Studies (IABS) Conference held at DDM World Center for Buddhist Education in 2011. During their academic reunion this time, Ven. Guo Huei expressed his interest in Dr. Allon's study of Gandhāran Buddhist manuscripts. These manuscripts can be dated back to the first to second centuries BCE, and include important scriptures such as the āgamas, thereby having great academic value.

In addition, Ven. Guo Huei also introduced Dharma Drum Institute of Liberal Arts (DILA), Sheng Yen Education Foundation, and the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies to the scholars attending the meeting by highlighting the various international conferences organized in Taiwan by these academic institutions, as well as the research results achieved through exchanges with Buddhist scholars and students from all over the world. On behalf of DDM's academic institutions, Ven. Guo Huei warmly invited the scholars from the USYD to revisit the DDM and to expand the higher education cooperation in Buddhist studies. After the fruitful meeting, a group photo was taken to mark the meaningful reunion and conversation.

The cooperation and exchanges between DDM Sydney Chapter and the USYD has continued for 20 years since 2004, when Master Sheng Yen first visited Australia to propagate the Dharma. This relationship began when Master Sheng Yen was invited by Dr. Crangle of the USYD's Department of Studies in Religion to give a lecture entitled "The Chan School's Perspective on Dual Liberation: The Relationship between Mind Liberation and Wisdom Liberation" and a public lecture on "Chan and Protecting the Spiritual Environment." Moreover, Master Sheng Yen, on behalf of the Chung-Hwa Institute of Buddhist Studies, signed a memorandum of academic exchange with the USYD, thus the foundation for the long-term exchanges between the two institutes.



Photos and original Chinese text / Dharma Drum Mountain Sydney Chapter
Translation / Li Siang-ling
Editing / Keith Brown, YKL