Introduction to Our Master

The Eighty-Fifth Patriarch of Chan Buddhism

Chan Master Wujue Miaotian was born in 1934 in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, with the legal name of Ming-Liang Huang. 

World War II filled Chan Master's childhood with miserable memories. His mother died while he was still a child. At a very young age, Chan Master has learned about the bitterness and impermanence of the human world, which inspired his pursuit of spiritual awakening and liberation after he entered adulthood.

After Chan Master retired from the military at the age of 40, he started seeking masters and practices of different religions. His great commitment resulted in meeting the 84th Patriarch of Chan, Master Jingzai, through the guidance of Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva. He then started to practice Heart Imprint Dharma, which focuses on "Buddha Heart-to-Heart Transmission". Eight years later, Chan Master was transmitted with Buddha Heart Imprint by Chan Master Jingzai. He was also blessed and transformed by Shakyamuni Buddha and other Buddhas. At the age of 48, Chan Master has attained Buddhahood. He thus inherited the lineage of the Linji Order and became the 85th Chan Patriarch since Master Maha Kasyapa, the 58th Patriarch of Chinese Chan since Master Bodhidharma, and the 48th Patriarch of the Linji Order since Master Linji Yixuan.

Chan Master graduated from the National Defense University and went to the graduate school in the Political Science Department at the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. degree from the Institute of Philosophy of the Toyo University in Japan in 1993. In 1999, he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Philosophy degree by the Institute of International Education in New York.

In October 2007, Chan Master led 1,000 disciples to Shaolin Temple in China to visit the birthplace of the Chinese Chan lineage and to pay tribute to the Patriarchs of Chinese Chan. This event also initiated the return of the Chinese Chan lineage from Taiwan to China. It represented a significant milestone in the development of Buddhism in its history of 2,500 years.