Editor's note

Chan Magazine was first published in 1977 by Chan Master Sheng Yen (Shifu) and his disciples. Since its founding, the magazine has continued Shifu’s vision of transmitting the Chan Buddhist Dharma to the West.

This About page is adapted from an article written by longtime contributor Ernest Heau, originally published in the Summer 2025 issue of Chan Magazine. The original article recounts the origins and enduring mission of the magazine.

Founder and Spiritual Foundation

Chan Magazine is rooted in the life and legacy of Chan Master Sheng Yen (1930–2009), known to his students as Shifu. Born in China, he entered monastic life at age thirteen and later served in the National Army in Taiwan, where he developed strong writing and publishing skills. After returning to monastic life, he undertook six years of solitary retreat focused on Buddhist discipline and later earned a PhD in Buddhist literature from Rissho University in Tokyo in 1975. These experiences shaped him as both a devoted practitioner and a rigorous scholar.

Origins of Chan Magazine in America

In 1975, Master Sheng Yen was invited to teach at the Temple of Enlightenment in the Bronx, New York, where he began Chan meditation classes that attracted a growing community of Western and Chinese practitioners. As this community developed, Chan Magazine was founded in 1977 to collect and publish his Dharma teachings and to document the activities of the emerging Chan community, supporting the transmission of Chan Buddhism in the West.