In 2005, the Founding Abbot, Grand Master Weichueh, personally entrusted abbotship of Chung Tai Chan Monastery to Master Jiandeng, who as the second abbot tirelessly followed the Grand Master’s teachings, directions, and example. He secured the stability of the sangha in liberating sentient beings, organized Chan-7 retreats, promoted Chan practice, proactively applied the Five Approaches for Spreading the Dharma, and demonstrated and transmitted the mind-light of Chan.

Through the years after the Grand Master’s passing, when many in the fourfold assembly mourned the loss of their teacher, Abbot Jiandeng firmly and fearlessly led all members of Chung Tai to anchor their minds in right mindfulness and earnestly carry out the Grand Master’s final instructions: preserve the monastery, deepen cultivation, and spread the Dharma. Under his leadership, everyone worked diligently to complete Chung Tai Chan Monastery’s second-phase expansion, with five major developments including nine new buildings, and a large-scale renovation of Chung Tai’s gardens and parks, significantly increasing the monastery’s capacity to spread the Dharma and strengthening the Chung Tai’s foundation for hundreds of years to come.

During Abbot Jiandeng’s tenure, he helped establish the Chung Tai Bodhisattva Academy of Five Sciences and the Mahayana Principles and Practice Program. Using a systematic approach to education and curriculum design, he led students to deepen their understanding of the Buddhadharma and apply it in practice to realize their bodhisattva vows. Abbot Jiandeng also traveled to the United States, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, and the Philippines to teach the Dharma and spread the Chung Tai’s mind-teaching of Chan across the world.

While Master Jiandeng’s abbotship was scheduled to end in 2020, with the onset of the Covid pandemic, he committed to leading the monastery in its disease prevention efforts, remaining on as abbot for an arduous three years, until the height of the pandemic had safely passed. During this period, he oversaw the completion of the Great Dharma Chan Monastery in America. At the same time, the Pushang, Puxin, Pufo, and Puxin meditation centers in Taiwan, and the Pule Assisted Living Center and Italy’s Huazang Monastery also began construction under his guidance.

In May 2023, Venerable Master Jiandeng transferred the responsibility of abbotship to the third abbot, Venerable Master Jianying, to continue Chung Tai’s mission of spreading the Dharma and passing on the Chan lineage, thus opening up a new page in Chung Tai’s history.

Throughout his eighteen-year tenure, Venerable Master Jiandeng had always taken the Grand Master’s vows to be his own. He led the Monastery one step, one footprint at a time to follow the path of Grand Master Weichueh, the Way of pure awareness. Chung Tai World that exists today is a reflection of everyone’s efforts and contributions. Now that his term and his merit as abbot are complete, according to the instructions left by the Grand Master and the bylaws of the Monastery, he is appointed as Honorary Abbot to continue promoting the Chan tradition.

Sincerely contemplate the Dharma of the Dharma King;
The Dharma of the Dharma King is just as such.