2015 YSF Summer Dharma Retreat Lecturers' Bio-note (English Group)
Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi , originally from New York City, has been a Buddhist monk since 1972 and is highly regarded as a scholar and teacher. He lived in Asia for 24 years, where he was president and editor of the Buddhist Publication Society. Resident at Chuang Yen Monastery since 2007, he was recently elected president of BAUS, the Buddhist Association of the United States.
Bhikkhu Bodhi is founder of the organization Buddhist Global Relief , which fights hunger across the world.
Venerable Bhikṣu Changtzu is a Taiwanese monk born in Taipei, Taiwan. He graduated in 1995 from the Department of Atmospheric Science at the National Central University in Taiwan with a major in meteorology and went on to receive his Masters degree in 1997 from the Institute of Space Science. Bhikṣu Chang Tzu was ordained by Venerable Hou-Guan in 2000. He then studied advanced Buddhism at the Fuyan Institute until 2002 and studied specialized Buddhist programs at the graduate school until 2005. He has conducted dharma lessons at the Bodhi Monastery in New Jersey, USA, during their winter and summer courses in 2006–2013. He did his PhD research at the University of Sydney in 2007–2012, where he was researching Buddhism relevant to early Mahayana doctrine. His research in particular focused on the formation, transmission and use of texts, involving the comparative study of Chinese, Sanskrit, Tibetan and Pali sources. In 2013, Bhikṣu Changtzu obtained a PhD in Buddhist studies from the University of Sydney. He is currently a lecturer at the Fuyan Buddhist Institute.
Venerable Di-Hsuan is an ordained Buddhist nun of the Mahayana tradition and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Florida. She had been trained in Yuan-Kuang Graduate Institute of Buddhist Studies, where she studied a number of scriptures and delved into the doctrine of Two Truth presented in the Perfection of Wisdom Scriptures . Additionally, Ven. Di-Hsuan received her M.A. from the Religion Department of the National Cheng-Chi University in Taipei, Taiwan. Her M.A. thesis surveyed the doctrines and practices of the non-duality described in the Manjusri-related S criptures. Meanwhile, she also researched several renowned religious traditions of the world, including Christianity, Hinduism, Daoism, and Confucianism.
Ven. Di-Hsuan's interests span the medieval and contemporary periods of Buddhism, including Buddhist doctrines, historical development of Chinese Buddhist scriptures, Indian and Chinese Buddhist history, Buddhist art, Buddhism in the West, and the mutual interactions between Buddhism and other religions. Her on-going Ph.D. dissertation is investigating the medieval Chinese beliefs and practices centered on Medicine Master Buddha (Bhaisajyaguru Buddha), especially from the third to the tenth century. Hoping to inspire people to transform difficulties into the path of awakening, she is also leading a study group of the Gainesville Buddhist Association.
Venerable Zhengren is a Mahāyāna Buddhist nun from Taiwan.
1992, graduated from Chongsan Medical College, Taiwan.
1995, received master degree from the Department of Developmental Disabilities at New York University
2011, received novice ordination.
2012, received full ordination in Taiwan.
2013, graduated from Yitong Buddhist College in Taiwan.
2013-current, resides at Metropolitan Buddhist Center in Flushing, NY, leading Buddhist study group and meditation class, helping and organizing Dharma lectures.
Prof. Yu-Jung L. Avis, Ph.D., became a Buddhist in 1991 when she was a graduate student at Rutgers University. She regularly attended Ven. Jen-Chun's Saturday Dharma talks and religious programs between 1992 and 2006. She joined the Yin Shun Foundation in 1998 and served as the Secretary to the Board of Trustees in 2004, 2005, and since 2014. She was the English interpreter for the weekly program of Dharma talks at Bodhi Monastery for several years while she studied Pali with Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi. She is a co-translator of Ven. Yinshun's autobiographical work, A Sixty-Year Spiritual Voyage on the Ocean of Dharma . She is an Associate Professor of Finance at the College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York.