Founding Guanyin Park

Master Sheng Yen named it "Founding Guanyin" to commemorate the fact that this holy statue witness the difficult process of founding and constructing Dharma Drum Mountain. 


Long before DDM was established, Venerable Quandu had this Guanyin statue molded and enshrined it in the Buddha Hall of Jin'en Monastery, DDM's predecessor. In 1989, Venerable Quandu recited before this statue the Great Compassion Mantra of Guanyin, prying that en eminet master equipped with merit, wisdom, and compassionate vows will come and take over the Dharma center, develop it further, and spread the Dharma far and wide. 

At almost the same time, Master Sheng Yen was also leading the followers at Nung Chan Monastery to recite the same Mantra, in hope of finding a parcel of land earlier to build a Dharma center, so as to cope with the possibility of the monastery's land being requisitioned. 
Guanyin Bodhisattva seemed to have heard the prayers of both sides, and inscrutably, brought them togehter, paving the way for the establishment of Dharma Drum Mountain. 



In oder to conserve this Guanyin statue longer, DDM remolded the fiberglass statue into a bronze one in 2004, and, on August 4 of the same year, held a purification ceremony to place the new statue in the bamboo grove of the current location. Since then, the holy statue has been overlooking and guarding the DDM World Center for Buddhist Education and the human world, bringing people peace, health, and happines.. 

Material: bronze 
Height: 5 meters
Weight: 2.8 tons

Features: 
The Holy One sits in the lotus posture, with the head wearing a Buddha crown and covered with a hood that hangs over the shoulders. The chest is covered with a gemmed nechlace, and the sleeves and lower part of the robe fall in heavy folds. the left hand holds a purification vase, and the right hand a willow twig. It follows the style of the Guanyin statues at Mountain Putuo, Zhejiang Province in the Ming and Qing dynasties.