61 years of age

61 years of age
Spreading the message of love and peace

In early February leads a group of some 100 disciples to Dharma Drum Mountain to pay their final respects to Master Shengyan.

In early March leads a group of disciples to Foguang Shan to express his gratitude to his preceptor, Master Xingyun.

Later in March, attends the 2^nd World Buddhist Forum.

In April visits his guru, Kathok lineage holder Bairo Rinpoche and His Holiness the Twelfth Gyalwang Drukpa at Zhichen Bairo Ling Monastery near Kathmandu, Nepal, and also participates at the inauguration of the Druk Amitabha Mountain. At the end of April inaugurates the “Global Inner Peace Movement.”

In May Ajahn Jamnien Silasettho of Thailand visits Ling Jiou Mountain, becomes like an old friend, and returns in October to give a talk.

In June goes to Myanmar to preside over the joint inauguration and opening ceremony of 16 new schools.

In July attends the international conference “Meditation, Kabbalah,and Christian Mysticism” in Switzerland. Afterwards visits the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland and attends the meeting of the Birmingham MWR Preparatory Committee. Phantom of the Opera cast members Jackie Rees and Sywan visit the Wusheng Monastery and learn how to practice meditation.

In August Ling Jiou Mountain joins the disaster relief efforts after southern Taiwan is battered by Typhoon Morakot. The annual Water-Earth Repentance Ceremony is dedicated to the typhoon victims as well as the victims of the Holocaust. At the end of the month a ceremony is held for enshrining nine lotus vajra bells into the dome of the Golden Buddha Hall at Sacred Mountain Monastery.

In September the Karaṇḍamudrā-dhāraṇī is recited one million times to help bring the H1N1 epidemic to an end.

In October the Water-Earth Repentance Ceremony is held in Singapore for the first time. The fifth Geze Rinpoche of the Nyingma Kathok Tradition visits Master Hsin Tao.

In December attends the Fifth Parliament of the World’s Religions in Melbourne, where he presides over the conflict resolution session, participates in the 11^th Muslim-Buddhist Dialogue, and is interviewed by the BBC regarding his view of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Afterwards, goes to Myanmar for pilgrimage to present offerings to the monks and to preside over an “eye-opening ceremony” in Yangon.