For the last two and a half years, construction and renovation have been going on almost daily during the week at 33615 9th Street, Union City, California. When the Purple Lotus Society first acquired this 1/2 acre property in 1994, the extant building was in a state of great disrepair. Today, a beautiful school, the Purple Lotus University/Dharma Institute, is standing on the same site. The school has 10,000 sq. ft, 11 classrooms, and a 30' by 80' auditorium.

The mission of the Purple Lotus University is, through the illumination of the True Buddha Tantric Dharma, to develop each student's innate potential, so that each may achieve an expansion of consciousness, understand the truth of human life and, through purifying of the human mind and spirit, transform the world into a peaceful and blissful Pure Land.

On the afternoon of June 15th, 1997, H.H. Living Buddha Lian-sheng Master Sheng-yen Lu, the founder of True Buddha School, arrived at the Purple Lotus University to attend the grand opening and to perform a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Afterwards, His Holiness also attended and empowered the Four-armed Kuan Yin Purification and Blessing Ceremony conducted by Master Samantha Chou of the Purple Lotus Society. With close to 1,000 people attending, both events were a huge success.

Apart from the many True Buddha School masters and reverends from around the world, other guests attending the grand opening included Professor Yang Ching Sun, Ms. Li Ching Fen, Mr. Hung Du, Mr. Neil Roy, Mrs. Anna Roy, Councilperson Mr. Robert Garfinkle, Vice-Mayor Benjamin Elias, Mr. Hsieh Chu Chi, Mr. Mao Cheng Tzu, Master Bill Edisen of the Earth-Heaven Temple, Councilperson Alice Arce, and Mr. Mao Wei Fan.

The opening ceremony commenced with a lion dance performed by members of the White Crane Martial Arts School. Two lions, one white and one purple, danced to the accompaniment of gongs and cymbals. Then His Holiness was invited to perform the placque-unveiling and ribbon- cutting ceremony. This was immediately followed by the releasing of hundreds of colorful balloons into the sky amid great cheers and applause.

At 4:00 p.m., prior to the Four-armed Kuan Yin Purification and Blessing Ceremony, His Holiness conducted an ordination and tonsure ceremony for six students taking the renunciation vows. This was followed by a separate ordination ritual for 3,850 spirits students enshrined at the Purple Lotus Society's Ksitigarbha altar. Next, a ceremony was performed for seventeen students taking the Bodhisattva Vows.

The Four-armed Kuan Yin Purification and Blessing Ceremony was conducted in accordance with the liturgy of True Buddha Tantric Dharma. Master Samantha Chou first formed a Dharma boundary ritual transforming the venue into a sacred space, then she performed a dance of mudras invoking Kuan Yin and other Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Dharma Protectors to descend to radiate light on those who were present or had registered for the ceremony. As everyone chanted the Six Syllable Kuan Yin Heart Mantra, a majestic and uplifting mood pervaded the whole tent. When His Holiness made the final dedication at the end of the ceremony. He prayed on behalf of everyone that their wishes be fulfilled and their hindrances be eradicated.

In her speech following the ceremony, Master Samantha expressed her thoughts on establishing the school, "For a long time I have been searching for a form of education that would help sentient beings to open up their hearts and minds. Only after I had taken refuge in the True Buddha School did I learn what true education is. In this world, only one kind of learning can help one to become free from the bondage of birth and death --- that is the study and practice of Buddhism. The goal of the Purple Lotus University is to train and develop this potentials in men and women and to help purify the hearts of all people."

Living Buddha Lian-sheng gave the following teaching, "Ever since I was young, my ambition has been to become a teacher. It would be a great joy to be able to assemble and teach people of outstanding talents and abilities! I hope each of the more than thirty Lei Tsang Temples of the True Buddha School around the world will in the future also develop their own educational institute. The spiritual power generated in religious practices can bring peace and harmony to human hearts, uproot their hindrances and anxieties, and enable them to attain understanding in matters of birth and death. Thus, a religious education can remedy deficiencies found in existing conventional knowledge.

"I hope that True Buddha students will upgrade their level of education so they may disseminate the knowledge of the Buddhadharma. The goal of the True Buddha School is not to build a certain number of Lei Tseng Temples nor to bring a certain number of students to take refuge. It is not our goal to build a religious kingdom; it is rather to bring to this world the manifestation of peace and harmony. The goal of education is to bring peace to men's hearts, to expand their knowledge, and to establish a peaceful society completely free of violence!"

Afterwards, Living Buddha Lian-sheng instructed the students to form the Kuan Yin Mudra and visualize Kuan Yin appearing above their heads as they went up to receive the Four-armed Kuan Yin Empowerment.

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