The Bodhi Mirror
Introducing the Eminent Bhiksu

DHARMA MASTER LE TU

--This biographical material on Dharma Master Le Tu has been translated from material provided by members of the San Francisco Buddhist Association and Hung Fu Temple.

Dharma Master Le Tu is a native of Kiangsu Province, China. Born in 1923 into the Ch'in family, it was the Dharma Master's destiny to leave the home life at the early age of nine at Sheng Ch'uan Temple under the Elder Master Hsueh Feng. There he studied and practiced day and night reciting the "Essentials of the Sramanera's Rules of Deportment" and other important material in preparation for ordination. In 1934 he attended the precept platform at Using Hua Dhyana Monastery and received the complete precepts of the Bhiksu.

      Following his ordination he remained at the monastery for several years studying the precepts and cultivating meditation. Although he worked hard, he obtained no major results, so in the spring of 1940, he set out for Shan Tung to draw near to the Elder Master T'an Hsu who was teaching at Chan Shan Monastery in Ch’ing Tao. He had established the Chan Shan Buddhist Academy for the purpose of making a young Buddhist Sangha to propagate the Dharma. When Bhiksu Le Tu heard about the Academy, he decided to travel there to study the T’ien T’ai teachings and practice T’ien T’ai meditation under the Elder Master’s guidance.

Dharma Master
Le Tu

      In the winter of 1948 the Elder Master Hsu went to Hong Kong at the invitation of Hong Kong Buddhists and established the South China Buddhist Institute to propagate the T’ien T’ai and Pure Land doctrines. Bhiksu Le Tu accompanied him there, and served as his attendant.

      In 1963 the Elder Master Hsu instructed Dharma Master Le Tu to travel to the United States to propagate the Dharma and save living beings. He continues to carry out this order, and says about his work, “I am just as I was of old, thinking it over...shame gives me no quarter. Human life is not very long, and I don’t know what day I will fulfill the command. Morning and night I remember it; cautious and careful, how can I not complete the work.”