About Us
Located in the heart of Vancouver, the Vancouver Chan Meditation Centre (VCMC) is the latest extension of the international Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association. The VCMC continues the life’s work of the renowned scholar and teacher, Master Sheng Yen, of bringing Chan Buddhism to the Western world, in the hope of guiding the community towards cultivating wisdom and compassion through the practice of Chan meditation.
Within the busy city centre, the VCMC provides a quiet and pure space for you to relax your body and mind, connect to your inner self, and enjoy the stillness in this ever-changing world. This is where you can expand your self-awareness through the Chan meditation practice, and increase your engagement in everyday life with clarity. Through this clarity, comes the appreciation of the interconnectedness among individuals, the nature, and the community, and furthermore foster the community’s wisdom and compassion, improving quality of life and creating a pure land in humanity.
VCMC’s Chan meditation is based on the teachings of the Dharma Drum lineage founded by Master Sheng Yen, who inherited the LinJi and CaoDong lineage in traditional Chinese. During his practice and teaching, he incorporated all facets of influences and made this long-established knowledge more adaptable and accessible to the people in the modern world. This is exactly what makes Master Sheng Yen’s Chan Buddhism unique – it holds true to the unfaltering principles that sustained history, but is flexible and non-judgemental, open to any cultural differences and local identity.
The current lead instructor of VCMC, Venerable Chang Wu, is also the director of the Dharma Drum Vancouver Centre (DDVC) – an organization that been leading Chan Buddhism and meditation teachings in the Greater Vancouver community since 2006, welcoming all who seek freedom of mind and heart through practicing Chan Buddhism. Venerable Chang Wu herself started teaching meditation and Buddhism in 2003, and was appointed as the director of DDVC in 2013.
The VCMC is a not-for-profit organization funded by donations and maintained by volunteers. In such way, VCMC generates the harmonious community spirit that supports everyone who come seeking the peace and become fully awake to moment-to-moment experience in our life.
No matter if you are a newcomer to meditation, an experienced practitioner who wishes to know more about the meaning behind meditation practices, or anywhere on the spectrum in between, VCMC offers classes, programs, and retreats that will aid you on your journey in cultivating compassion and wisdom.