Venerable Sheng-yen had contacted with Avalokiteśvara belief since his early childhood and practiced much the methods of Avalokiteśvara throughout his life, especially when there were obstacles to learning the Dharma and develop Buddhist undertakings. Through the chanting of the Bodhisattva’s name or Mahākaruṇā Mantra, he experienced religious responses, and the difficulties were solved magically. In his later years, he confirmed the Dharma Drum Mountain as a holy land of Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. He indeed had a close relationship with Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva. As a Buddhist scholar and a Buddhist practitioner, in his discourses on Avalokiteśvara canons, the academic prospective and the prospective drew from canons are interweaved, but they are not mutually contradicted, for the textual criticism from the academic viewpoint is mainly used to illustrate the time and environment in which a text circulated, and is associated with some limitations and not as important as the thoughts and practices deduced from the canon itself. It is not due to the academic interest for Venerable Sheng-yen to expound the Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva canons, but to his compassion and wisdom to teach dharma to the general Buddhists. Personal religious experience is indescribable. As to Venerable Sheng-yen’s thoughts and practices associated with Avalokiteśvara, we could understand by reading his commentaries on Avalokiteśvara canons:The Chapter of Universal Door (Pu Men Pin) teaches chanting the bodhisattva’s name mindfully and the spirit of great compassionate mind. The Six-Syllable Mantra encourages chanting the mantra and is a symbol of compassion and wisdom. The Mantra of Boddhisattva with White Robe is used to eliminate calamities and turn into good fortune. The Avalokiteśvara canon of Ten Sentences to Prolong Life is chanted for the elimination of deceases and Karma obstacles, and then converting to the Tree Treasures to learn Dharma. The Great Compassion Mantra is chanted to fulfill all kinds of desire, even the aspiration to become a Buddha. The Chapter of Cultivating Perfect Penetration of the EarOrganin the Surangama Sutra expounds the profound thought and method of returning back to the true nature of sound. And the Heart Sutra shows the meditation of the emptiness of five aggregates. Venerable Sheng-yen did not negate the religious experiences of response from practicing the methods of Avalokiteśvara, but he encouraged the practitioners go more ahead by submitting oneself to the Tree Treasures, cultivating according to the true dharma, and heading to the realization of truth. Among his commentaries on Avalokiteśvara canons, Venerable Sheng-yen placed emphasis on the Surangama Sutra and the Heart Sutra, the thoughts and methods of these two canons are in line with those of Chan meditation and the contemplating of unobstructed emptiness. Venerable Sheng-yen dedicated his life to developing a pure land in this world. The purification of this human world depends on the collective efforts made by people at large according to the right Dharma. He declared the Dharma Drum Maintain as a holy and of Avalokiteśvara, and encouraged the followers of Dharma Drum Maintain to be confident of becoming the embodiment
