Dharma Drum Retreat Center
Dharma Drum Retreat Center (DDRC) was founded by renowned Chinese Ch'an (Zen) Master, Master Sheng-yen.
Its location is at the rural area of Pine Bush, New York, just about two hours drive or 90 miles (140 km) northwest of New York City.
The center's properties stand on 125 acres (0.51 km2) of land dominated by meadowland and woods of maple, oak, and beech populated by wild animals like birds, woodchucks, deer, and black bear.
Beyond the center to the north is the ecologically-protected Shawangunk Ridge. It also has a small lake (Murray Pond) near its Ch'an Hall.
The Dharma Drum Mountain organization bought the land at 1995 after their Ch'an centers in Queens, New York and Corona Avenue were overflowed by participants during retreats.
Its whole buildings, however, were finished at 2002.
Master Sheng-yen held his first 49-day retreat in United States at this center in 2000.
He passed his Dharma transmission to two of his prominent Western disciples, Dr Simon Child and Max Kalin in this retreat.
Currently it serves as the main retreat center for Dharma Drum Mountain Buddhist Association - an association of Dharma Drum Mountain chapters and branches in United States.
It also has close affiliation with the Western Chan Fellowship, a fellowship founded by Master Sheng-yen's western disciples.
Its current abbot is one of the Dharma heirs to Master Sheng-yen, Ven. Guo Xing.
Its activities include weekly Thursday Evening Meditation Group and Sunday Dharma Sharing.
It also has regular meditation classes, month-long residential programs, and several types of retreats for all level of practices (DDRC_activities_calendar).
Its faculty includes resident teachers such as the abbot himself, Ven. Guo Xing, and a native New Yorker monk, Ven. Chang Wen; monastic Dharma heirs such as Ven. Guo Ru and Ven. Chi Chern;
and lay Dharma heirs, mostly Master Sheng-yen's western disciples, including Dr John Crook, PhD, DSC, Dr Simon Child, Zarko Andricevic, and Gilbert Gutierrez.
