Hsin Tao

Born in 1948 in Laikan Village, Laidaoshan Region, Lashio, Myanmar, to parents of Chinese origin from the Province of Yunnan . The given name was YANG Xiao-Sheng (Chinese: 楊小生).[4]^: 11–14

His father YANG Xiao-Cai was killed in 1952 and his mother LI Shu-Jen went missing with his  younger sister YANG Xiao-Ping and were never to hear from again. War-orphaned at the age  of 4, YANG Xiao-Sheng was first raised by his aunt YANG Xiao-Si who passed away shortly  thereafter and his uncle-in-law YIN Hu-Nan took him along into the mountains as a hobo until  1957, when Uncle Yin’s buddy army officer LU Ding-Zhou encouraged the 9-year old boy to  join the guerilla army to have access to learning things. His given name was changed to  YANG Jian-Sheng but mis-spelled as YANG Jin-Sheng (Chinese: 楊進生) for formalities. [4]^: 24

YANG was with the Solitary Army which retreated to Taiwan in 1961 and was enrolled in the Company of Youngster Soldiers stationed in the Chengkungling Army Training Center.[5] He was admitted to the Hsin-Hsing Elementary School of Tan-zi Township in Taichung in early 1963 but later started schooling at the Yuan-Shu-Lin Elementary School in Da-si Township, Taoyuan, when the army base was moved to Taoyuan.[4]^: 30–47

YANG couldn’t stop his tears upon first hearing the holy name of Bodhisattva Guanyin in 1963. Yang began to chant the Great Compassion Mantra, reciting the Universal Gate Chapter of the Lotus Sutra and reading Buddha's life stories. He took refuge in Bodhisattva Guanyin.[4]^: 45–47

YANG passed the examination for admission to the Long-Tan Vocational School of Agriculture in Taoyuan in 1964 but transferred to the Guan-Hsi Junior High School in Hsinchu in 1965. He was nicknamed Jai-Gong (Ol’ Vegan) for being a vegetarian and came into contact with Yiguandao preacher HSIEH Feng-Ying for help and support and the latter’s religious teachings. In 1966, YANG passed the examination for admission to the First Academy for Army Sergeants in Lung-Gang, Zhong-Li, Taoyuan. His wish was fulfilled in 1968 upon receiving a formal order of discharge from the army and a long period of short-lived, temp jobs followed when he earned his living as a handyman, a delivery boy, a tea-factory worker, even a grocery clerk selling rice. Job-hopping afforded him a glimpse into different walks of life alongside a host of different faiths ranging from Taoism, folklore cults, to Confucianism. The death of LI Feng-Chun in 1972 sharpened his sense of impermanence. Yang realized that life is all about suffering, making his mind up to become a monk.[4]^: 68–71

On September 19 of the lunar calendar in 1973 which coincided with the Renunciation Day of Bodhisattva Guanyin, YANG was clean-shaven to become a monk with the blessing of Master Hsing Yun of the Fo Guang Shan Monastery . He was given the Dharma name ‘Hsin Tao’ and a courtesy name ‘Huei Zhong’. YANG was admitted to the Fo Guang Shan Tsung Lin University. [6]The same year also saw him receive precepts at the Fa-Yun Temple in Miao-Li.[4]^: 68–71

Taking leave of absence from the Fo Guang Shan in August 1974, he went to stay in solitude at an idled greenhouse for orchids owned by Master Yuan Guang in Wai-Shuang-Xi (Chinese: 外雙溪), Taipei. The solitary retreat was meant to help concentrate on the practice of 12 Dhutangas, a set of ascetic practices taught in Buddhism aiming at helping the practitioner to develop detachment with material things including the body.[4]^: 76–88

The following year (1975), Hsin Tao sought out an even more remote location, in Yilan County, to continue his practice. At the age of 31 (1979), he moved to Longtan, Yilan, where he continued to meditate, for twenty hours each day. Three years later (1982, age 34), he began a six-month retreat, including long fasts, with neither food or water. In 1983, he moved to a mountain overlooking the eastern coast of Taiwan in Fulong. His daily diet was nine "hundred flower pills" (Chinese: 百花丸, a type of Chinese medicine) and spring water.

He later founded the Ling Jiou Mountain Monastery in 1983. Through the Ling Jiou Mountain Buddhist Foundation, he founded the Museum of World Religions (Chinese: 世界宗教博物館) in the Yonghe District of New Taipei City, Taiwan, in 2001. He founded the Global Family for Love and Peace[6] in New York, United States, in 2002. He is also interested in interfaith dialogue and currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for the Elijah Interfaith Institute.[7]