Chung Tai Shan

Chung Tai Chan (Chinese: 中台山; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tiong-tai-san) is a Taiwan-based Buddhist monastic order founded by the Venerable Master Wei Chueh in 1987. The monastery headquarters, Chung Tai Chan Monastery (or Chung Tai Buddhist Temple, 中台禪寺), completed in September 2001, is located in Puli, Nantou County, in central Taiwan. It is the tallest and one of the largest temples and monastery in both Taiwan and the world, having a height of 136 metres (446 ft). Widely-admired as an architectural masterpiece because of the mountain monastery's more modern look, the temple is second only to Fo Guang Shan's monastery in physical size and in the number of ordained disciples.

The temple follows traditional Chinese Ch'an teaching, emphasizing sudden enlightenment and gradual cultivation. Chung Tai Chan Monastery has established more than 90 meditation centers and branches in Taiwan and abroad, including eight branches in the United States: two in Northern California - Chung Tai Zen Center of Sunnyvale in Silicon Valley and Buddha Gate Monastery in Lafayette in the East Bay; one in Southern California - Middle Land Chan Monastery in Pomona; two in the state of Texas - Chung Tai Zen Center of Houston and Chung Tai International Retreat Center; one in the state of Oklahoma Buddha Mind Monastery in Oklahoma City; one in the state of Washington — Buddha Jewel Monastery in Seattle; and one in the state of Georgia - Dharma Jewel Monastery in Atlanta; as well as branches in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, and Thailand.