The founder of True Buddha School, Master Sheng-Yen Lu was born on the eighteenth of the fifth Lunar month, 1945, in the county of Chiayi at Taiwan. He now resides in the Seattle area of the United States. His religious background includes Christianity, Taoism, Sutrayana and Tantric Buddhism. Master Lu keeps a disciplined schedule throughout the day and has been practicing yoga and meditation everyday for over thirty five years. He has already reached the stage in which any yoga he engages in manifests a response. His inner world encompasses the Buddhist Tripitaka as well as the knowledge of the Supreme Consciousness of the Universe. Having achieved Enlightenment, Master Lu is revered by his students as a Living Buddha, Lian-shen. To date, the number of students all over the world who have taken refuge in Master Lu has reached over five million. There are also more than three hundred local chapters of the True Buddha School, including 35 major temples. Master Sheng-Yen Lu is also a prolific writer with over two hundred twenty Chinese books already in print.

Source: Grand Master Lu. A Brief Biography by Darrel MacLaughlin
(http://tbsn.org/english2/gm2.php)