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Heng Sure
恆實
TitleVenerable
Personal
Born
Christopher Clowery

(1949-10-31) October 31, 1949 (age 74)
Toledo, Ohio, United States
ReligionBuddhism
NationalityAmerican
SchoolGuiyang Chán school
Senior posting
TeacherHsuan Hua

Heng Sure (恆實法師, Pinyin: Héng Shí, birth name Christopher R. Clowery;[1] born October 31, 1949) is an American Chan Buddhist monk and a senior disciple of Venerable Hsuan Hua. He is the Managing director of Berkeley Buddhist monastery and president of the board of directors of Dharma Realm Buddhist Association.[2] Heng Sure is also a banjoist and a folk musician. He has released several albums of Buddhist folk music including "Paramita: American Buddhist Folk Songs" (2008).[3] Heng Sure has also been active in interfaith organizations, especially the Institute for World Religions.[2] [4]

He is probably best known for a pilgrimage he made for two years and six months from 1977–1979. Called a three steps, one bow pilgrimage, Heng Sure and his companion Heng Chau (Martin Verhoeven), bowed from South Pasadena to Ukiah, California, a distance of 800 miles, seeking world peace.[5][6][7]

Born in Toledo, Ohio, he attended DeVilbiss High School, Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan, and the University of California at Berkeley from 1971–1976. During his time at the university, Heng Sure was active in theatre. At an early age, Heng Sure learned Chinese from studying the language in high school and by means of his sister, who worked at the U.S. Information Agency.

After receiving his masters in Oriental languages, he met his teacher, Hsuan Hua, who would later ordain him in 1976 at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, as "Heng Sure" a Dharma name which means "Constantly Real." Heng Sure earned an MA degree in Oriental Languages from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1976 and a PhD in Religion from the Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, in 2003.

In October 2018, he participated in the Fifth World Buddhist Forum held in Putian, Fujian Province of China, and at the closing ceremony, read with the patriarchal Zongxing the Declaration of the Fifth World Buddhist Forum.

References

  1. ^ "Personality | Monk on a mission". www.buddhistchannel.tv. Retrieved 22 August 2015.[1]
  2. ^ a b Lee et al (2015). Asian American Religious Cultures Volume 2, p. 210. Bloomsbury Publishing USA.
  3. ^ "Reverend Heng Sure | The Ho Center for Buddhist Studies". buddhiststudies.stanford.edu. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  4. ^ Mitchell, Scott A. (2016). Buddhism in America: Global Religion, Local Contexts, Bloomsbury Publishing.
  5. ^ Truitt, Allison J. (2021). Pure Land in the Making: Vietnamese Buddhism in the US Gulf South, p. 141. University of Washington Press.
  6. ^ Harrison, Anne-Marie (17 December 2014). "The Bowers That Be". Good Times. Santa Cruz, California. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  7. ^ "FINDING MY RELIGION / Buddhist pastor Heng Sure talks about his 2½-year pilgrimage up the California coast". 2 May 2005. Retrieved 22 August 2015.

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