About

Master Heng Chang (恆長法師), also known as Thầy Hằng Trường, is a contemporary Buddhist teacher whose life and work embody a rare integration of ancient spiritual realization and modern consciousness development. He is devoted to the propagation of the Avataṃsaka (Huayan) teaching and the Bodhisattva path across the United States, Taiwan, Europe, and other parts of the world.

 

His spiritual journey began at the age of fourteen, when he experienced a profound non-dual awakening in which the sense of separation dissolved and direct intuitive clarity arose. This early realization became the foundation of a lifelong inquiry: how to integrate this awakened awareness with the complexity of human life and society. 

 

In 1982, he entered the Chinese Mahayana monastic path at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas under the guidance of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. There, he received rigorous training in Wei-Yang Chan meditation, Huayan philosophy, Vinaya discipline, mantra practice, and traditional internal cultivation methods.

 

During this period, Master Hsuan Hua personally instructed him in internal energy cultivation, including the Micro-Cosmic Orbit (小周天). In 1989, he received the transmission of the Kuan Yin Dharma (觀音法門), specifically the essential practice of the Great Compassion Forty-Two Hands and Eyes (大悲四十二手眼法). Master Heng Chang regards this transmission as the central lineage of his spiritual life and as the living embodiment of the Bodhisattva path.

 

He later undertook two extended solitary retreats, each lasting nearly three years, dedicated to memorizing and meditating on the Avataṃsaka Sutra. During these retreats, he experienced deep states of samadhi and transformation of consciousness, forming the experiential foundation of his later teaching.

 

After nearly two decades of monastic training, he made a pivotal transition from monastery to society. Recognizing that spiritual realization must respond to the conditions of the modern world, he founded the Compassionate Service Society (CSS), a non-profit organization based in Southern California. The organization is guided by the mission “to create bodhisattvas” and the vision of cultivating an altruistic culture. 

 

Master Heng Chang’s teaching centers on the integration of transcendence and engagement. He emphasizes that the Bodhisattva path must unfold in two inseparable dimensions: personal awakening and collective transformation.

 

In personal cultivation, he teaches meditation, the Huayan Forty-Two Hands and Eyes practice, repentance rituals, and methods for purifying body and mind.

In collective life, he emphasizes kindness, compassion, forgiveness, generosity, and harmonious engagement in everyday relationships.

 

He presents the development of bodhicitta as a threefold model:

• Vertical: the cultivation of samadhi and wisdom (non-dual realization)

• Horizontal: the expression of compassion and ethical relationships

• Spiral: the development of skillful means, culture, knowledge, and creative engagement

 

This model offers a practical framework for integrating spiritual realization into all aspects of life.

 

To support modern practitioners, he developed systems of moving meditation and health cultivation, including Integral Tai Chi or the “Ten Movements of Heaven and Earth” (乾坤十靈), which combine traditional internal arts with contemporary needs for physical and mental balance.

 

A distinctive feature of his teaching is the emphasis on practicing for others. Through short-term ordination, repentance practices, and dedicated cultivation, practitioners are encouraged to transfer merit to others, transforming self-centered practice into the altruistic spirit of the Bodhisattva path.

 

Since 2009, Master Heng Chang has developed the Peace Mandala, an immersive ritual and meditative environment inspired by the Avataṃsaka vision of an interconnected universe. Through sound, light, mantra, visualization, and collective participation, the mandala creates a field for awakening compassion and shared consciousness.

 

Under CSS, he also established the World Peace Gathering, an interfaith event bringing together Buddhist, Christian, Muslim, Jewish, and other communities to pray for world peace. This initiative reflects a lifelong aspiration rooted in the instruction of Master Hsuan Hua that spiritual practitioners must actively contribute to the well-being of the world.

 

Today, Master Heng Chang continues to teach internationally, guiding individuals and communities to transcend self-centeredness, awaken bodhicitta, and participate in the creation of a compassionate and integrated human culture.

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