About Us

About the True Enlightenment Practitioners Association

     Venerable Xiao Pingshi founded True Enlightenment Practitioners Association (TEPA) in 1997. The group consists of a community of Mahayana bodhisattvas, sanghas, and lay Buddhists under the guidance of Venerable Xiao Pingshi. Since 1997, TEPA has propagated the Buddha Dharma, which has been passed down by sutras, treatises, and enlightened bodhisattvas, including the Yogācārabhūmi-Śāstra (Foundation for Yoga Practitioners), a treatise that was brought back from India and translated into Chinese by Master Xuanzang and later came to be assimilated with the Chinese culture. The sequential cultivations of TEPA are based on the core teachings of the Tathagatagarbha and allow the practitioners to gradually personally realize the Three Vehicle Bodhi.

     Venerable Pingshi guides and leads the team of teachers in TEPA, who have dedicated their lives to serving as Buddha disciples of the True Dharma for more than two decades, in total devotion. Our team of teachers purely and modestly engage in Dharma talk to benefit sentient beings, using their wisdom inconspicuously. Our Buddhist courses, among others, are based on the practice of meditative absorption through the unique Chan contemplation method of Signless Buddha-Mindfulness (C:無相念佛). This technique enables our members to deepen their concentration skills so they can master the skill of guarding the huatou (C: 話頭). After mastering this skill, our members will strive to realize the ultimate truth of the Chinese Chan School in Mahayana Buddhism. Through this, they will make continuous progress on the bodhisattva path and will come to truly represent the spiritual lineage of the Chinese Chan School.