The founder of Pu Tai the Venerable Master Wei Chueh (the Grand Master) was born in Ying Shan, Sichuan Province of China. In 1963, he was ordained as a novice under the Venerable Master Lin Yuan at the Shi Fan Da Jue (Great Enlightenment) Chan Monastery in Keelung, Taiwan and given the Dharma name Zhi’an Wei Chueh. Later on, he went on solitary practice in various monasteries and also a hut on the secluded mountains of Wanli in northern Taiwan for more than a decade. Over time, as the area became more accessible, more and more people came to seek the wisdom of this eloquent Buddhist master. Urged by followers to share his Dharma teaching with more people, the Grand Master decided to build a monastery. After a long time of hard toil together with his disciples, Ling Quan Chan Monastery was finally established at where his hut used to be. Before long, Ling Quan could no longer accommodate the growing number of practitioners, so he started a plan to build Chung Tai Chan Monastery in Puli, Nantou－in the heart of Taiwan, which was inaugurated in 2001.
Dharma is the cultivation of the mind, and education is a lifelong process of learning and self-growth. Out of deep compassion for all people, the Grand Master was devoted to spreading the Dharma through three domains -- Sangha education, social education and school education, guiding practitioners how to integrate Buddhist teachings into life. In order to make Dharma available to as many people as possible and thereby creating a better, more stable society, the Grand Master established Chan meditation centers all over Taiwan and abroad. He was frequently invited to give Dharma lectures at universities and various organizations. Besides, he conducted Chan-7 retreats annually, showing participants the way to realize their intrinsic self nature. Having the inheritance and spreading of the Dharma in mind, the Grand Master emphasized the importance of monastic education and thus founded the Chung Tai Buddhist Institute.
In keeping with the changes of the times, and with a view to providing high-quality education for future generations as well as creating a premium model for schooling, the Grand Master founded the Pu Tai boarding schools (grades 1-12), in which the Buddhist spirits of equality, compassion and wisdom are integrated into the education of students, whom we expect to be future pillars of the society and citizens of the globe. Pu Tai Elementary school opened in 2004, Junior High in 2006, and Senior High in 2009, the 12-year educational system thus completed. Up to now, Putai students’ outstanding performance and achievements are the living legacy of the Grand Master’s aspiration.