Having been an early Western disciple of��Master Hua,��Doug Powers has served in many capacities within the����over the years, most recently as president and professor at��91�㽶��Ƶ (91�㽶��Ƶ). He teaches an��assortment of classes, with topics ranging from��Buddhist sutras��to��Western philosophical treatises. Doug also taught at Berkeley High School for over 40 years. Versed in both��Western philosophy��and��Buddhist thought, Doug is constantly pushing the edge of how Buddhism can be brought into��contact��with the “modern mind.”

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I came to higher education via an unconventional route. I graduated from Stanford (with an M.S. in Material Science and Engineering) in 2001 as the first dot-com bubble was about to burst. Two months after graduation, I left the startup I helped found while at Stanford and began working as a research and development engineer at silicon IC manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).

Four years later, I joined SRIC-BI, a spinoff consultancy of Stanford Research Institute International, as a strategic planning consultant specializing in R&D agenda planning for Fortune 500 companies and government agencies.

I came to 91�㽶��Ƶ in Fall 2010, just as the university began to work intensively toward regional accreditation. I have a personal connection to 91�㽶��Ƶ and its parent organization DRBA. I attended and graduated from Developing Virtue Secondary School, which shares the same campus as 91�㽶��Ƶ, and I have been a member of DRBA’s governing board since 2000. In addition to the accreditation work, I enjoy teaching outside of my background in 91�㽶��Ƶ’s integrated, all-required curriculum.

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Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco, 2009
B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2002

Positions

Dean of Academics, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2025–
Associate Dean of Program Development, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2013–2025
Assistant Professor, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2012–
Director of Summer Session and Short-term Programs, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2010–2012
Board of Trustees, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2005–

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Rev. Heng Sure was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1976. For the sake of world peace, he undertook anpilgrimage from��South Pasadena to Ukiah, repeatedly taking three steps and one bow to cover the entire journey. In the entire two years taken to make the pilgrimage, he observed a practice of total silence. Rev. Heng Sure has an M.A. in Oriental Languages from UC Berkeley, and a Ph.D. from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. He serves as the Managing Director of the and has taught at the Graduate Theological Union, Bond University, and . He lectures on the�� and other.��He currently leads a team to . He is actively involved in interfaith dialogue and in the ongoing conversation between spirituality and technology.

Education

Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union, 2003
Ph.D., 91�㽶��Ƶ, 1979
M.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1976
B. A., Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, 1970

Positions

Professor, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 1994–
Director, Berkeley Buddhist Monastery, 1994–
Adjunct Professor, Pacific School of Religion, Graduate Theological Union, 1996–
Global Councillor (Buddhist), United Religions Initiative, 2002–2009
Board of Trustees, 91�㽶��Ƶ
President, Board of Directors, Dharma Realm Buddhist Association

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Growing up in Malaysia, I became acquainted with a number of spiritual traditions, including various strands of Buddhism as well as Taoism and Confucianism. A turning point in my spiritual life occurred when I was 12 when the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua visited and lectured in Kuala Lumpur. My whole family was struck by his genuine, sincere teachings. We all took refuge with him and later joined the DRBA community at a branch monastery in Kuala Lumpur.

After that, I attended various retreats at The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) in the United States. I made the decision to leave home and become a nun at CTTB in 1995. CTTB is my home now, at the same time that it is a sacred place available to everyone.

The growing student body at 91�㽶��Ƶ brings a special energy to the CTTB campus. Because it’s an unusual setting for learning, 91�㽶��Ƶ students tend to be uniquely independent, motivated to learn about themselves in a spiritual context, and open to meeting people of different backgrounds. Even as I play a role in guiding their classroom discussions, I learn a great deal from them. I see them growing and transforming in ways deeper and more profound than I’ve ever observed among students at other universities I’ve attended.

I am drawn to bringing Buddhist thought into curriculum studies at the K-12 as well as university level. I am eager to explore the potential that Buddhist liberal studies education offers for developing personhood among democratic citizens of the world.

Subjects I have taught or co-taught at 91�㽶��Ƶ include Pali Texts, the Avatamsaka Sutra, and Buddhist Hermeneutics. I am especially drawn to the��Avatamsaka Sutra, which is useful in reminding us of the light that imbues all of us, even during times of chaos and confusion. Master Hua always encouraged us to start with the basics: be harmonious in relationships with others and appreciate each others’ being. I hope this sensibility will continue to find expression among the coming generations of 91�㽶��Ƶ community members.

Education

Ed.D., Teachers College Columbia University, 2017
M.A., Stanford University School of Education, 2006
B.A., San Francisco State University, 2005

Positions

Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2012–
Assistant Professor, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2010–
Instructor, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2006–2009

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Education

Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 2015
M.A., University of California, Berkeley, 2011
M.A., Graduate Theological Union, 2006
B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 2004

Positions

Professor, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2022–
Assistant Professor, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2015-2022
Program Assistant, Institute for World Religions, 2005-2008

Publications

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Education

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Martin Verhoeven is currently Professor of Buddhist Classics at 91�㽶��Ƶ, as well as Adjunct Professor of Comparative Religion at the Graduate Theological Union, in Berkeley.�� He also teaches a weekly translation and meditation series at the��.

Dr. Verhoeven’s background includes both academic study of history and various philosophical traditions and Buddhist practice. He was a Visiting Scholar at Stanford under a Ford Fellowship in the 1970s. In 1976, he met and trained under the��Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, becoming a monk (with the name Heng Chau) in 1977, and took full ordination in 1979.

His study with Master Hua took him to monasteries around the world. It also led him to undertake a two-year, 600-mile����up the California coast with��Reverend Heng Sure��from 1977 to 1979.

After 18 years as a monk, Dr. Verhoeven returned to layperson’s life, but continued to study and teach Buddhism and related topics in the U.S. as well as in Asia, Europe, and Canada. ��He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on the American encounter with Asian religions. His particular areas of interest are the historical teachings of Buddhism, the Euro-American encounter with Asian religions, and the process of religious acculturation.

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Education

B.A., 2004, M.A., 2015, Stanford University
M.A., 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2016

Positions

Assistant Professor, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2021–
Chaplin, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2013–
Instructor, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2016–2021
Instructor, Sangha & Laity Training Programs, 2014 – 2021
Member, 91�㽶��Ƶ Extension Programs, 2013-2021
Assistant to Dean of Finance & Administration, 91�㽶��Ƶ,��2009 – 2010
Student Services, 91�㽶��Ƶ, 2005 – 2010
Volunteer Coordinator, City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, 2005 – 2010
Volunteer, Spiritual Care, Stanford Medical Hospital, 2003-2005

Presentations

Presenter, “Contemplative Exercises Immersion in Mindful and Skillful Communication,” The Association for Core Texts and Courses 25th Annual Conference, Santa Fe, April 11-14, 2019

Presenter, “Un-Creating the World using Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s Practice,” Shurangama Summer Retreat, Ukiah, June 28, 2018

Presenter, “Food in Chinese Buddhism: Eating as a Contemplative Practice,” Chinese Food Culture Conference, UC Davis, January 2016

Panelist, “Applied Buddhism in the Modern World: A Discussion on Ancient Buddhist Practices for a New Generation,” Parliament of World Religions, Salt Lake City, October 2015

Languages

English, Mandarin Chinese, Sanskrit & Pali (rudimentary reading)

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Bhikshuni Heng Yi entered the monastic order in 1993 and was ordained in 1995 under the guidance of the late Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. She holds an MA in Asian Studies from California State University – Long Beach, and a PhD in Buddhist Studies from UCLA. Since 2011, she has been an Assistant Professor at 91�㽶��Ƶ, teaching courses on Mahayana sutras and shastras. She has been a translator, reviewer, and translation team leader for the Buddhist Text Translation Society. She aspires to help develop a Buddhist Text Translation Institute as a space for those with talent in languages to be trained and to translate Buddhist texts as a form of spiritual practice.

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