Source: Whittier Daily News
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,207%257E12026%257E2077976,00.html
On April 11, 2004 Whittier Daily News reported, "One of the most powerful religious figures in the world has the nuns cracking up. On a recent morning at Hsi Lai Temple, Venerable Master Hsing Yun, with a smiling face and a deep, measured voice, is telling one-liners, mocking his inability to learn English and wisecracking about the Asian media hounding him to take a political position on Taiwan... Hsing Yun founded Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights in 1988 and his Fo Guang Shan Buddhist sect has built a worldwide following of an estimated 1 million to 3 million followers during the past 50 years. From a hill in Hacienda Heights, Hsi Lai Temple overlooks a broad vista of the San Gabriel Valley. Hsi Lai is the biggest temple in the Western Hemisphere. Hsing Yun lives in quarters at the foot of the temple. At 78, Hsing Yun is looking to retire from a monastic career that has seen him found 200 Buddhist schools and temples around the world, including Hsi Lai University in Rosemead, recently renamed University of the West."