Charles Luk was an early translator of Chinese Buddhist texts and commentaries into the English language. He was born in Guangdong

Guangdong

Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...

 province, and later lived in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

Buddhist practice

Charles Luk often used the title Upāsaka

Upasaka

Upāsaka or Upāsikā are from the Sanskrit and Pāli words for "attendant". This is the title of followers of Buddhism who are not monks, nuns, or novice monastics in a Buddhist order, and who undertake certain vows...

 (居士), e.g. "Upāsaka Lu K'uan Yü" (陸寬昱居士), referring to his role as a devout lay follower of Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

. His first Buddhist teacher was a tulku

Tulku

In Tibetan Buddhism, a tulku is a particular high-ranking lama, of whom the Dalai Lama is one, who can choose the manner of his rebirth. Normally the lama would be reincarnated as a human, and of the same sex as his predecessor. In contrast to a tulku, all other sentient beings including other...

 of Esoteric Buddhism, the Khutuktu of Xikang

Xikang

Xikang or Sikang , is a defunct province of the Republic of China , comprising most of the Kham region of traditional Tibet, where Khampas, a subgroup of the Tibetan ethnicity, live. The area is also home to a small minority of Mongol ethnicity...

. Later he became a disciple of Hsu Yun

Hsu Yun

Hsu Yun , born Xiao Guyan 萧古巖, 26 August 1840 – 13 October 1959) was a renowned Zen Buddhist master and one of the most influential Buddhist teachers of the 19th and 20th centuries. He is often noted for his unusually long lifespan, having lived to age 119.-Early life:Hsu Yun was born on April 26...

, the famous inheritor of all five houses of the Chán school in China.

Publications

Charles Luk contributed broadly to Buddhist publications in India, London, Paris, and New York. His translations include the Shurangama Sutra

Shurangama Sutra

The ' is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra, and has been especially influential in the Chán school of Chinese Buddhism.- Etymology :According to Ron Epstein, roughly means "indestructible." The word is composed of Śūraṅ , with Gama...

, the Platform Sutra

Platform Sutra

The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch , is a Buddhist scripture that was composed in China. It is one of the seminal texts in the Chan/Zen schools. It is centered on discourses given at Shao Zhou temple attributed to the sixth Chan patriarch, Huineng...

, and the Vimalakirti Sutra

Vimalakirti Sutra

The Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra , or Vimalakīrti Sūtra, is a Mahāyāna Buddhist sūtra. Among other subjects, the sutra teaches the meaning of nonduality...

. He also translated some works on Daoist

Taoism

Taoism refers to a philosophical or religious tradition in which the basic concept is to establish harmony with the Tao , which is the mechanism of everything that exists...

 Neidan

Neidan

Neidan, or internal alchemy, spiritual alchemy is a concept in Taoist Chinese alchemy. It is a series of physical, mental, and spiritual disciplines intended to prolong the life of the body and create an immortal spiritual body that would survive after death.In Neidan the human body becomes a...

meditation.