ONE fine day in the spring of 1966, three foreign Catholic missionaries who failed to convert a young pretty Buddhist nun at a ramshackle hut in mountainous Hualien threw a provoking question at her:
“You said Buddhism teaches universal love and compassion for all living things. Why have we not seen Buddhists doing good works for society, such as setting up nursing homes, orphanages and hospitals?”
Sunday, 5 March 2017
This was a cruel blow to the 29-year-old kind soul, who had abandoned a relatively good life to help the marginalised natives living in the undeveloped eastern hills of Taiwan.
But following this encounter, came the turning point in her simple, monastic life.
The intelligent lass, now known as Dharma Master Cheng Yen, realised little could be accomplished without an organisation.
This awakening led to the setting up of Taiwan’s Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation to help the needy in a more organised way and to put “Buddhism in Action”.
“Tzu Chi’s purpose is to help the poor and educate the rich – to give material aid to the needy and inspire love, humanitarian spirit in both the giver and the receiver,” Cheng Yen said in her book The Path to Truth.
Starting with 30 housewives and five disciples to persuade simple folks to drop 50sen into their self-crafted bamboo penny banks for charity, Tzu Chi grew. When support from working people, entrepreneurs and the rich began to pour in, Tzu Chi never looked back.
For the past 50 years, this non-profit charitable body has provided aid in cash and kind to people in Taiwan and 68 countries transcending race, religion and politics.
Tzu Chi’s international relief work carried out since 1991 at disaster-struck areas and refugee camps has also won worldwide recognition, including the United Nations.
In major flood-and-earthquake-hit areas, Tzu Chi volunteers (in black and white) would be seen dishing out medical and food supplies, and providing counselling.
They also build schools and worship places when rebuilding communities. The construction of mosques in Aceh after the deadly 2004 tsunami is just one example.
Tzu Chi – meaning compassion and relief in Chinese – has mapped out four missions: charity, medicine, education and humanity.
In recent years, this Buddhist group has also gone into environment protection work.
Cheng Yen, now one of the most influential religious leaders in Buddhism, is respectfully referred to as shang ren. She was named “one of the world’s most influential people in 2011” by Time magazine.
Tzu Chi’s philosophy – putting into practice the teachings of Buddhism – has become a school of Buddhism by itself.
Without a doubt, the Master’s commitment, devotion, leadership and wisdom has propelled Tzu Chi to where it is today.
With only six years of formal education, it is no mean feat for the petite studious nun to turn Tzu Chi into a huge charity group. The strong-willed woman has overcome many odds in her long journey, as detailed in Tzu Chi literature.
Born in 1937 in a small town in Taiwan’s Taichung County, early life for the pony-tailed country girl was largely comfortable in the home of her childless uncle, who adopted her.
But after witnessing sufferings caused by air raids during the Second World War at seven and the death of her uncle at 21, she began to ponder over the true meaning of life.
And when she came into deeper contact with the teachings of Buddha, she was inspired to explore humanity in larger context, rather then focussing on her small adoptive family.
Her spiritual calling came at the age of 23. She chose to settle in Hualien, an impoverished part of Taiwan. Life was very hard but at 25, she shaved to join the monastic life.
It was a simple, peaceful life for her until she was shaken by two incidents in 1966 that altered her outlook.
The first was seeing a pool of blood outside a clinic and the other was the exchanges with the Catholic missionaries.
The pool of blood outside a clinic, she was told, was left by an indigenous woman who was denied medication as she could not afford to place a deposit of NT8,000 (RM500 then). The patient was carried back to the mountain untreated.
The helpless nun, whose early ideas on charity was giving out cash and kind, began to explore what course to take to help the poor and sick.
Soon after this incident, the Catholics came a-calling. The dawn of Tzu Chi was in sight.
After founding Tzu Chi, the prolific writer of books that guide people to perform good deeds has never stopped planning new projects.
And most important of all, Tzu Chi’s six hospitals – all built with public donations – do not collect deposit from patients from Taiwan and anywhere in the world. The pool of blood simply cannot be erased from memory.
“I cannot stop working. Charitable work must go on to help people and to reach out to them,” said Cheng Yen in a television programme in Taiwan on Tzu Chi in January 2014.
True to her words, the 80-year-old – who leads a simple life, taking only two brief vegetarian meals a day – is still working daily. — Ho Wah Foon in Hualien
Related story:
“You said Buddhism teaches universal love and compassion for all living things. Why have we not seen Buddhists doing good works for society, such as setting up nursing homes, orphanages and hospitals?”
Sunday, 5 March 2017
This was a cruel blow to the 29-year-old kind soul, who had abandoned a relatively good life to help the marginalised natives living in the undeveloped eastern hills of Taiwan.
But following this encounter, came the turning point in her simple, monastic life.
The intelligent lass, now known as Dharma Master Cheng Yen, realised little could be accomplished without an organisation.
This awakening led to the setting up of Taiwan’s Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation to help the needy in a more organised way and to put “Buddhism in Action”.
“Tzu Chi’s purpose is to help the poor and educate the rich – to give material aid to the needy and inspire love, humanitarian spirit in both the giver and the receiver,” Cheng Yen said in her book The Path to Truth.
Starting with 30 housewives and five disciples to persuade simple folks to drop 50sen into their self-crafted bamboo penny banks for charity, Tzu Chi grew. When support from working people, entrepreneurs and the rich began to pour in, Tzu Chi never looked back.
For the past 50 years, this non-profit charitable body has provided aid in cash and kind to people in Taiwan and 68 countries transcending race, religion and politics.
Tzu Chi’s international relief work carried out since 1991 at disaster-struck areas and refugee camps has also won worldwide recognition, including the United Nations.
In major flood-and-earthquake-hit areas, Tzu Chi volunteers (in black and white) would be seen dishing out medical and food supplies, and providing counselling.
They also build schools and worship places when rebuilding communities. The construction of mosques in Aceh after the deadly 2004 tsunami is just one example.
Tzu Chi – meaning compassion and relief in Chinese – has mapped out four missions: charity, medicine, education and humanity.
In recent years, this Buddhist group has also gone into environment protection work.
Cheng Yen, now one of the most influential religious leaders in Buddhism, is respectfully referred to as shang ren. She was named “one of the world’s most influential people in 2011” by Time magazine.
Tzu Chi’s philosophy – putting into practice the teachings of Buddhism – has become a school of Buddhism by itself.
Without a doubt, the Master’s commitment, devotion, leadership and wisdom has propelled Tzu Chi to where it is today.
With only six years of formal education, it is no mean feat for the petite studious nun to turn Tzu Chi into a huge charity group. The strong-willed woman has overcome many odds in her long journey, as detailed in Tzu Chi literature.
Born in 1937 in a small town in Taiwan’s Taichung County, early life for the pony-tailed country girl was largely comfortable in the home of her childless uncle, who adopted her.
But after witnessing sufferings caused by air raids during the Second World War at seven and the death of her uncle at 21, she began to ponder over the true meaning of life.
And when she came into deeper contact with the teachings of Buddha, she was inspired to explore humanity in larger context, rather then focussing on her small adoptive family.
Her spiritual calling came at the age of 23. She chose to settle in Hualien, an impoverished part of Taiwan. Life was very hard but at 25, she shaved to join the monastic life.
It was a simple, peaceful life for her until she was shaken by two incidents in 1966 that altered her outlook.
The first was seeing a pool of blood outside a clinic and the other was the exchanges with the Catholic missionaries.
The pool of blood outside a clinic, she was told, was left by an indigenous woman who was denied medication as she could not afford to place a deposit of NT8,000 (RM500 then). The patient was carried back to the mountain untreated.
The helpless nun, whose early ideas on charity was giving out cash and kind, began to explore what course to take to help the poor and sick.
Soon after this incident, the Catholics came a-calling. The dawn of Tzu Chi was in sight.
After founding Tzu Chi, the prolific writer of books that guide people to perform good deeds has never stopped planning new projects.
And most important of all, Tzu Chi’s six hospitals – all built with public donations – do not collect deposit from patients from Taiwan and anywhere in the world. The pool of blood simply cannot be erased from memory.
“I cannot stop working. Charitable work must go on to help people and to reach out to them,” said Cheng Yen in a television programme in Taiwan on Tzu Chi in January 2014.
True to her words, the 80-year-old – who leads a simple life, taking only two brief vegetarian meals a day – is still working daily. — Ho Wah Foon in Hualien
Related story:
