Master Cheng Yen

(Translated by Douglas Shaw)

Chinese version

Dharma Master Cheng Yen is the founder and president of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation.

The Master was born in Chingshui township, Taichung county, in 1937. She was adopted and raised by an uncle and aunt who had no children of their own. When she was twenty years old, her uncle suddenly died of a stroke. In her search to find out where he had gone after his death, she came in contact with Buddhism. In 1963, Venerable Master Yin Shun accepted her as his disciple. He gave her the Buddhist religious name, Cheng Yen, and instructed her to work "for Buddhism and for all living beings." Ever since then, this phrase has been the model for the Master's religious efforts.

In 1966, the Master founded the Buddhist Tzu Chi Merit Association (the forerunner of today's Tzu Chi Foundation) in Hualien county. Her vow was to carry out kindness, compassion, joy and giving; her practice was to help the suffering and those in hardship; her mission was to help the poor and educate the rich. She helped those who lacked material goods to make a living, and she enriched the spiritual world of those whose spirits were empty. Therefore, she has been venerated by many followers.