She told me she had been afflicted with fibrotic lungs since 1998 and had to wear an oxygen mask. She was often short of breath, as her lungs and heart had degenerated. "Don't worry, I'll come to see you," I said. Su-chiu lived in an apartment in the most luxurious area of Taipei City. At the age of forty-seven, she had everything a woman could dream of--beauty, wealth, intelligence, a handsome husband, lovely sons--but, alas, she suffered from this rare illness which had struck her out of the blue. The only solution was to have lung transplants, one at a time. The operations were highly painful and dangerous. She often slept during the boring, lonely daytime and would only get up when her two sons came back home from school in the late afternoon. I could see a hint of sadness in her face as she explained everything to me.

I told her Master Cheng Yen often reminded us that the meaning of life lies not in its length, but in what we make of it. Our physical bodies will perish one day, but our wisdom life lasts forever. I encouraged her to bear in mind the motto of all Tzu Chi people: "Just do it!" She could lead a more meaningful life by utilizing her good command of English to translate just one sentence per day. I then gave her copies of our English magazine, the Tzu Chi Glossary and The Chapter of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva's Universal Gate, asking her to read them and phone me when she felt ready to start translating.

A few days later, Su-chiu rang me and said she felt what I said made sense to her and she was eager to do something for Tzu Chi. I then assigned her to work on four chapters of Challenges by Ho Kuo-ching. Su-chiu also told me she had read Universal Gate, and asked me if Kuan Yin would help and bless those who did not call her name for help. I could immediately see what this extremely intelligent woman was referring to. I told her that bodhisattvas do not make any distinction when they reach out to help; it is us humans who make the distinction. The followers of other religions might not be happy to see Kuan Yin even if she appeared in front of them to redeem them from their suffering. Su-chiu laughed when she heard this, since she could tell I was smart enough to comprehend the key point of her inquiry. Having been an atheist for a long time, Su-chiu needed to straighten out many misgivings before opening up her heart to the Buddha's teachings. I was very much in favor of her enquiring attitude, since we can become good Buddhists only when we completely identify ourselves with the Buddha's philosophy. Besides, it is better to be an atheist than to be superstitious.

Su-chiu enjoyed doing the translation very much. She phoned me one day in May to thank me for giving her the chance to do the work and for introducing her to the teachings of the Buddha and Master Cheng Yen. Life had indeed become more meaningful for her.

In June I suddenly became much busier, attending international conferences and receiving foreign visitors. I did not go visit Su-chiu as often as I had hoped, but I still tried to ring her up every now and then. She sounded peaceful and in good spirits whenever I called. It was a great shock to me when a Tzu Chi commissioner came to see me early in the morning of July 20 and told me that Su-chiu had passed away two days before. I was speechless. I phoned her husband and discovered she had been hospitalized with pneumonia a week before. She had had difficulty breathing, so the physician inserted air tubes into her lungs and sedated her to alleviate the pain and allow her to sleep. Unfortunately, she never woke up again. She died on July 18 of heart failure.

Su-chiu had chosen to contribute to mankind in the twilight of her life by translating inspiring articles into English. The English version of Challenges will be published sometime next year. In it, Su-chiu's wisdom life will be preserved forever.