Despite age or fading beauty, people can still play their best roles whenever they have the will. In early l996, Sister Chen Shu-li put on the blue Chinese dress of an accredited Tzu Chi Commissioner. On the stage whose curtain never falls, there is one more bodhisattva to enlighten the people.

Days Under the Limelight

Sister Chen was born into a happy family in Penghu and was named "Shu-li," meaning "intelligent and beautiful."

After her graduation from junior high school, Shu-li passed the entrance examination and entered the Film Department of the World College of Journalism and Communications. At the age of 15, she started to live and study by herself in Taipei. She participated in the Drama Festival for College Youths and won the Best Actress Award. After graduating, she became a contract actress with the Chinese Television System (CTS). Later she was sought as a model.

Glamorous dresses, glittering spotlights and thunderous applause are what many girls dream of. For 12 years, Shu-li promenaded on the fashion runway. Movie companies wanted her, and a French fashion magazine wanted to recruit her. Yet she continued to work as a model.

In 1972, she lost her younger brother. Two years later, her beloved father also passed away. Happy days were gone. The uncertainty of life puzzled her. In l976, President Chiang Kai-shek died. All performances were suspended for a national period of mourning, so she worked at a trading company.

Following the resumption of performances, Shu-li matured as a celebrated model. At the same time, she had to part with her long-standing boyfriend, because his mother insisted that she could not accept a model as her daughter-in-law. Deeply hurt, she asked herself why she should be discriminated against, since modeling was also a proud profession and especially since she herself had never had any romance.

In l984, CTS invited Shu-li to perform on the prime-time TV serial "Four Sisters." She bade farewell to the runway and returned to the silver screen. Later, she shifted to the China Television Company (CTV). She did her best to play her roles in various programs, but she did not have much ambition. "I'm an easy-going person," she said. "It wasn't until I became a volunteer that I began to work much harder than ever."

Reflections After Quitting Smoking

In 1986, Shu-li played a leading role in the hit CTV program "The Wrong Paradise." In addition, she sang well. Many people urged her to do variety shows, but she declined and joined the ranks of volunteers instead.

The reason for her becoming a volunteer had something to do with quitting smoking.

During her 12 years of modeling, the only addiction she had was smoking. One day, in a smoke-filled gathering, she coughed bitterly. After she returned home, she smelled cigarette smoke all over herself. She had to get up at midnight, take a bath and wash her hair.

It suddenly hit her: "I don't know how many people have coughed and gotten up at midnight because of me. It's a real sin and I must do my best to kick the habit." With great resolve she succeeded, and she jotted down her anti-smoking experience in an article which was published in the journal of the John Tung Foundation. After that, she became a volunteer for the foundation.

Shu-li has always cared about the poor. When she first began to work, she remitted all her salary to Penghu, half for her father, the other half for charity associations in care of her father. Her father was very proud of her and urged her to do more good deeds.

One year when Taiwan was severely hit by typhoons, Shu-li donated all her royalties from a film to disaster relief. At that time, nobody had launched any relief drive, and CTV had no idea how to dispose of the contribution. It was not until the business community established a special relief account that the contribution was accepted.

Her royalties from the TV serial "Forgive Me, Father" were donated to a drive to help old veterans from mainland China to return to their native towns. She said, "How meaningful it is that I can save the money for a new dress and help veterans to return to their native towns on the mainland!"

As time went by, more and more organizations asked Shu-li to do performances, concerts and lectures for charity. "I did so little, yet I won so much applause," she said. "It made me feel embarrassed."

Due to her good image, CTV asked her to host two TV programs, "Let's Do It Together" and "Heart of Love." Thus, she turned a new page in her TV career, from actress to MC. Due to the nature of these programs, one intellectual and the other for public benefit, she had more opportunity to come in touch with good people and good deeds.

Aside from volunteering for the John Tung Foundation, Shu-li also worked for World Vision of Taiwan, the Blood Donation Association, and other organizations. In l979, she helped the Taipei City Bureau of Social Affairs to set up the Women's Service Center, helping women fight against marital violence. Once a week, she went to the center to staff the telephone hot line to help those hapless sisters.

To help others is to help oneself. From listening to complaints about others' marriages, she became more aware of the way of human relationships. She felt she grew up more with each passing day.

Vowing to Be a Tzu Chi Volunteer

One day, Shu-li was greatly touched after reading an introduction of the Tzu Chi Foundation on the bulletin board of the Taipei City government. Later she read all the news reports about Tzu Chi that she could get and shared her sentiments with her friends. She and her friends referred to Master Cheng Yen as "our Master." When "Still Thoughts" came off the press, she was very much excited to get a copy. She always carried it around with her.

When Dr. David D. Yen, chairman of the John Tung Foundation, invited her to pay a visit to Master Cheng Yen in Hualien, she was so excited that she could not sleep the night before. "I told Dr. Yen that I couldn't sleep the whole night," she recalled. "He told me that he couldn't get any sleep either."

"Upon seeing Master Cheng Yen at Hualien, I couldn't say anything. I was gratified just to look at her. When we left, the Master invited me to come back and be a volunteer." Shu-li then vowed to become a Tzu Chi volunteer.

In l991, Tzu Chi sponsored a "Face Winter With Love" bazaar at the National Taiwan University. Shu-li was one of the artists invited to take part in the bazaar. More than l00,000 people came. She was greatly moved. From sunup to sundown, she did her part wholeheartedly.

In the summer of the following year, Sister Tzu Cheng of Tzu Chi held a series of lectures called "Intellectual Life." She invited Tzu Chi commissioners and some celebrities, including Shu-li, to give talks. During the lectures, Sister Tzu Cheng gave her a number of cassette tapes and books published by Tzu Chi. "I listen to Master Cheng Yen's 'In the Mundane World' every day, and I can almost recite it," Shu-li said. She began to go to Tzu Chi group meetings and tea parties, conduct interviews and visit lonely elders.

True Love After Glamour

In November l993, Shu-li won the third Zephyr Award (the winner of the first Zephyr Award was Master Cheng Yen). When Master Cheng Yen came to Taipei, Shu-li reported the good news to her, knelt down and asked to become a disciple. The Master said, "What you have been doing is what Tzu Chi is doing. You have long been my disciple."

Sister Shu-li, enthusiastic about public service activities, gradually faded from the circle of performing arts. For 90 per cent of her time, she took part in bazaars, charity performances and charity talks. All the income from these activities was put into a bag to be contributed to where it was most needed.

In March l994, the Tzu Chi Foundation held a jewel and calligraphy bazaar. Sister Shu-li donated all her jewelry, including a gold watch, to the event. Afterwards, she felt very much at ease because she had contributed what she had.

The Master has said, "To give is to receive." Sister Shu-li did not realize the true meaning of this until she put it into practice. In l995, she won the Heart of Love Award from the Wu Tsun-hsien Foundation. She donated the entire cash award of NT$300,000 [US$11,000] to Tzu Chi. Except for the amount needed to maintain a simple lifestyle, money meant little to her. She contributed all the money to Master Cheng Yen and asked the Master to do good.

From a contract actress to a social service volunteer, Sister Shu-li has traversed the path from glamour to normalcy, from luxury to simplicity, constantly encouraged by society.

In less than a year after she joined CTV, she won the model worker award. She was always on time. Even when her star was rising, she was always punctual and never acted like a prima donna. In all, she has won the "Model Worker," "Golden Camel," "Social Education Individual Achievement," "Good People Good Deeds," "Zephyr," and "Golden Lion" awards. She has no pressure to win any more awards.

Wisdom After Frustration

Since joining Tzu Chi, Sister Shu-li has felt Tzu Chi is where she belongs and where she can face any of life's frustrations calmly.

For instance, one day when it was raining heavily, she took a taxi. Getting into the cab, she found the vehicle was full of smoke. "Could you open the window, please?" she suggested softly. "Breathing second-hand cigarette smoke is not good for your health."

The taxi driver stopped the cab and, without any expression, asked her to get out. Startled, she said: "Mister, it's raining hard outside." "Get out!" the taxi driver demanded. "This is the fast lane. Could you at least pull over to the curb?" "No way." She was thus forced to get out of the cab in the fast lane.

Her friends were indignant about the event, but Sister Shuli remained calm. "The Master said that to get angry is to use others' mistakes to punish oneself." She smiled. "Even if I got angry now, what would be the use?"

Most of the time, she receives only the greatest respect. On seeing her, people put out their cigarettes and ask for her experience in quitting smoking.

A broad mind stems from a broad world outlook. For years Sister Shu-li has traveled with World Vision of Taiwan to disaster areas such as Vietnam, Northern Thailand, Sudan, Kenya, Zaire, and Rwanda. She has seen war, starvation, disease, and death.

"The Master always reminds us to bless ourselves, not to curse ourselves," she said. "I often think that I'm so lucky, so fortunate, and I actually become more and more fortunate. We should be grateful that Taiwan is such a fortunate place."

Volunteering Becomes a Way of Life

Ten years of social service have enabled Sister Shu-li to better realize the essence of volunteering: it is a way of life. "A volunteer should ask for nothing," she said. "Only when a person is grateful and contented can he be a volunteer anywhere and anytime."

"A volunteer doesn't only work outside. A volunteer should begin his work at home. He should have the same temperament and the same attitude towards his family members that he has with others. If there is a double standard, the meaningfulness of volunteering will be lost."

"It is not enough to have good intentions without good deeds, nor good deeds without perseverance. The Master has told us that it is easy to be enthusiastic, but difficult to be persistent."

She has resolved to try to master English and Japanese, to make herself a more useful person and to be a wholehearted volunteer for Tzu Chi and society. At present, she is the MC of the "Light the Lamp of the Heart" unit of the "World of Tzu Chi" TV program.