In the eyes of many senior commissioners, Master Cheng Yen is an irreplaceable teacher. She is a sage who has led them through an ever-changing world full of events without getting lost.

In particular, her explanations of Buddhist teachings are easy to understand and go right to people's hearts. Because of this, she has made many people who have not received much education and who have led their lives without any purpose recognize the value of their existence. They have freed themselves from the fetters of anxiety and extended the love and joy that they have received to those whom they used to pass by. They have lighted a fire for people who need warmth.

What strength and what motivation have enabled those senior commissioners to walk together with their Master from those pioneer years up till now without any complaint or regret? To those historical long-distance runners, whose hair has turned gray and whose eyes have become obscure, the memories of those things in their past lives that were worth gratitude are gradually becoming dim. However, their words about the past have been fermented by the years and are still very touching.

"I just can't understand. What good is it to be a nun and to live such a hard life?" Sister Ching-chieh, who felt deep sympathy for Master Cheng Yen because of her feeble body and hard life, asked herself this question again and again, but never dared to open her mouth to the Master. Now on a quiet night with lonely stars beaming outside the window, she was sitting on a sofa in the volunteers' room at Tzu Chi Hospital, telling us what she had witnessed.

Every time I went near the Abode and heard the noise of the sewing machines on which the Master and the other nuns were making gloves, I felt such inexpressible heartache.

Master Cheng Yen refused to accept alms, so she and her disciples had to make their own living. Food and repayment of bank loans all needed money. Besides, they wanted to help the poor. Not only did they have to do farming, but they also had to make handicrafts to make more money. In addition, they had to lead an austere life in order to save every penny. To the Master's disciples, life was a series of realities.

One day, some disciples who had never had any farming experience before suddenly had an idea: "Let's plant some crops." To till the land, they needed a buffalo. However, they had no money to buy one. Master Teh Tzu, Master Cheng Yen's first disciple, played the buffalo herself. Under the hot sun in summer, she pulled the plow and tilled the land, which was full of stones. Later on, they borrowed a buffalo from the village leader. It took them a long time to learn the temper of the buffalo and to be able to walk smoothly.

Sister Ching-chieh remembered that Master Cheng Yen was very kind. She would call those disciples working outside back to the Abode before noon. She was afraid that they might not be able to stand the midday heat. However, it didn't mean that they came back to have a rest. They still had to make handicrafts. The Master said that to her, rest just meant to change to another type of work.

Farming is not just enduring heat and sweat during the day. In the middle of the night, they had to patrol the fields to see whether there was enough water. The Master was very strict with her disciples. She required every one of them to read the sutras in the evening. The nun whose turn it was to make the night patrol would be sure to have no sleep that night, because by the time she came back, it would be nearly time for morning prayers. Since a nun should never be idle, she still had to go through the whole day without closing her eyes

Although they worked so hard, the harvest was not at all satisfactory. Almost all the money from farming and handicrafts was used to repay the bank loan. Frequently, Sister Ching-chieh, who was in charge of housekeeping, couldn't get any money from Master Teh Tzu, who was in charge of finance. Therefore, she had to go to the fields to pick up wild vegetables to stuff their stomachs.

Once, they had wild vegetables without any oil for several days. Perhaps missing the taste of vegetables fried in oil, Sister Ching-chieh and some other disciples contributed a little money to buy a small bottle of oil. The nuns nagged them for a long time about that. Bewildered, Sister Ching-chieh said that she would never dare do that again.

Talking about Master Cheng Yen's strictness in teaching her disciples to read the sutras, Sister Ching-chieh shrugged her shoulders with an expression of awe. She remembered that because they didn't have money to buy sutras, the Master copied the sutras every day by hand so that she could teach her disciples.

Sometimes Sister Ching-chieh would purposely find something to do in the kitchen so that she could skip class. However, the Master always came to the kitchen and asked her why she didn't come to class. She would never be lenient in this respect. Her strict attitude towards education terrified Sister Ching-chieh. When the Master asked questions, Sister Ching-chieh trembled with fear, because if the answer was wrong, she would be made to stand at her desk for a long time. Talking about this, Sister Ching-chieh sounded as if she had just been punished yesterday.

Before the three festivals (Chinese Lunar New Year, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival), some followers would send money to the Abode. Master Cheng Yen would put all the money into the Tzu Chi Foundation account to help poor people with food and clothing.

Sometimes they could see the bottom of the rice jar and oil and salt would be running out. Even so, if a poor person came in, the Master would never let him or her leave empty-handed. There was a period of time when some mentally abnormal people would come to the Abode, begging for something to eat. The Master would always feed them something.

On a certain distribution day, Sister Ching-jung saw some grains of rice on the floor. She picked them up and put them in the rice jar. When she turned around, the Master was right in front of her. "What was in your hand?" asked the Master. "Some rice fell on the floor. I picked it up and put it in the rice jar."

"Every grain of rice you picked up belongs to the poor," the Master said kindly. "How could you put that rice in the rice jar? We Tzu Chi members should be upright and honest. Even a few grains of rice should be no exception. Relief is for relief. We should make a clear distinction between private and public interests." Sister Ching-jung engraved this advice in her heart and has never dared to forget it.

In the early days, all cases were investigated by Master Cheng Yen herself, leading her disciples or followers, no matter how far or how difficult it was to get there.

In 1976, when Master Cheng Yen visited the families under Tzu Chi's care, Sister Ching-yin carried the medicine box. Coming back on the bus after each visit, the Master would always call for a meeting immediately to discuss that case. She didn't waste even one minute, which impressed Sister Ching-yin very much.

When they were passing through Fengkang, Pingtung County, they saw some peddlers at the roadside selling roasted birds and gem-faced civets. The Master wanted to buy the live ones and release them, but she was afraid that the peddlers would not sell them to a nun. So she told the driver to park the bus further away from them. Then the lay members walked back in small groups to buy all the animals. When they reached a place called Shouka, high in the mountains, they released the birds and animals. Strangely, the birds circled above the bus, and when the gem-faced civets had run halfway to the forest, they stopped and turned their heads around to look back at the bus. The Master called to them, "Fly higher and run farther, as deep into the mountains as you can. Don't let yourselves be caught again."

Master Cheng Yen was always very conscientious about punctuality. She was always early for an appointment. She not only demanded this of herself, but hoped that her disciples would do so too. Once there was a fire at Juisui. Sister Chen Ching-chih, who lived in Yuli, investigated the disaster site that same day. After that, she reported to Master Cheng Yen, who decided to take a look herself the following day. The next day, the Master arrived 30 minutes earlier than the appointed time, whereas Sister Ching-chih was just on time. The Master said, "Hualien is closer to Juisui than Yuli, isn't it?" The casual remark made Sister Ching-chih's face turn red.

Master Cheng Yen always hoped that whenever there was a disaster, Tzu Chi people would always be the first to arrive at the scene. Although the Master did not specifically say this, Sister Ching-chih understood it very well. From that time on, she knew that she must always make preparations in advance, so that she would not be too late if something unexpected happened later.

Sister Ching-chih was somewhat reckless. She said she acted like a typhoon when she was young. Once she went to visit a certain poor family with Master Cheng Yen. On the way, she felt dizzy and nauseous. The Master told her to sit in the front seat, so they stopped the car and exchanged seats. When the Master's hand was still on the door frame, Sister Ching-chih, who was still in a daze, pulled the door shut. The Master's hand was badly pinched. Everyone was in a panic. Sister Ching-chih was filled with remorse. However, the Master didn't cry out or show any expression of pain, nor did she reproach Sister Ching-chih. Nevertheless, for the rest of the journey, Sister Ching-chih. Nevertheless, for the rest of the journey, Sister Ching-chih's heart had all it could take. Even now her memory of that incident is still fresh.

Many people said Master Cheng Yen had a kind of kung fu of walking without touching the ground. No matter how bad the weather or terrain, they never stopped visiting poor families. This is how the legend started.

Once they went to a mountain area to visit a poor family. It had just rained. The road was muddy and very difficult to walk on. Although the rain had stopped, the grass and tree leaves on both sides of the road were still dripping water. Worried that there might be snakes by the roadside, someone was mumbling a prayer. Everyone's shoes and pants cuffs were covered with mud-everyone's except Master Cheng Yen's. Therefore, people believed that the Master had the kung fu of walking without touching the ground. However, the Master explained that one must be mindful in doing everything. "When you go out to visit poor families, you should wear simple clothing. But you just want to look pretty. Some of you are even wearing high heels."

The Master was also very strict with her disciples about their habits. A sister was eating fruit in the car and threw the peels out the window. The Master said to her, "You should take the garbage back home with you. If you throw it around here, no one will clean it up and it will make a big mess." Sometimes when we saw beautiful flowers at the roadside, we thought it would not matter if we picked one or two. But the Master stopped us right on the spot. Sister Ching-chao had had such experiences. "The Master told us to pay attention even to such small details," she said. "Even now, I still feel the benefit of such an education."

In the early days, the Abode of Still Thoughts held a seven-day retreat each year. From Master Cheng Yen's teaching, we could feel her strictness and benevolence at the same time.

Before joining Tzu Chi, Sister Ching-yao had already studied Buddhism for many years. She was proud of her profound knowledge of Buddhism. Master Cheng Yen gave her a lesson by taking advantage of the seven-day retreat.

For three days in a row, the Master asked her to demonstrate how to put on the "hai ching" (a kind of wide-sleeved robe worn by Buddhist students at certain times). She thought it was nothing for her, as she had already vowed to observe the Five Precepts and the Bodhisattva Rules. The Master put on the "hai ching" with dignity and elegance. Sister Ching-yao thought that putting on a robe had nothing to do with studying Buddhism, so she didn't pay much attention.

The first day, the Master told her to go up to the stage to demonstrate. She was very clumsy and this made the audience laugh. The Master asked softly how come she couldn't put on the robe well. During the recess, the Master asked one of the other nuns to teach her how to put it on. However, she still didn't pay attention.

The next day, Sister Ching-yao thought she wouldn't be so unlucky as to be called upon a second time. However, after glancing at everyone, the Master's eyes fell upon her again. Sister Ching-yao was so embarrassed at her second inept performance that she wished she could find a hole in the ground to hide herself. After the class, the Master again asked another nun to teach her. Now she didn't dare to be inattentive again. She practiced in a corner of the classroom. While she was doing that, the Master quietly went to her and said that she should have been more mindful earlier. "The Master always gives you encouragement after you have learned a lesson. Maybe she thought I wasn't such a dunce, so she was willing to spend time teaching me and reminding me to be mindful in all things."

Sister Ching-huang was another one whose spiritual growth was stimulated at a seven-day retreat. Since then she has ceaselessly exerted herself on the Path of the Bodhisattvas. She attended the seven-day retreat in 1986. For seven days, from the lighting of the first piece of incense at 4:00 a.m. until the last piece of incense at 9:00 p.m., except for worshipping and walking around the statue of Buddha, the participants sat almost the whole day with their legs crossed. Worried that the posture might not be completely correct, no one dared to sit in the front rows. "If you don't consider yourselves rotten pieces of wood, why don't you sit in the front and let me sculpture you?" The Master's words encouraged Sister Ching-huang and some other young sisters to crowd into the front seats. Then, the Master told a story about Buddha from the Jataka Sutras (stories about Buddha's previous incarnations).

There was a drought in a certain village near the sea. Buddha couldn't bear to see the villagers hungry, so he transformed himself into a whale and swam in shallow water near the village. Five fishermen who were drying their fishing nets saw the whale. Excited, they ran back to their village and beat the gongs to notify the villagers.

Because of their hunger, all the people came to the sea and pulled the whale ashore. That whale sustained the villagers for a long time and kept them from starving.

Buddha's compassionate vow moved the devas, nagas and others of the eight classes. Therefore, rain started to fall and the villagers started to plant crops. By the time the whale was finished, the crops had been harvested.

The Master said that when Sakyamuni became the Buddha, he saved five monks who were the incarnations of those five fishermen.