Three years ago, Mrs. Lin was diagnosed with breast cancer. She phoned the Tzu Chi College of Medicine to express her wish to donate her body for anatomy research. Last year, she died in peace and left a message to her daughter: "Please donate my body to give value to this worthless shell and to bring my spirit back to life."

Her remarkable behavior drew so much public attention and curiosity that the Tzu Chi College anatomy department organized a task force to hold around 10 body donation drives throughout Taiwan to promote donations. Initially, team members crossed their fingers when advocating this sensitive idea. Beyond their expectations, the promotion drives acquired overwhelming response from the public.

Inspired by Master Cheng Yen's aphorism, "You do not have the right to own your life, but only the right to use it," many people have volunteered to donate their bodies in the future. The most current statistics show that over 900 donors are registered in the body donor data bank. The Master herself also set a good example by signing a body and organ donation agreement. "Only by letting go of all attachments can one reveal the compassion of the buddha-nature that exists in everyone's heart," she said.

However, the traditional concept that the dead should be buried with complete bodies in order to be able to rest in peace is deeply rooted in most Chinese people's minds. In addition, they think that chanting "Amitabha" for the dead for eight hours just after death will help the soul go to the Western Pure Land of Amitabha.

"In fact, there is no such teaching in Buddhism," said Dharma Master Yin Shun, the mentor of Master Cheng Yen. Removing organs causes no harm to the deceased. He observed that the chanting is meaningless for the dead, who have already lost their sensory abilities. It is only a ritual part of the funeral.

Master Yin Shun's observation is indeed derived from Buddha's teachings. According to the Immeasurable Meaning Sutra, Sakyamuni Buddha said that the greatest giving is to help the needy even with your brain, eyes, bone marrow, etc., without asking for anything in return. A legend says that in a previous life, Buddha cut part of his arm to feed a starving eagle. The core of his teaching is mainly based on the idea of activating people's great kindness to share compassionately in the unhappiness of others.

Sogal Rinpoche, a respected Tibetan Buddhist and author of The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, has consulted many great masters on this sensitive issue. He has concluded that doing anything beneficial for all living beings brings the greatest merit. "A person has no better way to show the merit of unselfish giving than to donate his body for the purpose of medical research," he said.

Nevertheless, there were many obstacles in the body donation program. Sogal Rinpoche suggested that in addition to inspiring future donors, it is also important to educate and explain the value of body donation to the volunteer donors' family members.

Participating in the program for three months, Instructor Lin Kuo-wei of the anatomy department realized that volunteer donors themselves quite support the program. Most family members, on the other hand, are opposed to the idea. Regulations require the endorsements of two family members to make the donation agreement effective. Hence, many people are prevented from signing an agreement due to their family's objections.

There are even a few cases in which family members nullified a relative's donation agreement. For example, before Mrs. Wang died in 1996, she agreed to donate her body to the Tzu Chi College of Medicine. But her pledge was opposed by one of her daughters, who flew back from the States for the funeral. Although Mrs. Wang had already signed the agreement and had received her husband's endorsement, college officials could do nothing but offer their blessings.

When the papers are signed, volunteer donors receive a certification card. It simply confirms their commitment to donate their bodies, but it has no legal force. Based on the conviction of giving willingly and receiving the results happily, Instructor Lin said that it is unnecessary to make body donation obligatory. "The purpose of the program is to help people understand the value of death," he said. "What we really hope for is to see people contribute to medical education by donating their bodies without any pressure or misgivings."

Mr. Liu Cheng is a 73-year-old veteran living by himself in Hualien County. When he learned that the college was promoting body donation, he personally delivered his consent card to the school. "We should learn to let go of our attachments," he said. "We can't take our bodies with us when we die, but we can make our bodies useful, like fertilizer to nourish flowers, rather than just let them decay."

Nobody knows what he will look like or what he can do after he dies. Tsao Ning-chiu, who works in the public relations division of Tzu Chi Hospital, decided to take a look at the Gross Anatomy Lab before she made up her mind to be a donor. At first, she was shocked by the sight of dissected cadavers. "Those bodies were split in pieces!" she gasped. After second thoughts, she realized that the bodies were just silently teaching the students. Their lives are ended, but it's just a start for medical students who will save lives in the future. "It is very meaningful," Ms. Tsao said with feeling "The better students understand the organs and structures of the human body, the more they can save people's lives," she added.

However, considering safety and the process of embalming, the department places strict limits on body donations. Bodies are not accepted from donors who were overweight, had trauma or major operations, drowned or had infectious diseases like AIDS, typhoid fever, etc. The potential donor must die in grace and peace, with a complete body. Qualifying to be a body donor is actually a person's greatest blessing, concluded Instructor Lin.

Professor Tseng Ying-lung, director of the anatomy department, emphasized that anatomy is the most fundamental medical course. In the lab, students combine theory and practice. "For instance, when we see a well-designed dress, we don't know the quality of the material unless we touch it," he said. "Likewise, those bodies help the students, particularly those who will be trained as surgeons , to understand human body structures in depth."

Three years ago, Dr. Tseng worried about the source of bodies. At that time, most of the bodies used for medical studies came from the Body Distribution Center, which was mainly responsible for distributing available cadavers to the five medical schools located in Taipei. Their main source was either from reception centers for homeless people or any dead, unidentified vagrants. No one would know how they had died. It created a potential risk to students and others who would touch them.

Still, cadavers are badly needed by the medical schools in northern Taiwan. Just imagine how awkward it is that 200 students have to use one cadaver for anatomy studies!

Compared to other medical students in Taiwan, the students at the Tzu Chi College of Medicine are fortunate. A total of 48 students used 13 cadavers in the fall semester of 1996. That is to say, there was one body for every four students. Another 17 cadavers are temporarily stored in other hospitals for use in the next school year.

The substantial number of donors became a concern for Director Tseng. Thirty bodies have already been donated, and over 900 volunteers have signed up for future donations. Where to place so many bodies? How to preserve them? The college quickly came up with a plan to construct a body storage facility with a capacity of 100 and the most up-to-date embalming equipment. It also established a memorial room for donors' families to memorialize their relatives. At the end of every academic year, the department will cremate the dissected bodies, and it will hold a memorial ceremony every year in appreciation for the great love and generosity of all the donors.

In the Gross Anatomy Lab, located on the second floor of the college, there is no strong, pungent smell of formalin (a kind of body preservative), because the lab is equipped with special floor vents to remove the fumes. A statue of the Earth Treasury Bodhisattva has been placed in front of the classroom adjacent to the lab, and it can be seen through the lab windows. It creates an atmosphere of tranquillity to calm the students' nerves and worries.

Four students form a team surrounding one table, facing a body wrapped in layers of white cloth. They are both appalled and excited when told to remove the wrappings from head to foot. Curiously and nervously, they touch the cadavers. This was a live person once, the students think, but now he is lying here with no sign of life. What a queer way to meet a new friend.

In class, Director Tseng and the other two instructors only play the role of teaching assistants, moving around and helping students solve their questions. The real teachers, as Dr. Tseng keeps reminding the students, are on the tables right in front of everybody. They are ready to guide the students to explore the wonder of the human body. Occasionally, doctors from Tzu Chi Hospital come over to share their experiences with the students, who will someday have the chance to apply what they learn from these experiments to real situations.

The students gradually build up a friendly relationship with their "teachers." Full of respect and gratitude, they bow to their teachers at the beginning of every class. Before class is over, they carefully cover them again with white cloth, layer by layer, and clean up the lab. The students never forget to say good-bye to their teachers as they leave the room.

After taking this class, students start to feel that they are actually becoming part of the medical field. They are also grateful to Master Cheng Yen, Tzu Chi people and the donors for the efforts they have made for them. Although some students used to feel frustrated because they failed to enter public medical schools, they now realize how lucky they are to attend Tzu Chi College. They are fortunate to be able to use the bodies of identifiable people who knew about Tzu Chi. Most importantly, the students know that the donors gave willingly, which makes them feel more comfortable.

"They donated their bodies to our school because they were proud of being Tzu Chi members," said Chen Mei-yin, a junior student. "And I hope Tzu Chi people will be proud of us someday, too."