A fortune-teller told Jennifer Wei that she would be in a large service business two years after moving to the United States. She wondered if there were professional baby-sitting companies in the United States. When she thinks back on it now, she realizes that the "service business" was working for Tzu Chi!

Tsao Hsueh-ching, author of the great Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber, said that women are made of water, whereas men are made of clay . In the delicate figure of Jennifer Wei , there is a water-like gentleness and a spirit of firm determination. But she was not always like this.

Her husband, Jason Tsing, practiced medicine for years in the United States. He had a very special philosophy-he did not practice medicine just to make money. He always reduced the medical fees for children of single-parent families, students and the elderly. He would provide free medical care for poor people, and he would even provide them with medicine. If any poor person owed him money, he would not ask him for payment. He reasoned that such people were already suffering from their poverty, and if they had to pay the medical bills, they might end up having no food for their children.

However, this philosophy did no go over well with Jennifer, who counted every penny. Working with her husband in the clinic, she thought he spent too much time talking with patients, so she would often remind him during the day to watch the time. They bickered with each other over money. Jason considered himself to be the master of the house, but Jennifer told him that she was the queen of the house!

Whenever a patient who had difficulty walking needed a wheelchair to enter the clinic, Jason would run out and say, "I am the wheelchair," and he would carry the patient into the clinic. Jennifer was never happy to see this, however, because she felt that her husband was tarnishing the good image of a doctor. When her husband saw her staring at him coldly and felt her disapproval, he did not know whether he should put the patient down or continue to carry him.

Because of his friendliness, Jason won the trust of many patients. When someone praised him for curing his illness, he would always reply humbly: "Oh, it's nothing. Every doctor has his own specialty. It's just that you and I get along pretty well. Actually, I'm still a student."

Jennifer grumbled that if he was still a student, who would come to him for treatment? Jason, though, thought otherwise. "The medical field is so vast. If there is a type of illness that I can't deal with or a patient that I fail to cure, I'm still a student."

Falling into Tzu Chi

Healthy, attractive Jennifer first learned about Tzu Chi after she fell off the roof one day. As a result of this accident, one vertebra and her pelvis were broken, three other vertebrae were bent inward, and her heel was shattered into eight pieces. She was immobilized and had to lie in bed all day. She was dependent on other people to turn her from one side to the other in bed, and the pain was so severe that she required painkillers every fifteen minutes.

Jennifer's sister, a Tzu Chi commissioner, left her own job in Taiwan and went to look after Jennifer in the United States for more than a month. She told her about Tzu Chi, read to her from Still Thoughts, and suggested that she join the foundation. Jennifer always rejected her sister's suggestions, saying that she was too busy, she wasn't interested in joining, and she doubted that there was any truth to be found in human life anyway. Her sister felt so bad that she hid in her room and cried. Jennifer wondered what her sister was getting out of Tzu Chi that she should cry like this just because she didn't want to join.

To pass the time, Jennifer listened to Tzu Chi tapes that her sister had brought. She had originally planned to listen to one tape a week, but the personal stories of some Tzu Chi members and Master Cheng Yen's lectures really touched her heart. She finished all thirty tapes in one week.

"You have everything: a husband, wife, children, houses and real estate, but I have none of those. I only have one life, so I am donating it to all mankind..." Master Cheng Yen's determination to aid all human beings caused Jennifer to ponder her own life. She was rich and lived comfortably, so why should she be so picky? While she was alive, she should do good deeds, and there was still time for her to follow the Path of the Bodhisattvas.

The doctor had told her that she would need six months of recovery before she would be able to walk again, but inspired by the Master's spirit and compassion, she was able to take off her braces and put away her crutches in three months.

After she recovered, her first thought was to return to Taiwan with her husband so that they could learn more about Tzu Chi. In Taiwan, they visited Tzu Chi and saw the exhibitions on the various missions and the foundation's history. Jason was moved to say that in the last thirty years that Tzu Chi had existed, they had done nothing, so for the next thirty years they would have to speed up their pace.

Jennifer informed her sister that she wanted to be "her" member. She thought Tzu Chi worked like a direct-distribution company, but her sister told her that in Tzu Chi, they didn't compete for a "sales record." She told Jennifer to just take the seed of Tzu Chi back to the United States and plant it there. So, upon returning to the United States, Jennifer phoned the Tzu Chi Dallas office and informed them that she wanted to donate the library at her husband's clinic in Arlington, a suburb of Dallas, as a study and meeting place for Tzu Chi members there.

Tseng Jason's Transformation

After a heavy snowstorm, Jason closed the clinic and stayed home. He took out the Tzu Chi tapes and spent three days listening to them. He not only accepted the Master's lectures, but he even stopped fishing!

He used to be a real fishing fanatic. He always thought that he needed the best equipment, and he had so much gear at home that his wife said they could open a store. He became so expert that many people came to ask his advice. Jennifer constantly told him to quit fishing and often got angry with him, but it was no use. But the Master once said, "Change the habit that is the most difficult to change." After joining Tzu Chi, Jason quit fishing in accordance with the Buddhist tenet of compassion for all living creatures, and he put away all his fishing equipment. It sure was a surprise to his wife!

Jason started a garden in their backyard, planting all sorts of Chinese vegetables that they could not buy in the United States. They often invited people over for meals made with the vegetables grown in their garden. They also used the chance to talk to their guests about Tzu Chi.

Jason took time to talk with his wife, trying to convince her to stop putting so much value on material things and to become a gentle Tzu Chi member. Sometimes Jennifer would get frustrated and say to him angrily that she wasn't born as a bodhisattva, so she needed time to change her habits. But one day, he replied, "Why should you take a long time to do something that you can do right now?" Stunned and unable to answer, she could do nothing but change.

Family Involvement

When Jason and Jennifer were purchasing a TV, a stereo, chairs and other equipment for the Tzu Chi meeting place, Jennifer remarked that they had to be careful in spending their money, so they should not buy anything expensive. Her husband, however, thought otherwise. He said that the meetings were not child's play, so they should buy equipment which was more durable.

When they hosted Tzu Chi meetings, their whole family pitched in. Jason was the MC, cameraman and soundman. Jennifer prepared refreshments for the participants and gave speeches as well. The family of six performed Tzu Chi songs so joyfully that they always touched people's hearts and convinced many people to join Tzu Chi.

Although the whole family is still very devoted, they encounter difficulties from time to time and need to encourage each other. "Why does doing Tzu Chi work have to be so difficult?" Jennifer once complained. Jason took out the Master's photo and said to her, "The Master is looking at you." "I don't want to look!" Jennifer replied. "Anyway, it's daytime now here, so it's nighttime in Taiwan and the Master is sleeping." "If the Master knew about this, she would be heart-broken," Jason said. Jennifer felt even worse when she heard this. "Don't feel sad," her husband said. "Few people are willing to follow the Master and work in the Tzu Chi missions. For thirty years, the Master has continued her work whether there were people supporting and encouraging her or not. If you won't continue, I will!

Jennifer realized that it would be a great loss if she couldn't work for Tzu Chi . She picked up the car keys and headed for the door. "You are in Tzu Chi now, but you still haven't changed this habit," observed her husband. Whenever they had an argument, she would go out for a drive. This time, though, she replied, "I'm going to do Tzu Chi work!"

A Service Job

Four years ago, Jennifer was a manager in a large electronics company in Taiwan. When Jason's father fell seriously ill in the United States, Jason and the children went to be with him, and Jennifer was torn between keeping her good job and going with her family. At that time, a fortune-teller told her that two years after she went to the States, she would find a much more significant job to do. She asked the fortune-teller what kind of job it would be, since her English was so poor. He replied that it would be a service job and that she needn't worry about her English, as long as she had a good heart. She was more confused and wondered, "Could it be baby-sitting? Maybe there are professional baby-sitting companies in the States!" When she thinks of this now, she realizes that the fortune-teller was talking about an even larger enterprise-Tzu Chi!

At this year's world Tzu Chi convention, the Master said to all the participants, "You are under the sky of foreign nations and your feet are on their land, so you have to be the ones carrying the lamp to light the way-no matter where you are, radiate your love."

This speech touched Jennifer deeply, and she was even more determined to organize a Tzu Chi liaison office to help people in Arlington. After five months of preparation, the office was opened on September 6 of this year. Now there are close to 300 members.

Besides providing care for needy people, the Tzu Chi members hold gatherings and study groups regularly. The thirty or so Tzu Chi Collegiate Youth Corps members visit nursing homes. They plan to hold talks for younger members about entering university, and they plan to organize blood testing for the bone marrow donation registry, winter clothing distribution, as well as other activities.

If you ask Jennifer if she still has problems, she will certainly reply that it's not that she doesn't have any problems now-it's just that these problems are not important anymore! What's important is whether she has more wisdom and her heart is purer today than yesterday. That way she can do more for Tzu Chi and other people.

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