Did they become nuns because they wanted to free themselves from worldly worries, or to find out the truth of life, or to redeem all living beings from their suffering? Behind the regular, monotonous daily lives of these nuns are countless moving life stories that few people know about. It was all for love--a great love which transcends all worldly desires--that they became nuns.

Gratitude to their parents

On the day her head was shaved, her parents did not weep for the loss of a daughter. Master Teh Jan became a nun with the full blessings of her parents. The moment she put on her long robe, her mother was moved to tears at the sight of her dignified appearance.

Master Teh Jan is the only daughter in her family. After graduating from junior college, she told her parents that she wanted to become a nun. Although her father had been a devout Buddhist for a long time, he was nonetheless stunned by such an idea. But he only said to her, "No matter what you choose to become, I will find a good place for you." He then began to look for a suitable Buddhist temple to settle his daughter in [every Buddhist monk or nun is required to live in a temple and to follow a dharma master]. At last he found Tzu Chi.

Four years ago, her father was diagnosed with cancer. Not wanting her to worry about it, her parents decided to hide the truth from her. Every time she called home, her mother always told her, "As long as you're all right, we'll be all right too." In order to show her gratitude for her parents' support, Master Teh Jan did her best to cultivate herself and to practice the Buddhist teachings. She demanded the best of herself in her speech and behavior. She thought this was the best way to show her love and respect for her parents.

Master Teh Man, who became a nun this year, is also the only daughter in her family. When people asked her father how he could bear to part with his daughter and let her become a nun, he answered, "This is her karma. She must have cultivated a lot of blessings in her last life to be able to become Master Cheng Yen's disciple." Master Teh Man's father sometimes works as a volunteer at the Abode of Still Thoughts, but very rarely does he pay visits to his daughter. The last thing he wants is to see her tied down by a worldly father-daughter attachment. He hopes that she can concentrate wholeheartedly on her spiritual cultivation and on learning the teachings of the Buddha.

"Even though I can let go of my emotional attachment to my parents, I will never forget what they have done for me," Master Teh Man said. "They brought me up and gave me all the best. They even consented to let me become a nun and they did all they could to help me. I am really grateful to them. I will be a good nun and devote myself to serving people to pay back what they have done for me."

Master Teh An has been a nun for sixteen years. Four of the eight members of her family are nuns. It seems that she was destined to be in religious life. Since her brother died five years ago, her mother's health has been deteriorating. Her brain has atrophied, and now she has been totally paralyzed by a stroke. Thus in addition to the routine tasks required of a nun, Master Teh An also has to take care of her mother, who has come to live with them at the Abode of Still Thoughts. Every day she feeds her, removes the sputum that has developed in her throat, changes her diapers, and bathes and massages her. When her mother has a bowel movement during the night, Master Teh An gets up immediately to clean her and change her bed sheets so that she will not feel uncomfortable.

Master Teh An has been taking care of her mother like this for years, and she has always been grateful for the chance to take care of her. "My mother is my best teacher. From her I have learned about the impermanence of life." She deeply wishes that she could share her mother's pain.

Master Teh An is happy that she became a nun, because the teachings of the Buddha and Master Cheng Yen have helped her a great deal in caring for her mother. Far from feeling that it has been a burden, she has fully enjoyed a job which most people would consider tiresome.

Reaching enlightenment

Master Teh Ken smiles when she thinks that before she became a nun, her only interests in life were buying clothes, houses and cars. She chased after every fad and fashion to temporarily satisfy her vanity. Then she found that a tumor had developed in one of her eyes.

She was then a music teacher who taught the Chinese zither. The heartbreaking news came upon her like a thunderbolt. She was completely devastated when the doctor told her that the tumor was malign and that her entire left eye would have to be removed. Thinking of how the left side of her face would be deformed after the operation, she collapsed from anxiety.

During her medical treatment at National Taiwan University Hospital, she came into contact with Buddhism and Tzu Chi. Her anger and hatred gradually changed to tranquillity. After she was released from the hospital, she told herself that she would work as a volunteer at Tzu Chi for a week. There, however, she found herself so touched by Master Cheng Yen and the Tzu Chi world that she decided to stay on.

Having found new meaning in life, Master Teh Ken decided to renounce the lay life and become a nun. But she still had one concern: "Can I be a nun even though one of my eyes is blind?" The Master asked her in return, "One of your eyes is blind, but has your heart gone blind too?"

With an artificial eye, Master Teh Ken now helps in the news department of the Tzu Chi television station. In order to find a certain picture, she patiently watches tape after tape. It is not unusual for her to work late into the night. Today the most important thing for her is to promote Buddhism and the Tzu Chi missions. She is thankful for having fallen ill, which enabled her life to take an unexpected turn for the better.

"Why can other people devote themselves so selflessly to society, while all I can think of is myself and my own future?" Thirteen years ago, Master Teh Min quit her job in order to study abroad. She made use of a couple of remaining free days and took a trip to Hualien. She carried her bag and easel with her, hoping to draw some of the natural scenery on the way. In Hualien, she paid a visit to the Abode of Still Thoughts. The moment she stepped into the hall, her attention was arrested by volunteers packing relief items for disaster victims.

"They were all elderly people, and even Master Cheng Yen was among them. I was deeply impressed by how seriously they took their work. If something dropped on the floor, they would pick it up and wash it clean." Moved by their attitude, Master Teh Min immediately put her painting tools away and joined in the packing.

She had intended to go back to Taipei after that work was finished. But it so happened that Master Cheng Yen was about to go on one of her regular trips around Taiwan, so she decided to go with her. During the trip, which took more than ten days, she spent a lot of time with the other followers of the Master and found that they were a very special group of people. Her heart underwent a tremendous change. "If possible, I should also do something for others, instead of just thinking about enjoying myself."

At that time, Tzu Chi General Hospital had just opened and a lot of people were needed there. She attended a Tzu Chi commissioners' meeting, and the Master asked those present, "Is there any one here whose children can come to work in the hospital?" After a rather long, tense silence, somebody finally raised her hand and said, "I will come." That courageous girl was the one who later became Master Teh Min.

Searching for the truth

Master Teh Fan had always been interested in searching for the truth and meaning of life. She finally found the answer in Buddhism.

When she was a philosophy major at university, she often went to libraries to find the truth of life. There she found the teachings of the Buddhist Pure Land sect and books on Tzu Chi. Curious about the charity foundation, she decided to go with her parents and pay a visit.

"I thought Tzu Chi was a good place for my parents to go, but in the end I became its most dedicated member." In order to practice what the Master taught--"Think and behave like a bodhisattva"--she devoted much of her time and energy to Tzu Chi activities. She even worked as a full-time employee at the Tzu Chi Cultural Center in Taipei. She still wanted to learn more about the essence of Master Cheng Yen's thinking, so after a couple of years she went to live at the Abode of Still Thoughts. After two years there, she felt the time had come for her to become a nun, so she entered religious life.

Master Teh Yin, now a teacher at the Tzu Chi Junior College of Nursing, grew up in a well-to-do family and had always led a carefree life. She started receiving musical training when she was a child and became a music teacher after a complete formal education. With a good job and a stable life, she was the envy of many people. But then she joined Tzu Chi. Inspired by the Master's words, "You do not have the right to own your life, but only the right to use it," and considering that she had always been firm in her life-long pursuit of Buddhism, she decided that she would become a nun and a disciple of the Master.

As a nun, Master Teh Yin still teaches music. She thinks that all her students have the potential to become bodhisattvas, and she uses music to instill the concept of great love in them. "I am really grateful to my students. They give me the chance to really think about Buddhism and then explain it to them." Being a nun does not restrict her role as teacher. Treating her students as persons to learn from, she sows in them the seeds of love and gets mental nourishment from their feedback.

"Actually, music is a kind of language which can express one's deepest feelings." Master Teh Yin thinks that the reason music is so moving is because it contains so much feeling and can touch the deepest cords in a human heart. It is the same with Buddhism--the pure, undefiled love that it teaches frees us from anxiety and cleanses our souls.

Becoming a better Buddhist

Those who want to become nuns at the Abode of Still Thoughts must live there for two years to see if they are suitable for the lifestyle there. They are called "postulants." When Master Teh Nien was still a postulant, she was bothered by problems in trying to get along with other nuns and people. Because she had always wanted to study in a Buddhist college, she decided to leave the Abode after she had done her duties there.

One day while she was considering leaving, she heard Master Cheng Yen refer to faultfinders as people who "try to pick bones out of eggs." It immediately occurred to her that maybe she was too strict on other people and too ready to find fault with them.

Ashamed of herself, Master Teh Nien changed her mind and decided not to leave. She also changed her attitude in treating people and found that her previous problems no longer troubled her. Her duties at the Abode included receiving visitors and telling them about Tzu Chi. To learn more about the missions of Tzu Chi, she set out to collect data on the history of the foundation. "I knew Tzu Chi as it was, but to give the guests a more complete picture of Tzu Chi, I had to know what it had been, its origin and past."

Master Teh Jen was an overseas member of the Tzu Chi Youth Corps. She chose to become a nun out of a sense of mission. After she became a nun, she took up the job of counseling Youth Corps members. Brimming with passion for life, she hopes that she can bring more new blood into Tzu Chi. "Buddhism is not just a religion for old folks. Young people with ideas and lofty aspirations should join us too."

"Tzu Chi is a humanistic organization full of life and vigor," said Master Teh Jen. She is active in introducing Tzu Chi to young people around the world through the Internet. The year 2000 will be here in just a few months. Master Teh Jen hopes that members of the Tzu Chi Youth Corps both at home and abroad can be connected more closely through the Internet and e-mail. By way of this modern technology, Tzu Chi's concept of practicing Buddhism in daily life can be disseminated to more young people of different races, languages and religions.

Master Teh Ching was formerly a Tzu Chi commissioner. She worked for nine years in the computer department at the Tzu Chi headquarters in Hualien before she had her head shaved and became a nun. "My goal in life is very close to that of the Master's. I decided to become a nun because then my job and my life's mission could become one."

Master Teh Ching knows that if Tzu Chi wants to promote its missions, it must make good use of modern information technology. An avowed workaholic, she often stays after work to learn more on the Internet.

Tzu Chi began to post its news and events on the World Wide Web in 1994. Many overseas Tzu Chi branch offices have also set up their own Web sites, hoping to get news and information from the Tzu Chi headquarters more quickly. Master Teh Ching is glad to see such a development, even though it means that she has to work harder, because it means that she can make friends with more people through the Web.

"I hope I can do one thing at a time and do it well." A graduate in computer engineering, Master Teh Ching had high expectations of herself. In order to tackle the Y2K problem, she encourages herself to have the patience of a camel and the bravery of a lion. She hopes that by working along with her team members, the problem can be dealt with successfully.

Master Teh Yueh is in charge of organizing and promoting the Tzu Chi Children's Achievement Class. She became a nun with the approval of her parents. Because of her, her family all became Tzu Chi members. Her mother recycles resources for Tzu Chi and her sister is a certified Tzu Chi commissioner. They are her most faithful supporters.

"Though my daughter leads a busy life, she is as happy as a lark," her mother said. "Being able to do things is a blessing." At first, when her daughter told her she wanted to become a nun, she was reluctant to let her go. But gradually she began to admire her for making such a decision. Turning her motherly love into an unselfish great love, she hopes she can help her daughter on the Path of the Bodhisattvas. Now whenever they meet, they always happily address each other as "Master" and "Bodhisattva."

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"It is a heroic thing to become a nun," Master Cheng Yen says to new nuns during the head-shaving ceremony. "You should change yourself inside out and make yourself as compassionate as the Buddha. Be grateful for everything, be compassionate in everything, and show your sympathy for every living being in the world. In other words, 'take the Buddha's compassion as your own.' I hope you can all be of one heart, one ambition and one goal and help me carry out the missions of Tzu Chi. That is, 'take my commitment as your own.' "

No matter what motive or sense of mission pushed them to enter religious life, the nuns who live at the Abode of Still Thoughts take as their own the Buddha's compassion and the Master's commitment--"for Buddhism and for all living beings."

"As long as your heart is pure and your commitment firm, you will sail safely across all troubled waters." Master Cheng Yen often uses this quote to encourage the nuns at the Abode of Still Thoughts. She wants them to always remember why they became nuns and to persevere in their original commitment.