Cheng Yen

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Cheng Yen

Dharma Master Cheng Yen (* as 王錦雲 , Wáng Jǐnyún , on May 11, 1937 in Qingshui, Taichung , Taiwan ) is the founder of the Tzu Chi Foundation, a Buddhist charity. She is one of the most respected Buddhists in the world.

Life

Cheng Yen grew up with her childless uncle in Fengyuan, Taichung (Taiwan).

The youthful Cheng Yen experienced grief and suffering at an early age. Growing up in WWII Taiwan, she experienced the war ailments first hand and had to look after her seriously ill little brother at the age of eight.

Cheng Yen felt connected to Buddhism from an early age . When she was 15 years old, her mother had a ruptured stomach, so Cheng Yen prayed for her and the Buddha promised to become a vegetarian if he would help the mother. The mother survived, and Chen Yeng kept her promise. When her father died unexpectedly in 1960, she turned completely to Buddhism and tried, with the help of Buddhist monks, to answer the questions about the meaning of life that had arisen in her after her father's death.

Cheng Yen left home several times to become a nun, but each time her mother brought her back home. In 1962 she finally managed to start a life as a nun in a small temple in Hualien , in eastern Taiwan. Traditionally, she shaved her head and was ordained a nun after she met her mentor Master Yin Shun in 1963 and received her Buddhist name from him.

In October 1963, Cheng Yen moved to Tzu Shan Temple in Hualien and underwent spiritual training. She subscribed to the Lotus Sutra and taught the Earth Treasure Sutra. After a short time she was very popular and had many followers with whom she practiced Buddhism . In 1966, she established the Tzu Chi Foundation.

Master Cheng Yen broadcasts a short message on Taiwanese television every day. She is not leaving Taiwan because she has heart problems.

Charity

An incident at the Fenglin Hospital led to the establishment of the Buddhist Compassion Relief Tzu Chi Foundation. While visiting there, Master Cheng Yen saw a woman who had just miscarried and was sent home because she could not afford treatment and hospitalization. Master Cheng Yen found it unbearable that poor Taiwanese were not receiving medical treatment for reasons of cost. She also realized that Buddhists helped individuals, but there was no organized help. She decided to help the poor and sick in an organized way.

Tzu Chi's work began with six students, each knitting a pair of baby shoes a day. She also asked her followers to save 50 cents a day in order to be able to help the poor. Soon more and more volunteers joined the organization and offered their help. Today Tzu Chi has offices in 47 countries and millions of volunteers.

Master Cheng Yen founded Tzu Chi Hospital in Hualien in 1972, where people in need can get free medical help.

In 1989, Master Cheng Yen founded the School of Nursing in the same town, the first private nursing school in Taiwan, especially aimed at local students.

With her bone marrow donation program, Master Cheng Yen once again expanded the range of her charitable foundations in 1992. The establishment of a bone marrow donor file brought political attention to the issue and the Taiwanese government passed a law on bone marrow donation. Research and development are supported in the Tzu-Chi stem cell center.

Her services to medicine also resulted in the establishment of Tzu Chi University in 2000.

Prices

Master Cheng Yen is internationally recognized and has already received many awards. She received the Ramon Magsaysay Prize in 1991 . In 2007 she received the Niwano Peace Prize .

Prof. Harald zur Hausen , winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine (2009), visited Master Cheng Yen in Hualien in December 2009 and was enthusiastic about her work. He promised to nominate her for the next Nobel Peace Prize because she was the Taiwanese equivalent of Mother Teresa .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Website of the Tsu Chi Foundation (English)
  2. ^ Sister of Charity . Forbes Magazine dated December 4, 2010.
  3. ^ Awards and Recognitions . Tsu Chi Foundation of December 5, 2009 (English).
  4. ^ Nobel Peace Prize for Master Cheng Yen . The China Post December 4, 2009 (English).
Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Cheng is the family name here, Yen is the first name.
personal data
SURNAME Cheng, Yen
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wáng, Jǐnyún (real name); 王錦雲 (Chinese)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Taiwanese Buddhist
DATE OF BIRTH May 11, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Qingshui, Taichung, Taiwan