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FACE TO FACE | EASTERN HORIZON 45

likely tell me that Buddhist monasticism could not be
a profitable path. But all I did was to pray to Guan Yin
Bodhisattva to reveal my destiny. I also realized that it
was in my karma to love the road less trodden. Let me
share these lines from the poet Robert Frost:

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

You are ordained in the Fo Guang Shan Order
founded by Dharma Master Hsing Yun. What did he
teach that inspired you?

Between 2000 and 2008, I was very fortunate to be
able to approach the Venerable Master on a regular
basis. There was an extraordinary humanness about
him, larger than life, and yet, not disempowering the
individual. His accomplishments read like Mission
Impossible and yet, he does not place himself above
others. If there is one thing that inspired me most, it was
his big heart.

Once I was in the city of Yilan in northeast Taiwan,
saying good-bye to the Venerable Master and his
entourage of two cars of elder nuns traveling with him
back to Taipei. Soon after departing, Venerable Master’s
car returned to the front door to collect a recently
ordained novice nun who was late and had not boarded.
Speak of “leave no one behind”!
but also what inspires me. It is “Everyday Dharma for
The more I learn about the Humanistic Buddhism (HB) Everybody”, i.e. it is so ordinary and yet extraordinary
that Venerable Master promoted, the more I realized the because it is about enabling ourselves and everyone
depth of his teachings and practice. As he said to me else to live life to its fullest in every moment.
once, it is very difficult for anyone to understand HB if
he or she does not practise it. Now, I have come to touch Humanistic Buddhism talks about transforming
the edge of what he means: unless we mindfully walk our planet into a Pure Land of peace and bliss. How
the path, bring out the best in ourselves (whatever the is this possible when all of history has always been
conditions) by building a culture of care and realizing about warfare and conflict?
the power of the gift, we won’t be living life as a
humanistic Buddhist. Venerable Master’s teachings are Venerable Master Hsing Yun said that life is made up of
truly about living life, embracing all possibilities (some halves and halves. So, ALL of history is not warfare and
of which we did not think feasible), and building conflict and all of history is not “living happily ever after.”
wholesome conditions for the future.
About two years ago, I arrived at a catchphrase for In a Cherokee tale from the United States, an elder tells
HB which I think not only captures the essence of HB his grandson that inside each of us are two wolves in