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Cultivation
Shack
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| (Translated by Stephen Tang) |
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A devoted Buddhist,
Mr. Hsu Tsung-Min, built a small wooden shack measuring 10 by
12 feet behind Pu Ming Temple for Master Cheng Yen. Upon completing
32 days of total precept cultivation for Buddhist nuns in 1963,
the Master returned to Hualien to continue her spiritual cultivation.
In this little shack, she venerated and studied the Wonderful
Lotus Sutra.
The Master chanted the sutra every day and
hand-copied one set of the sutra each and every month. She scarred
her arms with burnt incense to confirm her loyalty to the Buddha.
She led a harsh, ascetic life of spiritual cultivation, with only
one meal and two hours of sleep each day.
To firmly maintain her commitment to Buddhist
compassion and to restore dignity to Buddhist nuns and monks,
the Master established the rules of not asking for alms and not
performing public Buddhist ceremonies. She also followed Master
Pai Chang's philosophy of "no work, no meal," according
to which one must not eat on those days when one has not performed
any labor. The Master and her followers led very simple, ascetic
lifestyle in this little shack.
In August 1975, the shack was destroyed
by typhoon Nina and was never repaired.
