The Bodhi Stand Presents
Upasika Kuo Chien

     As a special nurse who cares for the sick and elderly, Kuo Chien practices compassion. And it was compassion--Great Compassion--that she heard about in connection with the Venerable Master. Although he had left Hong Kong in the late 50's, events of his miraculous healing and compassionate giving have never ceased to come to those who have faith. Time and space provide boundaries for those who are in need and seek sincerely.

      During the Venerable Master's visit to Hong Kong a few years ago, Kuo Chien came to pay respects and bow to him for the first time. Circumstances kept her from taking refuge at that time, but she did so at the next opportunity--March of 1980. The good roots of filial regard and service to the sick came to fruition and she found a true Good Knowing Advisor. The Buddhist Lecture Hall in the heart of Hong Kong draws her, and whenever, she goes there she feels her afflictions fall away and experiences a sense of well-being and peace.

      Experiencing the mixture of fortunate and unfortunate karma that is the lot of people, Kuo Chien was born into a Buddhist family and was able to accompany her mother to temple from an early age. But the family was poor and her father died when she was only 8. She began to help support the family when she was only 12 and then had to leave her homeland a few years later at 18. Caring for her mother, who lived to be 97, Kuo Chien never married. Preferring vegetarian food to meat from an early age, she seems to enjoy nothing better than to be at the temple, and helping support it in whatever way she can.