余
慧蘭老師生性好旅遊，對「人」特別有興趣，在來萬佛聖城之前，足跡遍及全球，除了非洲之外，歐美、亞洲各國都遊遍了，可以說是見多識廣。她對於世界各國，各民族，各社會人民的生活方式、文化結構、社會風俗，都有切身的經驗，因此常感到：同樣是人，為什麼有的人過著富裕的生活，樣樣滿足，事事方便？有的人卻困苦艱難，惡疾纏身，苟延生命而已？
她又看到身邊同事、親友生活得好好的，忽然罹患了不治之症，撒手人世，生前辛苦掙來的富貴榮華、自己親愛的眷屬，全都放下；不知那麼樣，臨走時心裡是惶恐？是難捨？
這些事情經常在余老師的心裡打轉轉。一天同事看她這麼為生死之事憂心忡忡，便介紹她認識「淨土法門」及《阿彌陀經》，這是她接觸到的第一部佛經。以後又上廟裡，又聽經聞法，開始對佛教有了認識，這期間也到過臺北法界佛教印經會，閱讀了上人的開示錄，並聽人說在美國有一座萬佛聖城，是讓人清修的道場，地方寬敞，環境安寧，便很想來看看。
余老師當初在臺北一所美國政府機構工作，工作環境複雜，人心更複雜，有時看到的一些事情，常使她心理上不能平衡，便有了倦勤之意，很想找一處清靜的地方休息個一年。因此便於一九九三年夏天來了萬佛聖城，加入了義務教師的行列，在城中的育良小學及培德中學教書，並幫忙一些行政工作，每天過著平靜而單純的日子，無爭無求，一切隨緣，心裡卻很踏實，所以日子也過得快，一轉眼都快兩年了！
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M
s. Lani Yu is fond of traveling, and she is especially interested in people. Before coming to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, she had already traveled to all parts of the world except Africa, visiting various countries in Europe, America, and Asia. She personally experienced the different lifestyles, cultures, and social customs of various societies, people, and countries. Therefore, she often wondered why some people live an affluent life with all their needs fulfilled and everything at their convenience, while others live a life of poverty and hardship, plagued by illness and struggling just to survive.
She also saw colleagues, friends, and relatives around her suddenly contract terminal illnesses and die, leaving behind all their hard-earned wealth and glory and their beloved families. What was in their mind right before they died? Fear and panic? Or reluctance to leave?
Ms. Yu’s mind was always filled with such thoughts. One day, seeing how overwrought and depressed she was over the matter of life and death, a colleague introduced the Pure Land Dharma-door and the Amitabha Sutra to her. That was the first Buddhist Sutra she ever read. Later, she went to temples and listened to the Dharma and to Sutra lectures, gaining an understanding of Buddhism. During this period, she also went to the Dharma Realm Buddhist Books Distribution Association in Taiwan, where she read the Venerable Master’s Dharma Talks. When someone told her about the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in the United States, a spacious and tranquil Way-place for cultivators, she really wanted to visit this place.
At that time, Ms. Yu was working for a U.S. government agency in Taipei. The working environment was rather complicated, and people’s minds even more so. Sometimes the things she encountered would tip her mind off balance. She felt exhausted and wanted to find a quiet place where she could rest for a year. Thus she came to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in the summer of 1993 and joined the volunteer teacher staff. She has been teaching in Instilling Goodness Elementary School and Developing Virtue Secondary School, as well as helping out with some administrative work. Every day, she enjoys a simple and peaceful life. She neither seeks nor contends, but just accords with conditions, and her mind feels very settled and calm, so time goes by fast. It feels like just the twinkling of an eye, but it’s been almost two years since she came to the City!
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