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很多人一定有這個疑問，為什麼我出家？我十八歲，還在培德女中唸書，一個正憧憬未來的青少年。其實我也掙扎過，但修行要趁早，這是我決心出家的原因。
在臺灣，小時常有一些奇怪的問題在心裏––為什麼我在這裏？為什麼我不是別人的孩子？為什麼人都有二隻眼睛、一個鼻子、一張嘴，但想的卻都不一樣；而又是什麼使我們「想」呢？這些問題常在心中盤繞，使我小小的心靈中對「人」有一種潛在的害怕感。
唸小學時家搬到一座寺廟附近；寺廟對我有一種說不出的吸引力，常不由自主地往那兒跑。雖然我在廟裏能幫忙的只是拔草抹桌子，然而廟裏靜謐的環境和肅穆的氣氛，讓我感到自己似乎是屬於過那種生活的人，而非過外面那種熙熙攘攘、爭爭吵吵的日子：那時心中就種下了出家的種子。
上國中後常問自己，到底唸書為的是什麼？而自己要的又什麼呢？唸了大學之後我所得到的又會是什麼呢？後來為了上人的涅槃，而到萬佛城來了。原定只留半個月，結果竟住了下來唸高中；住下後，自然而然地又想出家了，似有一股無形的力量推動著我。上人精神的感召，也使我願意在上人的道場出家。
出家得具因緣；雖具因緣，也需思考清楚，所以經過一番自我拉鋸戰後，終於去年十一月跟母親一起剃了頭。從此安心修行吧！誰叫我的法名是親修呢？
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Many people must wonder why I left the home life. I was an eighteen-year-old student at Developing Virtue Girls School looking at the future before me. It was a difficult decision, but I was able to make it because I knew the earlier I started cultivating, the better.
When I was growing up in Taiwan, many strange questions would arise in my mind: Why am I here? Why aren't I someone else's child? Why is it that everyone has two eyes, a nose and a mouth, but their thoughts are totally different? What makes us think? These questions lingered in my mind, inspiring a fear of people deep down in my young heart.
When I was in elementary school, my family moved near a Buddhist temple. That temple had an unspeakable attraction for me, and I was often drawn to visit. Although I could only do a few small chores such as weed the garden or wipe the tables, the pure and peaceful atmosphere made me feel that I was suited to that kind of life, not to the hectic, strife-filled life outside. The first seeds of becoming a nun were planted in my mind at that time.
When I entered middle school, I often asked myself what the purpose of studying was and what I really wanted. What would I get from going to college? Because of the Venerable Master's Nirvana, I came to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in the United States. We were only planning to stay for half a month, but I ended up going to high school here. Living here, I naturally had the thought of leaving home; it seemed as if an invisible power were driving me. The Venerable Master's magnanimous spirit inspired me to join the Sangha in this Wayplace.
Although I had the conditions to leave home, I still had to think it over clearly and go through an internal struggle. Finally, in November my mother and I both had our heads shaved. Since my Dharma name means "personally cultivating," I will put my mind on cultivation from now on!
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