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臺灣來的恆霞師，活潑明朗，平易近人，誰也想不到會出家。從小到大聽父母親朋、同事相聚時，話題總繞著孩子轉；再不就是男女朋友、先生、公婆。因此常自忖人生除了結婚生子，就沒有別的意義了嗎？由此種下了出離之心。
祖母信佛，她偶而也陪著去寺廟禮佛，雖未就此研究佛法，卻也結下了法緣。果然，一天在承天禪寺時，同伴建議她皈依三寶，她欣然接受，拜廣老和尚為師，但不受戒，魚肉不禁。從此腳踏兩頭船，優哉遊哉地過了一段很「寫意」的日子。廣老圓寂後，1987年上人返臺時，還又皈依了上人，並跟著弘法團當義工。自此逐漸深入佛法，發願獨身，過清淨的日子。
直到祖母病了，這才把恆霞師病醒了。祖母病了，兒孫再孝順，也只能照顧祖母的生活起居和醫藥，至於身上的病痛，卻完全無法替代解除。恆霞師看在眼裡，驚覺人不能長保健康自在，自己雖立願過清淨的生活，也不能長保自在。究竟之法只有修行，把握生死，才能自助助他。下定決心隨先出家的妹妹恆讓師的腳步，毅然辭家，住進本會在臺道場見習。先後在臺灣高雄六龜法界聖寺、美濃福慧寺、花蓮彌陀聖寺、臺北法界印經會隨本會在臺佛學院受訓，學習佛學修持。1990年上人返臺時落髮；1995年受具足戒。
出家後的恆霞師，大多在臺灣法界印經會主理法務，每天忙碌異常。談起以前的日子，直後悔當初為貪安逸，在外「流浪」了幾年。但願再遇善知識時，能由校門直接進入佛門，不再浪費光陰。
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No one expected that Heng Hsia Shi, a vivacious and amiable young woman from Taiwan, would leave the home life. In her childhood as well as her adult life, the conversations of her parents, their friends, and her own colleagues always centered around the same topics: children, boyfriends, husbands, or in-laws. This made her wonder: Is there any meaning to life other than getting married and raising a family? As a result, she aspired to transcend the mundane world.
She developed a Dharma-affinity through accompanying her Buddhist grandmother to the temple. One day at Chengtian Monastery, she took refuge with Elder Master Guangchin at the urging of a friend. However, she neither took the precepts nor abstained from meat and fish. Having her cake and eating it too, she lived carefreely for a period of time. Yet after Elder Master Guangchin entered the stillness, she took refuge with Venerable Master Hua when he visited Taiwan in 1987, and traveled with his Dharma delegation as a volunteer. As her understanding of Buddhadharma deepened, she vowed to remain single and lead a chaste life.
Heng Hsia Shi was truly roused awake only by her grandmother's severe illness. As filial as the grandchildren were, they could only administer medicine and assist their grandmother to get around, but could not take away her suffering. Heng Hsia Shi realized that no one stays healthy forever. Though she had vowed to lead a pure life, it didn't guarantee that she could remain free and at ease forever. Only by cultivating and mastering her own birth and death would she be able to help herself as well as others. Resolving to follow her sister, Bhikshuni Heng Rang Shi, she moved into Dharma Realm Buddhist Association's branch Way-place in Taiwan. She left home when the Master returned to Taiwan in 1990, and was fully ordained in 1995.
As a nun, Heng Hsia Shi has been extremely busy at the Dharma Realm Buddhist Books Distribution Association in Taiwan. She only regrets that she spent so many years in the past wandering and living a life of leisure. In the future, she hopes that when she meets her teacher, she will devote herself to Buddhism as soon as she graduates from school, without wasting any time.
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