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果琴居士的爺爺是虔誠的佛教徒，為了觀世音菩薩救她奶奶之恩而終身茹素。小時外婆常帶著她到臺北各寺廟去拜拜，她也一本正經閤眼拜佛。十歲時全家移民美國；大學時停了肉食，並研究比較各種不同的宗教，也開始研讀東方哲學思想。首次讀〈道德經〉時愛不釋手；大學畢業後學習打坐，以蘇美度法師為師。在聖城見到蘇美度法師，並聽說他和上人宿世曾是同修時，才知道自己繞了這一大圈。
1993年才見到上人，94年皈依上人並受五戒；97年趁著學校假期，決定來聖城參學三天，正巧碰上觀音七。踏進聖城那晚，佛殿正念誦著楞嚴咒心，念畢於黑暗中摸索回房，正要躺下，卻看到蓮花座上上人的塑像朝著她飄過來，後面還跟著個蓮花座。隔日閒逛聖城，經過山門旁那片樹林時，聽到好優雅的唱誦。在聖城所感到的法喜，讓她放棄了其他行程。更妙的是，早就訂好的回家機票，剛好能讓她圓滿打完觀音七。
果琴居士畢業於華盛頓大學公共行政研究所，並曾在華府總統專案小組工作，98年底搬來聖城；現在教書、翻譯，並協助行政工作，每天生活充實，覺得學到許多東西，希望能捨命為佛事，早日出家，圓滿上人的弘願。
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Linda's paternal grandfather was a Buddhist. He became a vegetarian after Guanyin Bodhisattva saved her ailing grandmother from the brink of death. As a child, her maternal grandmother often took her to temples in Taiwan. Her family emigrated to the United States when she was ten. During college she stopped eating meat and began exploring and comparing different religions, relishing especially the studies of Eastern philosophies. She was so enthralled with reading the Tao Te Ching for the first time, she could hardly put down the book. After college she began learning about meditation and considered Ajahn Sumedho her teacher. Later when she saw him at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) and learned that he and the Venerable Master had been fellow cultivators in past lives, she was overjoyed with the connection.
She didn't meet the Venerable Master until 1993. She took refuge and the five precepts with the Venerable Master in 1994, but didn't step onto the grounds of the CTTB until 1997.
During spring of 1997 she decided to visit the CTTB. Coincidentally, she arrived at the CTTB the day before the Guan Yin session. The first night that she entered the Buddha Hall, the assembly was reciting the Heart of the Shurangama
Mantra. After the recitation, she groped in the dark to
reach her room alone. Just as she was about to rest her head
on the pillow, she saw a three-dimensional image of the
Venerable Master's statue on a lotus seat floating toward
her, followed by another lotus seat. While out strolling
around the City the next day, she heard a chorus of
beautiful chanting near the trees by the gate. She had no
choice but to delay her flight back, having experienced so
much joy from these encounters, the recitation and the Sutra
lectures. Wouldn't you know it? Her vacation was just long
enough for her to rush to the airport immediately after the
concluding transference of the Guan Yin Session.
Linda had
graduated from the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the
University of Washington and worked on a Presidential Task
Force before arriving here. She moved to the CTTB at the end
of 1998. Currently she works as a teacher and translator,
and helps with some administration. She leads a full life
and feels that she is learning something new every day. She
hopes to leave the home life someday, renouncing her life to
do the Buddha's work and helping to realize the Venerable
Master's vision.
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