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恆賢師的俗家在加州落戶已經五代了。她不同於一般學者，她意識到要深入佛法，就必須結合研究與實行。她一心跟隨上人，按嚴格的課程修行，包括打坐、拜懺、背經、誦經、誦咒、行日中一食的苦行；不改初衷，以自己的才智利益他人，尤其是將佛教經典譯成西方文字。
恆賢師從小就是榮譽學生，是加州柏克萊大學的比較文學學士，系裡的榮譽生，被選入姊妹會。她的興趣包括語言哲學、人類思維結構。她對古代語言的學習，是在小學、初中學拉丁文時就開始了。
大學畢業後，盡管許多研究所提供她獎學金，她決定入Brandeis大學，研究希臘、阿拉伯、希伯來、埃及、拉丁，和 Akkadian文化，一年後拿到碩士學位。
之後她回到母校柏克萊加大，本想專攻希臘文，可對東方希臘哲學家的研究，卻很快使她接觸到印度的思想，只要再前進一步，就可以研究梵文一記載佛教經典寶藏的文字了。
恆賢師在柏克萊加大攻讀博士學位時，梵文、吠陀、巴利文、Prakrit，和佛教的混淆梵文，都是她研究的對象：又在金山寺下功夫學中文，所以梵、藏、中佛典，她都能研究。在萬佛城，又學了越南文，將《華嚴經》經文譯成越文，方便越南籍信眾聽《華嚴經》。
1971年 7月，恆賢師受沙彌尼戒，在金山寺，她還繼續教梵文、巴利文、法文、德文等語言課；1972年9月，在金山寺受具足戒，上人是戒師，成為第一位在西方受比丘尼戒的人。
恆賢師於1973年獲得柏克萊加大的「南亞及西南亞研究。博士學位。以後她為佛教譯經會的創始人之一，將自己出眾的才智，投注到譯經會翻譯中。上人給她的法名是「果普」、法號「恆賢」--普賢菩薩的名號--因此她選擇《華嚴經》做為研究修行的重點。
恆賢師是清涼國師的《華嚴經疏序》及上人逐句注釋的主要翻譯人。本書過半已由佛教譯經會付印發行。她也是《華嚴經十地品淺釋》的主要翻譯人，至今已出版的一部份（兩卷）。此外恆賢師還譯了《百法明門論》，並為讀者劃出了三種語言的術語原理圖。
恆賢師為佛經譯經會盡心盡力，在其四個委員會服務了近三十年，以廣博的才華，進行雙語、三語的審核、編輯、證譯工作。當上人開講《楞嚴咒》《涅槃經》、《論語》時，指定恆賢師為助教，為課堂提供重要的三語參考文獻。在課堂上，她先以中、英雙語背誦上人當天預備講的經文，初步解釋後，再評審學生當堂的口頭解釋。
最近恆賢師翻譯上人講解的《華嚴經‧十迴向品》錄音帶，供佛聖城晚上聽經時用。
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Heng Hsien Shi is fifth-generation Californian and a unique scholar who realized that the investigation of Buddhism can only be done in depth when study is combined with practice. Following Master Hua unstintingly, she embraced a rigorous schedule of Buddhist practices including meditation, bowing of repentances, memorization and recitation of texts, chanting of mantras, and holding to the ascetic practice of taking only one meal a day at noon. She has remained true to her initial resolve to offer her talents and knowledge to the benefit of others, especially by helping to bring the Buddhist Canon into Western languages.
A consistent honors student, Heng Hsien Shi began her study of ancient languages in grade school when she learned Latin. Her interest extended to the philosophy of language and the structure of human thought. She received her B.A. at the University of California at Berkeley in Comparative Literature, receiving the Department Citation and being elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Of the many scholarships offered to her for graduate study, she chose to study at Brandeis University. Heng Hsien Shi studied Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Egyptian, Latin, and Akkadian, and obtained her M. A. in one year.
She returned to Berkeley intending to specialize in Greek, but the study of the Oriental Greek philosophers soon opened the way to Indian thought. It was just one further step to Sanskrit and the treasury of Buddhist Sutras preserved in that language.
Heng Hsien Shi's Ph.D. work in Sanskrit at UC Berkeley included study in Sanskrit, Vedic literature, Pali, Prakrit, and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.
Heng Hsien Shi's intensive study of Chinese at Gold Mountain Monastery enabled her to work on Buddhist texts in Sanskrit, Tibetan, and Chinese.
Heng Hsien Shi received the novice precepts in July, 1971. She carried on a full schedule of language instruction at Gold Mountain Monastery, including Sanskrit, Pali, French, and German. In September 1972, Heng Hsien Shi received full ordination at Gold Mountain Monastery, with the Venerable Master as her Precept Transmitter. In that unprecedented ceremony, she became one of the first to receive the Bhikshuni precepts in the Western hemisphere.
In 1973, Heng Hsien Shi was awarded Ph.D. in South and South Western Asian Studies from UC Berkeley. As a founding member of the Buddhist Text Translation Society, Heng Hsien Shi then began to devote her significant talent and knowledge to the translations being prepared by the Society. Her religious names, given her by the Master, mean "Universal Result" and "Constantly Worthy", thus containing the name of Samantabhadra, Universal Worthy, Bodhisattva. Guided by that affinity, Heng Hsien chose to concentrate her study and practice on the
Avatamsaka (Flower Adornment) Sutra.
Heng Hsien Shi is the primary translator of National Master Qing Liang's
Preface and Prologue to the Avatamsaka Sutra, which are accompanied by interlinear commentaries by the Venerable Master. More than half of the text and commentary of the
Prologue has been published by BTTS to date.
She is also the primary translator of the text and commentary of the Ten Grounds (Dashabhumi) Chapter of the
Avatamsaka Sutra, a portion of which has been published to date. In addition, Heng Hsien Shi translated the
Hundred Dharmas Shastra, providing the reader with trilingual charts of the terms and principles therein.
As a devoted member of BTTS, Heng Hsien Shi has served on all four committees for almost three decades. She has contributed her extensive talents in doing bilingual and trilingual review, in editing, and in certifying the accuracy of translations. Heng Hsien Shi also served for several years as the Venerable Master's Teaching Assistant during his lecture series on the
Shurangama Mantra, the Nirvana Sutra, and the
Confucian Analects. She provided the class with valuable trilingual reference materials, memorized and gave preliminary explanations of the passages, and critiqued students' oral explanations of the lessons.
Recently, Heng Hsien Shi was annotating the audio commentary of the Venerable Master's explanations of the Ten Transferences Chapter of the Avatamsaka Sutra in a weekly series of evening lectures at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.
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