In May, 1963, after Master Cheng Yen had received her precepts and was formally initiated as a nun, she returned to Hualien and continued her spiritual formation in a wooden hut behind Pu Ming Temple in Chiamin Village, Hshiulin Township.
The hut had an area of only 120 square feet. The Master revered the Lotus Sutra and studied its contents. She recited it every day and hand-copied it every month. She did not accept any offerings from the laity, so there were no flowers or fruit for Buddha’s statue. She stayed there for six months, during which she vowed to commit herself to the Lotus Sutra and the Path of Bodhisattvas. The photo shows the hut in which the Master did her moral cultivation, and in which Tzu Chi was founded. Unfortunately, the hut was destroyed by Typhoon Nina in August 1975.
