Buddhist Personality : Shen Jian Hong

Name : Shen Jian Hong
Country : Taiwan
Date Of Birth : 9th November 1992
Height : 170CM
Profession : Singer

Though still in his teens, he has become a devout Buddhist and has recorded Buddhist theme songs. Unlike most Buddhist hymms, his songs are contemporary songs but incorporated with the Dhamma. He said that he wanted to spread the dhamma to young people through his songs.

He caught the attention of Master Hsing Yun of Fo Guang Shan with one of his performances. Master Hsiung Yun praised the young Shen Jianhong for his unique style of singing and this eventually led to the making of a music video with Shen Jianhong singing about the Dhamma in rap.

The shooting of the MV was done outdoor, in the compound of Fo Guang Shan temple. During shooting, there was a heavy downpour, prompting the director to halt the session.

Shen Jianhong ran into the main shrine of the temple, knelt before the Buddha and prayed for the rain to stop. To the astonishment of everyone, the rain suddently stopped and shooting was continued but shortly the shooting had ended, it startd to rain heavily again. Everyone there thought that Shen Jianhong must have received blessing from the Buddha.







































This is the MV where it's shooting was halted due to heavy rain

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Man Marries Goddess

A Taiwanese man out of luck in earthly love has married a goddess after she ordered him to do so in a dream, a report said Wednesday.

The man, identified by his family name Lin, claimed the Lotus Fairy, a Taoist deity, started coming to him in his sleep after he went to her temple to seek her blessing following a series of failed relationships, said CTS TV.

The goddess soon instructed Lin to marry her, and to comply the 40-year-old held a "wedding ceremony" in which a young woman holding a statue of the goddess stood in for the bride, the report said.

Lin signed a wedding certificate and presented a ring to the goddess in the ceremony at her temple, which was decorated with red banners.

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Buddhist Personality : Yue Ling

Name : Yue Ling
Nationality : Taiwan
Date of Birth : 15th October 1968
Profession : Retired actress ( she used to be popular in the late 80s and the 90s for her taiwanese dramas )







The opening theme of one of her dramas back in the 90s

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Modern Buddhist Wedding

A unique "Buddha-fied" bridal show held on June 26 at Fo Guang Shan's Lan Yang Temple in Yilan County featured bride Chen Meng-jou wearing the newest style of bridal gown for a traditional Buddhist wedding with a modern flair. Master Yung Kuang of the temple says that promoting Buddhist wedding ceremonies is done in the hopes of making newlyweds better understand the process of marriage, so as to experience more blessings and contentment in their marriages.
Master Yung Kuang adds that the Taiwan's Buddhist wedding ceremony has its roots in Yilan from when the wedding between famous painter Li Chi-mao and an Yilan girl, Chang Kuang-cheng, was officiated over by Venerable Master Hsing Yun at the temple in 1960. Today, young people are getting married faster and divorce is rampant; the temple hopes to promote Buddhist wedding ceremonies as a means to bring Buddhist teachings to help people with their marriages.

The "Buddha-fied Bridal Show" featured two Fo Guang Shan followers, Chen Meng-jou and Chen Yu-chun, playing the parts of the bride and groom. The wedding dress was provided by Chinghua Bridal, and was of the latest style. Chairman of the Board Tsai Ching-hua says that she felt the Buddhist ceremony was very meaningful, and the company's provision of the latest styles in fashion for the bridal party showed that a Buddhist ceremony could be beautiful and harmonious.

Master Yung Kuang says that most people mistakenly believe that Buddhist wedding ceremonies are only suitable for the children of believers, but Venerable Master Hsing Yun believes that such ceremonies should be promoted to the general public as an option. If people wonder why a Buddhist monk or nun care about secular weddings, the Venerable Master said once that "one doesn't necessarily have to enter a religious community to study Buddhism; the religion should be available to any layman at home.”

The "Buddha-fied Bridal Show" was held on the 11th floor of the Lan Yang Temple, and guests paid their respects to the Buddha on the way in. The bridal couple were led into the room by Yung Kuang, accompanied by the gentle sounds of chimes that helped attendees to center their thoughts and be quiet. Hoping to maintain an atmosphere of seriousness and joy at the same time, Master Yung Kuang performed the wedding ceremony and the blessing of the couple, and also arranged for students from Fo Guang University to give a performance. Finally, a traditional song of good luck for weddings was sung in Chinese, to cap a simple yet elegant experience

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Buddhist Personality : Li Li Ren

Name : Li Li Ren
Nationality : Taiwan
Date Of Birth : 1st June 1974
Profession : Actor

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Buddhist Personality : Chen Shu Ju

Today's post is on a Taiwanese woman named Chen Shu Ju. She is 60 years old, single and is a vegetable seller in a market in Taitung, Taiwan. She only studied up to primary 6 because she had to follow her father to the market to sell vegetable at 13, after the death of her mother. At home she took over her mother's role to look after 4 younger brothers and 2 younger sisters. Due to her tough life since her teenage years, she is very frugal in her spendings. She is a Buddhist and a vegetarian. Today, she spends on average NT100 (USD3) only for her daily two meals. You may be wondering why is this woman featured here afterall she is just an ordinary vegetable seller.

Well, an ordinary vegetable she may be but she is definitely not an ordinary woman. She puts most of us to shame with what she had done in the past years. She is an extrodinary woman. She was named by Time Magazine as one of 100 most influential person in the world for 2010. Forbes Asia also named her as one of the Heroes in the field of charity.

She was given recognition for her selfless philantrophy contribution. Over the years, despite her modest income, she has donated a total of NT 10 million (USD320,000 ) to help orphans and to build library in a rural school she used to attend. This year, she plans to donate another NT 1 million (USD32,000) for education and healthcare of poor students. In an interview she said that " Life is short, we should go after virtue, not wealth"

Being on the Time Magazine list, she was invited to the US to attend the citation dinner there. Initially she was reluctant to go because she has never travelled overseas before. Infact she has only been to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan only once for medical reason which was a few decades ago. The mayor of Taitung encouraged her to go to New York but it was after she received a phone call from the President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-jeou who told her that she is the pride of Taiwan that she agreed to fly to New York. Since time was running out, a team of Foreign Ministry officials worked on Sunday to process Chen's passport application and the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan offered her VIP treatment by granting her a visa within half an hour in the morning of May 3, so that she could catch an EVA Airways flight to New York in the evening on the same day.

She flew to New York on May 3, 2010 for a three day visit. There she had the honour to walk on red carpet and shared the same stage with well known celebrities and politicians. She was even introduced to Sarah Palin. She has shown to us that an ordinary person living an ordinary life could still bring changes to the lives of the others who are less fortunate than us and to become the pride of the country. She has become a celebrity in Taiwan since her listing on the Time Magazine was announced but most importantly, her story has triggered a lot more donations from the Taiwanese public in recent days. In recognition for her selfless good deeds, the Taiwanese government is planning to make a movie which will be based on her life.















In Central Park, New York














In a market in San Francisco

















At her vegetable stall in Taitung






In New York. There was a little controversy over her interviews. During media interviews, she was asked to say that she was representing the President and Foreign Affairs Minister and officials. In this video ( during the red carpet interview ), she repeatedly mentioned the President and Foreign Minister ( her escort, Simon Sung from the Taiwan's represntative office in the US, was heard whispering to her " Foreign Affairs Minister ". Many parties in Taiwan slammed the move, accusing the government of using Chen Shu Ju for publicity. They said that Chen was asked to say the same thing from the day before her departure to the US. The government disputed the claim saying that Chen was shy and did not know how to answer the media, she often turned to her escort for assistance. Whatever their answers, Chen was there to represent herself and not anyone else.


Despite her celebrity status now and not feeling well due to irregular sleep during her trip to the US, she did not waste much time to resume her business after her return. She said that after closing her business for few days, she had a lot to do to set up her stall again. She also asked not to be photographed again so that she could do her business as usual

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