Cross-Border Quest for Enlightenment and Love
    Currently serving as the abbot of Fo Guang Shan Ling Shan Temple, Venerable Shih Jyue-Nian (Shih, Jyue-Nian), whose secular name is Wong, Sew-Chen, was born on April 29, 1961, in Perak State, Malaysia (selected by Lonely Planet as the best travel destination in Asia in 2016). On September 7, 1983, Venerable Master Hsing Yun personally visited Singapore and Malaysia to spread the Dharma, sparking a wave of Buddhist practice in Malaysia. Venerable Jyue-Nian was deeply moved by Venerable Master Hsing Yun's cross-border efforts to promote Humanistic Buddhism and came into contact with the “Jue Shi Xun Kan” magazine published by Fo Guang Shan, which planted the seeds of his exploration of Humanistic Buddhism.
 
    For 33 years, Venerable Jue Nian has followed Master Hsing Yun across borders, spreading Humanistic Buddhism, sharing the 84,000 Dharma gates of Buddhism, where every gate is a living gate, allowing everyone to learn freely and effortlessly. Life is filled with Buddhism, and where there is Buddhism, there is a way. He has dedicated himself to spreading the Buddha's love for life.
 
One stroke, ten thousand hopes.
    Venerable Jue Nian upholds Master Hsing Yun's vision of Humanistic Buddhism, which emphasizes integrating Buddhism into daily life, fostering a culture of learning, and transforming monasteries into schools. She combines “life and nature,” advocating loving life, caring for others, and embracing the world. She has mobilized all domestic and international resources of Fo Guang Shan's Ling Shan Temple to connect with over 500 youth groups across five continents and 45 countries, exploring life.
 
    She brings people closer to Buddhism while promoting cross-border humanistic Buddhist education focused on life exploration.
 
    Most commendable is that Venerable Jue Nian has combined Master Hsing Yun's “One-Stroke Writing” essence of Humanistic Buddhism with the compassion and wisdom of the Buddha, integrating them into games to create “Group Dynamics—Humanistic Buddhism Life Exploration Education.” She has also connected with the wonders of nature, creating her own “One-Stroke Painting,” using love and compassion to depict the truth and hope of life, using art to cultivate virtuous connections and soothe wounded hearts.
 
    Thus, Venerable Jue Nian paints hope with love, connecting millions of friends through his art and assisting countless people. He also promotes life education across borders, guiding all beings with compassion and soothing hearts with his paintings. He truly deserves the title of “Life Exploration Painter.” From among 2,893 candidates recommended by various sectors worldwide for the “Love for Life Award,” he was honored with the “2021 24th All-Loving Life Award” by the Taiwan Zhou Daguan Cultural and Educational Foundation.
 
Seeking Roots and Origins, Passing on Chinese Culture
    Venerable Jue Nian's father, Huang Zhen Sheng, was a renowned physician in Qingyuan, Guangdong Province, China. He was a renowned traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who dedicated his life to healing others, earning him great respect in the community. However, during the eight-year War of Resistance Against Japan and the Second World War, he became a target of the Japanese military regime. He was forcibly conscripted to build the 415-kilometer “Death Railway” along the Thailand-Myanmar border.
 
    Master Jue Nian's father often treated fellow prisoners who were suffering from the same illnesses. With the gratitude and assistance of many fellow prisoners, he managed to escape to Ipoh, Malaysia, where he worked as a tin miner. Later, he married Ms. Chen Caihong, a Chinese immigrant from Malaysia, and they had six children. Master Jue Nian was the second eldest. His father personally taught the children Chinese, calligraphy, and traditional Chinese medicine. Before his passing, he often urged his children to trace their roots and preserve Chinese culture.
 
Father's death and doubts about life
    In 1973, Venerable Jue Nian, who had just graduated first in his elementary school class, faced the tragic news of his father's death. To support his family and ensure his siblings could continue their education, he took on the responsibility of household chores, followed his mother into the remote mountains to cultivate oil palm trees, and shared the family's economic burdens.
 
    From the age of eight, Venerable Jue Nian, who had always been filled with doubts about life, felt even more lost and directionless about the future. He sought answers everywhere but found none.
 
Cross-border spiritual practice and exploration of the unknown
    On September 7, 1983, Master Hsing Yun personally visited Singapore and Malaysia to spread the Dharma, planting the seed of aspiration in Jue Nian's heart to come to Taiwan in search of the true meaning of life. She prayed day and night to Guanyin Bodhisattva, firmly believing that the answers to life's questions lay in Taiwan.
 
    On October 25, 1987, she finally fulfilled her wish and arrived at Fo Guang Shan's Fushun Buddhist College in Taiwan, embarking on a journey of exploration to seek answers.
 
    On August 23, 1989, Venerable Jue Nian graduated with distinction from the Buddhist College, receiving her first diploma. The following year, she continued her studies at the Fo Guang Shan Monastic College. Inspired by Master Hsing Yun's teachings on Humanistic Buddhism, she gradually unraveled the mysteries of life and found its true meaning. In 1991, she took ordination under Master Hsing Yun, vowing to serve all beings and contribute to society.
 
Promoting Life Education Across Borders
    Master Hsing Yun once said, “Where there is Buddhism, there is a way.”
 
    In 1995, Venerable Jue Nian followed her master's instructions and took up a position at Fo Guang Shan Ling Shan Temple in Yilan County. From Master Hsing Yun's teachings on “Life and Nature,” she gained insight: “The Buddha was born under the Bodhi Tree; he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree; and he entered Nirvana under the Shara Tree. The Buddha realized the true nature of life under the starry sky in the natural world, thereby achieving the perfect Buddhahood.”
 
    Thus, Venerable Jue Nian integrated Buddhism with nature to design and launch a series of life exploration and experiential courses. These programs have attracted participants from five continents, 45 countries, and over 500 youth groups, as well as people from all walks of life worldwide. Through these courses, participants explore life, return to nature, engage in dialogue with nature, and gain insights into the vastness of the universe, the meaning of life, and the wondrous applications of Buddhism.
 
    For 25 years, she has remained steadfast at Fo Guang Shan Ling Shan Temple, using the mountains, rivers, and earth as her classroom. She applies the Three Goods, Four Givings, and Five Harmonies of Humanistic Buddhism to make Buddhism part of daily life and daily life part of Buddhism.
 
    She also draws inspiration from Master Hsing Yun's “One Stroke Calligraphy” and “The True Intent of the Buddha in Humanistic Buddhism” to create vivid lesson plans that embody what the Buddha taught, what people need, and what is pure and beautiful.
 
    She guides children, teenagers, young adults, and people of all ages to explore and understand themselves, reflect on themselves, and refine themselves through games. She helps them discover and practice the true meaning of life, transforming it into personal nourishment and resources. This enables them to realize the broader vision of self-help and helping others, thereby transforming their lives and creating boundless light and a bright future. Working together to build harmony within the self, harmony within the family, harmony among people, harmony within society, and world peace, bringing a brighter future to humanity.
 
Spreading the love of life exploration education
    In addition to guiding global devotees and the general public from 5 continents, 45 countries, and over 500 youth groups to experience life exploration education at Ling Shan Temple, Venerable Jue Nian was invited from 2006 to 2019 to support the Fo Guang Shan Dong Chan Temple in Malaysia and the New Malaysia Temple to support the Malaysian Ministry of Education in organizing the national “Hand in Hand to Achieve Excellence” Three Good Leaders Camp for middle school students, offering the Humanistic Buddhism Life Exploration Course. He also traveled to various regions in Malaysia to share the “Humanistic Buddhism Life Exploration Education” with young people and devotees.
 
    In 2018, he was invited to the Dharma Flower Zen Temple in France and Fo Guang Shan in Sweden to host Humanistic Buddhism Life Exploration Education experience camps for teenagers, children, and scouts.
 
    Venerable Jue Nian skillfully combined the principle of dependent origination with a game-based PA experience model to guide participants in reflecting on their past and reconnecting with their lives, contemplating the value and true meaning of life, gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of the life they possess, and sharing and exchanging insights on the true beauty of life, the symbiotic coexistence of life and nature, the way to interact with others, and the importance of self-life teams.
 
    Guiding participants to identify life issues, face them, understand them, and resolve those— troubles are the path to enlightenment. Through self-transcendence, participants learn about life’s growth, and through IQ (intelligence), EQ (emotional intelligence), AQ (stress resilience), and CQ (creativity), they gain insight into the true meaning of life through the principles of precepts, meditation, and wisdom. By practicing the Three Goods and Four Givings, they enhance interpersonal relationships, and through respect and inclusion, they appreciate the beauty of life’s imperfections.
 
Painting life's hope with love. Exploring life through game-based storytelling.
    Venerable Jue Nian emulates Master Hsing Yun's “One-Stroke Calligraphy” spirit, using “One-Stroke Diagrams” to paint life's hope, connecting with others through art, and helping others through art.
 
    Her artwork, “Life Exploration: ABCs of Spiritual Drawing—Truth, Goodness, and Beauty,” spans from the beginning of life (biology) to coexistence; from the glory of spring (time and space) to the heart (the universe); and from nature (coexistence) to the inheritance of truth, goodness, and beauty.
 
    Combining Master Hsing Yun's Three Goods, Four Givings, Five Harmonies, and the legacy of truth, goodness, and beauty, she created “Life Exploration ~ Hundred Flowers Angels & Life Flower Language 108” and “Life Exploration ~ Vegetable and Fruit Treasures & Life Fruits 108.”
 
    Additionally, the first book in the Buddhist and exploration fields, “Group Dynamics: Humanistic Buddhism Life Exploration Education,” has been completed, offering children, adolescents, young adults, and people of all ages a series of experiential levels in life exploration education.
 
    Furthermore, the modern version of the new fable “Life Exploration Education Stories 101” has been completed, exploring the true meaning of life through stories rooted in modern society, culture, ecology, and technology.
 
    Most commendably, to promptly assist internet addicts and those suffering from mental illnesses, Venerable Jue Nian, despite his illness, worked day and night to create over 100 “Spiritual Drawings,” depicting the journey from the beginning of life to coexistence; from the splendor of spring to the depths of the heart.
 

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