Bhikkhuni Yen Ding
Taiwan
Born on March 1, 1951, Venerable Bhikkhuni Yen Ding earned her Nursing degree at Corning Nursing School, and her Buddhist degree at Kaiyan Zen College. From the stillness of a silent bright mind, she has illuminated the lives of millions offering improved health and well-being.
She excelled at and integrated health care approaches and direct application of Buddhist teachings to alleviate human suffering. She provided health care services as a nurse for 5 years, and then became the Supervisor of the Buddhist College for one year. In 2004, she established the “Auspicious Guangyu Detoxification & Purification Center to help monastics and laity detox and achieve excellent health.
She then began organizing detoxification courses in Southeast Asia. In 2008, she established the Lianhua Yuan Life & Health Center in Puli, Taiwan to train monastics and laity about holistic health. Next, she shared her teachings with Santi-Asoke of Thailand, and subsequently detoxification programs entered the grassroots and spread throughout Thailand.
By 2012, Venerable Bhikkhuni Yen Ding established the Auspicious World Life Health Education Center in Yangmingshan, Taipei, which integrates: ancient and modern, Eastern and Western natural therapies, religious medicine, biochemical technologies, energy medicine, diet and nutrition approaches, and other healthcare knowledge and technologies. She simplified complicated medical science in order to easily apply it to everyday life in order to enhance the body’s self-healing power. Thus, she empowers every one of us to take care of his/her health and be one’s own doctor.
In 2013, she organized the Chong Hua Maiojing Food Culture Association to promote, “A Plant-based Diet to Save the Earth,” by protecting health and minimizing the use of resources. By 2015, Venerable Yen Ding became the Honorary President of the “International Naturopathy Association of China.” She recognizes that diseases mainly arise from a poor diet.
Venerable Bhikkhuni Yen Ding is an invited speaker and conducts Detox & Rejuvenation courses and Healthy Vegetarian Cooking classes worldwide. In 2018, the World Vegan Organization appointed her as a Health Food Charity Ambassador, promoting a mindful plant-based diet to save the earth and all beings.