Bhikkhuni Der-Chia

Taiwan

Bhikkhuni Der-Chia

Taiwan

Bhikkhuni Der-Chia writes, “I was born and raised in a very frugal, farmer family. Even though, I had four elder siblings, my parents still loved me a lot. My brother and sisters were much older than me, so since young, my best playmates were the chickens, ducks, and geese raised at home. I believed they knew me. I did not see them as animals and felt that they should not be eaten. From time to time, I witnessed their loss of life. Before I was seven years old, I would wonder where they would go after they had passed on. When I was eight years old, my grandma who stayed with me passed away. The funeral was held at home, and I felt depressed and enormous fear. From then on, I lived a meaningless life without seeing a path ahead. This impacted my growth!

I lived a drifting life, year after year until I was 25 years old; I broke down and cried in a restroom one day. I wanted to catch hold of the water while washing my hands, but nothing can be caught. Watching the water flow through my hands I thought about my 25 years of life and how nothing could be held onto. What about another 25 years and another 25 years? What could I hold onto in life? The great void within me made me cry in pain. At that time, I didn’t know that, it was impermanence!

Later, my friend gave me a book about a person walking in a boundless wilderness. Looking ahead, he didn’t know where to go or how he got there when looking back. This sentence made me break down and weep again, because it was what I was experiencing. I was very curious who could use such a simple metaphor to illustrate the complexity of life. It turned out that this simile came from Buddhist scriptures.

I took up the robes in March 1992 and received my full precepts at the end of that year. I was still full of the fear of death. Eventually, I learned that there was a nun Venerable Bhikkhuni Tsung-Tueng, who served in the palliative ward of the hospital to care for dying patients. This kind of Boddisattva act was really admirable. I began training in spiritual care and counseling in palliative wards. … After the completion of my training, I stayed in the same hospital to help Venerable Bhikkhuni Tsung-Tueng train clinical chaplains.”

Venerable Bhikkhuni Der-Chia is currently the Supervisor for the Spiritual Care Training Program at Dabei Xueyuan, Taipei and is an Adjunct Lecturer in the Humanities Care Center at National Taiwan University of Science and Technology in Taipei. She has served as an Abbess, Leader of Clinical Buddhist Chaplains, and as the Supervisor for Hospice Spiritual Care Volunteer Training in hospitals, Buddhist temples and at foundations in Taipei. She was also a Consultant Buddhist Chaplain for a Hotline, the Buddhist Lotus Hospice Care Foundation Hotline in Taipei.

Venerable Bhikkhuni Der-Chia of Taiwan created a theatrical performance with the spiritual care volunteers entitled “Listen to the Inner Voice.” The purpose of the performance was to let medical staff and the general public understand the physical and mental changes, as well as, spiritual needs of terminal patients.

On October 22, 2021, her documentary entitled, “Review” opened at theaters throughout Taiwan. She offered Q & A sessions with the audiences at some theaters on spiritual care. Bhikkhuni Der-Chia’s film is the first film in Taiwan which encourages people to face life and death, and to open the door in a society that has long avoided talking about death. She has also introduced the concept of Buddhist hospice care to China and Hong Kong.