BORN AGAIN IN BUDDHISM Woman has Zen for a better life

Peace reigns at a California monastery.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Jian Pin Shi had her whole life mapped out in front of her.
English literature was her passion; she longed to share her knowledge through teaching.
Born and raised in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, she obtained bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature from two of the nation's top universities.
But a visit to Ling Chuan Monastery changed all that. Fresh from graduate school, she accompanied an old high school friend to the majestic monastery in northern Taiwan.
Suddenly, her life as it was -- her social status, education and career prospects -- didn't seem so appealing.
New abbess
Today, she stands, not more than 5 feet tall and dressed in dark-brown robes, surveying the 17 acres on a hill in Lafayette, Calif., that make up Buddha Gate Monastery. At 39, she is the new abbess of the Zen center, the first U.S. branch of the Chung Tai Chan Monastery, the fourth-largest Buddhist temple in Taiwan.
More than 300 people attend Dharma services and take meditation and Zen Buddhism classes in Chinese and English at the center.
"I found the answers to my life," said the soft-spoken Pin. "Everything comes from this mind, and this mind can be pure."
To do that, she had to detach herself from the only world she knew -- leaving her family, possessions and educational degrees behind for a life of peace.
She had felt an energetic pull toward the people she met at the tranquil monastery and experienced peace unlike any other.
Life of serenity
Material desires were no match for a life of serenity.
"I couldn't really fulfill my ideals in society," she said.
And so, after attending a seven-day Zen retreat at the monastery, Pin, who barely practiced Buddhism at the time, decided to become a Buddhist nun.
Quite a challenge
Letting go of material possessions was the easy part. But totally calming the mind and liberating it from all worldly distractions was a challenge, said Pin.
So at age 27, she went to live in a monastery "for some time to find out if you can become accustomed to this life."
"This residence is a period of observation on how you're doing, if your behavior is good enough and if you obey the rules and regulations," she said. "Then you will be permitted to enter the order by the Grand Master."
For Pin's first ordination, she had to shave her head and take 10 precepts, or vows, of the faith. A few years later, after observing 250 more precepts, she achieved full ordination.
She then attended Chung Tai Buddhist Institute to learn how to spread the teachings of Zen Buddhism and became the dean of the Women's Buddhist Institute at Chung Tai Chan Monastery.
Grand Master Wei Chueh of the Chung Tai Chan Monastery appointed Pin as abbess of Buddha Gate Monastery, replacing Venerable Abbot Jian Hu, now the leader of the newest Zen Center in Sunnyvale, Calif.
Pin, who was the leader of three Zen centers in Taiwan and assumed her new position in March, said she's eager to impart the wisdom of Zen Buddhism to Westerners.
"Meditation is just the first step to knowing yourself," she said. "How can you reach a state of no suffering? It starts with the mind. You have to calm yourself down."
Like the previous abbot, she intends to offer the same activities to the public and will give public talks.
"No matter whether she uses her voice to sing or chant or uses words, she affects everybody. They feel very touched when she teaches," said Jian Ji Shi, a nun who has known Pin since their schooling at the Buddhist Institute in Taiwan.
All-female staff
When Jian Hu transferred to Sunnyvale, he took all the monks with him. Now, the Lafayette center has an all-female staff of seven nuns, whose lives typically begin each day with chanting at 5:30 a.m., meditation and teaching throughout the day, and more meditating in the evening.
Although female Buddhist monks still are the minority in the Buddhist communities worldwide, Taiwan is an exception, said Jian Hu.
"For the last 30 years, the number of women ordained vastly outnumbers the men," he said.
"We have the same goals and the same mission," Ji Shi says of the monastic community. "But women are softer; they can get in touch with people's hearts."