Venerable Dr. Yifa joins Charhar Institute
- By Chen Boyuan
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E-mail China.org.cn, April 19, 2016
Taiwanese Buddhist Master Dr. Yifa (monastic name) joined the Charhar Institute to serve as a senior research fellow there. Her service at the Charhar Institute is expected to promote the agency's research and international exchange.
Dr. Yifa was born in Taiwan in 1959. She took the tonsure and became a nun the Fo Guang Shan Monastery in 1979 where she started to receive traditional Chinese Buddhist education. She was once the Dean at Fo Guang Shan Buddhist College.
Dr. Yifa obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Law (LLB) at National Taiwan University in 1982, an MA in Comparative Philosophy at the University of Hawaii in 1990 and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Yale University in 1996.
She took the role as Provost of the University of the West at Rosemead of California, USA, and rose to be the Dean of the Department of Religious Studies in 2005. She created the Chaplaincy Program amid rising Buddhism in the United States.
Her publications include, "The Origins of Buddhist Monastic Codes in China," by the University of Hawaii Press in 2002, "Safeguarding the Heart - A Buddhists' Reflection on 9/11," in 2002, which was renamed to "Tender Heart" upon republication in 2007, "Authenticity - Buddhism's View on Environmental Protection of the Heart" in 2007 and "Discernment - Buddhism's Revelation to Education".
Dr. Yifa has been endeavoring to increase cultural and religious exchange between the East and the West. She was invited to provide consultations to UNICEF in the Southeast Asian Office's Safe Motherhood Program. She initiated the Vatican-backed Nuns in the West program, and was among the Board of Directors at the Society of Buddhist-Christian Studies in the United States.
In 2002, Dr Yifa launched the Woodenfish Project to promote Buddhism to college students in Western countries, have them visit Chinese Buddhist sanctuaries and communicate with Chinese religious scholars, translate Buddhist classics and train with Buddhist instructors. The project enjoys rising fame in Western academia.
Woodenfish has allowed over 1,000 college and graduate students to experience the spiritual life in Buddhist monastery and Chinese culture in Taiwan. She also leads a group of graduate students to undertake a Sutra Translation Project, and develops the instructor pool to train the young people to teach Buddhism and meditation.
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