
The work began in the Jing Si Hall in Hualien, where 45 volunteers gathered under the guidance of Dharma Master De Ying and two other masters who live in the Jing Si Abode. It was Master De Ying who designed this year’s envelope. She was inspired by the performers of the adaptation of the Water Repentance sutra, a text more than 1,000 years old, that was brought to life in a stage adaptation. She saw how each performer sang the song of ‘Incense Praise’ and made a journey together to the spiritual mountain; each learnt the sutra. They were like small ants who climbed the sacred mountain of Sumeru in Buddhist cosmology. Master De Ying was amazed by what she saw and wanted to put her feeling into the design of this year’s envelope. It is the foundation’s custom to design such red envelopes and distribute them at the end of each year to members and friends.

Master De Ying urged everyone not to work in a hurry but carefully fold and put the pieces together. “The higher the degree of difficulty, the greater the fulfillment,” she said. In the beginning, the volunteers found it very difficult to follow the instructions and make the three-dimensional spiritual platform. The three Dharma Masters showed them again and again how to do it. It was a moment of great joy for each volunteer when he or she completed their first 2012 Red Envelope of Wisdom and Blessing.

Dharma Master also showed to everyone the ornament made from the waste paper left over after making the envelope. Everyone was full of praise for how a little piece of waste paper could be recycled and turned into a beautiful ornament.
by Liu Xiu-hui and Li Chiung-chi
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