Dharma Master Cheng Yen was born in 1937 in a small town in Taichung County, Taiwan. When she was twenty-three years old, she left home to become a Buddhist nun, and was instructed by her mentor, Venerable Master Yin Shun, to work “for Buddha’s teachings, for sentient beings.” In 1966, she founded a charity, which later turned into the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, to “help the poor and educate the rich”—to give material aid to the needy and inspire love and humanity in both givers and recipients.

 

In recent years, Master Cheng Yen’s contributions have been increasingly recognized by the global community. In 2011, she was recognized with the Roosevelt Institute’s FDR Distinguished Public Service Award and was named to the 2011 TIME 100 list of the world’s most influential people. In 2014, she was presented with Rotary International’s Award of Honor in recognition of her humanitarian efforts and contributions to world peace.

The Sutra of Infinite Meanings is a very important Buddhist sutra. It can be seen as a turning point in the Buddha teachings, coming after He had already expounded the Dharma for over forty years. It is also an introduction to the Lotus Sutra. Therefore, Master Cheng Yen often stress that the Sutra of Infinite Meanings contains the essence of the Lotus Sutra.

 

The Sutra of Infinite Meanings is divided into three chapters – Virtues, Expounding the Dharma, and The Ten Merits. These Infinite Meanings arise from One Dharma; this One Dharma is of non-appearance. As living beings have infinitely varying capacities, the Buddha used an infinite number of teachings. Since there are infinite teachings, their meanings are also infinite.

 

The world is fundamentally this simple and pure – without appearance – yet humans stubbornly remain attached to appearances. The Buddha taught the Sutra of Infinite Meanings and the Lotus Sutra to eliminate the habitual tendencies humans have accumulated and to teach the multitudes of living beings with severe habitual tendencies and desires how to return to the Great Bodhi Path.

 

A commentary Master Cheng Yen gave on the Sutra of Infinite Meanings was published several years ago. The adapted verses of the Sutra of Infinite Meanings were compiled by Mr. Wang Tuan-Cheng, who distilled the central ideas of the sutra and turned them into lyrics that could be set to music. It thus enables people to carry the Buddha in our hearts and live out the Dharma.

 

In this book, Master Cheng Yen expounds the verses from the musical adaptation of the Sutra of Infinite Meanings in the hopes of getting straight to the core of the sutra’s teachings. Through this explanation of the main principles of the sutra, the Master hopes readers can understand the underlying spirit of the Jing Si Dharma-lineage and the Tzu Chi School of Buddhism.

證嚴上人於一九三七年，出生於臺灣省臺中縣清水鎮。在一九六三年，證嚴上人依印順導師為親教師出家，師訓「為佛教，為眾生」，證嚴上人奉持不懈。一九六六年，證嚴上人創辦佛教克難慈濟功德會。慈濟世界在法師慈悲呵護下，數十年來，一步一步地堅實茁壯；發展為慈善、醫療、教育、人文四大志業，以及國際賑災、環保、社區志工、骨髓捐贈八大腳印，透過親手拔除眾生的苦痛，以善與大愛膚慰人間。

 

近年來，證嚴上人的貢獻獲得國際間一致推崇；於2011年獲美國羅斯福基金會頒贈「傑出公共服務獎」， 並被時代雜誌列為2011年全球百大最具影響力人物。2014年獲頒國際扶輪社「最高榮譽獎」，肯定證嚴上人對於人道主義精神與世界和平的貢獻。

《無量義經》是佛陀很重要的一部講經，可視為是佛陀在說法四十餘年後，收攝過去所說種種方便法，準備趣入真實法之前的一個轉折，也是《法華經》的前序，因此證嚴上人常說《無量義經》是《法華經》的精髓。

 

《無量義經》共有三品──〈德行品〉、〈說法品〉、〈十功德品〉