ANG SEE RENE meets a former billionaire businesswoman who found inner peace and conquered cancer.
Petaling Jaya, Malaysia — At the age of 29, Reverend Ti Zheng was at the peak of life having properties, being a director of four companies and was worth about TWD$1bil (RM114mil).
She was also to marry her childhood sweetheart.
But her life took a drastic turn when a lump on her middle finger turned out to be cancerous and she was diagnosed with bone cancer and given only seven months to live.
“The doctors told me then that the cancer had spread to the rest of body. When I heard the news, I was both angry and scared.
“I was enjoying life to the fullest at that time. ‘Why me? Why at this young age?’ I asked myself,” she said.
With slightly more than half a year to live, Ti realised that nothing else mattered except to find inner peace and tranquility.
Although she frequently prayed in temples and donated to charities at that time, Ti admitted that she was practising Buddhism externally without understanding.
“Within three months after I got the news, I made the decision to give up my life of glamour and success in exchange for a yellow robe to become a nun. I learned to understand and to embrace Buddhism then,” she said. But again, all was not well for Ti.
When her parents found out about her decision to become a nun, her now 78-year-old father became mentally unstable and was admitted to the mental hospital while her mother, who died last year, was admitted to the intensive care unit for various diseases.
“Being the youngest daughter, I could not do anything much but to press on and walk the step of faith,” she said, adding that she constantly prayed and sought blessings for her parents.
At that point, her boyfriend had also wanted to rekindle their relationship, she said.
“I was at the crossroads and I had to choose my path and what I wanted for the future.”
And she did. Today, after 18 years, Ti, now the abbot of the Nan Tou Oriental Temple in Taiwan is still very much alive and she attributes her health to the inner peace, which she found in her faith.
“After I became a nun, I constantly prayed besides chanting the Medicine Buddha mantra,” said the 47-year-old, adding that she would wake up at 3am daily for prayers.
“After a year of becoming a nun, the doctors told me that the cancer cells had miraculously vanished. However, I continued to suffer various diseases and had to undergo operations to remove part of my intestine and my cervix,” she said.
Today, Ti is very much engrossed in her work to spread the message of inner peace and also the teachings of Buddhism while relating her success story in overcoming the disease.
“If the body is sick, it is important not to let the mind be affected as well,” she said, adding that there were three types of sicknesses according to Buddhism teachings.
“Physical sickness happens when one does not take care of the body while mental sickness can happen due to the lack of inner peace.
“There are also sicknesses which can happen due to one’s karma,” Ti said in an interview after giving a dharma talk to about 200 Buddhist devotees at the Caring Complex in Jalan Utama, Penang, on May 28.
“Thus, besides seeking medical advice from doctors, the patient also has to repent and seek forgiveness besides doing good deeds to accumulate merits and virtues.”
Ti also advised cancer patients to share their problems with loved ones.
“Many are reluctant to talk about their sicknesses. However, they should realise that sharing is a form of relief to release their anger and hatred, which could be hazardous to their health,” she said.
“Cancer is not a dead end. I was told that there is no tomorrow, but I’m still here today.”
Courtesy: Buddhist News Network ( BNN )