Duration | 2:22
Getting to Know the “Great Dharma Master Zhizhe”
Tzu Chi Singapore will be staging 3 sessions of the "Great Dharma Master Zhizhe" Charity Performance at the Kreta Ayer People's Theatre. Tzu Chi volunteers have conducted a number of book sharing sessions one month before the performance. They have also invited the deputy director of Tzu Chi Taiwan’s Da Ai TV, Mr. Roger Hsiao, the script writer, Zhuang Shih Hong, and the leading actress, Tang Mei Yun, to share about the production process and their experience shooting the drama. This has allowed people to gain an in-depth understanding of the life story of Master Zhizhe, giving them a preview of the great Dharma master before they attend the performance.
Da Ai TV’s Deputy Director, Roger Hsiao：To turn the entertainment industry into a means to purify the soul
The life story of Master Zhizhe, the founder of the Tiantian Tradition, which is the first native Buddhist sect in China, is one of the Taiwanese opera series broadcast by Da Ai TV. Deputy Director of Da Ai TV Roger Hsiao visited Jing Si Hall to share about the production process, which has helped inject momentum into the promotional efforts of the charity performance.
Da Ai TV’s Deputy Director, Roger Hsiao: It takes at least two hours to put the bald cap on the actress. Her hair has to be gelled layer by layer to make sure that it sticks tightly. If it is loose, her head would look like ET.
Tzu Chi Volunteer, Loo Siew Yan: I watch every Da Ai TV’s Taiwanese opera. I saw the part where Master Zhizhe was going down the hill to seek alms one day. He was holding a map but couldn’t find his way down the hill for half a day. Later, he realised that he had held the map upside down. Maps are like sutras. We will become lost without a teacher to guide us on our cultivation path.
Head of the opera company, Tang Mei Yun: We have the opportunity to spread the dharma through opera
In the series on the stories of the great Dharma masters, the masters’ spirit of seeking and spreading the Dharma resembles the lights that guide the future generations. A few days before the charity performance, the script writer and the leading actress were invited to give a sharing session.
Head of the opera company, Tang Mei Yun: I can understand the difficulties faced by the Dharma masters in the process of propagating the Dharma, including the lack of approval and the many challenges, because I play the role of a Dharma master. It’s really hard work.
Tzu Chi volunteer, Tang Chun Yong: I want to know what sort of drama “Great Dharma Master Zhizhe” is. After learning that Mdm. Tang Mei Yun is coming to hold a book sharing session, I saw that it was a rare opportunity for us to learn about what the late master had gone through.
Tzu Chi volunteer, Lim Chio Zan: The great Dharma masters of the past had to seek the true Dharma one step at a time. We are truly much more fortunate than them, so we should cherish the Dharma.
With Dharma Master Zhizhe’s great aspirations being adapted into an opera and the many sharing sessions, the volunteers are more prepared now, and work harder to promote the performance to spread the spirit of the great Dharma master.
