Master of Love and Mercy: Cheng Yen

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating subject matter, but book not well constructed
Review: As a person interested in Buddhism, I was fascinated by the prospect of reading a biography on a living female Buddhist master in English.

I found the story of Master Cheng Yen to be engrossing. The language of the book was quite staightforward and easy to grasp. I did not have to struggle with hidden esoteric meanings.

However, I was rather disappointed in how the book was constructed. The book was more of the author's travel diary than the biography of the master. Of the photos in the book, 9 contained images of the master and 14 contained the author. In addition, there were numerous photos and mentions of the author's husband, which I found distracting from the main point of the book.

My thought is the 279 page book could be condensed in half and the reader would not miss anything important.

Rating:
Summary: A good starting book on Tzu-Chi
Review: If you're reading this review and you came looking for this book deliberately in the first place, you know you're going to buy this book. =)

Speaking as a Tzu Ching member, I found this book to be extremely refreshing. While I was never sure what is Tzu-Chi and who is Master Cheng Yen, this book gave me a lot of answers to the questions I had. Everything from a description of the Still Thoughts Temple to the life and history of Master Cheng Yen and her disciples, this book is perfect for anyone who's new and interested in Tzu-Chi. (Plus, this is one of the few English materials on Tzu-Chi, so if you can't understand or read Chinese, this is a factor you'd want to consider also)

However, while a new member will find this book fulfilling, this book might not satisfy those who are already familiar with Master Cheng Yen and her works. The book is written in a very simple manner, and while it introduces a lot of ideas and concepts, they don't go into them too deeply.

If you think you know a decent amount about Tzu-Chi and Master Cheng Yen, chances are, you can find some other book for further reading. However, I'd say this is one of the best books out there for people interested in Tzu-Chi, and even those who think they know a lot should give this book a glance.