An inspiring account of the life, teachings and worldwide humanitarian work of Master Cheng Yen and the international foundation she leads.

Wang Chin-yun, a Buddhist nun now known as the Venerable Master Cheng Yen, is one of the world's most inspiring yet largely unrecognized women. Master Cheng Yen was born in Taiwan on May 14, 1937. At the age of 29, she established the Tzu Chi Foundation, an organization committed to compassion and relief that today numbers 10 million volunteer members in more than 40 countries worldwide, including Canada. From its first project providing clothing and medical help for an impoverished grandmother in 1966, to the building of the 700-bed Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital in the wilderness of eastern Taiwan in the 1980s, to constructing homes and schools in tsunami-ravaged Indonesia and Thailand in 2004-05 and establishing the world's third-largest bone marrow registry, the Tzu Chi Foundation has grown exponentially, spreading its message of harmony and humility by assisting the needy and challenging the rich to lead by example.

"To save the world, we must begin by transforming human hearts," says Master Yen, and Challenges details her extraordinary vision, her tenacity in the face of numerous hurdles and the lessons she and her followers have learned over the years. Told in six parts and forty-five teachings (each with a background, an outline of the challenge and an explanation of the effects and reflections), this motivational story illuminates the life and work an incredible woman. Now over 70 years old and suffering from angina pectoris, Master Cheng Yen continues to lead the foundation from the Abode of Still Thoughts in Taiwan. She has been awarded the Eisenhower Medallion for her contributions to world peace and, in 1996, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her selfless dedication to bringing to a troubled world a renewed vision of compassion in action.

In an age of war and conflict, natural and environmental disasters, Challenges is not only heartening but encouraging. Challenges shows what positive transformation is possible in society when strong leaders use their skills for good, and the Tzu Chi Foundation continues to demonstrate how ordinary people, working together, volunteering time and energy toward helping others, relieving pain and suffering and tending to the physical and spiritual needs of those less fortunate, can make the world a better place.