CHAPTER SIX BECOMING A DISCIPLE: THE RECRUITING STRATEGY OF TZU CHI Th is chapter discusses the recruitment strategies of the Tzu Chi Move- ment and the diff erent routes by which the members became involved in the Movement. Th e chapter has four main themes: 1. How the mem- bers came to know about Tzu Chi; 2. How the members fi rst encoun- tered Tzu Chi; 3. Th e routes to join Tzu Chi; 4. Some problems with joining more Tzu Chi. How the Members Came to Know about Tzu Chi Sociological research has shown that ‘person-to-person’ contact is one of the most important methods by which people get to know about NRMs (Wilson and Dobbelaere 1994: 59, 1987: 186; Barker E. 1898: 27). My research on Tzu Chi revealed a similar tendency. Initially most people became aware of the Movement through word of mouth, 15 per cent through the public media, and 9 per cent from Tzu Chi publica- tions (see Table 6.1). Th e majority of Tzu Chi members, then, learnt about the Movement through person to person contact. Th is suggests that Tzu Chi is a ‘com- munitarian group’ in the terms of Wilson and Dobbelaere. According to Wilson and Dobbelaere, one of the characteristics of such groups is that they put more emphasis on personal introductions and one to one contacts than on ‘large-scale rallies and collective occasions’ (Wilson and Dobbelaere 1994: 50). Table 6.1 How the public came to know about Tzu Chi Nos. Percentage of Survey Word of mouth 345 75% Public media 72 15% Tzu Chi publications 42 9% Total 459 99% 130 chapter six Some interviewees stated that they had heard of Tzu Chi from other Buddhist Masters. Tzu Chi, though a New Religious Movement, received affi rmative support, ab initio, from central and local government and was approved by nearly all the traditional religious bodies of Taiwan. Other sects and NRMs did not fare so well, being faced with overt antag- onism and being attacked by the orthodox. Such was the case with the Unifi cation Church (Moonies) in the West (Barker 1984: 6) and the case of Zhenfo Zong in Taiwan.311 But my fi ndings show that Tzu Chi, in the eyes of traditional Buddhists, was seen as a legitimate sect, or so at least Tzu Chi members claimed. One married man, for example, who had converted to Mahayana Buddhism before joining Tzu Chi, explained, ‘I was told by my (then) Buddhist Master about the Movement. He rec- ommended Tzu Chi because it was very ‘truthful’ (zhende zai zuoshe: they do real work)’.312 Another reason given for some Buddhists to sup- port Tzu Chi was because of its religious exclusivism. A housewife in her mid-fi ft ies said that she only supported other Buddhist organizations [not non-Buddhist religions] aft er she had become a Buddhist.313 Th e fact that 15 per cent of the survey group came to know about Tzu Chi through the media corresponds with my emphasis in Chapter 3, in that Tzu Chi has consistently received positive support from the offi cial government press and public media of Taiwan. Some NRMs in Taiwan and other countries did not and do not enjoy this level of toler- ance.314 Th is point was made by a self-employed married male graduate who recalled that he had fi rst been made aware of Tzu Chi in Zhongyang Ribao (the Central Daily, a state-owned newspaper), which reported that a fair was held by a Buddhist Master to launch a campaign to build a hospital and that the Master had been leading a group of followers with a compassionate vow to help the poor and other people with diffi culties.315 Th is report gave that man a very favourable impression of Tzu Chi.316 311 See p.34 fn.48. 312 Selected interview No. 3. 313 Selected interview No. 25. 314 Such was the case with Yi-guan Dao in Taiwan during the martial law period: the movement was reported to be an indecent group, gathering members together for nude worship. Another example was the Moonies, who were reported to have broken up families and brainwashed new converts. See E. Barker: Th e Making of A Moonie (Oxford: Blackwell, 1984) pp. 1-12. 315 Th e Central Daily was one of the dominant newspapers in Taiwan before the end- ing of martial law in 1987, and it is well known that the present director of the Tzu Chi Cultural Mission, Wang Duan-zheng, a brother of Master Cheng Yen, was once the chief editor of the newspaper. 316 Selected interview No. 16..