TranSmart & A Rainbow Remembrance

Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo

(Chinese)

The initial determination abides, with compassion preserved;

The scarlet sign speaks, awakening kindred ties;

Ancestral virtue and Dharma’s lineage must be upheld;

With diligence and giving, a forest of iron is sown.

Through trials of fire, the void is revealed;

As hostile forces press, the net of protection arises;

On the Ghost Festival, true mantras guard all life;

And merits return boundlessly, without end.

Between heaven and earth, there exists a soverign force, like an invisible silken thread pulling and weaving, drawing together people who might otherwise have no connection, making them meet and interact.

On January 31, 2000, as Master Chuan-Zhi (TranSmart) approached her final moment, we were by her bedside. Suddenly, the venerable one sat upright, grasped my hands, gazed into me, and recited the gāthā she had realized —“The Verse of Chuan-Zhi”:

Hand releases, releases,

Within the hand rivers flow.

Rivers clear and pure,

All waters wash the face of the hand.

The hand’s face cleanses sin well,

The heart recites Amitābha.

In that instant, my mind was filled with the sound of “おんさんまやさとぼん” (on amirita teise kara un).

Then she urged us to always recite the Ten Great Vows of Samantabhadra:

1. To pay homage to all Buddhas.

2. To praise the Thus-Come One.

3. To make extensive offerings.

4. To repent past misdeeds.

5. To rejoice in others’ merits.

6. To request the turning of the Dharma wheel.

7. To beseech the Buddhas to remain in the world.

8. To always follow the Buddha’s teachings.

9. To accord with and serve all beings.

10. To dedicate all merits universally.

She added: “To keep away from those evildoers, and to draw near to wise teachers…” Then, lying back into her place, at that moment the sound “おんさんまやさとぼん” (on sanmaya satobon) echoed in my heart, and the venerable one peacefully departed for the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

In 1979, after assisting an American client to complete the development of "satellite receiver," I traveled across the major states. I felt that in this resource-rich country I had no natural enemies. As I journeyed, I was sketching out the vision of a new empire to come. Yet, after one phone call back to Tainan, a voice on the other side said: “Your Lord Father commands you—come back at once!”

Though many friends in America earnestly advised me to stay, to make full use of my knowledge and resources to help them build a new world, I nevertheless flew back to Taiwan. Within days I married, but only 56 days after the wedding, a plot coup seized my property.

Friends in the Junior Chamber International said they would use their expertise to help me fight for justice, but I answered with a smile: “When the King of Chu lost his bow, it was found by another Chu man.” With that, I left Tainan in detachment, and thus had the chance to speak deeply with my wife’s grandmother about life.

In November 1965, after accompanying my father to Kaohsiung while he was on the run. One day, I worked sweating in my tiny sugar-board plant, he asked me to go with him to Niao-Song. Riding together on a self-assembled motorcycle, we passed through fields and overgrown paths, arriving at a small monastery by Dapi Lake— “Cheng-Ching Monastery.” Out of a modest hut came a rather tall woman, taller than my father one head. Hearing that we were looking for Venerable Wei-Li, she kindly led us to his retreat room. This tall woman was none other than the one who would later become Master Chuan-Zhi.

Unexpectedly, after 14 to 15 years, Ding Ling-Hong (Linda Din), the beloved granddaughter of Master Chuan Zhi, would become my wife, beginning a magical journey called "A Record of Li-Hong." Since Ding Ling-Hong’s name contains the meaning of "rainbow," our work in social responsibility investment (SRI) is internationally known as "A Rainbow Remembrance."

This tall woman’s lay name was Ding Wu-Ping. In 1980, seeing that her dearest granddaughter had married a worthy husband, she received the precepts under Venerable Guang-Chin, shaved her head, and entered monastic life, taking the Dharma name "Venerable Chuan-Zhi."

At the beginning of the year of Bing-Zi, I went to Pingtung to plant a hillside full of five-needle pines for Venerable Wei-Li. One day, he suddenly mentioned “Sister Ping”—the affectionate name everyone had used for Chuan-Zhi before she became a nun. He told me that back in 1966, some had invited him to pioneer a new monastery in Da-Shu, but his aspiration was to go to Japan to study Buddhism in its complete form. So the work instead fell upon the young nephew of Elder Monk Yue-Ji—none other than Master Hsing-Yun.

Fig 1: A hillside in Pingtung covered with five-needle pines

At that time, Taiwan’s national income was still very low, and people’s financial means were limited. Venerable Wei-Li continued: “Sister Ping actually sold her shoe store, bakery, cinema, and big house in Yan-Cheng-Pu, and donated it all to Hsing Yun to build the monastery. One could say Sister Ping was the greatest contributor to the flourishing of Buddhism in Taiwan.” He added: “Master Chuan-Zhi was truly a national treasure among monastics.”

When planting the pines, I gathered a large group of friends from Kaohsiung to help. One Brother Han said: “In the past, whenever I saw Master Chuan-Zhi, it was always with a feeling of great reverence.” He went on: “I always wondered why a wealthy lady would suddenly have nothing left and even work as a janitor at Ling-Ya Junior High. Only later did I realize — she had given away all her wealth to build temples, support monks, and spread the Dharma for the benefit of all beings!”

Fig 2: The portrait of Venerable Chuan-Zhi

Even though Master Chuan-Zhi was honored as a “national treasure among monastics,” I always called her “A-Ma" (Grandmother). She once told me that in 1961 she often suffered from illness and frequent vomiting. Medical treatments brought no relief, but upon a friend’s recommendation, she met a monk who advised her to observe the practice of taking "vegetarian meals" in the morning. Miraculously, she recovered without medicine. From then on, she formally drew close to the Dharma. (Although she had previously supported monastics, she had not yet delved into the scriptures.) Thereafter, she frequently studied sutras, performed repentance rituals, and chanted mantras under the guidance of her teacher.

Ma could not read Chinese characters at all. It was only after the age of fifty that she began to learn, memorizing line by line as others taught her to recite. In this way, she gradually mastered texts such as "the Great Compassion Mantra, Shurangama Mantra, Heart Sutra, Universal Door Chapter, Diamond Sutra, Medicine Buddha Sutra, Amitabha Sutra, Sutra of the Past Vows of Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, and the Vows of Samantabhadra."

She often brought her sutra books home. At times, when she forgot how to read a character, she would turn to her granddaughter, Ding Ling-Hong (Linda Din), who had just started primary school. The two of them would sit together, studying and discussing sutras as though it were the most natural thing. Thus, through her grandmother’s influence, Linda began to study the Dharma at around the age of seven. What followed was a special period of learning and teaching between grandmother and granddaughter.

Grandmother once told me: “Ling-Hong has cultivated through countless lifetimes. In this life, she is destined to accomplish great undertakings, to help many people and to ferry countless beings across.” She solemnly instructed me that I must support Ling-Hong in fulfilling her great vow in this lifetime. And so began the wondrous journey recorded in “A Record of Li-Hong” (A Rainbow Remembrance)

In The “Daughter of a National Defense Employee (A Lady of Rich Taiwan)” (Ding Ling-Hong, 2001), Linda described her grandmother as a practitioner grounded in reality:

From my grandmother, I saw a person who gave fully of herself, asked for nothing in return, never kept anything private, and cultivated the Dharma in a steadfast way. As a child I often listened to her reciting the Diamond Sutra, and as I grew older, it became my spiritual nourishment. In the twenty-eighth section, ‘The Chapter on Not Receiving or Coveting,’ the sutra says: ‘Because bodhisattvas do not receive blessings and merits… Subhuti said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, why do you say bodhisattvas do not receive blessings? The Buddha replied: The blessings and merits that bodhisattvas create should not be clung to; therefore it is said they do not receive blessings.’ My grandmother’s life of not seeking, not coveting, was the perfect embodiment of this teaching. Though illiterate, she understood the essence of the Diamond Sutra and applied it to her daily conduct. Her example laid the foundation for my own education.

She passed her compassion down to me, and urged me to learn the vows and practices of Samantabhadra Bodhisattva, applying innovative technology to create a peaceful and prosperous Pure Land, thereby contributing stability to society. All the money she earned she used for dāna (charity), and whatever she raised through alms was devoted to public welfare. Her views and use of wealth deeply influenced me. Because of this, I often suffered losses in the worldly sense. Yet amid waves of rejection and elimination, I was still able to survive and pursue my ideals.

What stirred my original intention to invent “innovative industries” was the problem of structural unemployment. Unemployment is not confined to one region — it is a universal issue. When inspiration suddenly flashed through my mind, I drew and pieced together a diagram on paper, calling it “The Electronic Store System” (TES) — a technological mechanism to upgrade commerce through “electronification, informatization, and automation.” It could be implemented within trade systems spanning the United States (A), the United Kingdom (B), China (C), and beyond. (Ding Ling-Hong, 2001: 248–249)

Fig 3: Diagram of the TES system — invented by Linda Din

Since childhood, I had listened to my grandmother recite the Diamond Sutra. That constant influence was like an unseen force guiding my work in technology research and development. For example, my insistence that the development of electronic commerce must balance both “reality” (physical) and “virtual” dimensions stems from the fourteenth chapter of the Diamond Sutra, “On the Stillness of the Separation of Characteristics.” It reads: "The Dharma attained by the Tathagata is neither ‘reality’ nor ‘virtuality’." At face value, it seems to deny both reality and illusion, but its true essence is otherwise.

Having spent over ten years researching electronics and business automation, and understanding the character and development of Taiwan’s industries, I was able to see clearly the meaning of “reality” and “virtuality” in the sutra.

To know reality and illusion makes it easy to identify where profit lies within industries. From there, one can analyze where global competitiveness resides. Following this direction, research and investment cannot go astray. Our development of technology was always based on a humanistic concern for solving unemployment, and this core principle is unshakable. The Diamond Sutra’s teaching on “reality” and “virtuality” is not difficult to grasp, but for those who are arrogant or harbor ill intent, it remains an impenetrable riddle for life. (Ding Ling-Hong, 2001: 252–254)

The Origin of the TranSmart Card:

My grandmother’s influence was not limited to the humanistic concerns already mentioned; in fact, the inspiration she gave me contributed immensely — almost inconceivably — to my professional achievements. Through this inspiration, we successfully developed the world’s first vending machine that used "IC contactless smart cards" as its payment tool.

In electronic commerce, the process is not merely about solving the problem of product circulation. More importantly, it allows information to travel instantly across thousands of miles, transcending time and space, reaching everywhere without obstruction. This gives innovative products a way to find their path. Yet the most critical aspect of e-commerce is that it solves the problem of "cash flow."

In my design for electronic commerce, the solution for cash flow was the use of a "contactless smart card." But how could we create a name both meaningful and resonant, one that, like flowing water, could circulate across the world and the major markets? After much reflection without breakthrough, inspiration came to me through my grandmother: thus was born the idea of the "TranSmart Card" (Chuan-Zhi Card).

“TranSmart” combines “Transfer” (transmit) and “Smart” (intelligence), carrying the meaning of “transferring wisdom, spreading goodness.” As the card transmits, it spreads love outward, ensuring that everyone has work and that people live without want. The entire concept was built on the principle of circulation, not merely on cost.

Thanks to the wisdom imparted by my grandmother, I found, in the development of “innovative industries,” the key to solving unemployment: the contactless TranSmart Card. This key, I believe, will one day unlock the “transformation of traditional industries through technology” and the “wisdom-upgrading of technology industries,” bringing benefit to all beings.

With the advent of the TranSmart Card, the transactional tools needed for the “eStore” were naturally resolved. The derivative technology — “contactless reading devices” (TRD)— was also applied to a variety of related equipment. The technology, originally based on ISO 7816, expanded to include ISO 14443, ISO 15693, and other standards. Not only Philips of the Netherlands but also Siemens of Germany and other renowned technology companies invested heavily in this field. This technology was destined to become the trend of the future, a powerful tool to help build a “Prosperous Taiwan.” (Ding Ling-Hong, 2001: 167–172)

Fig 4: How the TranSmart Card generated the benefits of circulation

On our journey of spreading the Dharma, we grew from self-sufficiency to having the capacity to lend money to banks, helping medium and large enterprises avert crises of bankruptcy. A-Ma’s blessings played a major role. In 1996, when we faced a great obstacle, she gave us her blessings in her monastery room, then handed us a red envelope containing one thousand NT dollars, calling it “money mother” (Seed Money). The most wondrous thing was that the moment I received it, a flash of light appeared in my mind, and we broke through the barrier. In 1997, we brought the research results of TES to Vancouver’s APEC and began an incredible chain of connections.

In 1998, Linda Din served as an APEC speaker. With her TES proposal, she won the "Electronic Commerce Bill" –a blueprint for Action on Electronic Commerce, and her social enterprise, "K-Horn Science Inc." (KSI), was named Enterprise of the Year. On March 21, 1999, Premier Vincent Siew visited, and Linda presented the TES research achievements and the success at APEC, bringing boundless hope to the governing team.

Fig 5: Linda Din explained the TES achievement to the Premier

On May 24, 1999, we proposed at Taipei City Hall. On stage, Linda Din explained to the officials:

“By applying the software and hardware of Electronic Commerce (EC) together with modern business know-how, and combining the efforts of both public sector and private sector, we can plan and implement ‘an eStore package’ of guidance measures. This will address unemployment and underemployment, create new distribution channels, assist small and medium-sized enterprises in growth, and indirectly resolve the problem of vacant storefronts.”

She recommended that Taipei City Government issue an "easy-to-use contactless smart chip card" (TranSmart Card), to be applied first to the Taipei Metro, and then gradually expanded into all aspects of daily life. The proposal received broad recognition and acceptance.

Fig 6: Linda Din presenting the TranSmart Card at Taipei City Hall

The TranSmart Card and its transaction reading devices (TRD), together with the "TSCM" (Transaction and Transmission Supply Chain Management software), formed a "cashless system." During the COVID-19 pandemic, beyond its role in disease prevention, it reached an annual transaction volume of “36 trillion USD,” helping “1.5 billion people” earn income from home across the world. It came to be regarded as the most valuable invention in human history. In Taiwan alone, last year’s cashless transactions reached NT$8.3 trillion, helping businesses across all sectors to both sell their goods and collect payments efficiently.

The Deviation and Trial of 2003

Unfortunately, in 2003, under the pull of worldly circumstances, Linda (Ling-Hong) converted to Christianity, as if a “a great general laid down his armor,” turning away from the protection handed down by her forebears. I too, for the empty name of so-called “oneness” (unity), abandoned the Vajra protection of Kōbō Daishi and cast aside the honor of my guru. From that point on, the corrupt power of the cartel forces ran rampant year after year, trampling at will. Our family enterprise declined from prosperity to ruin, and the industries and properties stretching from Taipei to Taichung all fell into others’ hands.

This calamity was just as the Dharma teaches: “When one draws close to evil realms and turns away from the protection of true Dharma, then the winds of karma will rise, and good fruits will not remain secure.” This was the trial brought about by straying from the right path.

The Appearance of the Sign on August 18:

On the morning of August 18, 2025, in the empty bathtub of my bathroom, "a red washer" suddenly appeared out of nowhere. This object was a small component of the “AV Connector” manufactured in 1986. After thirty-nine years, it reappeared before my eyes as if it had traveled through time and space.

A washer is something that bears rotation and prevents wear. Red symbolizes fire and the power of vow. The bathtub is a vessel for holding water and purification. These three coming together resemble the verse from the "Chuan-Zhi Gatha":

“All waters wash the hands and face; washing hands and face cleanses the sins.”

This manifestation from the Dharma realm was a reminder: “The original aspiration has not been lost, the vow power still remains, and the seeds of merit have not perished.”

Return and Revelation:

After several days and nights of reflection, the “Light Mantra” (Kōmyō Shingon), bestowed in two seconds by Kōbō Daishi during the year of Bingzi, resounded once more. That which was falsely condemned as “something to be destroyed” in the name of false “unity” reappeared, equipping my body, mind, soul, and spirit like the armor of Iron Man.

From then on, I resumed daily morning and evening practice, diligently chanting and dedicating merits to my ancestors. This was truly a return to the original vow of the Dharma. Not only does this dedication increase the spiritual resources of our forebears, but in this impermanent world, it also reconnects me to the Dharma lineage.

Particularly in this seventh lunar month — the season of gratitude — the merit of dedication is especially profound. The key point is that the vows, faith, and practice I had upheld since 1986 have fully met their mark. At this moment, I must continue the Dharma lineage, transcend calamities, protect sentient beings, and transform suffering into the path.

Conclusion

From a small red washer came a “message of time.” It awakened wholesome connections, reminding us that past inventions and heartfelt efforts have not disappeared — they still exist within the Dharma realm, awaiting reconnection with good causes and conditions. At the same time, it confirmed the truth that “the original aspiration is indestructible, and the Dharma lineage endures.”

This entire “narrative of causes and conditions” is not merely a family story but a testimony of vow-directed living. For example, the "Chuan-Zhi Gatha" resonates with Kōbō Daishi’s mantra “おんあみりたていせからうん”(on amirita teise kara un), while the Ten Great Vows of Samantabhadra resonate with “おんさんまやさとぼん” (on sammaya satoban). These represent a very clear transmission of the direction of practice.

Grandmother, in essence, handed down the “outline of practice” to me and to Ling-Hong (Linda) as a cross-generational refuge. However, the change of faith caused “wholesome connections to be obscured.” In the course of life, we foolishly “laid down our armor,” abandoning the protective power left by our ancestors. As a result, we were besieged by the cartel forces of the world, entering into a state of “karma without protection.”

Yet even after more than twenty years of tribulation, the seeds of goodness still remain. For we once poured great passion into promoting "TES / eStore / ICT / Cashless" innovations — actions of "altruism and generosity." At the same time, however, we triggered the karmic backlash of the entrenched interests (the cartel) rooted in greed, hatred, and delusion.

When we were forced to go from “having to having nothing,” it was akin to entering the "profound practice of emptiness" — echoing the very first line of the "Chuan-Zhi Gatha":

“Hand releases, releases…” (no need to hoard treasures upon the earth).

All these coincidences — "the Chuan-Zhi Gatha, Samantabhadra’s Vows, and the red washer"— all point to one truth: "We must not forget our original aspiration, nor the protection of the Dharma guardians. Otherwise, worldly evils will erase us."

In short, return is the way forward. In this seventh lunar month, diligently chanting mantras and dedicating merit to our ancestors is to “restart the protective net” and once again realign with the vow of the Supreme One who loves us — “The world may be ended, but my wishes are infinite; life is limited, but my merits are immeasurable.”

Peter Li-Chang Kuo, the author created Taiwan's Precision Industry in his early years. Peter was a representative of the APEC CEO Summit and an expert in the third sector. He advocated "anti-corruption (AC)/cashless/e-commerce (E-Com)/ICT/IPR/IIA-TES / Micro-Business (MB)…and etc." to win the international bills and regulations.