Bhikkhuni Từ Quán was born into a noble family which had served in the royal court for many generations. No record was found about her exact date of birth and death. We only learned that she was living in the middle of the 14th century. As a nun, she lived in a small hut on Mt. Thanh Lương. She was an ascetic who practiced the precepts diligently, and had developed wisdom through meditation. It was said that she looked like an Arahat, and was admired by both Buddhist monks, nuns and laypeople at her time. Her name was as well-known as other contemporary famous Buddhist venerables. King Trần Nghệ Tông (1370-1372) awarded her the title "Tuệ Thông (Profound Wisdom) the Great Master." In her old age she wished to sacrifice her own body to the wild beasts, so she walked into wild mountain, sat in a lotus posture, hoping that tigers or wolves would come and eat her up. Her compassion and her courage was so boundless that in 21 days tigers, wolves and other wild beasts came only to sit around her, but none dared to get near her. Her disciples came and begged her to return to the hut. She finally did, but sat in deep meditation during that summer. Early in fall she called all her disciples to her side, gave a Dharma talk, and instructed them: "After my death, just leave some of my bones here, so people may use them as medicines." She did not contract any disease, but just passed away while sitting in meditation when she was over 80 years old. After her cremation, her disciples found many relics in her ashes. They carefully picked up all the relics to preserve in a sealed box. The following day they found one wrist bone on the table, outside the box! They felt awe at their master's sacredness, and her spiritual power. Later they scraped the bone and mixed it with water to make medication for those who were ill, and came for help cure their diseases. It was said that all those ill people who came were cured with the medication made from her bone. A local ruler ordered to build a shrine to worship her right on the mountain. Her decision reflected the ideal of Buddhist compassion.
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