今天是菩萨圣诞，西乐园虽然建在三百多级的山上，可是来到这里参加打七的人，却非常踊跃，这足见凡是来参加贺诞的人，个个都是具有真心，而且又是勇猛精进的。

Today is the Bodhisattva's birthday, and although this temple is built three hundred steps up the mountain, all you who have come to this session have proved to be very nimble. Thus, each person who has come to celebrate the birthday is not only true-hearted, but courageous and vigorous as well.

从人数来说，这八年来参加打七的人一年比一年多，而且，更有很多人来这里拜佛后说自己一切都比从前顺利。

I've taken note of the number of people who have attended these sessions over the past eight years, and every year the attendance is larger. And more and more people who come to bow and pay their respects during the session have said they found afterwards that everything went more smoothly for them.

譬如：袁果林居士，自从来西乐园以后，生意特别兴旺。谭果璞居士，皈依后也能增福延寿，今年八十多岁了，可是身体仍然非常健康。

For example, Upasika Yuan Guolin said that since she started coming to Western Bliss Garden Monastery, her business has been especially prosperous. And ever since Upasaka Tan Guopu took refuge, his blessings have increased and his life has been lengthened, so that although he is over eighty, he is still in excellent health.

又有一个腿不方便，从四岁起，到九岁都不能走路，可是在这里拜佛后，就能走路了。此外，李果远居士的女儿腿跌坏了，中西医和跌打医生都不能治好，也是拜佛后就好了。所以有人就谣传我会治病，其实这不过是拜佛的功德罢了。

There is also the crippled child who had been lame since the age of four. At age nine he started coming here to bow to the Buddha, and now he can walk. Then there is Li Guoyuan's daughter, who broke her leg so badly that neither Chinese nor Western specialists could set it for her. After she started bowing to the Buddhas here, her leg healed. Because of such incidents, some people have spread the rumor that I can cure illnesses. Actually, it's just the merit and virtue of bowing to the Buddhas.

还有一件事，可以作为纪念的：就是在西乐园未建成以前，原属一个七、八尺深的大坑，经过了人工、泥工的填平之后，才能建立这个道场。而且这里从前是没有水的，可是在道场建成之后，就有一股水源源不绝而至。有人说，这股水是我从芙蓉山带来的；因为我在观音洞住的时候，洞前有水，可是说也奇怪，自从我搬到西乐园后，观音洞这个水就没有了。而这里本来没有水的，却变成有水，难道真是我把水搬来的吗？这一切无非都是佛、菩萨的感应，龙天的拥护。

There is another incident of note. Before Western Bliss Garden Monastery was constructed, this was just a barren plot of land marred by a pit seven or eight feet deep. Much labor was spent filling in the pit with mud and then levelling off the ground before the Bodhimanda could be built. Besides that, there had never been any water here, but after the Bodhimanda was built, an unending supply of water appeared. Some people say I brought the water with me from Furung Mountain. That's because while I lived there in Guanyin Cave, there was water in front of the cave, but strange as it may sound, after I moved to Western Bliss Garden, the water disappeared. And this place, which originally had no water, now has water. Is it possible that I really brought the water with me? This whole situation is nothing more than a response from the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the protective dragons and gods.

今天，大家都是这么高兴、这么踊跃，然而盛会不常，又要到明年才举行了。明年打观音七，大家请早。而且，更要发愿打个全七，还有在十一月的阿弥陀佛七，大家也要勇猛精进，切勿放逸懈怠。

Today everyone is happy and enthusiastic, but the session is almost over, and we must wait until next year to hold another one. Everyone who plans to attend next year's Guanyin Recitation Session should sign up early, and moreover, you should make a vow to attend the entire session. In the eleventh lunar month there will be an Amitabha Buddha Recitation Session, and those who attend should be courageously vigorous and not the least bit lazy or lax.

现在，我有一个无上的法门，想说给大家听，可是在未说之前，我得告诉大家，求法并不容易，所以大家先要答应我，在听后依法修行，我才能说。

I now have an unsurpassed Dharma-door that I intend to speak for you, but before I tell it to you, I should remind you that seeking the Dharma is not an easy matter. Therefore all of you should first agree to rely on the Dharma to cultivate, and then I will explain this unsurpassed dharma to you.

这个法门，就是每天在佛前发愿：

众生无边誓愿度，
烦恼无尽誓愿断，
法门无量誓愿学，
佛道无上誓愿成。

The Dharma-door consists of making vows before the Buddhas every single day. Vow:

Living beings are boundless;
I vow to save them.
Afflictions are endless;
I vow to cut them off.
Dharma-doors are limitless;
I vow to study them all.
The Buddha Way is unsurpassed;
I vow to realize it.

这是大家都知道的，而且诸佛也都是从此而成，菩萨也是从此而修。还有一个大家更熟悉的，就是：

愿生西方净土中，
九品莲华为父母；
花开见佛悟无生，
不退菩萨为伴侣。

These vows are familiar to everyone. What is more, they are the means by which all Buddhas attained realization, and they are the vows that all Bodhisattvas cultivate. There is another vow with which everyone is even more familiar:

I vow to be reborn in the Pure Land
With the nine grades of lotuses as my father and mother.
When the flower opens I will see the Buddha and awaken to the unproduced.
Irreversible Bodhisattvas will befriend me.

大家若能每天都这样发愿，那么，我可以保证大家定能面见慈尊，获不退转，早成佛道的。

If everyone can make these vows every single day, I can guarantee that each of you will be able to meet the Compassionate Honored One, obtain irreversibility, and soon realize the Buddha Way.

一九五八年六月十九日上午开示