第二册.Volume 2

宣化老和尚追思纪念专集 In Memory of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua

In Memory of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua

宣化老和尚 The Venerable Master Hsuan Hua

中文 Chinese 英文 English

ContentsPreviousNext

YEARNING FOR TWENTY YEARS,
M
ISSING BY TWENTY DAYS

◎ Xu Dai

At least I got to see the Venerable Master!

I am an alumnus of the National China Central University in Guangzhou, mainland China. As early as the 1970's, I read of the Venerable Master's lone journey to America to propagate the Buddhadharma, a feat similar to that of Dharma Master Jianzhen. I began to think of the Venerable Master and of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas day and night. I hoped that one day I might meet the Venerable Master and hear his teachings in person. It was not until June 28, 1995, that I had an opportunity to go to America (at the invitation of the American Medical Academic Exchange Society). As soon as I got off the plane in Los Angeles, I made inquiries and was shocked to hear the Venerable Master had completed the stillness on June 8. After yearning for twenty years, I had missed by only twenty days. Ah! (A Dharma sister from Taiwan found the Venerable Master after only two years of searching─how lucky she is!)

Still, I didn't come to America in vain. During the farewell ceremony preceding the cremation, I finally got to see the Venerable Master! Today I have to go back to Los Angeles with my group. Before I leave, I'd like to share with the Dharma Masters some vows of this little ant who has studied Buddhism for forty years:

1. I vow that all living beings will learn the Dharma-door of perfect penetration through the ear that Guanyin Bodhisattva teaches in the Shurangama Sutra and realize the Great Shurangama Samadhi. (As the Venerable Master said, “The Bodhisattva is like the clear and cool moon, constantly travelling in ultimate space.”)

2. I vow that living beings will soon reach Amitabha Buddha's Land of Ultimate Bliss (Among the Venerable Master's Eighteen Great Vows, this is his vow that if living beings have not become Buddhas, he will not attain the Right Enlightenment.)

3. I vow that the world will soon turn into the Pure Land of Eternal Stillness and Light. (A verse in the Flower Adornment Sutra says, “Everything is made from the mind alone.” If everyone recites the Buddha's name, then the Pure Land is in the world, right in front of us.)

Forgive my offenses with kindly patience.
Pardon his wrongs with a greatly compassionate mind.
With vows of equality, advance vigorously.
With wisdom and samadhi, the precepts pearl is bright.

── Composed by the Venerable Master Hua on March 10, 1984,
at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas

▲Top

 

ContentsPreviousNext

法界佛教总会 . DRBA / BTTS / DRBU