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《上人法雨》

 

VENERABLE MASTER'S DHARMA RAIN

閻羅王的五封信
King Yama's Five Letters

錄自楞嚴經卷四 From Suramgama Sutra, Book 4

有一個人哪,死到閻羅王那兒去,死了去見閻羅王。見閻羅王,他就向閻羅王來辯護啊,來說閻羅王不對。

他說:「你啊!(指閻羅王)你真不通人情,你一點都不懂人情。你叫我來見你,你應該給我一封信呀!然後告訴我、讓我明白,你再把我叫來呀,我好有個準備。你連一個電報、一封信、一個電話,也不也不通知我,你就把我捉來了,啊!你太沒有道理了。」

閻羅王就對他講了,說:「我給你好幾封信了,你也不知道。」

他說:「我沒有收到你的信呀!」

閻羅王說:「我給你的第一封信,是你鄰居有一個小孩子,一生出來就死了,這是我給你一第一封信。你這麼大年紀了,那個小孩子一生出來就死了,你應該覺悟啊!應該修行啊!應該修道啊!」

他說:「喔!那就是第一封信嗎?那麼第二封信呢?」

閻羅王說:「第二封信哪?你眼睛,有一個時期是不是花了?看東西看得不清楚了?」

他說:「是啊。」

答:「對,這是第二封信。」

問:「第三封信呢?」

答:「你耳朵是不是有一個時候就聾了?」

他說:「不錯啊!」這是第三封信。

問:「那麼第四封信呢?」

說:「第四封信哪,你的牙是不是都掉了?」

他說:「是啊!喔,這是第四封信給我啊,我,啊!這個字我都不認識,我不懂閻羅王這就是信。」

於是乎閻羅王說:「這回你還有話講沒有?」

他自己一想,果然小孩子一出生就死了,這令自己要覺悟,這也對的。牙也掉了,眼睛也花了,耳朵也聾了,這是給自己送信來的。

又問:「那麼最後一封信是什麼呢?」

答:「最後一封信哪,我叫,你這,你看見你頭髮都白了沒有啊?」

他說:「看見。喔!這是最後一封信!?」

於是乎這個人也沒話講了。

閻羅王說:「你吃了這麼多肉,好了,投生去做豬去囉!」

這回,於是乎他就去做豬了。那麼究竟什麼時候再回來再做人呢?這就是任何人也不知道的。

There was a man who died and went to see King Yama.  When he saw King Yama, he protested to the king about his unfairness.

He said: "You (the King) are so unreasonable, you don't understand about reasonableness  at all.  You simply called to see me.  But you should have sent me a letter first.  You could gradually tell me and make me realize it, then you would call upon me and let me have a chance to prepare myself.  You didn't send me a telegram, a letter, or even a phone call, you just snatched me here.  You are just too unreasonable."

King Yama said to the guy: "I have sent you several letters already, you just didn't realize that."

The guy said: "I never received any of your letters."

The King said: "My first letter to you was about your neighbor's child, the child died right after birth.  That was my first letter to you.  You are quite senior, but that child was dead right after birth, you should have !  You should have realized!  You should have cultivated!  You should have practiced the Way!"

The guy said: "Oh! That was the first letter?! Then what about the second letter?"

King Yama said: "The second letter?  About your eyes, wasn't there a time when your eyes got a little blurrier and you couldn't see very well?" 

The guy said: "Yeah!"

The King said: "Right.  That was the second letter."

The guy asked: "What about the third letter?"

The king answered: "Wasn't there a time when your ears got a little deafer?"

The guys said: "That's right."  That was the third letter.

The guy asked: "What about the fourth letter then?"

The king answered: "About the fourth letter, didn't all your teeth fall out?"

The guy said: "Yeah.  Oh, that was the fourth letter to me?!  I, ow, I couldn't read a word, I didn't know this was what you meant letters."

Then King Yama said: "Do you have anything more to say this time?"

The guy thought about it for a while:  It was true that the child died right after his birth.  It was meant to make me realize.  It was also true that the my teeth fell out, the eyes got blurrier and the ears had gone deafer.  All of these were the letters to me.

Then the guy asked again: "What about the last letter?"

The King said: "In the last letter, I told you to see if your hair was gray."

The guy said: "I saw it! Oh, that was the last letter?" Then the guy had nothing else to say.

King Yama said: "Since you have eaten so much meat, well then, go reincarnate as a pig!"

This time, the guy was reincarnated as a pig.  When will he ever be reincarnated back as a human again?  Nobody knows.

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