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《菩提田》

 

BODHI FIELD

點點滴滴憶上人:
Memories of the Venerable Master:

真心要學好 不怕魔來考──唸佛持咒的感應
If You Sincerely Wish to Be Good, Don't Be Afraid when Demons Come to Test You
━Responses from Reciting the Buddha's Name and Mantras

謝福來 編輯 Compiled by Fulai Hsieh
祁慧生 英譯 English translation by Huisheng Qi

林朝泉居士,法名果泉,是馬來西亞政府已經退休的公務員。今年(1998)帶領十一位同修,前來參加萬佛寶 懺;他們遠道而來,不畏辛苦地參與了全程的法會,在早晚溫差極大的聖城,體力與耐力都是一個很大的考驗。法會圓滿後,從林居士的笑容裡,可以感受到他在這 一次的法筵中,充滿了法喜和信心。

林居士皈依上人,也有著一段很特殊的因緣。 1988年,上人帶領弟子到亞洲弘法,從台灣準備前往馬來西亞時,簽證還沒有獲准。在這十萬火急的關頭,一位律師朋友請林居士出面協助;因為他曾在移民廳 辦事,當時又是青年文化體育部副部長的高級秘書。林居士雖然還不是上人的弟子,卻義不容辭地運用公文往返,同時拜見移民廳官員,使得全部的簽證在短短的一 星期就批准了。

「其實在那時候,我就應該皈依上人了;可惜我有眼不識泰山,四年後(1992)才皈依上人。」已經和上人見過 面、談過話的林居士,居然交臂失之;他有點悵然地述說這段陳年往事。不過他相信那時候已經種下了善根,只是因緣尚未成熟罷了。「老實說,當時我對佛教還沒 有特別的興趣;受人之託,忠人之事,認為把這事情辦完就算了。」

巧的是1992年恒實師率團到馬來西亞弘法,團員的入境證又有了問題。這時林居士已調了職務,在政府印務局辦 事;當時馬國籌劃弘法工作的人員都非舊識。負責人與林居士素不相識,也突然找上門來請他再次幫忙,因此弘法團又順利地獲得簽證。

林居士百思不解,為什麼上人或弟子到馬來西亞,兩次的入境都在緊要關頭才找上他?主辦弘法工作的負責人他都不 認識,而且他都已調換不同的職務。為什麼會有這一段因緣呢?因此他認為或許是宿緣所追,怎麼跑也跑不掉,還是早一點歸隊,皈依三寶,終於成為上人的弟子。

「要學好,冤孽找;要成佛,先受魔。」皈依上人後幾天,妖魔鬼怪就來纏他。一天夜晚,他開車外出買汽油。在離 家後不遠,有一位老婦人擋著他的去路,並要求送她一程。林居士說他只到附近買汽油罷了;老婦人不肯讓路,不得已之下就讓她上了車。

老婦人一上車,林居士就聞到一股很臭的味道,這味道像煤氣般讓他難以呼吸;同時又對他做出一些很沒禮貌的動 作,還很曖昧地說:「我沒有丈夫,不要怕!」這時候,林居士心裡起了疙瘩,這老婦人一定是鬼怪;他害怕異常,身體開始顫慄發抖。而剛皈依過的林居士,咒到 用時方恨無,什麼咒都還沒學,都還不會唸。

情急智生,「南無阿彌陀佛」這六字洪名,自然地從口中唸出。這一唸,臭味就消失了,老婦人調戲的動作也停止 了;可是佛號一停,老婦人又動手動腳,林居士趕緊再念佛。如此膠著了五分鐘後,她終於下車了,並對林居士說:「您,好人!有好報。」下了車就不知去向。

從那晚起,林居士就時常在夜間胡言亂語。他的太太已在1988年皈依上人,趕緊向上人求救。弟子有難,師父豈 可袖手旁觀?上人就叫林居士到萬佛聖城來。到了聖城,這個魔也跟著來,一連十三個晚上都在窗口,像一把鐵鎚般胡亂地敲打著,似乎要破門而入。林居士被折磨 得每晚只睡一個小時--從2:30 到 3:30,便趕緊起床上殿作早課。

第十四天,上人來到了佛殿,用手杖在林居士的頭上敲了三下,並且說:「沒有事,可以回家了。」從此之後,果真 就平安無事,你說奇怪不奇怪?經過了這一波三折,林居士對佛法有了興趣,對上人有了信心,知道自己所依止的是一位大善知識了。從此更加精進用功,研究上人 的開示和佛書經典,並真誠地依教奉行;並在 1997 年受了五戒。

上人曾經說過,南洋地緣特殊,妖魔鬼怪、魑魅魍魎特別多。林居士身為政府公務員,常需下鄉服務,有時候三更半 夜經過人跡罕至的道路,就會碰上一些稀奇古怪的事。他曾遇上傾盆的怪雨,這個雨只打在車前,左右兩邊都不下,在他眼前是一片模糊。碰到這種境界,他應付的 法寶就是打開〈楞嚴神咒〉的錄音帶;幾分鐘後,這雨就消失了,道路也分明了。

有一次,他住在郊區的一間小旅店。睡覺時忘了把〈楞嚴咒〉小冊子佩帶在身上。半夜時,鬼就來欺負他,用身體壓 在林居士的身上,使他動彈不得,手腳有如被綁起來,口也不能張開喊救命,只覺大小腸像要爆裂般非常難受。這是《楞嚴經》上所講的鳩槃茶鬼(冬瓜鬼),沒有 手也沒有腳,身體就像一顆冬瓜一樣。

林居士掙扎了很久這鬼才放手。他馬上下床拿〈楞嚴咒〉的小冊子,放入睡衣的口袋裡,並假裝繼續睡覺,準備鬼來 時看好戲。尚未入眠時,果然鬼又回來突擊,以蜻蜓點水的姿勢壓著林居士,同時也壓著〈楞嚴咒〉;那知鬼剛一近身,就猶如踩到地雷般被彈到半空中。當時林居 士的神智很清醒,因為他正等著鬥法的好戲上場。

從此之後,林居士如果到外地,這本〈楞嚴咒〉都伴著他睡在一起;六年以來,再也未受干擾,讓他能夠安心睡覺。

林居士還曾經以〈大悲咒〉和咒水,挽救家中一隻垂死的小狗。那是兩年前,他錯用煤油為家裡的小狗洗澡,冀望清 除牠身上的蝨子。他把狗兒浸在煤油裡不久,小狗突然不能站立,連眼睛也閉上了,只剩下微弱的呼吸聲。

經過獸醫診治,斷定煤油已經從小狗的皮膚傷口滲入了血管,導致血液中毒;並且說三個小時內,小狗就會死亡。醫 生說他無能為力,這隻小狗是回天乏術了。

林居士無奈地把小狗帶回家,家人便向觀世音菩薩求助。這時候小狗已經口流白沫,不能動彈,更不能進食或喝水。 他們家人唸了108遍的〈大悲咒〉,然後將大悲水一點一滴地灌入小狗緊閉的口中;同時為小狗發了一個願,如果牠能活過來的話,牠將終身吃素。

第三天,奇蹟終於出現,昏迷不醒的小狗在一陣風過後,突然嘔吐,然後爬了起來;一星期後身體便復原。再過一個 星期,牠的毛全部掉光,變成一隻沒有毛的醜小狗;幾個星期後,牠另長新毛。小狗從此開始吃素,並時常蹲在門口細聽他們家人誦經、作早晚課,似乎意味著牠也 想往生到極樂世界。

「大悲大咒通地天,一百一千十王歡;大悲大慈能袪病,孽鏡一照匾高懸。」這是上人所作的偈頌,道出了〈大悲 咒〉的神奇妙用。能每天唸108 遍,連十殿閻君也都歡喜讚歎;袪病延年、起死回生這還是小事;了生脫死、成就佛果這才是〈大悲咒〉的大用。

諸位善知識!千萬不要以怪力亂神的眼光,來看待林居士親身所經歷的故事。我們要有擇法眼,才能夠分辨是非真 理。「是道則進,非道則退」,願大家共勉之。


Upasaka Lim Teow Chuan (Dharma name: Guo Chuan), is a retired official of the Malaysian government. This year (1998) he led eleven fellow cultivators to attend the Jeweled Repentance before Ten Thousand Buddhas. Having made the long journey, it was a test of their stamina to participate in the entire session, given the great variation in temperature between morning and evening at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. At the end of the Dharma session, Upasaka Lim was all smiles, and it was clear that he was filled with faith and Dharma bliss.

Special circumstances led Upasaka Lim to take refuge with the Venerable Master. In 1988, while leading his disciples on a Dharma tour in Asia, the Master was preparing to go from Taiwan to Malaysia, but had not yet obtained a visa. At that critical moment, a lawyer friend asked Upasaka Lim to help, since he had worked in the immigration agency before and was then the chief secretary of the vice-president of the Youth Culture and Physical Education Department. Although Upasaka Lim was not yet the Master’s disciple, he sent documents and met with immigration officials, with the result that the visa was granted within a week’s time.

“Really, I should have taken refuge with the Venerable Master then. It’s too bad I didn’t recognize what kind of man was in front of me, and only took refuge four years later (1992).” He had already met and talked with the Master, yet he missed his opportunity. Upasaka Lim recounted this incident with a sigh.

However, he believes that he did plant good roots then; the time just wasn’t ripe yet. “To be frank, I was not that interested in Buddhism then. I was just doing a favor for a friend, nothing more.”

It just so happened that when Dharma Master Heng Sure led a delegation to Malaysia in 1992, the group also had problems going through customs. By then Upasaka Lim was working in the Printing Bureau. The organizing committee for the delegation, a new group whose members did not know Upasaka Lim, suddenly showed up at his door and asked for his help again; and the delegation obtained visas without problem.

Upasaka Lim could not figure it out: Why was it that both times when the Master or his disciples came to Malaysia and had difficulty at the customs, he was called upon? He did not even know the organizers of the visit, and he himself had already changed jobs. He concluded that perhaps there were past affinities which he could not escape, so he had better return to the ranks, take refuge with the Triple Jewel, and become the Master’s disciple.

“If you want to be good, karmic obstacles will seek you out. If you want to become a Buddha, you must first endure the demons.” A few days after he took refuge, the demons showed up. One night when he went out to get gas, an old woman stepped into the road in front of him and asked for a ride. Upasaka Lim said he was only going a short distance to get gas. The woman refused to get out of the way, however, so finally he let her get into the car.

As soon as she entered the car, Upasaka Lim smelled a foul odor and could hardly breathe. She also started to make a lot of vulgar gestures and said suggestively, “Don‘t worry, I don’t have a husband.” Her words gave Upasaka Lim the goosebumps, and he was sure that she was a demon. He started to shiver in fear. He had only recently taken refuge, and had not even learned to recite any mantra to help him out.

Fortunately he had a flash of inspiration and started to recite “Namo Amitabha Buddha” without thinking. As soon as he recited, the foul smell disappeared and the woman stopped making vulgar gestures. But when he stopped reciting, she began moving her hands and feet again, and so he immediately resumed the recitation. After battling like this for five minutes, she finally got out of the car, saying to him, “You are a good person, and your life will be good.” She then got out and he never saw her again.

From that evening on, Upasaka Lim often mumbled in his sleep. His wife, who had taken refuge with the Venerable Master in 1988, begged the Master to save him. When the disciple was in trouble, how could the teacher stand by and watch? The Master asked Upasaka Lim to come to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. The demon came with him, and was outside his window for thirteen nights in a row; it seemed as if he was trying to break the door down with a hammer.Upasaka Lim was so fraught with anxiety that he only slept one hour each night--from 2:30 to 3:30 a.m., before getting up for morning recitation.

On the 14th day, the Venerable Master came to the Buddha Hall and tapped Upasaka Lim on the head three times, saying to him, “You’re fine now, you can go home.” From that time on, there were no more problems. Strange, isn’t it?

All these trials and tribulations inspired Upasaka Lim’s interest in the Buddhadharma and faith in the Venerable Master. He knew that he had found a great and wise teacher. He became increasingly vigorous in cultivation, studied and practiced in accord with the Master’s instructional talks and the Buddhist Sutras, and received the five precepts in 1997.

The Venerable Master has said that ghosts, demons, and monstrous beings are particularly numerous in Southeast Asia. As a government official, Upasaka Lim was often sent to the countryside. Sometimes at midnight he would be driving on roads where few people ever went, and some strange things would happen. He has been caught in sudden downpours that only hit the front of his car; no rain fell on either side, but he could not see through the front windshield. In such situations, he would switch on the tape of the Shurangama Mantra, and after a few minutes the rain would stop and he would be able to see the road clearly again.

One time when he was staying in a rural inn, he forgot to wear the miniature copy of the Shurangama Mantra. In the middle of the night, a ghost came to bully him, pressing itself on Upasaka Lim’s body and immobilizing him. It was as if his hands and feet were tied up, and he could not even open his mouth to shout for help. He felt extremely uncomfortable, as if his guts were about to burst. This is the kumbhanda ghost (winter melon ghost) described in the Shurangama Sutra. It has no hands or feet, and it’s body is shaped like a barrel or winter melon.

Upasaka Lim struggled for a long time before the ghost finally let him go. He immediately got out of bed, took the Shurangama Mantra booklet, and put it in his pajama pocket. Then he feigned sleep and waited eagerly to see what would happen when the ghost returned. Before he fell asleep, the ghost did return to attack him. It pressed the Upasaka’s body lightly, also pressing the mantra, and was at once thrown up into the air as if it had hit a land mine. Upasaka Lim was wide awake, for he had been waiting to watch the Dharma-contest.

From then on, Upasaka Lim always slept with the Shurangama Mantra whenever he went out. For six years, he has slept peacefully without any disturbance.

Upasaka Lim has also used the Great Compassion Mantra and water over which the Mantra has been recited to save his dying pet dog. Two years ago, he mistakenly used kerosene to bathe the little dog, hoping to get rid of its lice. After the dog had been soaked in kerosene for a little while, it could no longer stand up. The dog shut its eyes and was barely breathing.

The vet examined the dog and said that the kerosene had penetrated the skin through some wounds and had already entered the bloodstream, poisoning the blood. He said the dog would die within three hours and there was nothing he could do.

Upasaka Lim had no choice but to bring the dog home. His family prayed to Guanyin Bodhisattva to help the dog. By then foam was coming out of its mouth, and it could not move, eat, or drink. His family recited the Great Compassion Mantra 108 times over water, and then placed the water drop by drop into the dog’s closed mouth. They also made a vow on behalf of the dog, saying that if it lived, it would be vegetarian for the rest of its life.

On the third day, a miracle happened. A breeze blew over the unconscious dog, and it suddenly started vomiting. Then it got up on its feet. A week later it was fully recovered. The week after that, it completely shed all of its fur and turned into an ugly, bald little dog. A few weeks after that, it grew new fur. The dog began to eat vegetarian food and often sat at the door listening to the family recite Sutras and do the morning and evening recitations, as if it also wished to be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The great mantra of great compassion
 penetrates heaven and earth.
One hundred recitations for one thousand days
 causes ten kings to rejoice.
Its great compassion and kindness
 cure all disease;
And so an announcement is projected high
 upon the offense screen.

This verse composed by the Venerable Master describes the miraculous functioning of the Great Compassion Mantra. If one recites it 108 times every day, the ten King Yamas will utter joyful praise. Curing illness, prolonging life, and reviving the dead are some of its small functions. Liberating one from birth and death and bringing one to Buddhahood are the great functions of the Great Compassion Mantra.

All good and wise advisors: Please do not consider Upasaka Lim’s experiences to be simply bizarre ghost stories. We must have the Dharma-selecting vision to be able to distinguish true from false principle. “If it is the Way, then advance. It if is not the Way, then retreat.” I urge everyone to heed these words.

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