萬佛城金剛菩提海 Vajra Bodhi Sea

金剛菩提海:首頁主目錄本期目錄

Vajra Bodhi Sea: HomeMain IndexIssue Index

 

 

 

宣公上人偈讚集序(接封背)
Preface for the Anthology of Venerable Master Hsuan Hua's Verses(from back cover)


楊富森博士 文 by Richard F. Yang, Ph.D.
比丘尼恆音 英譯 English translation by Bhikshuni Heng Yin

(編按:為紀念宣公上人涅槃三周年,法界佛教總會將出版「宣公上人偈 讚集」,楊富森教授特為序以誌。)

一九九二年,是我生平最值得紀念的一年,因為就在那年,我和上宣下化上人結了善緣!從多次談話中,我雖然知道 上人才上過兩年半的鄉塾,可是深深佩服他的古書修養。無論是四書五經、古文古詩,上人不但讀過,而且都能背得滾瓜爛熟。俗語說得好:「熟讀唐詩三百首,不 會作詩也能吟。」上人不但能吟,而且能作;這是一般人--尤其是佛門弟子,所不能的。

懂古文古詩的人,不一定會寫詩;懂古文而會寫詩的人,在佛門弟子之中並不多見,宣公上人恐怕是出類拔萃的一位 詩人禪師。正是因為上人能詩,所以在他所註釋的佛經裏面,甚至他所闡述的《水鏡回天錄》之中,上人曾寫了很多偈頌,或在開經之始,或在文章之末,點出文中 要義之旨,使弟子們讀後能收「一目了然」之效;真可稱為「畫龍點睛」。

此外,上人還為歷來法界的佛菩薩、禪師作過偈,也為萬佛城三十年來所辦的禪七、佛七、釋迦牟尼佛、觀世音菩薩 開光等法會作過偈;他也為萬佛城妙覺山作過偈,也為自己的感受作過偈。上人用種種法門,因時因地,講經說法,觀機逗教,以啟發弟子們「淨其意志,回心向 善,發精進勇猛心,立志修成道果」。

偈頌是佛門教化眾生的法門之一。比如大家所最熟悉的佛門常用開經偈:「無上甚深微妙法,百千萬劫難遭遇,我今 見聞得受持,願解如來真實義。」和迴向偈:「願以此功德,莊嚴佛淨土,上報四重恩,下濟三途苦;若有見聞者,悉發菩提心,盡此一報身,同生極樂國。」不要 說為萬佛城的弟子們和各處佛寺的弟子們都已背誦如流,就連我這個尊重佛法卻不諳佛法的基督教徒,因為在萬佛城居住過一年,耳濡目染地也能背誦這兩首偈語; 因此偈語的重要性就不言而喻了。

我景仰宣公上人的崇高德行,也佩服他精深的古文造詣。為了慶賀上人的壽辰,我曾寫了一首七言絕句作為賀禮,我 用的是「藏頭詩」寫法,寫的是:

宣揚佛法渡重洋
化育英才利萬邦
上界菩薩發智慧
人間導師啟愚盲

上人看後,微笑一聲,稍加思索,當場作了兩首偈語還贈。第一首是:

博洽淹貫一通儒
聲應清朗展鴻圖
富國植林樵吾材
修身齊家壯志足

第二首是:

精神充沛豪氣壯
蠡縣癡翁幽默奇
山僧笨拙撰俚句
祝君百歲更無疑

我作那首絕句,曾思量很久,最後靈感到來,才寫成四句;而師父上人在宴會席上,立即口占七絕兩首,讀來鏗鏘有 聲,語重心長,令人讚佩!

我們都知道于斌樞機主教是天主教徒,不是佛門弟子,但是宣公上人和他友善,成為道友,實屬難能可貴。而我們也 能在上人為于斌主教寫的偈頌中,感受到上人對這位道友的追懷:

白山黑水育奇英
富貴榮華敝屣輕
天主耶穌明體用
人心佛性悟圓融
慎終追遠民德厚
鞠躬盡瘁古道風
大哉樞機于主教
儀型萬世眾仰尊

因此,我不但佩服上人的德行高超,而且欽佩他的詩才淳厚。他雖結交甚廣,但是只看重人的品格修養,並不介意他 的宗教信仰;于斌主教是天主教徒,我是基督教徒,宣公上人都和我們結交,不分彼此,因此他的道德操守更超人一等,一般人(我自己在內)是望塵莫及的。

如今,弟子們為了紀念師父的教誨,擬將上人所作的偈讚頌等集成專冊;我緬懷故友,特寫數行以為序。

八十叟蠡縣癡翁儆樵楊富森謹誌
一九九八年戊寅仲春


[Editor's note: To commemorate the Third Anniversary of the Venerable Master's Nirvana, Dharma Realm Buddhist Association is publishing an Anthology of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua's Verses, for which Professor Richard Yang has written this Preface.]

1992 was the most memorable year of my life, for that was the year I met the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. Through numerous conversations, I realized that although the Master had only studied for two and a half years in a village school, he was admirably well-versed in the ancient Chinese classics. Whether it was the Four Books, the Five Classics, or other ancient prose and poetry, the Master had not only studied them, but was able to recite them from memory just like that. An old proverb puts it well: “Having thoroughly studied the three hundred Tang poems, even if you can't write poetry you can at least recite it.” The Master could not only recite, but also compose. This is something most people cannot do.

People who understand classic prose and poetry may not necessarily know how to compose poems. Those who both understand the classics and can write poetry are few indeed, and the Master may very well be an outstanding poet and Chan Master. Since he had the ability to write poetry, he composed many verses in his commentaries on Sutras  as well as in his series entitled Reflections in Waters and Mirrors, sometimes at the beginning or at the end to highlight the essentials of the text. These verses allowed the reader to understand the text's meaning at a glance, bringing it to life.

The Master also composed verses for Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Chan Patriarchs, as well as for Chan and recitation sessions, ceremonies for inaugurating statues of Shakyamuni Buddha and Guanyin Bodhisattva, for Wonderful Enlightenment Mountain at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, and for the purpose of expressing his own feelings. In explaining the Sutras and teaching Dharma, the Master used a variety of approaches suited to the situation and people in question, inspiring disciples to “purify their thoughts, turn toward wholesomeness, and bring forth vigorous resolves to cultivate and attain the Way.”

Poetry is one method Buddhism uses to teach living beings. The most familiar Buddhist verses include the one for opening a Sutra: “The unsurpassed, wonderful Dharma / Is hard to encounter in a hundred thousand eons. / I now see and hear it, receive and maintain it, / And I vow to understand the Thus Come One‘s true and actual meaning.” Also, there is the verse for transference of merit: “May this merit and virtue / Adorn the Buddhas' Pure Lands, / Repaying the four kindnesses above, / And rescuing those in the three suffering realms below. / May those who see and hear of this / Bring forth the Bodhi mind and, / At the end of their lives, / Be born in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.” Not to mention the disciples at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas and other Buddhist temples, who know these verses by heart, even I, a Christian who honors the Buddhadharma without fully understanding it, am able to recite these verses by heart after hearing them regularly during my one-year stay at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Hence the importance of poetry goes without saying.

I esteem the Master for his lofty virtue as well as his profound understanding of the classics. For the Master's birthday, I once wrote a poem in which the starting words of all the lines formed the Master's name:

To propagate the Dharma, you came across the ocean.
You nurture superior talents and benefit all nations.
A Bodhisattva of the higher realm, you inspire our wisdom.
A teacher in the world, you guide the foolish and blind.

After the Master read it, he laughed, thought for a moment, and wrote two verses on the spot to give to me. The first one said,

Widely learned and erudite, he is such a penetrating scholar.
His clear, resonant voice opens up a bright future.
Enriching the country and planting the woods, he trains the talented.
He cultivates himself, regulates his family, and has great aspirations.

The second one said:

With full energy and a magnificent spirit,
The sentimental old man from Li County has a unique sense of humor.
The dull-witted monk from the mountain composed these rustic lines
To wish you a hundred years for sure.

I reflected for a long time before I finally had a flash of inspiration and wrote the four-line verse. The Master, in the midst of the celebration, immediately came up with two verses that both read well and carry deep meaning--admirable indeed!

We all know that Cardinal Paul Yu Bin was a Catholic, not a Buddhist, yet he was a close friend and spiritual companion of the Venerable Master. This is truly rare. In a verse that the Master wrote for the Cardinal, his deep feeling for his spiritual companion is evident:

White mountains and black waters nurtured a rare hero,
Who valued wealth and glory less than a pair of tattered shoes.
Through God and Jesus Christ, he understood substance and function.
Through human mind and Buddha nature, he awakened to perfect    interpenetration.
Teaching reverence for ancestors, he inspired the people to virtue.
Devoting himself till his death, he bolstered age-old ethics.
How great you were, Cardinal Yu Bin--
An awesome model for thousands of generations to behold with     reverence.

I admire not only the Master's noble virtue, but also his poetic talent. In his associations, he valued only a person's moral character and did not care what his religious faith was. Cardinal Yubin was a Catholic and I am a Protestant, yet the Venerable Master extended his friendship to us without discrimination. His integrity and virtue are thus a level above most of us (including myself), and we could never hope to catch up to him.

In order to commemorate the Venerable Master's teachings, his disciples have compiled an anthology of the Master's verses. I have written these few sentences as a preface in memory of my old friend.

Richard Fusen Yang, a.k.a Jinqiao, a foolish 80-year-old man from Li County
Second lunar month, 1998

▲Top

法界佛教總會Dharma Realm Buddhist Association │ © Vajra Bodhi Sea