記得在八年前初初受三皈五戒時，曾聽宣公上人開示：「要讓正法住世，一定要持誦《楞嚴經》和〈楞嚴咒〉；《楞嚴經》在，即正法住世」。弟子依教奉行，每天持〈楞嚴咒〉三遍或四遍。不管任何法師或善知識規勸改修其他法門，弟子仍不動心地持誦下去。過了半年，魔考來了。

有一位從美國回來的大居士名「黃老師」，傳說功夫高超，顯密皆通，會治病，也會看相；針灸把脈無所不能，甚至可以用針灸幫人「開天眼」……等，因此跟他學的人不少。大家都一窩蜂地「往大師那鑽」，整天跟前跟後的，無非就是要「貪得」老師傳授「密法」，渴求佛法修持上的「密訣」。除了傳授佛法以外，黃老師常說某某某是過去生他的弟子、妻子、侍者……等，還說此世來娑婆度眾是要帶一些「宿世曾發願」的弟子「回去」。回去那裡呢？老師常說回去「原來的那個地方」，其實就是指天上「魔王的宮殿」。因為，他不提倡往生西方淨土，他是要回歸「天上的極樂世界」。

這時我剛入佛門半年，才在專科學校裡的「菩提社團」學佛。班上學佛的同學不少，算來也有十餘人，很多都是宣公上人的皈依弟子。結果大家都努力地「親近」善知識，連我班上已受菩薩戒的同學也去依止他。剛開始實在是看不出黃老師的「底細」；一臉清秀，圓滿白晳，且額頭印堂也很光亮，所說的佛法都是「佛說」，尤其重《金剛經》的「應無所住而生其心」之句。常勉勵學生多參此句經文，也指導大家拜懺，修《六祖壇經》、唸經咒等。當然我也很好奇地去親近此位善知識。但說也奇怪，我就是跟他「不相應」。他所教的修持法門，我也聽不下去，總是沒有「法喜」。仰慕他的學生有從高雄、屏東、臺中、臺北等來親近的，老師就暫住在離我臺南家二公里的地方。

說實在我內心很慚愧，也很著急，一味譴責自己為什麼業障這麼重，連「海外進口」的善知識都無緣親近學佛，真是感到萬分地慚愧。每看見班上同學及師兄弟去親近，得法喜回來，自己心裡頭真不是滋味；心情不好時，還半夜騎機車去無人的海邊「散心」，就這樣地過著一種「躲避」的日子。雖然如此，我每天依舊「傻傻」地念我的「楞嚴咒」。

黃老師的事情就這樣過了半個月。某天，那些常去親近的師兄弟和同學，很奇怪的對我有點「排斥」。我也說不上來他們怎麼突然與我有點「距離」起來。起先我還不在乎，漸漸地就很明顯。原來他們不知何時去跟老師學了「密法」回來，個個已都「神通廣大」。怎麼廣大呢？比如說他們人雖在臺南，但耳朵卻可以「聽」到身在高雄的老師；嘴巴也可以「透過隔空」，跟在高雄的老師對話。這真是厲害了！偶而打打坐，他會跟你說他去了「天上」轉了一圈回來，甚至已得「天眼通」可以看見一些東西。這時候我就用那《楞嚴經》五十陰魔上的道理跟他們說，但他們卻因此很排斥我，對《楞嚴經》五十陰魔的道理完全聽不下去，甚至非常討厭這樣的道理。我勸他們也唸唸〈楞嚴咒〉，如果那位黃老師是真的、正的，唸〈楞嚴咒〉應該是「無礙」的，甚至於「多多益善」，但他們已完全被「控制」住（極可能讓惡靈纏住了），無法聽進這一番話。那時我看他們氣色一個比一個差，印堂又黑又暗，直覺已經無法挽救了。

過了一個月，終於出現救星。高雄元亨寺的法師恰巧來臺南，也跟這些人碰了面。法師也察覺到這些人已不對勁，就持大悲咒水加持他們，也勸他們要離開惡知識。終於在三寶的加被下一個一個都被救醒了；被救醒的同學回憶說，當他有「靈力」的那段日子，不曉得怎搞的，一直地夢見宣公上人（這些親近黃老師的有不少都是上人的皈依弟子），才曉得上人老早就在默默地加被弟子早日脫離魔境。等大家清醒後個個都痛下決心懺悔，好好地念〈楞嚴咒〉卻魔。這件八年前「黃老師魔事記」是千真萬確的事。當時受害人將近二十人，如今也都脫離了魔王的掌控，結束了這段「魔考」。

這件事令人反省《楞嚴經》卷九上所說得：「口中好言，我於前世於某生中先度某人。當時是我妻妾兄弟，今來相度與汝相隨歸某世界，供養某佛。或言別有大光明天，佛於中住，一切如來所休居地。彼無知者，信是虛誑，遺失本心。此名癘鬼，年老成魔，惱亂是人。厭足心生，去彼人體。弟子與師俱陷王難。汝當先覺不入輪迴。迷惑不知墮無間獄。」這都是魔王來收眷屬的，修行的人一定要「不作聖心，名善境界；若作聖解，即落群邪」，時時把五十陰魔的經文記在心頭，這樣才不會走錯路。所謂「寧可千年不往生，不可一日入魔道」，平常要依《楞嚴經》作為修行上的照妖鏡，加上持誦〈楞嚴咒〉以不爭、不貪、不求、不自私、不自利、不妄語的心去修行，相信一定是「百魔不侵」的。《楞嚴經》卷七上說：「不持此咒而坐道場，令其身心遠諸魔事，無有是處。」「是咒常有八萬四千那由他恆河沙俱胝金剛藏王菩薩種族，一一皆有諸金剛眾而為眷屬，晝夜隨侍。」卷十云：「一心勸令持我佛頂陀羅尼咒；若未能誦，寫於禪堂或帶身上，一切諸魔所不能動。」

〈楞嚴咒〉在〈朝暮課誦本〉中，早已是天下叢林所必念的早課，期望大家每天不忘持誦楞嚴咒，尤其在末法「邪師說法如恆河沙」的今天，更要格外謹慎小心堅守「四種清淨明誨」，一定不會走入魔道的。

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Eight years ago when I first received the Three Refuges and the Five Precepts, I remember hearing the Venerable Master Hua say, "In order to enable the Proper Dharma to dwell in the world, one must regularly recite the Shurangama Sutra and the Shurangama Mantra. If the Shurangama Sutra is around, the Proper Dharma will remain in the world." I followed his instructions and recited the Shurangama Mantra three or four times a day. No matter what other Dharma Masters or teachers said to try to persuade me to change to another practice, I remained unmoved and continued my recitations. After half a year, the test of the demons came.

There was an eminent lay Buddhist known as Master Huang who had just returned from the United States. He was rumored to have advanced spiritual skill and mastery of both manifest and esoteric practices, as well as being adept in healing, physiognomy, acupuncture, diagnosis through feeling the pulse, and so on. It was even said that he could perform such feats as opening one's heavenly eye by means of acupuncture. As a result, he had quite a following. Everyone scrambled to be near the Great Master and followed him all day long, greedily hoping to receive a secret dharma transmission from him. They longed to learn the secrets of cultivation. In addition to transmitting the Buddhadharma, this teacher would often pronounce that a certain individual was his disciple, his wife, his attendant, or so on, from former lives. He also said that he had come to the Saha world in this life to save people, and he intended to bring some disciples who had made vows in past lives back with him. Back to where? "Back to the original place," he often said, which basically meant the demon king's palace in the heavens. He did not encourage people to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, but rather talked about returning to the heavenly paradise.

At that time I had only been a Buddhist for half a year, and my knowledge of Buddhism came from the Bodhi Society at my technical college. Over a dozen of my classmates were Buddhists, and many of them had taken refuge with the Venerable Master Hua. However, all of them vigorously made efforts to draw near this "good advisor," including classmates who had taken the Bodhisattva precepts. In the beginning, we could not tell what Master Huang was really about. He had a refined and full face, a clear complexion, and a shiny forehead. He always attributed what he said to the Buddha. He put special emphasis on this line from the Vajra Sutra, "One should produce the thought which dwells nowhere," and often urged his students to reflect upon it. He also instructed everyone to bow in repentance, cultivate the Sixth Patriarch Platform Sutra, recite some Sutras and mantras, and so on.

Of course I also went to see this "good advisor" out of curiosity. For some strange reason, he did not appeal to me. I did not want to learn his Dharma door, and I didn't feel any "Dharma joy." His admiring students came from Kaohsiung, Pingdong, Taichung, and Taipei to be near him, and he stayed temporarily at a place 2 km from my home in Tainan.

Actually, I was full of remorse and concern, and berated myself for having such heavy karmic obstacles that I had no affinities to draw near and study Buddhism with this foreign-educated good advisor. Every time I watched my classmates and Dharma friends go to see that teacher and return full of Dharma joy, there was a bitter feeling in my heart. When I felt depressed, I would sometimes ride my motorcycle to a deserted beach in the middle of the night. I spent the days trying to "escape" my discomfort. In spite of all this, I "foolishly" continued my daily practice of reciting the Shurangama Mantra.

The situation with Master Huang continued like this for about half a month. One day, those classmates who always went to see him strangely started to give me the cold shoulder. I had no idea why there was suddenly this distance between them and me. At first I didn't notice, but gradually it became very obvious. As it turned out, they had all learned a secret dharma from the teacher and all possessed "great spiritual power." What great power? For example, while they were in Tainan, their ears could "hear" their teacher, who was in Kaohsiung. Their mouths could also supersede the distance and hold conversations with him. It was amazing! They meditated occasionally, and they would tell you that they had gone to heaven and come back, or that they had attained the Heavenly Eye and could see things. At that point I took out the Shurangama Sutra and told them about the principles mentioned in the "Fifty Skandha-demon States" section. However, they coldly rejected me and would not listen to any of what the "Fifty Skandha-demon States" said. In fact, those principles annoyed them deeply. I exhorted them to recite the Shurangama Mantra. If their teacher had been genuine and upright, reciting the Shurangama Mantra would not have posed a problem, and he would have encouraged it. However, they were already completely under his control (perhaps even possessed by evil spirits) and refused to listen to my advice. Observing their pale complexions and dark foreheads, I intuitively sensed that they were beyond help.

After a month passed, help appeared. A Dharma Master from Yuan-heng Monastery in Kaohsiung happened to come to Tainan and run into my classmates. Noticing that something was not quite right with these people, he blessed them with Great Compassion Water and urged them to renounce their evil teacher. Finally, with the aid of the Triple Jewel, they awakened one by one. Each of them recalled that during the inter­val when they had "spiritual power," they kept dreaming of the Venerable Master Hua (many of them were the Venerable Master's refuge disciples). They realized that the Venerable Master had all along been aiding them invisibly so that they could escape the demonic state. After they all came to their senses, they earnestly resolved to repent and to recite the Shurangama Mantra to exorcise the demons. This account of the  demonic situation with Master Huang eight years ago is absolutely true and real. Nearly twenty people were mesmerized by him, and all of them have escaped his demonic influence. That was the end of that demon test.

That incident reminds us of what is clearly stated in Roll Nine of the Shurangama Sutra:

He is fond of saying, "In a past life, in a certain incarnation, I rescued a certain person who was then my wife (or my mistress, or my brother). Now I have come to rescue you again. We will stay together and go to another world to make offerings to a certain Buddha." Or he may say, "There is a Heaven of Great Brilliance where a Buddha now dwells. It is the resting place of all Tathagatas." Ignorant people believe his ravings and lose their original resolve. This is a pestilence ghost that in its old age has become a demon. It disturbs and confuses the good person. But when it tires of doing so, it will leave the other person's body. Then both the disciples and the teacher will get in trouble with the law. You should be aware of this in advance and not get caught up in the cycle of transmigration. If you are confused and do not understand, you will fall into the Relentless Hells." These are the demon king's attempts to recruit fol­lowers. Cultivators should remember: "If you do not think you have become a sage, then this will be a good state. But if you consider yourself a sage, then you will be vulnerable to the demons' influence." We should always keep the text of the Fifty Skandha-demon States in mind, and then we will not go astray. As it is said, "I would rather not go to rebirth (in the Western Pure Land) for a thousand days, than enter a demonic path for one day."

If you ordinarily use the Shurangama Sutra as a demon-spotting mirror in your practice, regularly recite the Shurangama Mantra, and cultivate in accord with the ideals of no fighting, no greed, no seeking, no selfishness, no pursuit of personal advantage, and no lying, I believe that you will be invulnerable to demons. Roll Seven of the Shurangama Sutra says, "For a person to sit in the Bodhimanda without reciting this mantra and not be disturbed physically or mentally by demonic events is an impossibility." "This mantra is accompanied day and night by 84,000 nayutas of Ganges'-sands of kotis of Vajra King Bodhisattvas, each of which has a retinue of Vajra multitudes." Roll Ten says, "You should single-mindedly exhort them to uphold the Dharani Mantra of the Buddha's Summit. If they cannot recite it from memory, they should have it written out and place it in the meditation hall or wear it on their person. Then none of the demons will be able to disturb them." The Shurangama Mantra has long been a part of the tradi­tional morning recitation recited in Buddhist monasteries. I hope everyone will remember to recite the Shurangama Mantra daily, especially in the present Dharma-ending Age, when "deviant teachers speaking Dharma are as numerous as the Ganges' sands." Moreover, we should be especially cautious and adhere to the "Four Clear Instructions on Purity." Then we will stay clear of the demonic paths.

The End