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我來自臺灣。記得30歲那年，我在被動的情況下去皈依；皈依後我想起在19歲那年，就曾有一位佛友送我一本經書，但我未曾翻閱過，於是從書架上我取下經書，是《金剛般若波羅蜜經》。第一頁是釋迦牟尼佛的法相，第二頁竟然是我皈依的上人的法相，只怪自己善根不夠，在11年後才開始認識上人並願意發心學佛。學佛後雖然一直興起出離心，有兩次上人來臺講法時，都因放不下工作而未去聆聽。我懊惱至極，內心便許下決定來聖城修行。
一次悲慘的事件，一輛載滿幼稚園小朋友的巴士發生意外，燒死了車上大多數的小朋友。他們的老師奮不顧身，數度衝入起火的車內搶救小孩，自己當然也賠上了性命。這位老師的慈悲心讓我深受感動與震撼，我足足哭了七天無法去上班。這七天內我一直做類似的夢，夢中我想盡辦法想去救那些小孩，可是由於自己的懦弱與意志力不夠堅強，始終沒有捨身去救人。這些夢境使我深切體認到自己的慈悲心不夠，也讓我下定決心到聖城修行。
蒙上人慈悲，在我來到聖城3個月後就讓出家了。我告訴父母能出家是因為有三德，一德來自祖先，二德來自父母，三德才是自己；就因為父親是家鄉裏人人稱讚的好人，我才有因緣出家。父親就在我不斷的書信溝通下，也會念佛了，並且深信極樂世界之存在。可見只要孝心眞誠，一定可以改變我們的父母。
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I came from Taiwan. I
remember being led by circumstances to take
refuge at age 30. After taking refuge, I thought of a
Sutra that a Buddhist friend had
given me when I was nineteen. I had never opened or read
the book. I took it off the shelf. It
was the Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra.
The first page had a picture of Shakyamuni Buddha,
and the second page had a picture of
the Venerable Master. Due to inadequate good
roots, it took me eleven years to understand who the
Venerable Master was and to want to
study Buddhism. Although I often thought of seeking
liberation after studying Buddhism, I was too
attached to my work and missed the
Venerable Master's lectures when he went to Taiwan. Later
on I regretted that deeply and vowed to come to the
City of Ten Thousand Buddhas to
cultivate.
Nearly a whole busload
of kindergarten students were burned to
death in a tragic accident. Their teacher rushed into
the burning bus numerous times to try
to save them, and lost her own life in the end. I
was so moved by her compassion that I cried for seven
days straight and could not go to
work.
During those seven
days, I dreamed repeatedly that I was trying to
rescue those children, but due to my weak will, I was
never able to sacrifice my own life
to save anyone. Realizing that my compassion was
wanting, I resolved to come to the City of Ten
Thousand Buddhas to cultivate.
With the Venerable
Master's compassion, I was able to leave the
home life three months after arriving at the City. I
told my parents that three types of
virtue allow one to leave home: (1) the virtue of one's
ancestors, (2) the virtue of one's parents, and (3)
one's own virtue. My father was
widely known as a benevolent man in our hometown, and it
was because of him that I was able to leave home.
Through regular correspondence with
me, my father has learned to recite the Buddha's
name and deeply believes in the Land of Ultimate
Bliss. This shows that it is
definitely possible to influence our parents provided we are
sincere enough in being filial.
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