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《菩提臺》

 

BODHI STAND

介紹優婆塞-黃國崇居士
Introducing Upasaka Ng Kok Chong

孫果維 文 Compiled by Wendy Sun
朱純冰 中譯 Chinese Translation by Grace Sim

優婆塞黃國崇居士小時候非常不快樂,1960年他出生于新加坡馬來村落裡,家裡有六個小孩。上有三個姐姐,兩個哥哥,他排行老么。因為迷信,家裡相信這孩子會帶來厄運,就把他送給親戚,但是親戚也相信他會帶來厄運,又將他送回親生父母。

他只讀了幾年書,就工作了,目前他以開計程車為生。這些年,他努力尋找為什麼會帶來厄運?他請問過很多師父,不明白自己投錯門,問錯人。幸好他是個誠實正直的人,還能分辨是非。

因為受的教育不高,他利用耳根聽聞佛法。他聽法師用潮州話開示,學會認中文字。不久後,他了解到真理是在楞嚴經裡。2000年,當他在尋找中文楞嚴經註解時,朋友的姐妹介紹他佛經流通中心。

一來到中心,他就訂了一套宣化上人開示的錄音帶120卷。全部聽完後,他決定參加中心星期六和星期日的共修活動。雖然收入減少,他仍誠心地參加週末活動如大悲懺和華嚴懺。唸誦普賢行願品,楞嚴咒,阿彌陀經,八十八佛大懺悔文。

平日生意並不如週末好,他也沒後悔。過去他曾試著背大悲咒,但沒成功。沒想到,加入佛經流通中心的活動後,很快就背會了。在那之後三個月,他也背會了楞嚴咒。

起初,他用自己的拼音法幫助學習,時而精進到半夜。2000年6月,他在吉隆坡的觀音般若聖寺受三皈五戒,法名親聖,並開始戒煙和吃素。曾有和尚告訴他將會很富有。自己也覺得奇怪,像他怎麼可能富有?最近他才明白富有是在學習佛法,而不是指物質生活。

目前他在學習法器,有時在星期六及星期日下午唸楞嚴咒或做晚課時,他也領眾共修。

淨土法門是他所選的修行法門。為了希望在這一世了生脫死,他非常精進。末法時期,能遇正法,他感覺非常幸運。


Upasaka Ng Kok Chong had a very unpleasant childhood. He was born in a little village in Singapore in 1960. Being the youngest in a family of six, he has three older sisters and two older brothers. Due to some superstitious belief that he would bring bad luck to his family, he was given away to a relative when he was a child. However, he was returned to his family when his relative also feared that he would bring bad luck to him too.

He only had a few years of education for he was sent out to work at an early age. Eventually, he became a taxi driver. All these years, he has been trying to discover the cause of his misfortunes. He sought advice from many teachers and unknowingly landed himself in heterodox sects. Fortunately, Upasaka Ng was an honest and upright person and was able to discern between right and wrong.

Because of his limited education, he resorted to using his listening skills to understand the Buddhadharma. He attended lectures delivered by Dharma Masters in the Chinese dialect Teochew and, in the process, learned how to read Chinese characters. Shortly afterwards, he realized that the ultimate truth was to be found in the Shurangama Sutra. In the year 2000, while searching for the Chinese commentary of the Shurangama Sutra, he was introduced to Buddhist Books Distribution Centre--Singapore (BBDC) by his friend’s sister.

Upon coming to BBDC he immediately placed an order for the 120 audio tapes of the Shurangama Sutra lectures delivered by the Venerable Master Hua. After he had listened to all the tapes, he decided to join BBDC and to take part in the activities every Saturday and Sunday. In spite of his loss of income, he faithfully attended the weekend activities--bowing the Great Compassion and Flower Adornment Repentances, reciting the Conduct and Vows of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva, chanting the Shurangama Mantra, and reciting the Amitabha Sutra and the Eighty-eight Buddha’s Repentance during evening recitation.

Although his business on weekdays was not that lucrative, he did not have any regrets at all. Upasaka Ng had tried to recite the Great Compassion Mantra for a long time without success. However, within a month of joining BBDC activities, he found to his surprise that he could memorize the whole Mantra. Following this, he tried memorizing the Shurangama Mantra and succeeded within the incredibly short period of three months.

At first, he devised his own phonetic symbols to aid his learning and sometimes stayed up till the early hours in the morning. On June 30, 2000, he went to Prajna Guanyin Sagely Monastery in Kuala Lumpur to receive the Three Refuges and Five Precepts and was given the Dharma name Chin Sheng. Afterwards he gave up smoking and became a vegetarian. A monk once told Upasaka Ng that he would become very rich one day. He had always wondered how a person like him could be rich. It was only recently that he realized he had struck it rich not in the material sense but in the Buddaharma.

At present he is learning how to play the Dharma instruments and occasionally he leads the Saturday afternoon Shurangama Mantra sessions or the evening recitations.

Upasaka Ng has chosen the Pure Land Dharma Door as his practice and he is cultivating diligently to be liberated from the cycle of birth and death in this lifetime. Encountering the orthodox Buddhadharma in this Dharma-ending Age is the most fortunate event that has happened to him.

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