今天讲两件杀生的公案。

Today I will tell two stories about killing.

一、现代的人面疮

I. A Contemporary Account of a Human-Faced Sore

约在一九四五年前后，在中国苏州承天寺，有位住持和尚，他虽然是个佛教徒，可是信外教，在庙中供狐仙。所以狐狸在他庙中出入自由，不受干涉，牠也不怕人。人、狐和平相处，相安无事。

当时，那庙中首座大明和尚正在闭关，阅读《大藏经》。狐狸也来关房和首座同修。首座阅经，牠就睡在首座拜佛的拜垫上，等首座拜佛时，便对牠说：“我要拜佛啦！你出去吧！”这时狐狸便乖乖地走出关房。等首座拜完之后，牠再回来，仍然睡在拜垫上。天天如此，有很长的一段时间，彼此成为道友。

Sometime around 1945, there was an abbot in Chengtian Monastery of Suzhou, China. Though he was a Buddhist, he believed in externalist teachings and made offerings to a fox spirit in his temple. As a result, the fox spirit came and went about the temple freely without interference, and it was not afraid of people at all. The fox lived together with the people there peacefully. At that time a senior monk, the Venerable Daming (“Great Brightness”), was in seclusion reading the Buddhist Canon. The fox would go to the Venerable Daming’s secluded cell and cultivate with him. While the senior monk read the Sutras, the fox would sleep on the bowing cushion that the monk used for bowing to the Buddhas. When the senior monk wanted to bow, he would say to the fox, “I’m going to bow now! Please go away!” The fox would then obediently trot out of the room. After the senior monk finished bowing, it would come back and continue napping on the bowing cushion. That went on every day, and in the course of time the two became friends in the Way.

有一天首座和尚有点火气，要拜佛时，便对牠说：“你如果再不离开，我就打死你！”狐狸睁眼看一看，也不理他，又把眼睛闭上，照睡不误。牠大概想：反正出家人，慈悲为怀，方便为门，所以牠就是赖着不走。

One day, the senior monk was in a bit of a temper. When he wanted to bow to the Buddhas, he said to the fox, “If you don’t leave, I’m going to beat you to death!” The fox opened its eyes, glanced at the monk and then, ignoring him, closed its eyes again and went back to sleep. It was probably thinking, “Well, monks all have compassionate hearts and use expedient methods.” So the fox stayed where it was and didn’t leave.

这时，首座生气地说：“岂有此理！简直是喧宾夺主，我要打死你！”乃举起木棒威胁牠，吓牠走开。狐狸仍是不理不睬的，首座一气之下用棒击之，不料失手，把狐狸的头给击破，脑浆流出，血染拜垫，真把牠打死了。首座犯了杀戒，心中非常懊悔，不知如何是好？这种罪业，如何能消呢？左思右想，想不出个方法来。忽然灵机一动，记得有人说过，打死狐狸，把牠的肉给旁人吃了，杀业就消。于是将狐狸的皮剥下来，把肉送给做工的工人吃。他认为这样做就没事了。

Then the senior monk angrily said, “How can this be? You really think you’re the boss here, huh? Well, I’m going to beat the living daylights out of you!” He raised a club menacingly, trying to scare the fox away. But the fox didn’t pay the slightest attention to him. The senior monk, in a moment of anger, brought the club down on the fox. Without meaning to, he accidentally hit too hard and cracked the fox’s skull. Its brains spilled out and stained the bowing cushion with blood. He had really killed the creature. Having violated the precept against killing, the senior monk was filled with regret and didn’t know what to do. How could he eradicate this kind of offense karma? He racked his brains but could not come up with a solution. All of a sudden he had a flash of insight: he remembered having heard someone say that if you gave the flesh of a fox you had killed to other people to eat, your offense karma would be dispelled. So the senior monk skinned the fox and gave the meat to some laborers. He thought that would take care of the problem.

不料七天之后，狐狸的灵魂来对首座说：“我到阎罗王处，控告你，要你偿还我的命。”首座在定中听到之后，惊恐万分，于是念起〈大悲咒〉。因为咒力加持，狐狸不能接近首座的身体，所以无法伤害他，可是牠也不走，时时来扰乱他。

What a surprise it was when, seven days later, the fox’s soul went to the senior monk and said, “I went to King Yama to file charges against you. I want you to pay me back with your life.” Hearing this within his state of samadhi, the senior monk was terrified and started to recite the Great Compassion Mantra. Due to the Mantra’s aid, the fox couldn’t get near the monk and therefore couldn’t hurt him. However, it would not leave him alone. It constantly came to trouble him.

七天之后，狐狸觉得自己不能报仇，便去搬兵。你们猜一猜，牠搬些什么兵来？是日本侵略中国时，战死的阴兵。狐狸招了很多军队来，向首座身体用小钢炮来轰，轰了很多天，也击不中首座的身体，为什么？因为首座聚精会神地诵〈大悲咒〉，不起于座，炮弹皆落在首座的左右，所以击不中。

After seven days, the fox decided it couldn’t gain revenge on its own so it rallied up a crew of helpers. Guess who the helpers were. They were the souls of Japanese soldiers who had been killed during the Japanese invasion of China. The fox gathered a large army and fired cannonballs at the senior monk. They fired for many days without being able to hit the monk’s body. Why was this? The monk was concentratedly reciting the Great Mantra without leaving his seat. Thus the cannonballs fell on all sides of the monk’s body but did not hit him directly.

首座多日不饮不食，实在是筋疲力竭，一时精神恍惚，右膝不幸被炮击中，日本阴兵随即撤退。首座解除炮轰的威胁，心中很畅快，认为无事了。刚打这个妄想时，感觉被炮轰之处发痛，低头一看，膝部竟生起一个人面疮来，有口有齿，又肿又痛，无药可治。

After many days without food and drink, the senior monk was completely exhausted. For a moment he felt dizzy, and a cannonball hit his right knee. The Japanese soldiers immediately retreated. Seeing the threat of the cannons vanish, the senior monk was relieved. He thought the trouble was all over. Just as that thought crossed his mind, he felt pain at the spot hit by the cannonball. He looked down and discovered that on his right knee was a human-faced sore which had a mouth and teeth. The sore was swollen and painful, and no medicine could heal it.

有一天，旁人对他说：“用肥肉贴在人面疮，可以止痛。”一试果然有效。但等肥肉被人面疮吃光后，就又开始痛起来了。如此折磨，苦不堪言，经过多日的痛苦，首座觉悟唯有消灭业障，才能免除痛苦。于是认真修行，不再计较痛苦。他忍着百般的痛楚，一心拜佛，忏悔杀业，经过三年之后，才痊愈。

One day someone told the senior monk, “Plastering the sore with some tender meat can stop the pain.” He tried it, and it worked. However, after the tender meat was eaten up by the sore, the pain started again. He was tortured in this way and endured indescribable suffering. After spending several days in pain, the senior monk realized that he could be freed from his pain only if he eradicated his karmic obstacle. And so he started to cultivate earnestly and paid no attention to the pain. He endured the excruciating pain and bowed to the Buddhas single-mindedly, repenting of his killing karma. After three years, he finally got well.

这位首座和尚，是位到处参访善知识的老修行。曾经朝四大名山（五台山、峨嵋山、九华山、普陀山），以及天下八大小山，很有道行的。虽然失手打死狐狸，也得忏悔拜佛，才能消除业障。

由此可知，杀生的业报最为厉害，各位注意，切勿杀生，要多做放生的功德。若任意杀生，就会得奇怪的病，无法医治，或成为残废，终身遗憾！

This senior monk was an old-time cultivator who had visited various places looking for wise teachers and learning from them. He had visited the four great holy mountains (Wutai Mountain, Emei Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, and Putuo Mountain) and the eight lesser mountains in China. He had some real skill in cultivation. Although the killing of the fox had been an accident, he still had to repent and bow to the Buddhas to eradicate his karmic obstacle. From this story we should know that killing brings on extremely severe karmic retribution. All of you, pay attention to this! Refrain from killing, and create merit instead by liberating more living beings. If you casually kill living beings, you’ll be afflicted with some strange and incurable disease or else become crippled, and then regret it for the rest of your life.

二、过去的人面疮

II. An Ancient Account of a Human-Faced Sore

在唐懿宗时，有位国师，名叫悟达禅师。他在长安居安寺讲经时，懿宗皇帝亲临法席，特赐沉水檀香的宝座。这时，他生起骄傲心，认为自己是高僧，不可一世。岂料妄想一起，护法神便离他而去。而跟着他十世的债主，可找着复仇的机会了，在他膝盖打一拳。从此膝盖上生起一个人面疮来，有眉、有眼、有口、有齿，每天要吃肉喝酒。如果不给酒肉，就痛起来，苦不堪言；群医都束手无策。

In the Tang Dynasty, during the reign of Emperor Yizong, there was a National Master named Dhyana Master Wuda (“Penetrating Enlightenment”). When the Dhyana Master lectured on the Sutras in Ju’an Monastery in the city of Chang’an, Emperor Yizong personally attended his Dharma lecture and presented him with the gift of a precious seat made of sandalwood. That made the Dhyana Master arrogantly consider himself an eminent monk without compare. Just as that thought crossed his mind, the Dharma-protecting spirits abandoned him. And the creditor who had followed him for the past ten lives finally got his chance for revenge, and gave him a blow on his knee. On the monk’s knee, a human-faced sore appeared which had eyebrows, eyes, a mouth, and teeth. It demanded to be fed with wine and meat. If it wasn’t given wine and meat, the monk would suffer unspeakable pain. The doctors could do nothing to treat him.

悟达国师，在未显达时，有一年在长安某寺遇到生恶疮的僧人，疮口流脓流血的，十分肮脏，且臭味熏人，令人作呕，人人皆不敢接近。当时，悟达禅师住在他的隔寮，天天照顾他，不嫌脏臭地服侍他，送饭洗疮。不知不觉，夏去秋来，气候转凉，病僧的恶疮渐渐好了。在临别的时候，病僧对悟达禅师说：“谢谢你的照顾，今后你如有难解之事，可以到四川蒙山找我，山上有两棵大松树为标志，我叫迦诺迦。”

Before National Master Wuda had become famous, he had met a monk who was suffering from a terrible case of boils in a monastery in Chang’an. Pus and blood flowed from the filthy boils, which stank enough to make people vomit. No one dared to approach the monk. Dhyana Master Wuda, who was living in the room next door, tended the monk every day. Disregarding the filth and stench, he took care of the monk, brought him meals, and washed his boils clean. The days passed, and soon summer turned into autumn. With the cooling of the weather, the sick monk gradually got well. Before they parted, the monk told Dhyana Master Wuda, “Thank you for taking care of me. If, in the future, you run into any trouble, come look for me at Meng Mountain in Sichuan Province. Just look for the two huge pine trees on the mountain. My name is Kanakavatsa.”

悟达禅师想起往事，便往蒙山寻找那位生恶疮的僧人。远望在山腰之处，有二松，高耸云里。来到松树前，发现有一金碧辉煌的庙宇，而要寻找的那位僧人，已含笑立在寺门，引之入寺。悟达禅师顶礼毕，述说其苦。僧人告之翌日到岩下泉水洗濯，即能痊愈。

Dhyana Master Wuda remembered this incident and went to Meng Mountain to look for the monk who had suffered from boils. From afar he saw that halfway up the mountain there were two pine trees whose tops were hidden in the clouds. He went to the pine trees and found a golden temple. The monk he was looking for was standing in front of the temple, smiling. The monk led him into the temple. After Dhyana Master Wuda bowed to the monk, he started to recount his troubles. The monk told him that if he went on the following day and washed in the spring at the foot of the cliff, he would get well.

第二天早晨，小童子领他到岩下泉水之处。正要洗濯的时刻，人面疮说话了：“不要洗！我们之间有一段仇怨未了。你是高僧，博览群书，一定读过西汉史，可知袁盎腰斩晁错的故事吗？袁盎就是你，晁错就是我。你十世为僧，认真修行，我找不着报仇的机会。现在你生傲慢的心，使我有机可乘，今蒙迦诺迦尊者的慈悲，调解我们的仇怨，用三昧法水洗我，自此以后，不与你为怨了。”

The next morning, a lad led the Dhyana Master to the spring at the foot of the cliff. Just as the Master was about to rinse the human-faced sore, it spoke up and said, “Don’t rinse me yet! There is a grievous matter between us that has not been settled. You are an eminent monk who is well-read. You must have read the History of the Western Han Dynasty. Do you know the story of how Yuan Ang executed Chao Cuo by cutting him in half at the waist? You were Yuan Ang, and I was Chao Cuo. For ten lives since then, you have cultivated diligently as a monk, so I had no opportunity to gain revenge. When you had that one arrogant thought, you gave me the chance I’d been waiting for. Now, since the Venerable Kanakavatsa ately wants to settle our grievance and use the Dharma water of samadhi to wash me, I will not harbor a grudge against you anymore.”

悟达国师听闻之后，吓得魂飞九霄云外，急忙掬水洗疮，痛入骨髓，昏迷不省。隔了很久时间才苏醒过来，看膝盖上的疮已不见了。乃知那位僧人是位圣僧，想回寺瞻仰礼拜，回首一看，那里有什么庙宇？于是在该处结庐，朝夕礼诵，所作的忏法，即今之慈悲三昧水忏。

These words scared Dhyana Master Wuda out of his wits. He hastily scooped up some water and rinsed the sore. An intense, bone-searing pain struck him, and he passed out. After a long time, he regained consciousness and saw that the sore was gone from his knee. He knew then that that monk was a sage, and he wanted to return to the temple to bow to him. But when he turned around, there was no temple to be seen. Dhyana Master Wuda built a small hut at that spot and recited and bowed every day. He composed a repentance ceremony which is the three-volume ate Samadhi Water Repentance that we know today.

前边两个公案，大同小异，令人警惕因果报应是丝毫不爽的。前者是现世之报应，后者是十世的报应。总而言之，业缘成熟，时辰到了，终要受报的。今天所讲的公案，令人晓得杀生有害，不可当儿戏。现在科学越进步，杀人的武器就越厉害。所种的因果如何能消除呢？现在世界乌烟瘴气，大战有一触即发之势，怨鬼藉此报仇。可是冤冤相报，何时能了结？除非戒杀，否则将永无宁日。

These two accounts are quite similar. They both alert people to the fact that the retribution of cause and effect never fails. The first story is an account of retribution received in the same life, while the latter describes retribution that came to fruition after ten lives. In any case, whenever the karmic conditions ripen, we will have to undergo the retribution. The stories I told today tell us that killing is harmful and should not be treated as child’s play. Nowadays, the more advanced science gets, the more lethal weapons become. How can we eradicate the causes that have been planted? The whole world is in a mess. Any little incident could trigger a massive war. The souls of those who have been wronged are taking advantage of the opportunity to get even. When will the cycle of vengeance end? The only solution is to stop killing; otherwise, there will never be a day of peace.