|
2002年8月20日，因為法界聖城發生六人集體中毒事件，使得這個平常的日子顯得不尋常了，當時這些病情輕重不等的病患，被救護車分別送往三家附近的醫院急診。
中毒發生的那天早上，剛好輪到我在辦公室值班，十一點，我把飯菜帶到辦公室用齋。當我吃到燙菜時，第一口吃下去覺得很苦，我不以為意，吃第二口還是好苦，心想自己應該學吃苦；等吃到第三、第四口時，才感覺不對勁兒，太苦了！這時我的嘴唇也開始麻了，心中立刻閃過一個念頭：「有問題！這菜有問題！」於是趕緊走到齋堂，告訴大家不要再吃了。
一踏進齋堂，恆禪師迎面而來，說這菜有問題；我連忙告訴大眾不要吃這菜了，同時向廚房申請了紅糖加開水，分給大家每人一杯，當作解毒之用。之後，我走回辦公室，走到一半，聽見大門口有人按門鈴，我就去開門；隨後我就完全失去知覺，所以也不記得自己是如何被送進醫院的。
以下的情形，是事後開檢討會時我才知道的。當時大家在寮房內找到我，被找到的時候，我是坐在浴室門口，兩眼直瞪；他們推我、喊我都沒有反應，幾個人把我抱上救護車。在車上，救護人員看我兩眼發白、口吐白沫，急忙地用氧氣筒救我。一到了醫院，送進急診室，六個大男生分別按住我的四肢身體，為我做灌腸、腸胃鏡檢查等急救措施；同時，醫生說我至少要留院觀察二至三天。
當天晚上八點半，法界聖城的居士陳老師來醫院看我，問我有沒有好一點？但是當時我的意識還是不清醒，我聽到她對我說的話，但是在我大腦裏呈現的，都只是一個個的字串，我實在沒有辦法理解它們所代表的意義。一直到隔天清晨，Cathi (即現已出家的近歡師) 在旁邊照顧我，我問她幾點了？她說！「快四點了！」「喔！那我要起來做早課。」於是急忙找袈裟。把袈裟搭好之後，我就在病床上做早課；早課做完五點鐘，按照當時法界聖城的時間表，應該是唸〈楞嚴咒〉的時間，所以接著念〈楞嚴咒〉。等我按例唸完三遍〈楞嚴咒〉後，我才完全清醒過來；知道自己在醫院裏，是因為中毒才被送進來的。
這時，我突然想到《楞嚴經》裏，講到持誦〈楞嚴咒〉利益的一段文：
「末世眾生，有能自誦，若教他誦，當知如是誦持眾生，火不能燒、水不能溺，大毒、小毒，所不能害。如是乃至龍天鬼神、精祇魔魅，所有惡咒，皆不能著。心得正受，一切咒詛、厭蠱、毒藥、金毒、銀毒，草、木、蟲、蛇萬物毒氣，入此人口，成甘露味。」知道〈楞嚴咒〉有解毒的力量，再聯想起昨晚Cathi一直要我多喝水、多上廁所，於是我盤起腿來，繼續持誦〈楞嚴咒〉。從早上五點開始，一直到七點半，兩個半鐘頭，我一邊持誦，一邊喝水，總共喝了好幾個大杯的水；果然開始想上廁所，來回跑了好幾趟，大便都是呈黑色的，小便呈紅色的。
到了八點鐘，我可以感覺自己身體已經好了八、九成，再加上想到醫藥費很貴，所以我想向醫生申請出院。於是當醫生走進病房時，我面帶著微笑，一副精神奕奕的樣子；醫生看了之後，就同意讓我出院了。
開車回到法界聖城，已經是快上供的時間了。因為其他中毒的同參還留在醫院裏，所以大家忙成一團；我這時回來，還正巧幫上忙──當午供的維那哩！
經過這次的事件，有幾個重點令我感觸極深，在此提出，與各位分享：
1. 道場裏，大眾共修的力量，是很不可思議的。我們天天不間斷地做早、晚課，以及其他大殿的功課；日子久了，就會成為自己的生理時鐘──什麼時候，自然就去做什麼事；縱使人在昏迷之中，也會下意識地去做。自然地，在生命緊急關頭，默默中會救了自己一命。
2. 深切地體會〈楞嚴咒〉的功德妙用。佛陀確實是一位「實語者，如語者」，不僅只是《楞嚴經》的道理如此，佛教的每一種法，都不會對眾生打妄語；只要肯如法如律地依教修持，自然能逢凶化吉、遇難呈祥、菩提增長。
 3. 這次中毒的三人之中，有人見到了無常鬼；所以這次的經驗，真可說是死裏逃生，也令我們深深地感受到生命的無常。這個娑婆世界，實在不是個可以留戀的地方！想想：縱使在道場裏，這個大家認為最安全的地方，吃的是自己耕種最可靠的蔬菜 (註：此次中毒的植物名字叫「曼陀羅」，是一種毒性非常強的野菜，外型跟平常種的菜很相似，所以會不小心被摘採回來食用)，也會發生這麼嚴重的生命危險。所以大家還是趕緊老老實實的積集往生資糧，求生極樂淨土，才是最究竟之道。
|
|
August 20, 2002 was an ordinary day that became unusual because six people at the City of the Dharma Realm (CDR) were poisoned simultaneously. Ambulances took the victims of varying degrees of poison to the emergency rooms of three hospitals nearby.
It was my turn to work in the office the morning of the incident. I took my food to the office at 11 a.m. When I took that first bite of boiled vegetables, I thought it was extremely bitter but didn’t mind it. But it was still extremely bitter on the second bite. I thought I should learn to take what’s bitter. It wasn’t until my third or fourth bite that I felt something was wrong. It was way too bitter. My lips began to go numb and a thought flashed through my head: “There’s something wrong with these vegetables!” I went to the dining hall immediately and told everyone not to eat any more.
When I stepped into the dining hall, Heng Chan Shi was coming my way and told me that something was wrong with the vegetables. I rushed to tell everyone not to eat any more of this dish. At the same time I went into the kitchen to ask for water with dissolved brown sugar. Everyone was to be given a glass to detoxify their systems. Later, I walked back to the office and halfway there I heard someone ringing the door bell. I opened the door; and then I completely lost consciousness. I don’t remember how I got sent to the hospital.
Below is what I learned when we later had a meeting to review this event. People found me in my room. I was sitting by the restroom door and staring blankly. I didn’t react no matter how they pushed or yelled at me. Several people carried me onto the ambulance. During the ride, the medical staff saw that my pupils were turned up and that I was foaming at the mouth, so they rushed to save me with an oxygen mask. When I went into the emergency room, six large men pressed me down to do emergency enteroclysis and intestinal examinations. The doctor also said that I needed to stay in the hospital and under observation for two to three days.
At eight-thirty that night, Ms. Chen, a laywoman at CDR, came to the hospital to see me and asked me if I was doing better. I wasn’t quite conscious yet so I heard what she said to me, but I only saw strings of words in my head, the meaning of which I could not grasp. This lasted until the next morning when Cathi (the now left-home person, Jin Huan Shi) was by my side and taking care of me. I asked her what time it was and she said, “Almost four o’clock.” “Oh, then I have to get up to do morning ceremony.” I rushed to find my sash. When I got my sash on, I was doing the morning ceremony on the sickbed. When I finished at 5 a.m. according to the CDR schedule, it was time to recite the Shurangama Mantra. It wasn’t until I recited the Shurangama Mantra three times, as we typically do at CDR, that I woke up completely. I realized then that I was in the hospital because I had been poisoned.
All of a sudden I thought of a passage in the
Shurangama Sutra that talked about the benefits of reciting the Shurangama Mantra:
During the time when the Dharma is on its decline, living beings who recite or teach others to recite this mantra will not be burned by fire, drowned by flood, or harmed by major or minor poisons. Furthermore, no evil mantras of dragons, gods, ghosts and spirits, goblins, earth gods, demons and ogres can touch them. They will maintain proper feelings. All spells and curses, hateful black magic, poisonous medication, toxins from gold and silver, venomous vapors from grass, trees, insects, snakes and all things will taste like sweet dew in the mouths of these individuals.
I know the Shurangama Mantra has the power to neutralize poison. I also thought of how last night Cathi kept telling me to drink more water and go to the restroom. I sat up and crossed my legs and began to recite the Shurangama Mantra. From 5:00 a.m. until 7:30 a.m., I recited and drank water. I drank several large glasses of water. I started wanting to go to the restroom. I ran back and forth several times. My stool was black and my urine was red.
By eight, I felt that I’d recovered 80 to 90 percent. In addition, I thought about how expensive the medical fees were, so I wanted to ask the doctors if I may leave the hospital. When the doctor came in, I was smiling and looking quite energetic. The doctor saw this and agreed to release me from the hospital.
It was nearly meal offering time when we drove back to CDR. Since other fellow cultivators who had been poisoned were still in the hospital, everyone was busy, so I even came back in time to be the cantor for the meal offering!
After this incident, several things touched me deeply and I wish to share them:
1. The power of people cultivating together in a monastery is amazing. The daily morning and evening ceremonies and other ceremonies in the Buddha Hall after some time become a part of our biological clock. We will be ready to do them whenever it’s time. Even when we’re unconscious, we will do them subconsciously. Naturally, we will save ourselves during critical moments between life and death.
2. I had a profound realization of the merit and wonderful use of the Shurangama Mantra.
The Buddha was indeed someone “who spoke the truth and practiced what he preached.” Not only are the principles of the Shurangama Sutra this way, every Dharma the Buddha taught is true. As long as we cultivate according to the Dharma and the Vinaya, we will naturally turn calamities into blessings, turn disasters into auspicious events, and develop our Bodhi mind.
3. Out of three poisoned this time, there were some who saw the ghost of impermanence. We had escaped the jaws of death and felt the impermanence of life with this incident. The Saha World is not somewhere that we should yearn to stay. Think about it: we were in a monastery, a place we thought to be the safest. We were eating vegetables we planted ourselves, which we thought to be the most reliable (note: the poisonous wild vegetable we had eaten was jimsonweed. It looks very much like the vegetables that we typically plant so it was accidentally picked and eaten.). Despite all that, we faced such a serious threat to our lives. In short, we should hurry up to diligently collect the resources we need for heading to rebirth. Seeking to become reborn in the Land of the Ultimate Bliss should be our most ultimate goal.
|
