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我叫張平玉，而我也欣沐於南傳佛教的教導。我曾任教於天主教學校附設的幼稚園長達二十五年之久，但是在兩年前我放棄了原有的工作，並在斯里蘭卡開始了我的慈善志業 ── 我們的新設道場在那裡為村裡的貧民服務。我畢業於新加坡學院，主修藝術，並且於兩千零四年取得了「南傳佛教研究」的碩士學位。
當我致力於我的碩士學位時，大約在年中的時候我做了一個夢。在夢裡我見到一個素未謀面的人，他一身白色裝束，白髮及肩，並留著白色的鬍子；他用中國話告訴我：「你應該要讀《楞嚴經》！」那時，我根本不知道什麼是「楞嚴經」，而且也從未聽過。夢醒之後我並不在意，因為在南傳佛教並沒有所謂的「楞嚴經」。我已讀過很多的經典但從未涉獵《楞嚴經》，所以我把這個夢置諸腦後。
大約六個月後，我又做了一個同樣的夢，這個素未謀面的人告訴我同樣的事情，他問我：「你讀《楞嚴經》了嗎？」我夢醒之後心想：「又是《楞嚴經》！老天！」所以這次我開始耽心，並且請教了我的妹妹，她對於大乘佛教的學習多過於我。她告訴我：「是的！在大乘佛教中有《楞嚴經》，但我不能告訴你太多，因為我也從未讀過《楞嚴經》，不過我曾聽說過它！」
所以我請教了另一個人──我的太極老師，問他是否知道關於《楞嚴經》的任何知識。他告訴我他曾聽過，並給了我一個短的咒。這個咒或許是楞嚴咒的一部份，並且它實在是太短了；但我還是很高興看到了這個咒，並開始每天誦持它。
很奇怪的，在六七個月後，我又再一次做了這個同樣的夢；這個素未謀面的人又再問了我一次：「你讀《楞嚴經》了嗎？」當我醒來之後，實在覺得不安，因為是同一個夢、又同一個人。我把這件事告訴我的一個朋友，她是甄親淨的姑母，而親淨是這次講修班的學員。有一天，我的這個朋友打電話告訴我：「在澳州有一個『楞嚴經講修班』，你絕對不能錯過！或許是一生唯一的機會！你告訴我你做的夢，所以你應該去參加這個課程！」
當親淨到機場來接我的時候，我告訴她關於我做的這個夢，她覺得這個白袍老人應該是虛雲老和尚。但我自己覺得通常佛教徒是穿黃袍，為什麼他是穿白袍呢？
我們到達金岸法界聖寺時，親淨帶我直往圖書館，我們一起瀏覽〈虛雲老和尚畫傳〉，我指著其中一張照片說：「他就是那個人！」但我指的那張畫像，他的臉頰比我夢中的消瘦。在我夢中，老和尚比較豐腴一點，而且臉色紅潤，看上去讓人覺得樂於親近。
我個人覺得非常幸運及喜樂能來到這裡。
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My name is Subha Teo Pin Nyuk and I am very familiar with the Theravada Teachings. I’ve been a kindergarten teacher in a Catholic school for 25 years and two years ago, I gave up my job to do charitable work in Sri Lanka where our temple there started a home for the poor in the village. I studied at Singapore College, receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Art and later a Master’s degree in Theravada Studies around 2004.
While working on my Master’s degree, I had a dream, perhaps towards the middle of the year. I saw a renounced person dressed in white, with long white hair reaching to his shoulders and a white beard. He told me in Mandarin Chinese: “You ought to read the
Shurangama Sutra.” At that time, I didn’t know what the
Shurangama Sutra was; I had never heard of it. After I woke up, I didn’t pay attention to the dream, because in the Theravada teachings there is no such thing as the
Shurangama Sutra. I’d read many Sutras but did not come across the
Shurangama Sutra. So I put my dream aside.
About six months after, I had the same dream. This renounced person told me the same thing. He asked: “Did you read the
Shurangama Sutra?” When I woke up, I thought, “Shurangama Sutra again? Oh no!” This time, I got worried and asked my younger sister, who had more exposure to Mahayana teachings than I did. She told me: “Yes, in the Mahayana Teachings, there is the
Shurangama Sutra, but I can’t tell you much about it, because I never studied it. I’ve heard of it, though.”
So I approached another person, my Tai Chi instructor, and asked him whether or not he knew anything about the
Shurangama Sutra. He told me he had heard of it and he gave me a short mantra. It is supposed to be part of the Shurangama Mantra and it’s very short. I was glad to see the mantra and recited it every day.
Strangely enough, six or seven months after, I had the same dream again. The renounced person asked me again: “Did you read the
Shurangama Sutra?” When I woke up I got really anxious because it was the same dream and same person again. I told a friend of mine, who happened to be the aunt of Elaine Ginn, a participant here. One day, she called and told me: “There is a Shurangama Retreat in Australia, and you must not miss this. This may be a once in a lifetime chance. You told me about your dream so you should go and join this retreat.”
When Elaine picked me up from the airport, I told her about my dreams. She thought that the white-robed man could be the Venerable Master Hsu Yun. And I thought to myself, normally, Buddhists wear yellow robes; how come he is wearing white?
When we reached Gold Coast Dharma Realm, Elaine took me to the library, and we flipped through the
Pictorial Biography of Venerable Master Hsu Yun. “He’s the one!!!” I pointed at one of the pictures. But in the picture I pointed out, his cheeks were more sunken in than in my dream. In my dream, he was slightly plumper and had a glow on his face, which made him very pleasant to look at.
I feel very fortunate and blessed to come here.
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