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我這一次到西雅圖來，可以說是抱著病來的。為什麼我要抱病來呢？因為我覺得西雅圖這一班善男信女的機緣大約到了，所以我就是流血流汗也不要休息，在我養病的期間，也抱病地來到西雅圖；因為我走路沒有氣力，上下飛機要坐輪椅，這是我的願力，我的願力就是流血汗不休息。
你們各位要知道，我今天的到來是不容易的。本來我是不想來，可是我也到過了華府，帶了二十多個人參加總統的晚餐，如果我這次不到西雅圖來，這些人會說：「這個師父，華府都能去，為什麼不到我們這邊來？我們這些人都很願意見一見這一位愚癡的師父，為什麼不滿我們的願？」果修在電話上問我能不能來時，我一口就答應了，說：「好！我這一去，至少要去五個人，你買好了飛機票，我就可以來了。」但我雖來了，我還要很快地回三藩市去。禮拜天我在三藩市給大家講經，我這給眾生做牛做馬的命運是改不了的，所以我答應你禮拜天下午到來，禮拜一下午回去，這是一定的。你不要說：「師父啊！你多住幾天吧！我們這兒想你想得要死！」你就要死也不行的。我能到這來，你們各位就要想一想師父這種流血汗不休息的精神，就算旁的你不懂，這一點你大概也可以懂的。
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You could say that as I come to see you in Seattle now, I am bringing my illness along. Why is that? Why would I do such a thing? Because I feel that with the good men and good women here in Seattle, the affinities are just about right. My time has come to arrive here. So, I am coming here shedding blood and sweat but not stopping for a rest. During this time of convalescence, I come to see you bringing my illness with me. Actually, I don't yet have enough strength to walk. When I walk, I get very short of breath. That's why I rode the wheelchair at the airport. But my vow strength says that I will sweat blood and sweat and never stop to rest. Those are my vows.
It is not very easy to get to Seattle; in fact I did not want to come. But two months ago, I went to Washington D.C. to attend the President's dinner, accompanied by twenty people, and I knew that if I did not come to Seattle, the people here would say, "Oh Master, you're not fair; you went to Washington D.C., how come you can't come here to see us?" Well, since there are people here who want to see this dumb Master, how could I not grant your wish? So, when Gwo Syou called and asked, "Master, will you please come?" I said, "Okay," on the spot. "Five people will accompany me," I said. "If you get the tickets, I will come." So, that worked out and I came.
Even though I am here, I have to go back to San Francisco very soon. I delivered a lecture Sunday morning at the Translation Institute to a group of people. I guess I can't avoid being a horse and a cow for living beings; I can't get out of it. So, I agreed and said that I would arrive on Sunday afternoon but on Monday afternoon I have to return. And I must go back on Monday, so please don't beg me to stay a few more days, saying, "Oh Master, we wanted to see you so much, we almost died." Well, even if you have to die I will still have to go back. I want you to look at my situation, think about your teacher who is sacrificing his energy and shedding blood. If you don't understand anything else, you should know this.
The Jewelled Repentance of the Emperor of Lyang was written by Ch'an Master Jr Gung, so that Emperor Wu of the Lyang Dynasty could liberate his wife, Syi. But it was not written only for his queen-lady Syi. It was written for all living beings so that we could have a road to walk upon to renew ourselves and change our faults, so that we can repent and change from within, like the wife of Emperor Wu. We can feel as she did at that time when she was rescued. But we have to really repent; we can't fake repentance. We can't just read the text but fail to renew ourselves and turn over a new page. That attitude is not going to succeed. So, coming to repent because you like to sing pretty or sing loud is not the way. What we value is practice, not the music of the repentance. We want to get the true meaning of the ceremony and return to our true selves. We know that in the past we have created many offenses, but we have now met the supreme Dharma, this Dharma treasure, and we
should really follow it.
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現在你們拜的《梁皇寶懺》，是誌公和尚為超渡梁武帝的皇后而作的。這不單是為梁武帝的郗氏而作，也是給我們眾生開一條懺悔的道路。我們每一個人應該置身事內，把自己當成郗氏一樣來懺悔，要真心懺悔，不要假情假意的。懺悔念誦懺文，要具足一種悔過自新的思想、態度，不是說要唱得好聽，唱得聲音大，是要注重行，而不是注重唱念的。所以我們要把真實的意義、真實的義理，歸納到自己的本身上。我在無量劫以來造的罪業不知道多少，到今天為止，遇著這無上妙法，所以要信受奉行。不能做偽飾地在拜懺，要「真認自己錯，莫論他人非；他非即我非，同體名大悲。」要具足這個大悲心，旁人的過錯就像是我的一樣，不要一天到晚像洗衣機似的，盡給人家洗衣服，自己身上還是邋遢的；烏鴉落在豬身上，看到豬黑，沒看到自己黑，這是沒有用的，一定要設身處地認為自己造了這種種罪業。好像我為什麼說我在無量劫以來大概…，不是說真的，就拿著當譬喻來說，說什麼呢？是殺了很多人，可能是做過大將軍，或者做過軍師，這一個計策用出去，或佈了一局，就殺了很多人。所以…我沒有宿命通，我不知前因後果，但是我造的業，我一定要受果報的。你不要聽見我說這話，就想…喔！師父大概有宿命通，知道自己前世做什麼的；我前生做貓也不知道，做狗也不知道，做過小蚊蟲、小螞蟻，這我是相信的。我很渺小的，我再渺小也沒有了，所以我這麼講，因為我知道若不是殺業太重，不會受這種果報 的。我已經把這身心性命都布施給佛了，所以佛也不能不講道理，我所造的罪業也應該受應受的果報，所以我還是努力往前求進步，雖然流血流汗，我也不要休息。這個各位應該知道，我是講真話。
我今天在飛機上被自己的棍子打了，這是我的果報。我這棍子是預備真要發脾氣的時候打人的，我持著它只不過是一個配角，預備誰不聽話，我就給他這一棍子，把他打到地獄去。你不要以為師父一打是消業障，我送你快下地獄去，你就不要起貪心了，以為挨打是好事！不是那麼簡單的。我現在不打人了，不打人我罵人，所以今天在飛機上大概業報就來了，有個女人，不知道我打過她多少次，我這棍子放在行李箱裡頭，放得好好的，她到那兒給它一拔就掉下來，打在我頭上，當時打得很痛。她就說：「Are you OK？」我說： 「OK，OK！」所以告訴你們大家，我到西雅圖先要挨打，大概因我打人打多了，自己也要試一試。 |
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"We should truly recognize our own faults and not discuss the faults of others. Others' faults are simply my own. Being of a single substance with everyone is called great compassion."
We want to use a great compassionate mind as we look at our faults and realize that everybody is the same as ourselves. We should not wash other people's clothes. Our own clothes are already very dirty. We should not pay attention to the faults of others, like the black crow that lands on the back of the pig. The crow sees how black and dirty the pig is and criticizes him, but he is not aware that his own feathers are black. This is totally useless. We must realize that we've created these offenses for ourselves.
Now, as an analogy, why did I say to you that in the past I probably killed a lot of people? I may have been a general in the past, or a military strategist who caused the deaths of a lot of people. It's not that I have knowledge of my past lives. I do know that if I created evil, I will certainly get the retribution. And you don't want to say, "Oh, my teacher has the power to know past lives. He knows what he did in the past." That is not necessarily the case. I do not know whether I might have been a dog or a cat, but I do believe that I have been a little mosquito or a tiny ant. I am very small. I cannot be smaller. I know for sure that if I didn't create some heavy karma, I would not have gotten the retribution that I've gotten in this life. All the same I have given up my body, my mind and my life to the Buddha. I have donated them to the Triple Jewel. The Buddha cannot be unreasonable. So he says that I ought to get the retribution for the offenses that I've created. Even so, I still want to advance, although I shed blood and sweat I will not rest. You all should know about this. I am telling the truth.
Today on the plane I got struck with my own cane. This is retribution. I keep this cane to hit people when they don't listen to me. I beat them into the hells. You shouldn't think that when I beat you, I am eradicating your karmic offenses. Actually, I am sending you down to the hells. So don't be greedy, thinking it's so wonderful. It is not that simple. Now instead of striking people, I just scold them. On the plane today, probably my karmic retribution manifested again. I don't know how many times I must have beaten that woman in the past, but she dislodged my cane, which I had placed securely in the overhead baggage compartment, and it dropped down and bumped me on the head. It hurt a lot. She asked, "Are you okay?" I replied, "Okay." So I'm letting you all know that for me to come to Seattle, I had to get a beating. Probably I beat people too much in the past, so now it's my turn to get hit. Students' Grove Shari Epstein, a graduate of Developing Virtue Secondary School at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB), received her Bachelor's degree in Human Biology and her Master's degree in East Asian Studies, graduating with distinction from Stanford University on June 14, 1992. She will begin the Ph.D. program in East Asian Studies at Stanford this fall. During the summer of 1992, she served as coordinator and teacher for the girls' summer school program at CTTB. Shari modestly told the journal that it was her unusual Buddhist background which caused Stanford and other top universities to compete to admit her. |
