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當我還在母親胎內時，上人便教我母親持誦《金剛經》。很多人說我非常幸運，一出生就是佛教徒。我同意。我知道如果我不是佛教徒，可能早已步上歧途了。為什麼這麼說呢？且容我道來。
有句話說：「人身難得、佛法難聞、善知識難遇。」我想這話是千眞萬確的，並且我也感到非常幸運，能夠同時擁有這三者。如果我沒能聽聞佛法，我可能是個很暴力的人，因為我就不會知道什麼是壞的，什麼是好的。比方說：殺生，我知道現在很多小孩子殺害不少昆蟲和其他小生物，因為他們就是這樣被教導的。有人告訴我：「上帝創造生物，正是讓我們殺的。」我聽了大感驚駭，你可以相信，我是非常幸運的，因為我從未聽過或相信這樣的事。
我很慶幸聽聞了佛法，除了前面所說的之外，還有許許多多其他的原因，使我樂於親近佛教。其中之一就是，從來沒有人會告訴我：「如果你不是佛教徒，你就會下地獄。」或是其他諸如此類愚蠢無聊的話。我信仰佛教，沒錯，不過我也相信，每個人都有權利信他們願意相信的。如果他們信上帝，好！但是，我願意告訴大家：「佛法眞是妙極了！」因為我就是這麼想的。
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When my mother was pregnant with me, the Venerable Master instructed her to recite the Diamond (Vajra) Sutra. Many people say I am very lucky to have been born as a Buddhist. I agree. I know that if I had not been a Buddhist, then I would have started on the wrong path. Let me explain what I mean by that.
There is a saying that goes, " A human body is not easy to obtain, the Buddhadharma is hard to hear, and a good knowing advisor is difficult to find." I think it is true and I feel very, very lucky to have them all. If I had not heard the Buddhadharma, I would be a very violent person because I would not know what is bad and what is good, like killing. I know a lot of kids these days kill a lot of insects and other little creatures because they have been taught that way. People have told me, "God made creatures just for us to kill." I was horrified at that, and you can believe I "thanked my lucky stars" I had not learned or believed such things.
That's not only why I am very thankful that I have learned the Buddhadharma. There are many, many reasons why I am so glad to have "drawn near" to Buddhism. This is another one of them. I have never been taught that, "if you are not Buddhist, you will go to hell," or any silly nonsense like that. I believe in Buddhism, all right, but I also believe everyone should have the right to believe in anything they want. If they believe in God, good! But I would say to people, "the Buddhadharma is very wonderful!" Because that is what I think.
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