四月五日下午,萬佛聖城育良小學,培德中學女校師生,在萬佛聖城的往生堂,為該校義務教師張梅浦的母親舉行公祭。
張老夫人是虔誠的天主教徒,起初對女兒的改信佛教頗不以為然,而自己一直到病重時,還掙扎求生,弄得痛苦非常。張老師虔誠禮佛,並懇求圓寂未及一年的皈依師父上宣下化上人加被,令母親能早日解除苦痛。終於,張老夫人放棄了求生的掙扎吐出了一句:「人生實在是苦。」
而在四月二日傍晚,於睡夢中安祥離世。消息傳出來正值萬佛城打觀音七期間,不但張老師本人精勤打七,並為其母日日持誦地藏經;不少老師也將其課餘參加打七的功德,悉數回向給張老師夫人,更有另外為誦念地藏經的。此次公祭結束前的回向功德,除了回向給張老師的令堂外,還回向給該縣一位被綁架多日而新近被發現屍體的十三歲女孩(蕾娜.柏.雪莉。)。
幾位校中的美國女孩子感動地說:「我們學校真像一個大家庭。」
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On the afternoon of April 5, teachers and students of Instilling Goodness and Developing Virtue Girls' Schools at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas participated in memorial services for the mother of Mei-pu Chang, a volunteer teacher.
The late Mrs. Chang had been a devoted Catholic who had disagreed with her daughter's conversion to Buddhism. She suffered greatly as she struggled to continue living. Her daughter Mei-pu Chang bowed sincerely before the Buddhas and requested her Teacher, the Venerable Master Hua, who passed into stillness less than a year ago, to help relieve her mother's pain. Finally, Mrs. Chang gave up the will to live and said, "Life is full of suffering." She passed away peacefully in her sleep on the evening of April 2.
Mei-pu received the news of her mother's death in the middle of the Guanyin Recitation Session at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. She and many other volunteer teachers vigorously recited the Bodhisattva's name and dedicated the merit to Mrs. Chang and also to Rainbow Shirley, a girl who had been kidnapped in Mendocino County and whose dead body was recently found.
Some of the American students were very touched by the gesture, and commented that the school was just like a big family.
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