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我從小就是個怕事的人，懦弱避世，得過且過。為了減少煩心，大白天也昏睡不醒。長久以來，認為這種生活是「清閒、命好」；直到讀過宣公上人的《開示錄》，才大夢初醒。師父的話是：「如果不好好做人，就會性化靈殘，化為無情的植物。人人可返本還原，只要早發菩提心，用功修行。否則一但成為植物，再想修行就很難了，到那時悔恨遲矣！」
自幼家境清苦的我，沒讀過幾年書；但是師父的《開示錄》，真是字字珠璣，令我看了猶如晨鐘暮鼓，一句一偈都扣緊人的心弦，尤其是能震醒徘徊地獄門邊長達四十年的我，叫我為這份萬幸殊榮感激涕零。乾旱二十多年的心田，好比受到點滴甘露的潤澤般，終於警覺起，必須立刻脫離二十多年來迷信的外道。我要徹底斷殺，摒棄外道吃蛋的說法，並且盡速帶著家人依止正信正念的教化。於是一家五口商量好，每天早晚禮佛、拜懺，還對著上人法相禱求：「快快皈依正法，回到上人的身邊。依教奉行––萬佛聖城六大宗旨；不爭、不貪、不求、不自私、不自利、不打妄語。」在這以前從未謀面，而當時我們也只是對著相片禮拜而已。
前後不到半年就如願以償。不但見到上人，得受三皈五戒，而且順利搬到萬佛聖成長住，我們同時體會，只要至誠懇切一定都能備受諸佛菩薩加持。如今先生與小兒、小女皆已發心出家，我與大兒在心智上亦猶如小草長成大樹般茁壯起來。我不再貪睡，不再逃避問題，我堅定信奉正法，順承師意：「一日不知非，即一日安於自是；一日無過可改，則一日無功可進。」我確信這是身心平衡的妙方，只要深信，不難體會個中妙趣。 |
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Ever since I was little, I have been timid and passive. In order to escape trouble and afflictions, I would sleep even during the day. I considered my lifestyle relaxed and fortunate, but reading the Master’s Dharma talks woke me up from my great dream. The Master said, “If you don’t try to be a good person, your spiritual nature will decrease until you eventually become an insentient plant. On the other hand, if you swiftly resolve your mind on Bodhi and work hard in cultivation, you can return to your original home. Once you become a plant, it will be difficult to cultivate. Then it will be too late for regret!”
I was born into a poor family and received little education. Every word of the Master’s talks is a gem to me. Every line strikes a chord in my mind, like the bells and drums that sound at dawn and dusk in the temple. After lingering at the threshold of the hells for forty years, I have finally woken up. I am filled with gratitude for the sweet dew that has moistened the parched ground of my mind. I finally realized that I had to leave the non-Buddhist religion I’d believed in for over twenty years. That religion taught that eating eggs is all right, but I wanted to stop killing altogether. I wanted my family of five to take refuge with orthodox Buddhism. They all agreed to worship the Buddha and to bow in repentance every morning and evening. We prayed to the Master’s picture, “May we soon take refuge with the proper Dharma, return to the Master’s side, and practice in accord with the Six Guiding Principles of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas: no fighting, no greed, no seeking, no selfishness, no self-benefiting, and no lying.” We bowed to the Master’s picture even though we had not met him.
In less than six months, our wish came true. We took the three refuges and five precepts from the Master, and we moved to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. From this, we concluded that sincerity brings aid from the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Now my husband, younger son, and daughter have resolved to leave the home-life, while my elder son and I have grown in wisdom the way a young shoot grows into a big tree. I no longer try to avoid trouble by sleeping. I believe firmly in the proper Dharma and accord with the Master’s teaching, “Each day that I fail to recognize my faults is a day of self-complacence. Each day that I have not changed my faults is a day without self-improvement.” It’s a wonderful way to balance the body and mind. With deep faith, one will see wonders!
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