本人今晚很榮幸能跟大家談話，能和這麼多人在一起打觀音七，使我很歡喜。記得一九七三年在舊金山打觀音七時，只有七、八個人參加，一九七四年也只有七、八個人，一九七五年有十個人，一九七九年大概只有十五個人。記得有一次我在萬佛城參加禪七，有幾支香，只有我一個人坐在大殿裡參禪，所以現在看見這麼多人在這兒，實在難以想像。
要談觀音菩薩，幾個鐘頭也談不完，我現在想講一個很不可思議的有關觀音菩薩的故事。一九七八年我跟隨著上人在馬來西亞各處弘法，那時我告訴上人我想去爬世界最高的山––喜馬拉雅山。師父想了一會兒，隔天他告訴我：「我不曉得這是不是個好主意，果勒。你知道你在做什麼嗎？」我回答：「我想我知道一點。」他說：「我不認為你知道你在做什麼，你根本不知道你在做什麼。告訴我，你為什麼要去？」我說：「第一，我現在去是為了省錢。從這兒到馬來西亞北部要比從新加坡去便宜。」「果勒，你要多少我都給你，只要你開個數目，我現在可以馬上就給你。」「不，不，師父，我不要你任何的錢。」「哦，所以你沒有一個好理由，你根本不知道你在做什麼。」「不，不，師父，我真的知道我在做什麼。如果我再等三、四個星期上山，那裏就會下雪了。」師父就說了：「我保證只要你在喜馬拉雅山的一天就不會下雪。你看，你沒有理由了吧，你是不是還要去？」我說：「對，我還是要去。」所以，我這個塗糊蛋就從泰國歷經了緬甸、印度、和尼泊爾，直到我扺達喜馬拉雅山，一路上吃盡了苦頭。就這樣，沒有嚮導，沒有指點，也沒有設備，我一個人爬上了安那波那山，世界第三或第四高峰。師父大概要說這真是愚癡。
的確，正如同師父所預計的，那山裏頭住著精怪。一天晚上，我正好在一段懸崖的邊緣，有個精靈就把我推下懸崖。我往下一看，地上很安全的，我沒有理由會掉下去。接下來我知道我正從四十呎的高空往下墜。當時我的的頭和肩膀先著地，腦袋碎得像砸在地上的西瓜，兩條腿也斷了。右半側麻痹，整條脊椎也卡住動彈不得。耳朵、嘴巴，身體每個地方都在流血，情況很不樂觀。
一些當地的尼泊爾獵人找到了我，把我拖進一個洞裏，我在裏面的一塊大石頭上躺了七天。他們其中一個跑回最近的無線電中心求救，花了他三天的時間。我本來應該受更多痛苦和恐懼，但我一直念著觀音菩薩的名號，心裏頭都沒有忘失。只要一念觀音的名字，我就不覺疼痛，也不十分害怕。如果我一不專心，我就開始有點恐懼，然後就會有很多疼痛及「我就要死了」等等諸如此類的念頭。這真的很神奇，因為七天以來我躺在這塊石頭上念著觀音的名號，竟然就有一股支撐我活下去的感應。不過，我還是建議你最好是留在佛殿打觀音七，而不要從喜馬拉雅山摔下來再來念。
從這次經驗，我發現疼痛是一種自我對於經驗的判別。我察覺到我們的每一個情緒和念頭都不是真的，它只不過是經驗的判斷。也因此，這些情緒和念頭都是可以互換的。例如，我可以想：「哦！我可樂了，我剛從喜馬拉雅山上摔下來，現在正躺在這裏。這真是個美妙的經驗！」或者你在很好的境況裡，正坐在那兒享受美食，卻說：「我真不喜歡這樣。」情緒是可以互換的，與經驗無關，從根本上來說，情緒只不過是我們的業。
我們的業決定了我們的每一個經驗。我們對每一個經驗的感覺和想法，那都是業。
其實根本什麼也沒發生，這是我躺在那兒所想到的第二件事。我只是躺在那裏流血，或可說是垂危，但是躺在那兒和我曾經做過的事情也沒什麼分別。沒有所謂的比較好或比較壞，我也不會想：「我寧可到別的地方去。」我就是在那兒躺著。似乎也不會有更好的處境。每件事都是平等的，一切的經驗都是既不好也不壞。
最後來了一架直昇機，把我帶到尼泊爾首都——加德滿都的一家醫院。醫生給我全身檢查，並照了X 光片，然後宣布說：「我想你快要死了。」這時我第一次真正感到害怕了。所幸的是：美國大使館打電話給我父母，而我父母要求把我送回美國。在飛機上他們拆掉了四張座椅，把我放在那兒。起初他們把我帶到曼谷，但接著他們覺得在那動手術太冒險了，就又把我送入另一架飛機，讓我到三藩市。
幸好我回來那個禮拜的星期五，是十三號。因為沒有人願意在那天動手術，所以很多醫生都很空閒。（還說美國人不迷信哩！）這次真的很幸運，因為他們需要利用顯微鏡持續開八、九個鐘頭的刀。由於使用顯微鏡，每個人的注意力只能維持三十五分鐘，他們需要一個七、八人的小組，每隔四十五分鐘就要換一次班。他們必須取出散佈在我腦部神經的頭蓋骨碎片，這些碎片阻斷了電傳導系統，所以讓我的右半身癱瘓了。當醫生在給我動手術的時候，他們發現了一項奇蹟，我的身體竟然沒有受到絲毫的感染。雖然我在尼泊爾的山洞待了七天，又轉到曼谷，然後又搭了飛機，最後扺達三藩市，整個行程中都沒有做任何傷口上的處理，傷口意然都沒有受到一點的感染。
這故事的另一個有趣的插曲是：我父母接獲我發生意外通知的那一天，剛好是我可以延續健康保險的最後一天。而我父母也夠聰明，馬上投函保險公司給我辦續保。那的確是最後一天了！要是沒有保險，那真要花上一筆可觀的醫藥費。除了續保這件事以外，還有另一件有趣的事，不只是我續保了健康險，在保約上還有明文規定，如果有生命危險又尚未經過治療時，Kaiser 醫院必須負擔從出事地點到手術地點這段距離全桯的費用。從我出事現場到三藩市，直昇機運費是二千元，佔了四個座位的飛機票要八千元。律師看到這裏，知道他們得付我全額一萬元。這真的是非常地幸運了。
四個月之後，我又跑去見師父了。而且就坐在佛殿我現在坐的這個位子上。師父問了我一大串話，最後就說：「你知道實際情形嗎？你其實已經死了，而現在又活過來了，所以以後你不要再胡鬧了。」
讓我們回到主題——念觀音菩薩。師父一再地強調，現在世界的問題就是——世上的人類太少了。師父一次又一次的指出做人就是要非常的知足，非常的快樂和滿足，而且是不需要依賴外緣就可達成這種境界。換句話說，這種快樂滿足的境界是不假外在物質或仰賴任何人的，這正是人人內在本具的境界。師父總說修行人要快快樂樂的。本質上，這種快樂是你與生俱來的，要回到這本有境界的最好方法，就是藉著觀音菩薩的威神力。
回憶一九七四年或一九七五年，當時才二十幾歲，三十歲不到，還非常年輕而充滿狂熱，大概是在快到三十歲的時候，我告訴師父：「我真的想做一位菩薩，我真的想要修行，我真的想要到那個地步。」
師父轉過臉來對我說：「你連一個人都處不來，你怎麼會成個菩薩呢？」在我們進步成為一個菩薩之前，我們必須學習用慈悲、忍耐和智慧，來對待那些和我們有業緣的人們，否則成菩薩只不過是空談罷了。 |
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I am honored to share a few thoughts with you tonight. I really enjoy doing the Guanyin Session with so many people. In 1973 we were doing the Guanyin in San Francisco with seven or eight people; in 1974 there were seven or eight people; in 1975 there were ten people; in 1979 there were maybe fifteen people. I remember sitting in this hall doing Chan when I was the only one in the hall during some of the sits. So it is an incredible thing to see so many people.
It would take hours and hours to speak about Guanyin Bodhisattva, but in a couple of minutes I will tell you a spectacular story of Guanyin Bodhisattva. I was travelling with Shr Fu in 1978 in Malaysia and we were giving talks around Malaysia, when I told Shr Fu I would like to go climb the Himalayas--the highest mountains in the world. Shr Fu thought about it for a little while, and the next day he said "I'm not sure it is a good idea, Guo Lei. Do you have any idea what you're doing?"
I said, "Sort of." "I don't think you know what you are doing. You have no idea what you are doing," he said. "Tell me, why are you going?" I said, "Number one, I am going because of money. It will cost less money for me to go from here to the northern part of Malaysia than for me to go down to Singapore." "Guo Lei, I will give you any amount you want. You just name the amount and I will give it to you right now," he said. "No, no. I won't take any of your money, Shr Fu." He said, "Oh, so you have no good reason. So you do not know what you are doing."
I said, "No, no. I actually do know what I'm doing, Shr Fu. If I wait another three or four weeks it will snow when I get up there. Shr Fu said, "I promise you all the time you are up there in the Himalayas, it will not snow. So you see, you have no reason. Are you still going to go?"
I said, "Yeah, I'm still going." And so, being the confused and stupid self I was, I went through a whole lot of trouble to go from Thailand through Burma, India, and Nepal, until I finally got to the Himalayas. I found myself climbing up Annapurna, the third or fourth highest mountain in the world, with no guide, no directions and no equipment. Shr Fu would probably call that stupidity.
Sure enough, as Shr Fu had predicted, there were spirits up in the mountains. Once when I was on a ledge and it was late in the evening, one of these spirits pushed me off the ledge. I had no reason to fall. I looked down and I saw it was perfectly OK. The next thing I knew I was falling forty feet in the air down the mountain. I landed on my head and shoulders. My legs were broken, and my head was all shattered like a watermelon hitting the ground. I was paralyzed on the right side and my whole spinal cord was jammed up. I was bleeding out of my ears, my nose, my mouth and everything. It was a bad situation.
Some local Nepalese hunters found me and dragged me into a cave, where I lay on a rock for seven days. One of them ran back to the nearest wireless to get some help, but it took him three days. I should have been in a lot of pain and fear, but I recited Guanyin Bodhisattva's name constantly. I didn't let it out of my mind. As long as I recited Guanyin's name, I didn't feel any pain and I was not very worried. If my mind stopped concentrating on Guanyin, I would start feeling a little afraid, and then there would be a lot of pain and lots of thoughts like "I'm going to die" and so forth. It was really amazing because for seven days I lay on this rock reciting Guanyin's name, and there was a response which kept me alive. However, I would definitely suggest that you do a seven-day recitation in the Buddha Hall rather than fall off the Himalayas and then recite.
From this experience, I was able to see that the pain is a judgment that the ego is having about the experience. From this I perceived that every emotion and thought that we have is not real, but is just a judgment of the experience. And so these emotions and thoughts are all interchangeable. For example, I could have thought, "Oh! I am very happy I just fell off Himalayas and I am lying here. This is really a wonderful experience." Or you could be sitting there eating good food in a perfect situation and saying, " Oh, I really do not like this." Emotions are just totally interchangeable. They are not connected to experience. On the most fundamental level, they are just our karma.
Our karma determines the way we have each experience. Our feelings and thoughts of each experience is just karma.
The second thing I was able to see while lying there was that nothing was actually going on at all. I was just lying there bleeding or maybe dying, but lying there was not really different from anything else I'd ever done. It was not better or worse, and I wasn't thinking, "I'd rather be somewhere else." I was just there. It was not as if there was a better situation. Everything is equal, and all experience is neither bad nor good.
Finally a helicopter came and took me to a hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. The first time I was really worried was when the doctor in Kathmandu looked me over, took some X-rays, and said, "I think you are going to die." Fortunately, the American Embassy called my parents and my parents said to send me back to the United States. So they took out four seats in an airplane and laid me there. First they took me to Bangkok, but then they decided it was too risky to do the surgery in Bangkok, so they put me on another plane and sent me to San Francisco.
Fortunately, since I came back on a week that had Friday the13th, there were many surgeons available because no one wanted to undergo surgery on that day. (And it is said that Americans are not superstitious!) This was very fortunate because they needed to do eight to nine hours of constant surgery with a microscope. Because a person's concentration only lasted about thirty-five minutes working with the microscope, they needed a team of seven or eight surgeons to work in forty-five minute shifts.
They had to take out all the specks of skull that had shattered into the nerves in my brain, blocking off the transmission of electrical impulses and making me paralyzed on my right side. While they were doing the surgery the doctors found a miraculous thing, which was that there was absolutely no infection of any kind in my body. Although I had been in a cave in Nepal for seven days, and then in Bangkok, and then in an airplane, and then in San Francisco, and nothing had been treated in these huge wounds all over my body, in all this time no infection had gotten into any part of my body.
One funny part of the story is that the day my parents were informed of my accident was the last day that I could renew my health insurance policy. Being very smart people they rushed down and put an envelope into the Health Insurance Building to renew my policy. It was actually the very last day. Otherwise the surgery and all would have cost a bundle and I would have had no insurance. Another funny thing was that not only was my policy renewed but there was a clause in the policy that said Kaiser Hospital was responsible for taking me from the scene of the accident--if it was life threatening and if it had not been worked on--to the place where the surgery was done. In this case it cost $10,000 to get me from the scene of the accident to San Francisco, because the helicopter cost $2,000 and it cost $ 8,000 to get a plane with four seats pulled out. When the lawyers looked at it, they figured they had to pay me back the whole $10,000. So that was very, very lucky.
About four months later, I ran into Shr Fu again. I was sitting right here in this Buddha Hall, exactly in the same seat as I am sitting now. Shr Fu asked me a whole bunch of questions and finally said, "You know what actually happened? You actually died and now you are here again, so don't make such a mess of your life ever again."
I just want to say something about Guanyin recitation. Shr Fu constantly stressed that the problem with the world right now is that there are very few humans in the world. Shr Fu pointed out over and over again that to be human is to be very contented, very happy and very satisfied, and to have this state without depending upon anything outside. In other words, the state of happiness and contentment is not based on getting anything from the outside or relating to anybody. This is just an internal state that every human being naturally has. Shr Fu always stressed that people who are cultivating should be very happy. Basically, this happiness is your basic state that you are born with.
The best way to get back to this basic state is through Guanyin. Back in 1974 or 1975, I was pretty enthusiastic and young--maybe in my late twenties. I told Shr Fu, "I really want to be a Bodhisattva. I really want to practice. I really want to get there."
Shr Fu turned and said, "You can't even relate to one person, how can you become a Bodhisatttva?" Before we can make any progress to becoming a Bodhisattva, we have to learn to be compassionate, be patient and have wisdom with those people to whom we are already karmically related. Otherwise, becoming a Bodhisattva is just an abstract idea. |
