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我來自臺灣，年幼時看到母親為家庭的情執所困，而苦不堪言；長大後又因常需涉足風月場合交際應酬，看盡人生百態，因而興起尋求解脫，如何離苦之念。
初期學佛，只能勉強初一、十五吃素，不得已時還曾帶素便當到酒家應酬。後來從書中得知宣公上人及萬佛聖城，又偶然看到智慧之源，如獲至寶。從此上人及萬佛聖城，就像塊大磁鐵似的，深深地吸住了我。
臺灣外在環境的誘因逐漸增多，電玩、色情店到處林立。1989 年，發願要帶孩子到聖城，讓他們在清淨的環境中成長。然而「要學好，冤孽找」，未能如願。唯有懇求諸佛菩薩及師父上人慈悲加被，終於在1995 年得以親送兩個小孩到聖城讀書。
去年在洛杉磯，我從工廠外的油桶上跌下來。當時頭破血流，右腳無法動彈。可是四下無人，當時我唯一的念頭便是稱念觀世音菩薩的聖號，及觀想聖城的千手千眼觀世音菩薩放大光明，照觸我身。突然有位善心人士發現了我；我從被送上救護車直到醫院做完檢查，一直都嘔吐不停，但也沒有間斷稱念聖號。最後醫生以難以置信的口吻告訴我：「一切檢查都沒有問題，我們不知道該如何醫治你。」
1993年，上人拖著病體回臺弘法度化眾生時，問我：「有什麼問題？」我感動得熱淚盈眶地說沒有。上人然後又回頭告訴我：「你要做兩份工。」直到今年初，回到聖城常住做義工，我才明白這句話的含意。我愛聖城，這裏是我的家。我不僅要做兩份工，更要精進地修行，來叩謝諸佛菩薩及師父上人的宏恩於萬一。 |
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I'm from Taiwan. Ever since I was little, I saw my mother suffer from her attachments to the family. And after I grew up, I often had to frequent bars and teahouses for the sake of doing business. There I saw all the sordid sides of life, and as a result I began to search for a way out of the misery.
When I first started practicing Buddhism, I forced myself to eat only vegetarian food on the first and fifteenth of the lunar month. Sometimes I had to bring my vegetarian lunchbox to the restaurant when I went out for lunch with business partners. I later read about the Venerable Master Hua and the Sagely City of Ten Thousand Buddhas, and I came across the newsletter "Source of Wisdom," which was like a treasure to me. From then on, I was deeply drawn to the Venerable Master and the Sagely City as if they were a big magnet.
In Taiwan the external temptations continued to multiply; video game arcades and pornographic establishments sprang up everywhere. In 1989 I vowed to bring my children to the Sagely City, so they could grow up in a pure environment. However, "whenever one wishes to become good, one's karmic obstacles search one out"; I couldn't fulfill my vow. Through sincere prayers to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and the Venerable Master's compassionate blessing, in 1995 I was finally able to bring my two children to the Sagely City to go to school.
Last year I tripped and fell from an oil drum at the factory. My head was bleeding severely and I couldn't move my right foot. There was no one around. The only thought on my mind was to recite Guanshiyin Bodhisattva's name and contemplate the Thousand-handed, Thousand-eyed Guanshiyin Bodhisattva image at the Sagely City radiating light upon my body. I was suddenly discovered by a kindhearted person and sent by ambulance to the hospital to be examined. All along the way I kept vomiting, but I never stopped reciting the Bodhisattva's name. Finally the doctor told me incredulously, "All your tests came out fine. We don't know how to treat you."
In 1993 the Venerable Master went to Taiwan in spite of his illness to spread the Dharma and teach living beings. When he asked me, "Do you have any problems?" I was so touched; I tearfully said that I didn't. Then he told me, "You have to do two jobs." When I returned to the Sagely City at the beginning of this year and became a resident and volunteer here, I finally understood what he meant. I love the Sagely City; this is my home. Not only do I want to do these two jobs, I want to vigorously cultivate to repay a tiny bit of the great kindness shown me by the Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the Venerable Master. |
