各位善知識，現在我們每一個人，都說一說自己的出家因緣。我的出家因緣，本來我也想說一說，不過太長了，我就不要講它了。有一本書是關於我的事蹟，誰願意詳細知道，可以看一看，但那也只是一個大概。實際上，我所行所做的，只記錄下很少很少的部分，如果要完全說，那麼會有一部藏經那麼多。
我先說一說我剛來到美國時，有一些中國人來聽我講經。那時候我講一部《金剛經》。我以前講經的時候，每天有十五人來聽講。我不管有多少人聽，人多我也照常講，人少我也照常講，所以十五、六個人也不算少數。講完後，中國人就很少再來了，為甚麼呢？因為中國人都想要發財，認為比學佛更為重要。
之後，我又講《般若波羅蜜多心經》。《心經》中每一句經文，我用八句偈頌來解釋。這是幾千年以來沒有的，叫做《般若波羅蜜多心經非臺頌解》。所以《般若波羅蜜多心經》是我在美國講的第二部經。那時候每星期六、星期天各講二次，所以兩天內就講四次。那時候中國人不來聽經，而美國人卻來了，但是只來了三個人。這三個人，你猜他們都怎麼樣？我坐在上面講經，他們就躺在樓板上睡覺。一個睡覺；一個歪著坐；一個把腿搭在桌子上。他們就這個樣子聽經。
雖然這樣，我也忍著，也不說他們不對，都由著他們去。以後，有一個替我翻譯英文的人，說要到臺灣去讀中文。他在這兒時，天天來打坐，我就對他說：「你應該去臺灣皈依三寶。」等到他要去臺灣讀書時，我給他介紹臺灣每個廟上的老法師、大法師、有名望的法師，他在臺灣時也都去拜候過，可是他並沒有皈依。回來後我問他，為甚麼沒有皈依？他說他沒有紅包，所以他們都不願意收他。因為這個原因，他就沒有皈依。回來美國後，就要求皈依我。我說等一等，慢慢地再找一找再說，找一個比我更有智慧的人。過了一個時期，他又要求我，我也沒有答應。又過了一個時期，第三次要求我時，我才答應。
他帶了三十幾個學生，從西雅圖到三藩市來跟我學《楞嚴經》。有些是讀博士，有些是讀碩士，有些是大學還沒畢業，一共有三十多個人。我給他們講《楞嚴經》，講了九十六天。最初每一天我講一次，講了半個月。我覺得講不完，就講兩次。又講了半個月，覺得講不完，就講三次。最後那一個月，我每天給他們講四次《楞嚴經》。我一個人，連煮飯，帶燒水，又做菜，又洗廁所，又洗碗盤，都是我一個人來做。這些學生，我也不准他們到廚房來；他們就是在那裏寫筆記，整理講義，研究戒律。我講完了，就做旁的事情。我還記得最後那一天，他們有一個進到廚房，想幫我把盤子、碗拿出來，結果在廚房碗櫥一拿，把所有的盤子、碗「叭」一聲都摔碎了，所以最後那一天，誰也沒有飯吃。
現在有人說：「你盡講這個；你答應我們講中國一百年來的風雲人物，現在怎麼還不講呢？」有人打這個妄想吧？我知道有很多人打這個妄想的，因為我這個電報收了很多了。那麼現在我就繼續給你們講。
待續 |
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Good and Wise Advisors! Today each person has spoken of how he or she left the home-life. Originally I was going to speak about my own conditions for leaving home, but it's such a long story that I won't tell it. There is a book about the events of my life, and anyone who wants to know the details can read it. But it only gives a general sketch. Actually, only a very small portion of the things I have done has been recorded. If everything that I have done were to be compiled, the record would be as long as the entire Buddhist canon.
To start off, I'll talk about when I first arrived in the United States. At that time some Chinese people came to hear me lecture. I lectured on the Vajra Sutra. When I lectured back then, about fifteen people came to listen, but I didn't care how many people there were. Whether it was a lot or only a few, I lectured just the same. Fifteen or sixteen wasn't a small number. But after I finished lecturing that Sutra, hardly any Chinese people ever came again. Why not? Because Chinese people are more interested in making money than in studying the Buddhadharma.
After that, I lectured on the Prajna-paramita Heart Sutra. I wrote an eight-line verse to explain each line of the Heart Sutra. Such an explanation had never existed before in all these thousands of years. It was called the Prajna-paramita Heart Sutra Standless Verse Commentary. So the Heart Sutra was the second Sutra I lectured on in the United States. During that period I lectured twice on Saturdays and Sundays, giving four lectures every weekend. Although Chinese people didn't come to the lectures, Americans did, but only three of them. And guess what they did? As I lectured from the platform, one of them lay down on the floor and dozed off, another one sat leaning to one side, and the last one propped his feet on the table. That's how they would listen to the lecture.
Even though they were that way, I put up with it and didn't criticize them. I just let them do as they pleased.
Later on, someone translated my lectures into English. This person wanted to go to Taiwan to study Chinese. Before he left, he would come to meditate every day. I said to him, "You should go to Taiwan to take refuge with the Triple Jewel." When he was about to leave for Taiwan to study, I told him about all the elder, great, and renowned Dharma Masters in the various Taiwanese temples. While he was in Taiwan, he went to pay his respects to them all. But he didn't take refuge with any of them. When I asked him why, he said he didn't have any "red envelopes" (donations of money) to offer, so none of them were willing to take him as a disciple. That's why he didn't take refuge. When he returned to the United States, he asked to take refuge with me. I told him to wait, to take things slowly and look around for someone with more wisdom. After a while, he requested again, but I still didn't give my consent. Later he requested a third time, and I finally consented.
In 1968, he led thirty-odd students from Seattle to San Francisco to study the Shurangama Sutra with me. Some of them were studying for their doctorates; others were studying for their Master's degrees. Others were still undergraduates. There were over thirty of them. I lectured the Shurangama Sutra for them for a period of ninety-six days. In the beginning I only gave one lecture each day. After half a month had passed, I felt that I wouldn't be able to finish in time, so I started giving two lectures a day. After another half month, I still felt I couldn't finish, so I began lecturing three times a day. In the last month, I was delivering four lectures daily on the Shurangama Sutra.
I personally did all the cooking, boiled water, made tea, cleaned the toilets, and washed the dishes. The students were not allowed into the kitchen. They spent their time taking notes, organizing their notes, and studying the precepts. When I wasn't lecturing, I took care of these other chores. I still remember on the very last day when one of the students came into the kitchen to help me take the plates and bowls out of the cupboard. But then--wham!--they all dropped to the ground and broke. So on the last day, no one had anything to eat.
Right now some of you must be thinking, "You promised to talk about the important people and events of this century in China. Why are you talking about these other things?" I know many of you are having such a thought, because I've picked up a lot of your mental "telegrams." And so now I'll return to my original topic.
To be continued
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