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生於清末民初，已屆90高齡的林佛先老居士，是中國福州人。歷經改朝換代、抗日戰爭、國共相爭等大動亂的時局，他均能安然度過；若非宿世善根深厚，焉能如此？
童年時常見其母虔誠禮拜觀世音菩薩。迨至耄耋之齡其菩提種子始臻成熟。1986年參加臺北法界印經會，開始閱讀上人開示及經典淺釋。
1988年上人赴臺弘法，老居土前往頂禮。上人得知他名字後頻頻點頭，老居士即時皈依上人座下，並受五戒。回家後逐日依教奉行，禮佛萬拜，從此信師不渝，念佛彌篤。
老居士婚姻美滿，年輕時遠在甘肅省工作，適值抗日戰爭；其未婚妻依婚約，奉父命由福州千里迢迢往甘肅完婚，自此克盡婦職。
1945年老居士遷臺，服務於臺糖公司。次年臺灣發生「二二八」事件，午夜時數名遊民侵入住宅，持刀朝其頭頂砍了兩刀。其妻以身相護，手臂挨刀，兩人昏迷在地；幸經同事聞聲相救；同事及醫師皆爲省籍人士。
近年來臺省屢有族群對立問題。老居士認爲哪來對立？我佛慈悲爲懷，普度衆生；如果大家都信佛，去除人我之見，就不會分族群、談對立，社會也就更趨和諧了。走過了幾近一個世紀，歷盡了人世間的悲歡離合，自覺垂垂老矣！「當勤精進，如救頭然」，唯有念佛憶佛，必能得見阿彌陀佛。
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Elder Upasaka Lin Foxian, born in Fuzhou,
China, at the end of the Qing dynasty, is now nearly ninety.
The ending of the dynasty, the Sino-Japanese war, and the
Nationalist-Communist struggle took place during his
lifetime. While the Chinese populace suffered from internal
conflict and foreign attacks, he lived through this period
of chaos in peace.
When Upasaka Lin was a child, he often watched his mother
worship Guanyin Bodhisattva. In 1986 he began to read the
Venerable Master's Dharma talks and commentaries on Sutras,
as well as to participate in Dharma assemblies. When the
Venerable Master went to Taiwan in 1988, the Elder Upasaka
went to pay his respects. When the Master learned about
Upasaka Lin's name, he nodded over and over. [Note: Foxian
means "Buddha first"]. Upasaka Lin immediately took refuge
with the Venerable Master and received the five precepts.
After returning home, he followed the Master's instructions
without fail and made ten thousand bows to the Buddhas over
several days. From then on his faith in his teacher never
failed and he recited the Buddha's name ceaselessly.
Upasaka Lin has had a perfect marriage. As a young man, he
worked in Gansu Province. At that time the Sino-Japanese war
broke out. His fiancee was faithful to their engagement and,
following her father's instructions, she made the long
journey from Fuzhou to Gansu to get married. Ever since then
she did her best to fulfill her role as wife.
In 1945 Upasaka Lin moved to Taiwan and worked for the
Taiwan Sugar Company. In the following year the February
28th Incident occurred. One night, several vagrants broke
into their home and made two gashes on his head with a
knife. His wife tried to protect him with her own body,
warding off their knives with her hands. A colleague heard
the noise and came to the rescue. Both the colleague and the
doctor were Taiwanese.
In recent years Taiwan has been troubled by ethnic clashes.
The Elder Upasaka reasons that the Buddha is compassionate
and saves all living beings. If everyone believed in the
Buddha and did not discriminate between self and others,
there would be no ethnic conflict and our society would
become harmonious. Having lived for nearly a century and
experienced both the joy and sorrow of human affairs,
Upasaka Lin feels very old. "Advance with vigor, as if
saving your own head!" By being mindful of the Buddha, one
is sure to get to see Amitabha Buddha.
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