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1975年8月21日下午（盂蘭盆節）（續）
頭先我叫你們各位說一說，你們有什麼境界。我又想起來在三藩市，有一種境界。有一次打皈依；這一次打皈依的大約有三十幾個人。皈依之後，我就問他們，我說：「為什麼你們這麼多人都要皈依呢？」就有一些個，以前是一個叫山鹿的信徒，他們那不是皈依，就是相信他。這個山鹿是我剛到三藩市的時候，他天天要來學佛法，但是我那時候只是禮拜天給大家講一講法，隨便講一講。他就每個禮拜天到我那兒去學，一學學了兩年。這個人叫山鹿，就是 Mountain Deer，我給他取的名字。本來他的名字或者叫野鹿，我給他取名叫山鹿。
為什麼有很多人相信他呢？就因為他在我那兒學了兩年佛法，回去就做了教主了。每個禮拜天到我那兒學佛法，大約學了些個道理，他就自己要做祖師了，就召一些個信徒，很多人相信他。為什麼相信他呢？因為他有一點錢，大約有一百多萬。那麼誰到他那兒去呢，相信他都有飯吃，甚至於有地方住，那麼衣服更不要說了，這都是解決衣食住行的問題。因為這樣子，就有很多方才所講的——沒有衣服穿，沒有飯吃，沒有地方住的人，就都去相信他去。他有七、八十歲了，又很有錢的，所以就有很多人去親近他。他也很隨便的，你願意吃肉也可以，願意喝酒也可以；喝酒他給你買酒喝，吃肉他給買肉吃，甚至於你願意什麼都可以的，沒有一切的戒律，不講戒律。他就對人講他是個開悟的祖師了，很多人就人云亦云；這個說他開悟了，那個也說他證了果了，很多人去親近他。有的一些很愚癡的人呢，就跟他學佛法；有的聰明的人呢，總想著他的錢。有一天，他有一個信徒——因為他總也不死，跟著他這麼多年了他也不死。等他走樓梯的時候，這個信徒說：「你這個錢還不給我？」
哦！一下子就把他推滾到樓梯下面去了，就什麼都不知道了。這時候開悟的祖師也不會講話了，跌得人事不省。這個徒弟就趕快說是，他的遺囑交待，這個錢要交給誰，其他信徒都不准見，這麼樣子他就無聲無嗅就死了。他的一些信徒又給他出書，又提倡他是祖師。有一天，他就給這些人做夢，什麼夢呢？說：「我以前和你們講的佛法都是不究竟的。你們現在都應該去皈依三寶，去皈依某某法師，跟著他學佛法才對的。」所以他這些個信徒就都跑到我那兒去報名，皈依三寶，來再重學佛法。
你看，所以修行也是不容易的；真正遇著善知識是不容易的，儘冒充善知識。好像這個山鹿，自己也沒有明白就去教化人。然後他還算有一點良心，知道對不起所有的弟子了，他又叫他弟子趕快去皈依三寶，免得墮地獄，這還算他不錯。這是我在三藩市有這麼個情形，所以他的信徒，他的弟子很多人到金山寺去皈依。這是在當時皈依我的那些三十多個人裏，大約有二十個都是他的信徒。去皈依我之後，他們自己說的，說是山鹿叫他們來皈依的。有二十多個人都是這樣子，所以他們就相信他們所做的夢不是假的，是真的。你們還記得那個事情，不記得？（弟子答：記得。）就是他們那麼多人，都做這樣的夢。
待續
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Thursday, August 21, 1975 afternoon Ullambana (continued)
I have just asked you to speak about your experiences, and I, too, remember an experience I had at Gold Mountain Monastery in San Francisco. Once, after a ceremony at which some thirty people took refuge, I asked, "Why did all of you decide to take refuge?" The new disciples had been followers of an outside-way teacher, whom I had given the name, "Shan Lu," "Mountain Deer." When I first came to San Francisco, Shan Lu wanted to come and study the Buddhadharma with me. At that time I only gave informal Dharma talks once a week, on Sundays. He came every Sunday for two years. His name was Mountain Deer. I gave him this name. His original name might have been "Wild Deer" but I called him "Mountain Deer."
Why did so many people believe in him? Because during the two years he studied with me, he learned a few doctrines and set himself up as a patriarch, and took disciples. Why did his disciples believe in him? He had money, perhaps as much as a million. Whoever went to him and believed in him had food to eat, a place to live, and clothes to wear. They solved their problems of the three necessities. Thus, many people who had no food, clothing, or shelter came to believe in him.
He was seventy or eighty years old and very rich, so he gained a large following. He was also very casual. You could eat meat and drink wine if you liked—he would buy you your wine and your meat!—in fact, you could have anything you wanted. There was no moral code at all. He didn't talk about the moral precepts at all, yet he claimed to be an enlightened patriarch. A lot of people, as the word got around, said that he had attained sagehood and others said that he was enlightened. Some really stupid people studied the Buddhadharma with him, while others, the smart ones, thought continually about his money.
He had one disciple who thought, "I've followed you for so long, and you still haven't died and left your money to me! What a nuisance!" One day as the teacher was on the stairs, that disciple gave him a push and he went tumbling down the stairs and became unconscious. Taking advantage of the fact that the "enlightened patriarch" was in a coma and couldn't talk, the disciple claimed that his teacher's final instructions were to give the money to so-and-so, and that no one else had any share in it.
Then, without a sign, without a sound, the teacher died.
After his death, the group published his books and styled him a patriarch. One night, he appeared to his followers in a dream. He said, "The Dharma I taught you in the past is not ultimate. You should now go take refuge with Dharma Master so-and-so, and study the Buddhadharma with him. That's the right thing to do." So his followers came to me and signed up to take refuge with the Triple Jewel and started studying the Buddhadharma over again.
When you cultivate the Way, it's not easy to meet a genuine good advisor. Some people pretend to be such advisors, and without any real understanding they proceed to teach other people. Shan Lu, for example, was such a one. Yet he still had a sense of conscience, for when he realized he had done wrong to his disciples, he told them to take refuge with the Triple Jewel and thereby avoid falling into the hells. That was pretty decent of him.
And so many of his followers came to Gold Mountain Monastery to take refuge. Of the thirty people who took refuge that day, more than twenty of them were Shan Lu's disciples. After the ceremony, they told me about this dream. They said that Shan Lu had instructed the entire group to come and take refuge. They believed their dream, because over twenty of them had dreamt the exact same dream. They thought it was a miracle. Do you all remember this incident? [Disciples: Yes.] And so all those people had that dream.
To be continued
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