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我最近才從亞洲回來，現在向大眾報告這次亞洲之行，這是我的的責任。這趟（二月二日開始的）亞洲之行，原來是應邀赴臺主持十天的新年法會，結果十天一拖變成兩個星期；又應邀到我們香港的道場去看一看，接著又到馬來西亞去主持另外一場法會，從馬來西亞又轉往新加坡，因為在新加坡有很發心的信眾，成立了一座贈經會－－法界佛教贈經會新加坡分會，所以我們又到新加坡去。接著從新加坡又到澳洲，因為澳洲我們法界佛教總會有一座新的道場，所以十天的行程，一拖變成六個星期。
首先要說的是，在海外的師兄弟都非常精進地護持上人的法。很明顯的，她們覺得離我們很遙遠，所以我們到那邊去她們都很高興，我們也覺得很受歡迎。
首先報告我們到臺灣的行程，我們是去主持九天的梁皇寶懺法會。通常梁皇寶懺不需要九天的時間，不過我們在臺灣主持的這一場梁皇寶懺，在中午十二點到一點半有一場開示；晚間在七點半到九點聽《梵網經》。我們也為參加梁皇寶懺的信眾講法。
這次參加臺灣梁皇寶懺的信眾人約有一百位左右，他們都很誠心，聲音都很宏亮，所以我們製造了不少的「噪音」。臺北印經會以前是在十一樓的半邊，這一次他們已經擴充到擁有了整個六樓。六樓的一半做大齋堂，另外一半是寮房、圖書館以及藏書室。
臺北法界印經會在去年地震期間受損不大，也許在座當時在臺的師兄弟，可以跟大家講多些有關地震的情況。梁皇寶懺結束後，在臺中東勢的恆泉師也來看我們，告訴了我們一些故事。
事實上她是給我們一個報告。恆泉師在地震的前一個星期，她心裡就一直有一股力量，覺得想要離開圓通精舍到臺北去參加一個研討會。後來她認為是上人的力量加持，使她心裡頭一直有這樣的感覺，所以恆泉師和恆星師在大地震期間，人在臺北。恆泉師後來想起來，幸虧那時候她人不在圓通精舍，否則必死無疑，因為她房裡有很大的書架，倒下來時正壓在恆泉師睡眠休息的那一塊地方。
當她回去查看時，圓通精舍佛殿裡的佛像，因為地震搖晃而跌落下來，但是全都沒受損害，她有很多座佛像，所以恆泉師也覺得真是不可思議。她又到樓下去查看，在圓通精舍地下室也有齋堂和佛桌，上有十八羅漢磁像。地震前，恆泉師就曾經覺得這些羅漢像太多了，因為還有其他的佛像和物品。她當時心想如果要留下來的話，她就只要留下其中某一尊就夠了。那麼地震之後，她回去一看，這些羅漢像真的都摔碎了，只有她心裡最喜歡的那尊一點都沒碎。她說：「我真是害怕。」她心裡深深地感受到「念力」力量之強大，很不可思議。
圓通精舍供著的上人舍利，也摔下來找不著了，我記得她跟我講舍利塔就跟羅漢像放一塊兒的。有人來協助清理羅漢磁像的碎片時，恆泉師特別關照他們要小心，因為上人的舍利找不著了。等所有碎片都清理乾淨之後，怎麼找都找不著上人舍利，所以恆泉師就很傷心地跪在上人像前哭訴：「師父，只有您最瞭解我，舍利在，表示師父在；舍利不在，是不是表示我沒有師父了？」就在這個時候，她旁邊一位居士說：「看！妳前面地上是什麼？」恆泉師往下一看，就在她前面不遠的地方，正是上人的一顆舍利！接著這位居士又說：「那邊，那是什麼？」又是一顆！結果，所有上人舍利就都找著了，恆泉師覺得這也是非常不可思議的事情。
恆泉師住持的圓通精舍是她一輩子所居住的地方，在這次地震中她也看到修行的力量。她說她所住的那一帶，本來人都是很單純善良的，但是隨著時間改變，漸漸地累積了很多的業，尤其後來當地人吃肉吃得很多，男女關係也變得很複雜，不再像從前那麼單純善良，所以她覺得這跟業果有直接的關係。在這次地震當中，恆泉師看到皈依上人的人都沒有受傷受損，她所認識的那些安分守己的人也都毫髮無損，所以她認為我們的行為和果報之間有直接的關係。
恆泉師又說了一個在臺中東勢她附近一家開了很多年的小店的故事。那小店老闆娘說有一天有個老太太來店裡買東西，付了錢就走了。第二天這個老闆娘看一看這個老太太所付的錢，這一看非常害怕，因為這個錢變成紙錢了，就是燒給死人的那一種紙錢。
老闆娘心想，這其中或者有什麼緣故罷。那麼這天老太太又來買東西，買完付了錢走了。接下來同樣情況又發生了，錢又變成紙錢。
第三天老太太又來了，這回老闆娘告訴她，說：「妳付的錢都變成紙錢了。我覺得妳不是從這個世界來的。」老太太說：「妳說對了！」「那妳為什麼來這兒呢？」「我來這裡要人。」老闆娘這回更害怕，就問：「妳也到我們家來要人嗎？」老太太說：「是的，一個。」這老闆娘嚇得趕快就搬家了。
老闆娘搬家以後，她的小店就頂給別人了，可是這個老闆娘有個兒子在日本念大學。這兒子希望回家給父母一個驚喜，在地震前一晚回到了臺灣，可是到小店來一看，爸媽不在了。他就問這個新的店主：「我的父母親上哪兒去了？」新店主就給他地址，說他們搬走了。這時候已經很晚了，所以新老闆就留他，說：「這麼晚了，不好搭車，就在這兒留一宿吧！明天再去找你爸媽。」當天深夜兩點鐘地震了，這個在日本念書的兒子就在這「九‧二一」地震中喪生了。
恆泉師說在地震發生後的第二天，很多人看到在沒有震垮的屋子中，有五色光進入，好像探照燈在找東西似的。大家都覺得很奇怪，不曉得五色光從哪兒來的。接下來連續有一些餘震，在大的餘震中那五色光進去過的屋子統統都震垮了，屋裏的人就這樣喪生了。恆泉師說完這些故事之後，當場在法界佛教印經會那兒就有人證實，說他們和他們的親友也看到有五色光進入房子裡。
我只想簡單地講講自己的感想，比方說我們看古代高僧大德，如蓮池大師戒殺文等等的這些文字時，我們會覺得：「喔！那是很遙遠的古代的事情。」但是恆泉師所告訴我們的故事，卻是現代最近所發生的事情。她覺得這些故事證實了「因果律」。
待續
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I recently returned from a trip (starting February 2nd) to Asia. I shall now give a report to the great assembly. Originally, we were invited to go to Taiwan for ten days to conduct a Dharma assembly to welcome the New Year. The ten days turned into about two weeks. We were then invited to visit our Way-places in Hong Kong. Then we were invited to go to Malaysia to conduct another Dharma assembly, which lasted a week. Then we were asked to visit a new Way-place that just opened in Singapore. Some very faithful laypeople opened up a Buddhist Text Translation Society Book Distribution Center in Singapore. We also have a new Way-place in Australia, and the laity there also asked the Dharma Realm Buddhist Association representatives to pay a visit to them, so our ten days ended up being six weeks.
In all those places, it was very obvious to us, first of all, that our Dharma brothers and sisters overseas are all very vigorous. They're very dedicated to protecting the Dharma as taught by the Venerable Master. It's also obvious that they feel very far away from the center of things. They truly appreciate being visited by people from the Way-places in the U.S. Everywhere we went we felt very welcomed and appreciated.
First, I'll report on our visit to Taiwan. We conducted a nine-day Emperor Liang Jeweled Repentance Ceremony. Usually, this ceremony doesn't take nine days; however, we had Dharma talks every day between 12 o'clock and 1:40 pm, and there was a lecture series on the
Brahma Net Sutra in the evening between 7:30 and 9 pm. We took the opportunity to speak some Dharma to the people who were attending the bowing ceremony.
About one hundred people attended daily. They were all very sincere and they all recited in very big voices, so we made a lot of noise. The Dharma Realm Buddhist Books Distribution Society (DRBBDS) in Taiwan used to be on the eleventh floor; it had one side of the eleventh floor. Now DRBBDS has expanded to include the entire sixth floor. One half has been converted into a very large dining hall. The other half is a dormitory, a library and a book storage place.
The DRBBDS didn't suffer very much damage from the earthquake. Perhaps some Dharma sisters who were there can tell you some stories about that. As soon as we finished the assembly, we had a visit from Heng Quan Shi, who lives near Dongshi, Taizhong. She came especially to tell us some stories.
Actually, it was more like a report. She told us that about a week before the earthquake, she felt compelled to leave the temple to attend a workshop. Later she was sure that it was Shifu (the Venerable Master) who was influencing her to leave Yuantong Hermitage. So she and Heng Xing Shi, the other Bhikshuni who lives at Yuantong Hermitage, were not in Taizhong at the time of the earthquake. They were in Taipei. Heng Quan Shi said that if she had been in the temple at the time she would definitely have been killed because of the place where she sleeps. Several very large book cases full of books had fallen right on spot where she would've been lying down. She feels that Shifu saved her life.
She said when she inspected the temple, all the Buddha images had fallen off of the altar in the main hall. She had quite a few of the Buddha images there, but not even a single small piece was broken off of them. She thought that was inconceivable. Then Heng Quan Shi said that she went downstairs. The dining hall and another altar are in the basement of the Way-place. In that area were eighteen ceramic Arhat images. She said that before the earthquake, she had been thinking that the area was becoming too visually complex with so many images, and perhaps the Arhat images were a little too much. But there was one Arhat image that she really liked. She thought that, "Well, perhaps I should invite some away, but if I could keep one of them, I would keep that one." When she came back, all the Arhat images had fallen down and smashed to pieces. Only the one that she liked was unharmed in the least bit. So she said, "I was so frightened. Then I realized the power of our thoughts—we must be careful what we think!"
She had an altar for Shifu's sharira. The sharira had fallen down. They couldn't be found. I believe that she told me that the altar was where the Arhats were. They all had smashed so there were little pieces of porcelain everywhere. People came in to clean up the mess and she told them to please be careful, to watch out for these sharira, because they're missing. After people had cleaned everything up, there was not a speck of dust on the ground. However, they still had not found the sharira. So then Heng Quan Shi knelt before Shifu's altar and cried, and prayed to Shifu and said, "Shifu, only you understand me. It's only because I have the sharira here that I have a teacher. Now that the sharira are gone, it's as if I have no teacher here." As she was saying this to Shifu, a layperson standing nearby said, "Hey, what's that in front of you, over there on the floor?" She looked down and picked it up–it was Shifu's sharira. Then that person said, "Oh, over there, what's that?" It was another one of Shifu's sharira. In the end, she was able to retrieve all of the sharira that had been lost. She felt that was also inconceivable.
Then Heng Quan Shi talked about how her faith in cause and effect was made very strong. She saw that at Yuantong Hermitage, where she has lived all her life, people used to be very simple and wholesome. But as time went on, they gradually accumulated lots of karma. Especially later, the locals ate a lot of meat and relationships between men and women were increasingly complex. They were not as innocent and good as in the past. She felt this had something to do with the disaster, because none of the people she knew who had taken refuge with Shifu suffered any injury. Also, people that she knew who lived a wholesome life and followed the rules didn't suffer any injury. She felt that there was a direct connection between people's conduct and their karmic retribution and karmic rewards.
Then she told us about a local shopkeeper. This family had had a shop there for many years. One day, the shopkeeper, the wife, was there and an old woman came in and bought some things, paid some money and left. The next day when the shopkeeper looked at the money in the drawer, she found that the money that she had taken from this woman had changed into paper money used for the deceased. She felt very afraid.
She thought, maybe there was some explanation, but then that old lady came again, bought some things, and gave her money. The next day the same thing happened.
So the third day she came in again. This time the shopkeeper said to her, "You know, it's very strange, that money you gave me changed into paper money." She said, "I have a feeling you're not from this world." The old woman said, "Yes, that's right."
The shopkeeper asked, "Why did you come here?" "I came here to collect some people," she answered. That frightened the shopkeeper, who then asked, "Are you planning to collect anyone from this household?" And the old woman said, "Yes. One." So the shopkeeper immediately sold the shop and moved away.
But this did not solve the problem, because the former shopkeepers had a son who was attending college in Japan. He decided to pay his parents a surprise visit. The night before the earthquake, he arrived at the shop late at night. He said, "Where's my family?" They said, "Oh, they didn't tell you? They sold their shop and moved." The new shopkeeper gave him the new address and said, "Well, it's very late at night; it's a very small town. It would be very inconvenient for you to find transportation, so why don't you just stay here tonight? You can leave in the morning." The earthquake occurred that morning at two o'clock, and the young man was killed in the earthquake.
Heng Quan Shi said that the day after the earthquake, many people saw five-colored lights, resembling search lights, going inside houses that were not knocked down, as if looking for something. People felt that the lights were very strange. They couldn't figure out where the lights were coming from. They said that during a big aftershock that came a following day, more buildings collapsed and people were killed where those lights had gone. When she was telling me this story, someone from the DRBBDS was there. She said, "That's right, it's true.
Many people saw the lights, including many of my friends and relatives."
I would just like to add a comment: when we read public records such as those by Great Master Lotus Pool about not eating meat and liberating the living, we may find some of the stories fantastic. We think, "Oh, that's just an old myth from long ago." But the kind of stories that Heng Quan Shi told us happened recently. She felt that they verify the law of cause and effect.
To be continued
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