師父上人、各位法師、各位同修：
今天晚上我們準備講解幽冥戒。現在簡簡單單介紹幽冥戒，以後我想如果有時間，繼續講幾句我們受菩薩戒的法會。
各位在你們座位前應該有藍色封面的儀規，這個儀規是有一點特別，這是第一次在一個本子上有三種不同的語言文字：中文、英文、越南文。我們萬佛城的小沙彌們，花了不知道多少天把它裝釘成書，印了幾百本。他們有的不睡覺，把它釘成本子了。這個版本應該是第五或第六次的草稿，經過我們修改和潤色，就添了兩種語言了。所以各位應該認識這是不容易，做成各位前面的這個本子。這是難得罕見的三種語言的儀規。 幽冥戒，這是一種大孝的行為。大概的意思是這樣子，就說…念誦《地藏經》的人應該曉得，我們這兒有陽界，人離開這個陽界就去世往生了，在他們的中陰身還沒有投胎到下一胎之間，有不同的地方，可以說是閻羅王界。據說閻羅王判了你來生之後，有時不是馬上投胎；你還沒有到閻羅王的法庭前有的時候有一段時間，這都叫幽冥世界。尤其是橫死的眾生，或者戰死或者飛機出事，輪船出事淹死，或被畜生吃了，或者吃錯藥被毒害的種種橫死的眾生。他們很可能沒有人為他們做功德，這些人我們陽界的人沒有忘了，還記得他們，記在心裡說，「我想為他們做點功德。」所以就修這個法門迴向給他們。這是幽冥戒的意思。因為受幽冥戒要受一番苦，在那兒跪，在那兒拜，受一點苦。受一點苦就種了大福，修很大的功德迴向給他們。幽冥戒是孝順的行為，也是慈悲的法門，大概的意思就是這個。
第一次上人傳幽冥戒是在萬佛聖城，已經是二十幾年前的事了。上人他先取一個法名，每一次法名的頭一個字是「法」，後來有很多次，台灣、馬來西亞、美國，所以這個「法」就繼續下來。這一次有兩堂幽冥戒，但是一個法會，所以我覺得所有的靈魂，各位申請受戒的都可以叫「法應」；應就感應的「應」，應該的「應」，感應道交。每次我們說「各稱法名」，你們回答「法應等靈魂」，就可以了。 如果各位翻到第一頁，以眼睛看，耳朵聽我講。我們在傳幽冥戒的時候有這個儀規，儀規上是古老的方法；誰拜過懺，皈依過，受過五戒的，都會認識這個儀式的。這個儀式大同小異，都是一樣的。怎麼樣呢？我們先請師，師父們來了，然後念「大悲咒」，就是等於灑淨，然後就禮佛，請釋迦牟尼佛、一切如來到這個道場來。然後請靈魂。
法師告訴我們，我們捧的牌位在哪一個牌子上，第幾號。為什麼呢？因為人很多，要一起站起來走到牌位的地方請回來，那一定要省時間；不然的話，如果不記得號碼，就會亂，浪費很多時間，耽誤儀式。所以必須要記得，依教奉行記得牌位在什麼地方，去兩隻手捧著牌位，一個人一個牌位，回來跪下來。這個儀式很長，要跪很長的時間。請好靈魂回來，請法師們把幽冥戒傳給你今天所代表的靈魂，是這樣的一個儀式。這不是你受戒，是你為某某祖先，某某親戚，某某朋友來請受戒。然後戒和尚就開導，他會講解怎麼樣得戒體，怎麼樣修成自性上所具備的戒這個功德。
再來就懺悔，懺悔是非常的重要，大家可能想不到所懺悔的一些罪，一些過錯，在第十八頁。為什麼這些是錯呢？好像什麼呢？好像弒害父母、出佛身血、污僧伽藍、破他梵行、焚毀塔寺、盜用僧物、起諸邪見、撥無因果、狎近惡友、違背良師、自作教他、見聞隨喜。你很可能說，「這個我沒做啦！我懺悔幹什麼？這不是打妄語嗎？」不是這個意思。不一定是我們這一生所做的，尤其「我才二十歲、三十歲，我哪裡有時間出佛身血？」我們不是要你編一個故事，說是「可能觀音菩薩像掉下來，一個肩膀摔碎了，就是出佛身血了。」那有可能，懺悔不要再做了。可是這裡不是這個意思，這是說，我們代表一個靈魂。那你母親有沒有對她母親，就是你的祖母，有沒有說，「你該死啊！」如果有的，只要一次就已經種下弒害父母的種子。你是替她懺悔，為她受一點苦。大家明白嗎？這些罪過是我們生生世世所犯的。也可以按照普賢菩薩十大願王裡邊的第四願懺悔業障的那個法說，「如果一個人的罪過有形有相，就會遍滿虛空不能容受。」太多了，只是一個人生生世世所犯的來算，所以有這個可能性。這個懺悔文非常深，非常徹底，所以大家要全心全意發露懺悔，這是一個機會為你所捧的牌位的這個靈魂做大功德。
懺悔之後接下來法師就傳四不壞信，四種不壞的信仰。四種是什麼？佛、法、僧、戒。然後說這個是不壞的，每一個人都有，哪一個人都不缺這四種。然後他解釋佛是什麼，是覺悟；法是軌持、功德；僧是和合；戒是解脫，這和盤托出清楚了。 然後那個法師說，「從今天開始，汝等靈魂，你們要相信，自心是佛，是法，是僧，是戒。盡未來際身不忘不失。」所以講不壞。就是說每一個人都有了。
待續
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Venerable Master, all Dharma Masters, all fellow cultivators:
We plan to discuss the Precepts for the Deceased tonight. This discussion will be brief, and we can discuss more when there is time in the future.
You should have a book on the ceremonial rites with a blue cover before you. This book is somewhat special. For the first time, there in one book are three different languages: Chinese, English, and Vietnamese. The little Shramaneras (novice monks) at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) spent who knows how many days, occasionally going without sleep, to bind these booklets, of which we printed several hundred. The text has been edited five or six times, adding the two other languages. You should therefore know that this is hard to come by.
Taking the Precepts for the Deceased is an act of great filial respect. People who recite the Earth Store Sutra ought to know this. We're here in the yang (positive energy) realm. Before people leave the yang realm and are in an in-between stage between this life and the next rebirth, their intermediate body could be at a number of places, all of which are called the underworld, the realm of King Yama. Sometimes King Yama does not immediately determine a soul's next rebirth, and so it remains in the underworld.
Living beings who have died as a result of an accident, a war, a plane crash, a shipwreck, being eaten by animals, or taking the wrong medicine, may not have had people develop merit and virtue for them. If we in the yang realm wish to create some merit and virtue for those who have died in these ways, we may cultivate this Dharma and dedicate our merit to them. This is the significance of the Precepts for the Deceased. We have to endure some discomfort, kneeling and bowing, in order to receive the Precepts for the Deceased, but the blessings and merit that we can dedicate to the deceased are immense. Receiving the Precepts for the Deceased is an act of filial respect, as well as compassion.
The very first time that the Venerable Master transmitted the Precepts for the Deceased at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) was more than twenty years ago. The Venerable Master first selected a Dharma name for the recipients. In all the transmissions he gave, whether in Taiwan, Malaysia, or the United States, he used the Chinese character "Fa" (Dharma) as the first character in the two-character Dharma-name, and this has become a tradition. All the souls that apply to receive the precepts during both transmissions of the Precepts for the Deceased this week will be named "Fa Ying" (Dharma Response). Each time I call out, "Say your Dharma name," you should respond, "Fa Ying and the other souls."
Please turn to the first page, and read along as you listen to me explain. Ceremonial rites are a tradition. Whoever has bowed to repent, taken refuge, or received the Five Precepts will recognize this ceremony. We first invite the Master. Once the Master arrives, we recite the Great Compassion Mantra, which is equivalent to purifying the boundaries. We then bow to the Buddhas, inviting Shakyamuni Buddha and all the Tathagathas here. We then invite the souls here.
A Dharma Master will tell you which board and which number your plaque is. This set up allows a large number of people to find their plaques and return to the places in an orderly fashion without wasting a lot of time. Please remember your number. Each person carries the plaque with both hands back to his or her spot and kneels. The Dharma Master then transmits the Precepts for the Deceased to the soul that you represent that day. The Precept Master then provide some instructions, explaining how one acquires the precept substance and realizes the merit of these precepts that are replete in one's inherent nature.
The next part is the repentance. Repentance is very important. Most people probably wouldn't even think of some of the offenses that we repent of, such as: killing our parents, shedding the Bud- dhas' blood, defiling the Sangharama, ruining others' Brahma conduct, burning and destroying temples and monasteries, stealing the property of the Sangha, harboring wrong views, denying cause and effect, drawing near unwholesome friends, disobeying good teachers, committing offenses ourselves and teaching others to do the same, and enjoying seeing and hearing such doings. You might say, "I haven't done any of these things. Why should I repent? Wouldn't that be lying?" That's not the intention here. The repen- tance is not limited to this lifetime. "I'm only twenty or thirty; I haven't had time to shed the Buddha's blood," you might protest. We don't want you to make up a story, saying, "Well, I shed the Buddha's blood when I knocked the Guanyin Bodhisattva statue over and the shoulder was damaged." If you did that, you can repent and vow not to do it again. But that's not the point here. You are representing the soul of a deceased person, such as your mother. Did your mother ever say to her mother (your grandmother), "I wish you were dead!" If she said that even once, she planted the seed for killing her parents. You must repent and endure discomfort on her behalf. Do you understand? These offenses have been committed in life after life. We can repent according to the Fourth Vow of Universal Worthy Bodhisattva's Ten Great Vows. He said, "If the offenses of one person had shape and form, space would not be able to contain them." Even one person's offenses would be too many! The repentance text is very deep and thorough. Everyone ought to repent most sincerely and wholeheartedly to create merit and virtue for the soul represented by the plaque that you carry.
Next, the Dharma Masters will transmit the Four Indestructible Kinds of Faith. What are they? They are faith in the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and the Precepts. No one lacks any of these. The Buddha is enlightenment. The Dharma is the set of rules and meritorious virtue, the Sangha signifies harmony, and the precepts provide liberation. The Dharma Master then says, "From today forward, you souls must believe that your mind is the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha and the precepts. Through endless time into the future, you must never forget that.
To be continued
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