丘居士，馬來西亞籍，娘家專門收購獵獲的山產動物；經清理工作後，再冰凍銷售到各地零售商。雖然這些動物不是自己直接殺死的，也是很嚴重的間接殺生共業。其中也有直接殺生的，是田雞；買現捉的活田雞，處理後再銷售。
當時尚未學佛，未聽聞過佛法，不知道家裡所犯的是殺生業。後來祖母住院，丘居士去照顧，結果自己感染了臨床病人的病菌而導致肺積水，接著接受一連串的肺結核測試、愛克斯光照射檢驗、藥物治療、醫療儀器治療等等。當時丘居士剛懷大女兒芝安一個月，所有醫生都建議拿掉孩子，否則這一連串的治療，會導致胎兒畸型。丘居士聽了心如刀割，情緒低落到極點，但仍決定保留胎兒，因為覺得只要是自己的骨肉，無論如何不健康，都應該負責照顧。
從此全家開始拜觀世音菩薩；想學佛，但在馬來西亞住處附近，要找正信佛教，甚至一尊佛像，都很不容易，更別說聽聞佛法了。後來從朋友處得到一些佛書，才慢慢瞭解佛教的義理；又向同事借得上人講解《楞嚴經》的錄音帶和〈上人事蹟〉的書研看。孩子生下來健康平安，歡喜之餘申請皈依上人。不久收到上人指示，叫早晚禮拜佛各兩小時，全家依教奉行虔誠禮拜；又收到上人簽名的皈依證，賜名果宜。
一九九二年，全家六口搬來萬佛聖城，跟隨上人修行佛法，並在城內學校擔任義務教師工作。如今大的一雙兒女已在聖城中學畢業，念大學了；小的一雙尚念中學，其中小兒子還出家為小沙彌，從此一家以聖城為家了。 |
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Upasika Hew is from Malaysia. Her family used to purchase animals from hunters, which they prepared and sold frozen to various stores. Although they did not personally kill the animals, they shared in the severe karma of indirect killing. Moreover, they were involved in the direct killing of frogs, which they bought live and killed and prepared for sale.
Uneducated in the teachings of the Buddha, Upasika Hew did not know that her family was creating killing karma. When she went to look after her hospitalized grandmother, she contracted germs from the patient next to her and came down with pulmonary edema, after which she underwent a series of tuberculosis tests, X-rays and medical treatments. All the doctors counseled Upasika Hew, then one month pregnant with her first daughter, Zhian, to have an abortion since her medical treatments might cause the baby to be abnormal. Their advice stabbed her heart and sent her into deep despair, yet she insisted on keeping her baby, for she felt obligated to take care of it no matter how unhealthy it might turn out to be.
Her entire family began to bow to Guanyin Bodhisattva. They wished to study Buddhism, but it was not easy to find orthodox Buddhism, or even a Buddha image, near their home in Malaysia, not to mention a place to hear the Dharma. Later, through Buddhist books given by friends, they began to understand the principles of Buddhism. A colleague lent them tapes of the Venerable Master's lectures on the Shurangama Mantra and the Master's biography. Upasika Hew gave birth to a healthy baby daughter, and in joy she applied to take refuge with the Master. She soon received the Master's instructions telling her to bow to the Buddhas for two hours every morning and evening. The whole family sincerely did so. She then received a Refuge Certificate signed by the Master, giving her the Dharma name Guo Yi.
In 1992, the family of six moved to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas (CTTB) to practice under the Venerable Master's guidance. She and her husband are volunteer teachers at the schools in CTTB. Her eldest son and daughter, both graduates of CTTB's schools, currently attend the University of the Pacific. Her two younger children are still in school, and her younger son is a novice monk. The City of Ten Thousand Buddhas is home to the whole family. |
