怎麼說呢？第一次在萬佛城傳授幽冥戒是在1987年，水陸空大法會功德圓滿那一天。那時有一位女居士，臺灣板橋來的，是從事殺雞殺鴨的行業，所有臺北市、板橋的這些餐館都是向她家買雞鴨，去做紅燒雞鴨什麼的，所以她的殺業太重了，殺了太多的雞鴨。結果怎麼樣？她睡不著覺，晚上做夢這些雞鴨來啄她。她眼睛下面有很多黑影，因為睡不著覺，所以她說，「師父！師父！怎麼辦呢？」上人就說，「那妳就要醒醒啊！妳可以求授幽冥戒。」她說，「什麼叫幽冥戒？師父。」上人說，「Don't worry！你們放心好了。我們可以試一試，但是要誠心。」然後上人告訴我們出家眾怎麼行這個法門，幽冥戒多半是晚上傳的，如果可能的話。所以我們第二天就照樣做了，這個境界眞是非常非常感人的。
那麼，第二天大家在剛剛建好的五觀齋堂臺階上準備拍全體照；眞禪法師在那兒，明暘法師、明哲法師很多大德都在那兒。那位女居士拍完了照之後就過來了，上人說，「怎麼樣啊？那些雞鴨超度了多少？」她說，「師父，我看到很多雞鴨離開我飛走了；飛走了很多。」上人說，「沒有完全飛走，在妳那兒的還很多。妳殺得太多了，妳明白嗎？妳恐怕還要誠心一點啊！妳要精進啊！」
又有一個人在那兒說，「師父，在授戒的時候，我看到在空中很多人來了，他們好像穿著古代的衣服，好像不是普通人的衣服，這些衣服都是古代的人穿的。他們的首飾金銀珠寶太多了。還有奇怪的是，師父！他們手裡拿著他們的頭，被斬頭了，有好幾千，太多了，好可怕啊！是怎麼一回事？」上人說，「是怎麼一回事？他們講的是什麼語言啊？」「誰知道啊？好像是法國話。」那大家都知道了，這個幽冥戒是怎麼一回事了。
你捧這個牌位，請那個靈魂從幽冥界那兒來接受你為他修的功德。因為那個光明的關係，同時有很多很多因災難而死，可憐孤獨的靈魂，他們也在那兒蒙受到這個功德，接受那個光明，所以這個效果很大。上人說，「誰知道說法國話，被斬頭的一大堆人？誰知道嗎？」有人說，「是不是法國大革命時那個路易王和他的皇后皇妃們呢？」上人說，「應該是的吧！沒有人為他們做功德。他們在幽冥界幾百年了。是不是？」大家都覺得莫名其妙，難道法國這些集體斬頭的貴族，這十八世紀的事，他們死了在幽冥界幽遊，等萬佛城傳幽冥戒他們才得度的？是有可能，我也不知道，不過這是我親耳聽到的故事，不可思議！所以大家不要吝嗇自己的誠心來求授幽冥戒，這個妙用是非常非常之妙的。
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上人語錄
※修行要天天保待像個秤似的，平衡下來。怎麼叫平衡下來？就是時時都要平平靜靜的，自性一點波浪也及有，這就是煩惱即菩提，生死即涅槃。
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Why do I say that? The first transmission of the Precepts for the Deceased took place at the CTTB in 1987, at the conclusion of the Great Water, Land and Air Dharma Assembly. One laywoman from Banqiao, Taiwan was in the profession of slaughtering chickens and ducks. All the restaurants in Banqiao and Taipei purchased chickens and ducks from her family. Therefore, her karma of killing was extremely heavy, for she had killed so many chickens and ducks. She had dreams of chickens and ducks pecking at her. She had dark circles around her eyes and couldn't sleep at night. She asked the Venerable Master what to do. The Venerable Master said, "You have to wake up. You may request to receive the Precepts for the Deceased." She asked, "What are they?" The Venerable Master answered, "Don't worry! We'll try it. You just be sincere." Then the Venerable Master told us Sangha members to organize this ceremony. The Precepts for the Deceased are typically transmitted at night and the ceremony is very, very moving.
After everyone, including Dharma Master Zhengchan, Dharma Master Mingyang, Dharma Master Mingzhe, and many other virtuous ones, took a group picture on the steps of the newly constructed Five Contemplations Dining Hall, that laywoman came over. The Venerable Master asked her, "Well? How many chickens and ducks were liberated?" She said, "Venerable Master, I saw lots of chickens and ducks fly away from me." The Venerable Master said, "Not all of them have fled. You still have a lot. You have killed too much. Do you understand? You might have to be more sincere! Be more diligent!"
Another individual said, "Venerable Master, I saw lots of people in the air while you transmitted the precepts. They were wearing clothes from an ancient era. Their attire was not that of commoners. They wore lots of jewelry. What was strange was that each one was holding a chopped off head in his or her hands. There were several thousand of them. It was very scary! What was that all about?" The Venerable Master answered, "Yes, what was that all about? What language did they speak?" The person said, "They seemed to be speaking French." What happens with the Precepts for the Deceased is that you invite a particular member of the underworld by carrying a plaque with his or her name on it.
The deceased individual so named comes to receive the merit and virtue that you have cultivated for him or her. The brilliance from that merit and virtue also shines upon some poor, lonely souls. That results are significant. The Venerable Master then said, "Does anyone know who that group of French-speaking people were?" Someone said, "Are they King Louis and his queen during the time of the French Revolution?" The Venerable Master said, "Probably. No one had done any merit and virtue for them all this time. They had been in purgatory for several hundred years." Everyone was at a loss. That group of aristocrats had been massacred in eighteenth century France and had been roaming the underworld since their deaths. Could it be that they were rescued from the underworld only now, with the transmission of Precepts for the Deceased at the CTTB? That's a possibility. I don't know either. But I heard this conversation with my own ears. It's truly inconceivable.
Hence, no one must be stingy. Since you have come to request the Precepts for the Deceased with sincerity, the wondrous functionsare very, very wonderful indeed. For this reason, whenever a Buddhist requests the Precepts for the Deceased at a location that
has been struck by natural or man-made disasters, the precept transmission turns the bad energy in the universe into proper and efficacious energy.
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Venerable Master's Dharma Words
In our daily cultivation, we should maintain an attitude of calm equanimity, meaning we should be placid and serene at all times, without any ripples or waves in our natures. That's what's meant by "afflictions are bodhi" and "birth and death are nirvana." |
