比丘尼恒音：果循是學梵文跟佛學的，多年來她都在法界佛教大學教梵文課。
果循：師父上人及同修們，我不知道你們有沒有過這種經驗，就是你坐在這裡，聽著一個非常好的開示，或者是講經，你就打了個妄想，說：「哦！我也有話要講。我也可以上來講一講。」
今晚我來聽經的時候剛好講到十波羅蜜，我說：「太可惜了！我如果準備了的話那更好了，可是我覺得還是很妙。」
對這個題目，我很謙恭的把我的感想講出來。記得很久以前，一次有人問上人，「什麼是智慧？」我覺得我很幸運可以認識上人這麼好一個善知識，因為上人每次都讓我感到很不可思議。在過去二十五年我認識上人的期間，每次我以為我知道上人會怎麼樣回答一個問題，或者怎麼樣面對一個情形，可是每一次上人都令我驚訝。他所答覆的，都是我想不到的。我可以看到他的見解又清楚又深遠，他的答覆就是完全針對那個問題，恰到好處。有人問上人什麼是智慧，我想：「哦！我知道這個答案，智慧就是般若prajna。Prajna是梵文，意思就是智慧。Jna就是知識的意思，jnana是一種世間的知識。譬如說知道怎麼樣修車子，怎麼樣考試，做一些世間的事情。」可是pra是向上的意思所以般若prajna是更高的，超世的，可以讓我們了生脫死的智慧，可以度過苦海到快樂的彼岸。
上人的答覆是什麼呢？他的答案說，智慧就是你總是知道你做什麼，說什麼是對的。我想：「哇！眞棒！因為我總是不知道應該做什麼才是對的。」上人是最好的一個例子，是有這種智慧的人，所以般若波羅蜜多，Paramita又是超過；「ita」這是從「i」的字根來的，是去的意思；「ita」是已經去了，所以「般若波羅」，是這個智慧已經去到彼岸。因為般苦就是彼岸，或者是另外一邊。如果你有這種智慧的話，我沒有，可是我看過有人有這種智慧，他們就可以明白最微細，最平常的事情，非常清楚。他們有這種明白，所以一件很普通的事就變成很微妙。
我想講一個故事，是我遇到上人，而且皈依之後。在一次暑期班那三個月，我就住在廟上。一天我母親來廟上看我，因為那時她只有到廟上來才能看到我。她進來時聽到了上人講法，她馬上就想要成為上人的弟子，所以她後來就皈依了，也吃素了。有一天她提出來她的一個問題，上人是很慈悲的，不管什麼小小的問題，只要是令人起了煩惱，上人都會用他的智慧來解決。我母親就問，因為我哥哥小時養了隻狗，哥哥長大去上大學了，這個狗現在已經很老了，又生病受種種苦，快死了，很可憐。我的媽媽就問，這個狗怎麼辦呢？想把牠送去安樂死，這樣子的話牠就不會受那麼多苦了。可是上人說：「你不要這樣做，你念大悲咒給牠。」
後來她念大悲咒。那對她也不是很容易的，她念了一天，或一個禮拜，我看到那個狗，很有信心地看著我媽媽，過了一個時期牠就往生了。
我不知道這樣做對這狗是不是對的，可是有另外一個結果，就是我媽媽從很年輕的時候就開始抽菸。她想戒可是沒辦法，她那時候已經四、五十歲了。可是她為了那隻狗念了大悲咒之後，結果她就戒掉菸了。因為她還不很老，戒菸是對她有益處的。其他有一些親戚因為抽菸得了肺癌而死的，而她戒了菸，沒有得肺癌，到現在還很健康。我肯定是上人叫她為狗念大悲咒，所以她才得以戒掉菸的。
時間快到了，我再講最後一句，我記得上人有一次說：「你只要有一個法門，就夠了，以這個法門就可以修成了，那就是忍辱的法門。」謝謝大家忍耐我講的。阿彌陀佛！ |
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Bhikshuni Heng Yin: Barbara has been teaching Sanskrit and Buddhism for many years at Dharma Realm Buddhist University.
Upasika Waugh: The Venerable Master, the honored Sangha, and cultivators, I don't know if any of you have ever had any of this kind of experience, but, one day you're sitting there listening to a wonderful Dharma lecture, and you have this false thought. The false thought is, "Gosh, I've got things to say. I could do that. Why don't they ask me?"...
When I came to listen to the lecture tonight, it was talking about the ten pāramitā. As it turns out, I was thinking about this topic and have some humble thoughts. I remember once that the Venerable Master was asked the question, "What is wisdom?" I feel very lucky to have encountered the Venerable Master because it's just very fortunate to encounter a good knowing advisor. He would always amaze me because, throughout the time I've known him, about twenty-five years, I would usually try to anticipate how he would respond to a certain situation or answer a certain question that somebody had, but I was always surprised because he would always see so much more clearly and so much more deeply than I could. And his answers were always right on and beyond anything that I could see.
So somebody asked him, "What is wisdom?" I thought, "Well, that's great. Wisdom. That's prajñā. Prajñā isSanskrit. Jñā means "know." There's jñāna, which is ordinary knowledge that let's you know how to fix your car or let's you know how to do well on an exam or at school. It's basic, every day kind of knowledge which is valuable. But pra means onward, so prajñā is higher knowledge, transcendent knowledge; it's not ordinary, mundane knowledge.
It's knowledge that allows you to end birth and death. It's knowledge that allows you to cross over suffering and to bliss.
What did the Venerable Master say in answer to this question? He said, "Wisdom is always knowing in any given situation what the right thing is to do or say." I thought, "Wow, that is fantastic."
That is a really good explanation because basically that's what I never know. And basically the Venerable Master is a wonderful example of that. Pāramitā, as you may know, means "to go beyond," or "gone beyond." comes from the root -i- which means "go." When you add the ending -tā on to it, it means "gone." Pāra means "the other side, the other shore." So that's wisdom that has "gone beyond." It's really amazing because if you have this kind of wisdom, which I have never had, but have witnessed, then you can understand the smallest, most ordinary things very clearly.
Let me tell a story as an example of that. After I had met the Venerable Master and had taken refuge, my mother came to the temple one night. This was during a summer session. I had been there for three months. The only way that she could see me was to come. She heard the Venerable Master speak and immediately wanted to become a disciple. She became a vegetarian and took refuge. One day, she brought up a problem that she was having to the Venerable Master. He was always very kind, and no matter how insignificant the problem was to somebody else, he would try to shed some light on it. He would have compassion and help that person.
The question was that my brother had a dog when he was a child and now that my brother had grown up and gone to school, this dog was very old and very sick. He was obviously dying, and it was very pitiful to watch. When my mother came to Shifu [the Master] and said, "What should I do? I think I should put this dog to sleep; that would be painless and it would end its suffering quickly. Maybe that would be the best thing. What should I do?" Shifu said, "Don't do that; recite the Great Compassion Mantra for the dog." It wasn't easy for my mother, but she did it. I'm not sure how long, if it was a day, a few days, or a week. My mother would recite and the dog would look up at her with great trust, not complaining at all. Finally the dog passed on.
So was that the right thing to do? I didn't know. But as a result of this, my mother, who had begun smoking since she was very young and hadn't been able to stop, stopped smoking. At that time, she was middle age, maybe in her 40's or 50's. It wasn't too late for her to stop smoking and gain some benefit from it. She wanted to, but she hadn't been able to. But after reciting the Great Compassion Mantra for the dog, she was able to stop smoking. A number of her relatives who had smoked had died from lung cancer since that time, but she didn't get lung cancer. She's still pretty healthy. I'm sure that the advice that the Venerable Master gave her not only benefited the dog, but it also saved her life.
The time's pretty much up, but there's just one thing I remember the Venerable Master once said, "If you only have one dharma, that's really all you need. If you can cultivate that one dharma to success, that's all you need." He said that dharma is being patient. So thank you for being patient with me. Amitabha! |
