 諸位法師、各位同修：晚安！
我叫法蘭西斯，出生夏威夷。出生後我常隨母親（來自臺灣）到佛寺去，很奇怪，從小我就沒法安靜地坐著。經行繞念時，我沒法跟著大家一起繞念，現在可以了。
我十四歲時父親往生，自己也迷失了好一陣子，交了很不好的朋友，不再和母親去佛寺了。每晚我和朋友出去吸大麻、喝酒。我明知這樣不對，但是沒有辦法；朋友做什麼，我就跟著做。我母親那陣子認為已經失掉了她的兒子，但是還對我抱著希望。
十七歲那年我開始改過，回佛寺去懺悔，法師把我罵了一頓，我知道我該捱罵的。雖然我改了很多，但晚上我還是出去開快車，時速 120哩；我不怕死，什麼也不怕。雖然這樣，我還是早一年高中畢業，十七歲就上了大學。大學時我賣珠寶賺了很多錢，但不知為什麼我就是不快樂。我知道每晚出去在公路上飇車是不對的，違規犯法。我也嘗試不同的娛樂活動，譬如跳舞，打撞球等等娛樂，但是我還是不快樂。
一天，我阿姨寄給我一卷錄影帶，關於萬佛聖城的。收到時我覺得，「這是啥？」扔在一邊根本不想看。幾天後，因為沒事我就放出來看看，看得我目不瞬睛，不曉得在美國有這樣的地方！我看了好幾遍，那時就想到萬佛城來參訪。有一天我在夏威夷的佛寺看到一本書，上人寫的。讀完後我決定來萬佛城，果然我現在就來了。
我在這裡已經兩個月了，心情很平靜，很喜歡這兒，決定留下上法界佛教大學。為什麼呢？因為我從小就是佛教徒，但不瞭解佛教，我計劃好好研究佛法。雖然佛經和咒的每個字我都認得，但意義不瞭解。我也希望深入經藏，並進一步能夠翻成英文。
我非常喜歡在這兒工作、參加法會，對我是新經驗。我覺得每個人都應該經驗一下。如果每一個人都能參加這樣的法會我相信世界和平就有望了。阿彌陀佛！ |
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All Dharma Masters and fellow cultivators: Good evening!
My name is Francis. I was born in Hawaii. Ever since I was born I've been going to a Buddhist temple with my mother who is from Taiwan. It was strange, when I was a child I could never sit still and do any recitation, not even the walking recitation. But now I can sit here or stand here and do recitation without any problem.
When I was 14 my father passed away and I lost myself for awhile. I made new and very bad friends. I stopped going to the temple with my mother. I went out every night and partied and smoked marijuana and drank alcohol. I knew it was wrong to do this. I just followed the crowd and did what they did. For awhile my mother thought she had lost her son, but she still had hope for me.
At 17 I started to return to my normal self. I went back to the Buddhist temple and repented. I was scolded very sorely by my Master but I knew I deserved it. But even though I changed, I would still go out at night and race on the freeway at about 120 miles per hour. I didn't fear my death or anybody else's. I graduated a year early from high school and attended college at the age of seventeen. During college I was a jeweler and made a lot of money, but I was still not happy. I didn't know why. I tried not to go out every night after school because I knew it was wrong. I was breaking the law racing at night on the freeway. I tried new things like going to dance club and playing pool and darts with people, but that still didn't make me happy.
One day my aunt sent me videotapes about this temple. When I got it I looked at the tape and said, "What is this?" and I threw it aside. Several days later when I had nothing to do, I watched it. And when I watched I could not take my eyes off it. I did not know such places existed in America. And I was truly amazed. After the videotape was over I would replay it over and over and I started thinking that I would like to go to this place. One day I found a book that was written by Venerable Master Hua at a temple in Hawaii. After I read this book I knew I wanted to go there. And now I am here.
I've been here about two months. I found that during these two months my mind is calm and I really like it here. Now I want to stay here to attend the Buddhist University. Why do I want to study at the Buddhist University? I've been a Buddhist for my whole life, but I have not really truly understood my own religion. So my plan is to really investigate Buddhism, even the Sutras and Mantras. I understand what the words mean, but I do not understand the meaning as to why they were there. I was also hoping to study the Sutras to the point of being able to understand them and translate them into English like the translators do here.
I enjoy staying here working and doing the ceremonies. It is something I never experienced before in my life. I think every person should at least experience this once. If everyone experiences this, there will be world peace. Amitabha. |
