我今年77，屬牛，我17、8歲時，那時還是「偽滿」時期（編按：即「滿洲國」。1931年「九•一八」事變後，日本政府挾持遜清宣統帝溥儀至東北組織傀儡政權，政府設於長春，隨1945年抗日勝利後結束），就常聽到白孝子 - - 那時人都稱上人白孝子 - - 及王孝子的名字。那時我們家住東北黑龍江省（當時叫吉林省）哈爾濱市東井子屯（「豚」音），住的是漢人；三緣寺在哈爾濱市雙城縣正黃旗第四屯，就叫四屯。正黃旗一共五個屯，住的是滿人。我住那房裡北牆窗外有口井，鄉下人吃完晚飯沒事幹，就聚在井邊舂殼子聊天，可熱鬧了！我在房裡常聽見外面人講王孝子和白孝子怎麼怎麼守墳，挺有趣的，還有他們要修三緣寺的事。可我只能在屋裡聽，不能出去，因為我是女孩兒，外頭聊天的都是男人，出去我媽會罵我，那年頭就那樣。在屋裡聽多了我就常想，我要是能拜他們做師父，那該多好呢！我這麼白天黑天老想著，想了有半年吧，一天中午我媽跑進房跟我說，「外頭來了兩個和尚，已經進屋來了。」我心想該不會是白孝子、王孝子吧？我出房一看，一個很年輕，很高很瘦，穿得很破爛，鞋也破爛；另外一個年紀很大，有八十來歲吧，不高，像我的個兒，臉上還有幾點白麻子，穿的也陳舊，不過不破爛得那麼厲害。我爹那時不在家，他不用做工，我們是「小富農」，雇人做。那天他在外頭閒逛，我趕忙出去找了他回來。他進門看見兩個和尚，迎上去問：
「哪來的？」
「四屯。」
「貴姓？」
「姓王。」
「姓白。」
一聽四屯，我就知道一定是三緣寺來的了；再一聽姓，那必定是王孝子、白孝子他們了。我爹趕忙磕頭頂禮，讓座奉茶，陪著談話，又留飯，我媽跟我嫂子烙的餅。記得他們那天談的是三緣寺修建的情形，也講了佛法，白孝子講的多，王孝子很少話。回去時，我爹又讓我哥套車（馬車）送他們回去 ，我們家養了兩匹馬。
我成日想見白孝子、王孝子，現在見著了，我樂得不知怎好，喜孜孜趕忙跑屋外告訴去，左鄰右舍我都去叫，「白孝子、王孝子來了，就在我們家呢！不來看看？」陸陸續續來了好多人，在我們家進進出出的我高興極了。那次我沒和白孝子、王孝子講上話--不敢講，沒資格講，大人講話孩子不准插嘴。
以後上人就常來看我們，有時也住我們家，多半只住—、兩宿，頂多三宿；每次來就給人講法、治病，左鄰右舍的人都上我們家來聽法。上人要是隔久了沒來，人都會上我們家問，「白孝子來沒來？來沒來？」那時候兒人都管上人叫白孝子，後來皈依了才叫師父。常仁大師以後只來過兩次吧，他很少出門，也不收皈依弟子。 上人來我們家時，好幾回還帶著兩個小童子徒弟一塊兒來，每次都是那兩個。有一回上人帶了白布來，讓我給那兩個小徒弟做布衫（小褂）、褲子。我找了王慕純一塊兒做，我們一人做一套。王慕純後來和我一塊兒跟上人出家的。上人自己永遠都是穿著那套破衣服爛鞋子。幾次有人供養新衣新鞋給上人，上人收下了，可下次來還是穿那身破衣爛鞋，新衣新鞋上人一回廟上就給了人。
「九•一八」事變時（編按：又稱瀋陽事變。1931年9月18日晚，日本關東軍在瀋陽城，北門外柳條溝附近炸破南滿鐵路，開啟東北戰端，導致中日及太平洋戰爭。）我七、八歲，我爹給了我一張畫像，我也不知道是誰，只當是聖人，每天燒香禮拜。那時候兒沒電燈，點豆油燈，冒黑煙，久了就把那張聖人像給熏黑了。
一天上人又上我們家，叫我把那像拿下來。我就問是哪個聖人，上人說是釋迦牟尼佛；拿下來上人就升了（燒了），灰也帶走了，跟我說再來時會給我佛像。上人再來時給了我一尊銅像，是觀音菩薩，有我手那麼長，我也是天天拜。那時不懂，只知道拿好魚好肉供上，上人叫供素的，以後就改供素的了。
上人第二次來我們家，我們全家就皈依了。那時我還沒上過廟呢，只小時上過娘娘廟，是老道的廟，離我們家18里路。每年（農曆）4月18我跟另外一個小姑娘去，走18里路帶著乾糧，因為我媽不給我錢，一分也不給；在路上也不好意思吃，怕人笑話沒錢到舖裡買東西吃，所以到了廟上找個角落躲著吃。後來我大點兒，我爹就給我錢到舖裡買東西吃了。
我們到那娘娘廟看什麼呢？那時候兒家裡有孩子的，怕孩子長不大，就到娘娘廟上給孩子求平安。是男孩，在家換上黃衣黃帽，騎著驢子上廟；到了廟門口，男孩轉身面朝驢尾坐，背著身進門。進門後，老道給唸「喜詞」，唸完男孩脫了黃衣黃帽留在廟裡，人騎著驢子回家去。那留在廟裡的黃衣黃帽就算是男孩的替身，真身回去就平安了。是女孩，就在廟院子裡由矮凳上跳過，跳時老道拿個棒子在女孩頭上敲一下，口念喜詞，「快跑，快跑，白頭到老。」從此這女孩就可以平安長大了。
還有其他的喜詞，別的花樣，現在都記不清楚了，我們瞅夠了才回家。鄉下地方沒什麼好玩的，這就算玩兒了。
那時上人上我們家時，附近人家有生病的就讓我去告訴一聲，他們就過來請上人家去看病。
記得一次我一個表哥的女兒病了。她叫李貴英，小名叫小銀子，我表哥叫李海官。
她怎的呢？她那時七歲，一天馬毛了（發脾氣奔跑），前爪從她頭上躍過，後爪也從她頭上躍過，一點沒碰著她，可她生病了。大概是受驚嚇，嚇出病來，中西醫都看不好，說沒病。
她什麼病呢？她一睡下就要起來，起來就要往上爬，不管樹上桿子上，她就要往上爬。她小嘛爬不上，家裏怕她跌倒，就按著她不讓爬。剛閉眼，忽又爬起來，剛閉眼，忽又爬起來；她不能睡，別人也不能睡，就這樣。
一天上人上我們家，我就告訴去，我們住一個屯。我表哥過來請上人家去，上人在他家住了兩宿，小銀子就好了，不再犯了。我表哥說上人念了不知是什麼咒治好的，我知道是念大悲咒。
小銀子長到十七、八病又犯了。這回按不住了，因為她大了，犯病時力氣還特別大。醫生也看不好，上人已經走了，她媽找了跳神的來家跳神，她還犯。跳神的在這邊跳 ，她在那邊跳，還尿褲。
我表哥一晚夢見上人，就對上人說，「小銀子又犯啦，治不好。怎辦呢，您又不在？」上人說，「讓她喝鹹鹽嘛。」
第二天我表哥走來跟我講--我表哥比我大一旬（12歲），他屬牛，我也屬牛--說是，「上人叫喝鹹鹽，鹹鹽怎能治病呢？」我說你別管那麼多，就試試唄。我們那時吃的是粗鹽，他就（手字邊＋幹）擀碎了，放一小碟在床頭。下次小銀子又犯時，他就拿些鹽放她嘴裡，再灌點水，她就好了。
以後再犯再灌，慢慢程度減輕，她知道自己要犯了，自己就會拿鹽巴吃了。後來小銀子全好了，不犯了，結了婚還生了一幫孩子，一家都搬陝西去了。我表哥也去了，我表哥就她一個孩子。
待續
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I am 77 this year, and my Chinese zodiac sign is the ox. When I was seventeen or eighteen, it was the period of the false "Manchukuo." [Editor's note: After the Mukden Incident on September 18, 1931, the Japanese government set up a puppet state in Manchuria and installed the deposed Qing Emperor Xuantong (Pu Yi) as its puppet ruler. The government was based in the city of Changchun until its power ended with the Chinese victory in the Sino-Japanese war in 1945.] At that time I often heard about Filial Son Bai (which is how people referred to the Venerable Master) and Filial Son Wang. My family lived in a Han area called Eastern Well (Dongjing) Village, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province (then called Jilin Province). Three Conditions (Sanyuan) Monastery was in the fourth village of Zhenhuangqi (Yellow Flag), Shuangcheng County, Harbin. Zhenhuangqi had five villages in all and was inhabited by Manchurians.
There was a well outside the north window of the house where I lived. After dinner the villagers would gather by the well to chat, creating quite a hubbub. From inside the house, I was always fascinated to hear them talking about how Filial Son Wang and Filial Son Bai stayed by their parents' graves. I also heard about the Filial Sons' project of renovating Three Conditions Monastery. However, I could only listen from inside the house. I was not allowed to go outside since I was a girl. All the people at the well were men, and if I went there my mother would scold me. That's how it was in those days.
After hearing constantly about the Filial Sons, I often thought how fine it would be if I could bow to them and take them as my teachers. This thought stayed with me day and night for about half a year. Then, one afternoon, my mother came running into my room to tell me, "Two monks have arrived. They've already come inside." I wondered, "It couldn't be Filial Son Bai and Filial Son Wang, could it?" I went out of the room to take a look. One monk was very young, tall, and thin, and his clothes and shoes were very tattered. The other was quite elderly, probably in his eighties, not too tall, about my height, and he had some pockmarks on his face. His clothes were also quite worn, but not as tattered as the other one's. My father happened to be out of the house. He didn't have to work in the field, as we were "farmers of means" and had hired hands to do the work. My father was walking about in the streets that day. I rushed out to find him and call him home. When my father came in the door and saw the two monks, he quickly went up to greet them and asked, "Where are you from?"
"The fourth village."
"Your surnames?"
"Wang."
"Bai."
As soon as I heard "the fourth village," I knew they were from Three Conditions Monastery. When I heard their surnames, I knew they had to be Filial Son Wang and Filial Son Bai. My father hastened to bow and make prostrations, invited them to take a seat and have tea, and made conversation with them. He also invited them to stay for lunch. My mother and my sister-in-law made wheat cakes. As I recall, they talked about the renovation of Three Conditions Monastery and also discussed the Buddhadharma. Filial Son Bai did most of the talking, while Filial Son Wang spoke very little. When it was time to go, my father had my brother ready the horse carriage to take them home. We kept two horses at home.
I had been wishing constantly to meet Filial Son Bai and Filial Son Wang, and now I had met them! I was so happy I didn't know what to do with myself. Ecstatically I ran out of the house to announce the news to our neighbors. I went from house to house calling, "Filial Son Bai and Filial Son Wang have come to our house! Come and see!" Pretty soon many people were coming in and out of our house. I was overjoyed. I didn't get to talk with the Filial Sons that time—I didn't dare to, because it wasn't my place. When the adults were talking, children could not interrupt.
Later on the Venerable Master would visit us frequently and would sometimes stay at our house, mostly for one or two nights, never more than three nights. Each time he came he would explain the Dharma to people and cure those who were sick. The villagers came to listen to Dharma at our house. If the Venerable Master did not come for a long time, people would come to our house and ask, "Has Filial Son Bai come yet?" Everyone called the Venerable Master "Filial Son Bai" back then. Later, after they took refuge, they would call him "Shifu" (Teacher). Great Master Changren (Filial Son Wang) only came back twice. He seldom left the monastery and did not take disciples.
Sometimes the Master would bring two young boy disciples with him. It was always the same two boys. One time the Master brought white cloth and asked me to make white shirts and pants for them. I found another girl in the village—Wang Mucun to work with me. We each made one set. She and I later both left the home life together with the Venerable Master. The Venerable Master always wore the same tattered robes and pair of shoes. Several times people presented new clothes and shoes to the Venerable Master, and the Venerable Master accepted them, but the next time he came he would still be wearing his old robe and shoes. He would give the new clothes and shoes to others as soon as he got back to the monastery.
Around the time of the Mukden Incident [Editor's note: Also known as the Shenyang Incident, it took place on September 18, 1931, when the Japanese Guandong Army blasted the Southern Manchuria Railroad near the Liutiao Trench outside the northern gate of Shenyang city, thereby initiating the war in Manchuria that would lead to the Sino-Japanese and the Pacific wars of World War II], when I was seven or eight years old, my father gave me a picture. I didn't know who the person in the picture was, but I treated him as a sage and lighted incense and bowed to him daily. We didn't have electric lamps in those days, and we used soybean-oil lamps, which would give off black smoke. After a while the picture became black from the smoke.
One day the Venerable Master came to our house again, and directed me to take the picture down. I asked him which sage it was, and the Master told me it was Shakyamuni Buddha. After I took it down, the Master burned it and took the ashes with him. He said he would bring me a Buddhist image the next time he came. On his next visit, the Master gave me a bronze image of Guanyin Bodhisattva. It was as long as my hand, and I bowed to it daily. At that time I didn't know any better, and so I would make offerings of fine fish and meat dishes. The Master told me to make vegetarian offerings, and so from then on I made only vegetarian offerings.
The second time the Venerable Master came, our whole family took refuge with him. I had never been to a Buddhist temple before; when I was little I had only been to a Taoist temple called Temple of the Goddess 18 li [about 6 miles] from home. On the 18th of the 4th lunar month every year, I would go there with another girl, walking 18 li and bringing our own lunch, since my mother would not give us any money—not even a cent. Since we were embarrassed to eat on the road, thinking people would laugh at us for not having money to buy food from the shops, we would wait till we got to the temple and then hide in a corner and eat our food. Later when I was a little older, my Dad would give me money to buy food from the shops.
What did we do at the Taoist temple? In those days when families were afraid that their children would not grow up, they would go to the temple to pray for the children's welfare. If it was a boy, they would dress him up in yellow clothes and a yellow cap, and he would ride a donkey to the temple. At the temple door, he would turn around and sit facing the donkey's tail and ride into the temple that way. Inside the door, the Taoist priest would recite blessings. Then the boy would take off the yellow clothes and cap, and leave them at the temple, riding the donkey home. The yellow clothes and cap in the temple represented the boy's substitute self, and his real self could go home and be well. If it was a girl, she would jump over a low bench in the temple courtyard. As she was jumping, the Taoist priest would tap her on the head with a stick and recite a blessing, "Run fast, run fast, till you are white-haired in your old age." From then on the girl's life would be smooth and she would grow to adulthood.
There were other blessings and rituals, but I don't remember them now. We wouldn't go home until we had seen enough. There were not many amusements in the countryside, and watching the Taoist rituals was our way of having fun.
Neighbors who had sick people at home would want me to inform them when the Venerable Master came to our house. Then they would come and ask the Master to go to their homes to cure their ill ones.
I recall once the daughter of one of my cousins was ill. Her name was Li Guiying, and her nickname was Little Silver. My cousin's name was Li Haiguan. Little Silver was seven years old. One day a horse had a fit of temper and jumped over her, its front and rear hoofs clearing her head without touching her. After that, however, she got sick. Her sickness probably had something to do with the shock that the experience gave her. Neither Chinese nor Western doctors could help her; they said she was not ill.
Her illness was such that as soon as she lay down to sleep, she would get back up and try to climb on something. It could be anything—a tree, a pole—as long as she could climb. Since she was little, her family was afraid she would fall, so they would hold her down and not let her climb. She would start to sleep, then get up; start to sleep, then get up again. She could not sleep, and neither could anyone else.
One day when the Master came to our house, I went to tell my cousin, for we lived in the same village. My cousin came over to invite the Master to his house. After the Master stayed two nights in his house, Little Silver got well and no longer relapsed. My cousin said the Master recited some mantra to cure her; I know it was the Great Compassion Mantra.
Little Silver had a relapse when she was seventeen or eighteen. There was no way to hold her down then, for she was too big and especially strong when she was sick. The doctors had no success in treating her, and the Master had already left Manchuria. Her mother asked a medium to come to her house to exorcise the spirit, but Little Silver did not get better. As the medium danced, she also danced and even wet her pants.
One night my cousin saw the Venerable Master in his dream and told him, "Little Silver has had a relapse and you aren't here. What should I do?" The Master replied, "Let her drink salt water."
The next day my cousin came and told me. He was twelve years older than me. He was an ox (his zodiac sign), and so was I. He said, "The Master said to drink salt water. How can that cure her?" I said, "Don't worry so much, just try it." What we ate was coarse salt in those days, so he ground the salt and put it on a small dish by the bed. The next time Little Silver had a relapse, he put some salt in her mouth and added water. She got well.
He would give her salt water each time she relapsed, and gradually her relapses became less severe. When she felt a relapse coming on, she would eat the salt herself. Eventually she was completely cured and had no more relapses. She got married and had many children. Her family moved to Shanxi Province, and my cousin went with them, since she was his only child.
To be continued |
