 各位法師、各位善知識，大家阿彌陀佛！
我是陳果琦，今晚實在惶恐，不知該說什麼；講佛法嘛，才疏學淺，所以就將個人的學佛因緣，簡單報告一下。
一九九二年夏，可以說是個人人生的轉捩點。在這之前，佛教我根本不懂；佛菩薩是誰，也概念模糊，所謂信仰，也是佛道不分的拜拜而已。臺北有座行天宮，供奉關聖帝君，就是佛教裡的伽藍菩薩。那裡香火鼎盛，靈感事蹟不少，我有空也去拜拜，祈福求平安；廟裡有很多結緣善書，我每次去也會翻翻。
一次我正找著看著，一位中年婦人走過來說，「這裡很多是經書，廟上因為送來的書多了，過段時間後就拿去燒掉。這是不對的，佛書是不能燒的。」說著說著她就從書堆裡把佛教經書挑了出來。她又拿出了一卷錄音帶，說是一位宣化上人講的，有興趣的話可以拿回家去聽一聽。「好吧！」我收下了。接著她又說，「上人有個道場，在忠孝東路底，忠孝醫院對面大樓裡，有空可以去看看。」當時我也沒在意，應付一下就走開了。
在回家路上，我把這卷錄音帶放出來聽，覺得很有意思。那卷錄音帶好像叫「正法的震撼」。我那時心中就想更進一步去瞭解這位在美國教化弟子的老和尚，於是開車前去那位婦人所說的道場。當時雖然找到了一棟大樓，但在樓底指示牌上卻沒有佛教道場的名字。我就作罷了。
過了一段時間，一位朋友跟我提起宣公上人講的《六祖壇經》，說你看一看，可以解開你心中很多問題。哦！宣公上人？前一陣子不正聽過那位老和尚講的錄音帶嗎？於是乎我就跟這位朋友要了地址去請這本書。到了那棟大樓一看，正是上次過門未入的大樓。
第一次到上人道場「法界佛教印經會」，看到的佛像好像真人似的，在中央端然正坐，一動不動，莊嚴肅穆；進去後沒人招呼，但是我喜歡這樣的氣氛。當時請了《六祖壇經》，及一本《上人開示錄》。回到家迫不及待把上人講的《六祖壇經》，一晚很快看完，心中有些理路確實打開了，很多道理也好像懂了一點。又把上人的《開示錄》拿出來，越看越有味道。心想，這世界上還真有這樣一個講真話的人，實在稀有！書上有些地方說的不正是自己的習氣毛病嗎？就這樣，也一晚看完這本《開示錄》
過幾天又到「法界」去把所有《上人開示錄》，一到六冊全請了回去，用了一個禮拜，在下班後一口氣全部看完。
那時看上人的書，真看得很貪心。為什麼呢？聽說想開悟就要讀《楞嚴經》，於是把《楞嚴經》請回去：又聽說成佛就要讀《法華經》，又請了《法華經》，看看成佛是怎麼個樣子；聽說想知道佛教的富貴就要讀《華嚴經》，於是又去請了一部《華嚴經》來誦一遍，想探究一下佛教的富貴到底是怎麼一回事。
我第一次讀《華嚴經》，好像讀天書一樣，不懂，只覺得裡面好像蘊藏著無盡重重，重重無盡的深意，但是卻無法理解；讀《法華經》呢，好像看寓言故事一樣；讀《楞嚴經》就好像在看這個世界生命的形成及宇宙的大秘密一樣。我想，那時候我讀經最大的收穫就是把雙腿學得盤起來了。又聽說皈依上人要背會（楞嚴咒），於是又開始努力背咒；又聽說要成為上人真正的皈依弟子，就要拜一萬拜，於是趕緊利用空閒的時間拜了起來。
第一次見到上人是在一九九三年元月初，在臺灣板橋的臺北體育館所舉行的法會上。以後我盡量利用週末，到臺北「法界」」去共修學習；時間久了《楞嚴咒》會背了，陸陸續續也拜了五千拜。終於在一九九五年三月成了上人最後一批在臺皈依的弟子。
記得一次在路旁等公車時，也是突然有一位婦人，騎著機車在我面前停了下來，在路中間撿起一根木頭移到路旁，跟我說，「年輕人，我每次看到馬路上有木頭或者石塊，就把它撿到路旁去。因為那是很危險的，要是有人騎車不小心，碰到會翻車受傷。這樣做比你拿香拜拜還有效啦！」
佛教裡的信仰是完全從自己的經驗中得來的。佛並不能給你，也不是從佛口說的，是必須自己去研究實踐。理上的瞭解，我們可以知道得很深，但事上的實踐，我們卻往往做不到。我想，佛法並不是由高深玄奧的地方開始，而是在日常生活中點點滴滴處著手。所謂「萬丈高樓從地起，低處下手高處成。」大概就是這個道理吧！阿彌陀佛！ |
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Dharma Masters, good advisors, and everyone, Amitabha!
My name is Chen Guo-Chi. I am very nervous tonight, and I don't know what to say; I don't know enough to speak the Buddhadharma, so I'll just talk about my personal experiences with Buddhism.
The summer of 1992 could be considered the turning point of my life. Before this, I did not know anything about Buddhism, and I was also confused about who the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were. My "religion" was a mix of Buddhism and Taoism. There was a Xingtian Temple in Taipei dedicated to Lord Gwan, who is known as Qielan Bodhisattva in Buddhism. Many miracles occurred there, and many people prayed there. I would go to pray for safety and good fortune whenever I had time; and I would always go and flip through the numerous wholesome books that were free for distribution.
One time, while I was looking through the books, a middle-aged woman came over to me and said, "Many books here are Sutras, sometimes the temple has an overabundance of books, so after a while the surplus books are taken out and burned. This is not right. Buddhist books cannot be burned." As she spoke, she picked out Buddhist Sutras from the pile of books. She also picked up a set of tapes, and said that it was spoken by Venerable Master Hua, and that if I was interested I could take it home and listen to it. "Sure!" I took the tapes. Then she said, "The Venerable Master has a temple at the end of Chung-Hsiao East Road; it's in a large building across the street from the Chung- Hsiao Hospital. Why don't you go visit when you have time?" I wasn't really paying attention then, and absent-mindedly walked away.
On the road back home, I played the tape and found it really interesting. The name of the tape was something like "The Tremor of the Proper Dharma." Wishing to find out more about this Master who taught disciples in the United States, I drove to the temple that the lady had mentioned. I found a large building there, but no Buddhist temple was listed on the directory. So I gave up.
After a time, a friend told me to read the commentary on the Sixth Patriarch Sutra by the Venerable Master., saying that it would answer many of my questions. Oh! Venerable Master Hua? Wasn't I listening to his tapes some time ago? I got the address from my friend to get this book. When I arrived at the building, I noticed it was the large building that I did not go into the previous time.
The first time that I went to the Venerable Master's Way-place, the Dharma Realm Buddhist Books Distribution Association, the Buddhist statues seated in meditation in the center appeared to be alive. Nobody greeted me when I went in, but I really liked the atmosphere. I took copies of the Sixth Patriarch Sutra and the Venerable Master's Dharma Talks. When I got home, I read the Venerable Master's explanation of the Sixth Patriarch Sutra in one night; some of my questions were answered, and I seemed to understand many principles. Then I took out the Venerable Master's Dharma Talks, and as I read on I was totally enthralled. I thought, how rare it is to find someone in this world who speaks nothing but the truth! Doesn't this book address some of my own bad habits? I also finished the Dharma Talks in one night.
A few days later, I returned to the Dharma Realm Buddhist Books Distribution Association and took the whole set of six books of the Venerable Master's Dharma Talks. Reading them after work, I finished all six books in a week.
I read the Venerable Master's books very greedily Why? I heard that the Shurangama Sutra is crucial for enlightenment, so I brought the Shurangama Sutra home with me. I also heard that the Dharma Flower Sutra is essential for realizing Buddhahood, so I also brought the Dharma Flower Sutra to see how one becomes a Buddha. I then heard that to know the treasure of Buddhism, one must read the Flower Adornment Sutra, so I brought the Flower Adornment Sutra home to read. I wanted to know just what the treasure of Buddhism was.
The first time I read the Flower Adornment Sutra, I felt like I was reading a celestial book; I understood nothing, but only felt that there were many layers of profound and subtle meanings inside, which I could not decipher, reading the Dharma Flower Sutra was like reading fables; while in the Shurangama Sutra I read about the beginnings of life and the secrets of the universe. I think the best thing that came out of my Sutra reading was learning to put my legs in full lotus. I also heard that in order to take refuge with the Venerable Master, one had to memorize the Shurangama Mantra, so I started diligently memorizing the Mantra, and I heard that in order to truly become one of the Venerable Master's disciple, one had to bow ten thousand times to the Buddha, so I started bowing in my free time.
The first time I saw the Master was in January 1993, at the ceremony at the Taipei Stadium in Banqiao, Taiwan. Later on in my spare time on weekends, I went to the Dharma Realm Buddhist Books Distribution Association in Taipei to study with everyone; as time passed, I memorized the Shurangama Mantra, and I gradually bowed 5,000 bows. Finally in March of 1995, I was among the last group of disciples to take refuge with the Venerable Master in Taipei.
I recall that once when I was waiting for a bus at the side of the road, suddenly a woman on a motorcycle stopped in front of me. She picked up a stick lying in the middle of the road and moved it to one side, and she told me, "Young man, whenever I see a rock or a stick on the road, I take it to the side of the road because it can be very dangerous lying there. People could get hurt if they drive over it by accident. Such actions are more effective than offering incense and bowing!"
We gain faith in Buddhism from our own experience. The Buddha can't give it to us, nor does it come from the Buddha's mouth. We have to figure it out and put it into practice. We often understand very well in principle, but we cannot actually apply it. I think that Buddhism begins not from what is deepest and hardest to understand, but rather from the bits and pieces of everyday life. This is probably the meaning of "A ten thousand foot high building is built from the ground up." Amitabha! |
