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我的法名叫果法，是美國華盛頓州西雅圖人。未認識上人前，我生命沒有目標；我去找，卻找錯了路，和一些朋友吸上了毒。
我得知上人是為因果寧和易象乾居士的關係。他們參加了1968年第一批「楞嚴經講習班」；我是隨著第二批講習班的人到三藩市，上人當時正講《六祖法寶壇經》，那年我22歲。
當時佛教講堂位於中國城。我跟朋友（後來之史果霑居士）一起上樓，樓上正舉行楞嚴法會，有八、九個人參加，上人主法。到二樓時，我看到一片紫色光芒，我們幾乎上不了樓，因為每往上一步，我們的腳步就感覺沉重許多。這是我初見上人時的經驗。
稍早我在果寧的住處見到上人的相片，我看著那相片，那相片竟到處移動，我根本就沒法集中注意力去看。那照片確實有些古怪。
在佛教講堂的日子還算能適應，但有時我會和果霑溜出去。有天傍晚我們到三藩市海邊，有個兇漢朝我們走來，準備動手強搶。我跟果霑同時誦起《大悲咒》來，心裡也想試試《大悲咒》是否靈驗。很奇怪的，這個兇漢就不能動了，危機因而化解。我們再回講堂時，上人責備我們，說：「應該是菩薩考驗你們，而不是你們考驗菩薩靈不靈驗！」
有次聽完上人講《六祖法寶壇經》，我獨自到金門公園，坐在長條凳上唸《大悲咒》，唸著唸著，烏雲就散開來了，露出湛藍的天空；天空中現出很多氣泡似的東西，每個小氣泡上站著一位手持楊校灑淨水的觀世音菩薩。我想這是誦《大悲咒》的感應。
七十年代初，上人到南美洲去考察，我們每天就播上人的錄音帶聽。恆佐師（當時尚未出家）負責清理垃圾，上人走後他突然罷工了。那晚錄音帶播的是上人一年前講的《法華經》，當時尚未翻譯成書，我們就聽現場的英譯。很奇怪的，就聽到上人半開玩笑地和恆佐師講倒垃圾的事。你說這是巧合嗎？
很多事情看來是巧合，可是如果把無數件小小的事件累積起來，你就會發現並不盡是巧合。慢慢地我們的信仰改變了，從不信佛教到信佛教，從對上人沒有信心到對上人有無限的信心。跟上人在一起，常有這樣的「巧合」。
上人看我對建築方面有興趣，就鼓勵我去考建築執照。後來我在上人住的房裡裝火爐，因為房子太陳舊，電壓不相配，需向政府機關申請裝爐子的許可證。我以我的名字申請，被拒絕了。我回來請示上人，上人說：「你去用我的名字，就沒有問題。」我再去時，辦事員問我名字，我說：「度輪」。很奇怪的，許可證很快就下來了。爐子裝好後，政府官員來檢查安裝情況，他以為我是「度輪」，對我說：「你看起來不像中國人啊！」我半開玩笑地說：「我曾祖父是中國人。」
果鵬是學武術的，會太極拳和空手道等功夫。1972年他來金山寺時，我們交換了些武術方面的經驗，他留在金山寺拜懺。因為練功的人常須按摩筋骨，有次我幫他按摩時，發現他脊椎骨下面有一段向內彎，所以他每次拜佛時非常痛苦，前面必須放張桌子，拜時身體撐在桌上，足見其誠心。有次上人經過他後面，大約離著十五呎遠，手一甩，好像甩一根拐杖似的，在那一瞬間，果鵬的身體猛地抖動了一下。兩三天後，我再幫他按摩時，他的脊椎骨就變得很直很直，完全正常了！
1981年，我隨團跟上人到馬來西亞，是個牛鬼蛇神特多的地方。有個人被下了蠱，為人所控制，去加害上人。因為上人弘揚正法講真話，揭發了邪魔外道的真面目，得罪了人。那時是在吉隆坡的一座寺廟裡，有一兩千人，這人走近時很奇怪就倒地死了。形勢緊急，有人抬著他火速往上人處求救，眾人還讓開了一條路。到了上人面前時，問上人該怎麼辦，上人略略加持，就好像灑了楊枝淨水似的，片刻間那人就回陽了。若非親眼目睹，我是不會這樣吃驚的：明明死了，上人卻輕易地救了回來。
1969年上人有次在三藩市中國城步行，一輛車從後面猛撞上來，把上人撞出五十呎外，車子一溜煙就沒了影。我想上人是真有功夫的，所以沒有致命傷。雖然遭了車禍，上人仍然扶傷上臺，說：「今天有人要謀害我，可是我還是照樣來講經。」
順便談談我們發現聖城的因緣。1974年時，我和恆實師、恆來師、披德生、果霑，一起到西雅圖去探望兩位正在三步一拜的行者——恆具師和恆由師。回程時，經過位於瑜伽鎮的州立孟德仙諾郡醫院：一下車，眼前浮現異相：空地上，許多僧人徐步經行。一問人，也都說是如此。回金山寺後，上人問：「今天看得怎麼樣啊？。我們不約而同地向上人推薦說，「那地方將來會是佛教的中心。」
自有聖城後，我就住在城內。萬佛寶殿建立之初，上人鼓勵我們給父母立延生牌位，以盡孝道，我就為母親立了一個。當時母親吸菸吸得凶，面色蒼白，很不健康。牌位立後六個月，母親的菸癮斷了；一年後臉色恢復了。母親不僅恢復了健康，人生觀也改變了許多。
1988年我離開了聖城，上人圓寂後，1996年化糞池工程要動工時，我接到大鬍子（即果遜，現出家為沙彌）的電話，希望我回來幫忙，因為可以省很多錢，於是我回來了。回來後發現工程的規模越來越大，我也就沒再離開。
如果不是上人救了我，我二十一、二歲時可能就死了，這條小命是上人撿回來的：既然早就沒命，何不盡自己一點力量回報上人的恩德呢？希望能為聖城做點自己能做的事。
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My Dharma name is Guo Fa and I was born in Seattle. Before I met the Abbot, I was pretty aimless; I went to find my goal but found a wrong path instead. I used drugs with some friends.
I heard about the Abbot from Ron Epstein and Guo Ning. They attended the first
Shurangama Sutra lectures in 1968. When I was 22 years old, I followed the second group of people to San Francisco and the Abbot was lecturing the
Sixth Patriarch Sutra.
At that time, the Buddhist Lecture Hall was in Chinatown on Waverly Place. I went to the second floor with my friend John Scroggs (who later became Guo Zhan) and inside they were having a Shurangama ceremony. There were about eight or nine participants and the Abbot was hosting the ceremony. When I got there, I saw a beam of purple light which made it almost impossible to continue to walk since our footsteps became heavier with each ascending step. That was the experience I had when I first met the Abbot.
Earlier, I saw the Abbot's picture at Guo Ning's house. I looked at the picture and the picture was moving all over the place. You couldn't really focus on it. I looked at it and there was definitely something going on in the picture.
I was quite used to the life at the Buddhist Lecture Hall. But sometimes I would sneak out with John. One night, we went down to the beach. This guy on the beach was trying to rob us. We didn't know. We were reciting the Great Compassion Mantra, and trying to use it to control him. It did work because the guy couldn't even move. We never touched him; he just didn't move. We got back that night. In the lecture that night, the Abbot scolded us: "You don't test Bodhisattvas; Bodhisattvas test people!"
Once, after the Abbot's evening lecture on the
Sixth Patriarch Sutra, I went out to Golden Gate Park and sat down on a bench, and recited Da Bei Zhou (the Great Compassion Mantra). The sky opened up and all these bubbles came out of the sky! In each bubble there was a standing Guanshiyin Bodhisattva holding a willow branch. I think it was a response from reciting the Great Compassion Mantra.
In the early 70s, the Abbot went to South America for a while. Every day we would listen to the lecture tapes by the Abbot. Dharma Master Heng Tso (who was a layman) was in charge of taking away the garbage. However he had quit after the Abbot had left. One night, we were listening to the
Dharma Flower Sutra which the Abbot had lectured the previous year. It wasn't transcribed into books, so someone had to translate it right on the spot. It was strange that we heard the Abbot half-joke with Heng Tso Shi about dumping garbage. Wouldn't you say that was a coincidence?
Many things appeared to be coincidental, but if you accumulate all the little incidents, you will discover that they are not all coincidental. Slowly, our faith changed from not believing in Buddhism and the Abbot into believing in them completely. When you are with the Abbot, these kinds of "coincidences" happen quite often!
The Abbot saw I was interested in construction, so he encouraged me to get a license. Later on, I installed an electrical stove in his room, but since the building was quite old and the voltage didn't match with the stove, I had to apply for a permit to install it from the government. I used my name to apply for the permit and it was turned down. I asked the Abbot and he replied, "There will be no problem if you use my name." So the next time I went, I used the name "Tu Lun" and the permit came back quickly. After I installed the stove, an inspector from the government came to check on it. He thought I was "Tu Lun" and said, "You don't look Chinese." I kind of joked with him, and replied that my great-grandfather was Chinese.
Guo Peng studied martial arts; he knew Tai Chi, karate, and other martial skills. When he came to Gold Mountain Monastery in 1972, we exchanged some experiences about martial arts and he stayed to bow the repentance. Since Guo Peng practiced martial arts, he often needed massage. Once, when I was massaging him, I discovered a lower section of his spine curved in; that was why he suffered a lot when he bowed. He had to put a table in front of him and lean on it when he bowed. From this, we could see how sincere he was. Once the Abbot walked by Guo Peng and was about fifteen feet from him. The Abbot swung his arm as if swinging a stick, and Guo Peng's body moved a little bit. Two or three days later, when I massaged him again, his spine had become straight and normal.
In 1981, I went to Malaysia with the Abbot and the delegation to propagate the Buddhadharma. There were lots of strange ghosts and spirits in Malaysia. One person who had been poisoned by "gu" was controlled by some people who wanted to kill the Abbot. Since the Abbot propagated the proper Dharma, told the truth, and showed people the real face of those externalists, he had offended them. We were at a temple in Kuala Lumpur with one or two thousand people. When that person came near the assembly, he dropped to the ground and died! The situation was very serious. Someone brought him to the Abbot for help, and the assembly made a road for them to pass. When they came to the Abbot, they asked him what should be done, and the Abbot just blessed him. It was as if pure water was sprinkled from a willow branch; that person came back to life after a while. If I hadn't witnessed that with my own eyes, I wouldn't be so surprised. There was a dead person, but the Abbot saved him without the slightest effort.
In 1969, once when the Abbot was walking in Chinatown in San Francisco, a car suddenly ran into him from the back and the Abbot was knocked fifty feet. The car drove away instantly. I think the Abbot had some kung fu so he wasn't critically hurt. Despite the accident and his wounds, the Abbot still went up to the stage to lecture. He said, "Today someone tried to kill me, but I'm going to lecture anyway."
I'd also like to talk about the causes and conditions of discovering the Sagely City. In 1974, I went to Seattle with Heng Sure Shi, Heng Lai Shi, Randy Peterson, and John Scroggs to see the two monks who were practicing three steps and one bow-- Heng Ju Shi and Heng You Shi. On the way back, we passed Mendocino State Hospital in Talmage. When we arrived, I saw a strange scene. There were a lot of left-home people walking slowly in a vacant lot. I asked the others whether they had seen it or not and they had all seen it. After we came back to Gold Mountain Monastery, the Abbot asked, "How was it today?" All of us recommended, "That place could be a Buddhist center in the future."
I lived in the City after it was purchased. When the Jeweled Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas was first built, the Abbot encouraged us to set up long life plaques for our parents so as to fulfill our filial piety. Thus, I set up one for my mother. During that time, because she smoked a lot, she was very pale and unhealthy. After the plaque had been set up for six months, my mother stopped smoking and color returned to her face one year afterward. Not only did she regain her health, but her view of life also changed a lot.
I left the City in 1988. I came back in 1996 after the Abbot had entered Nirvana. Guo Shun [Craig Cassin, who has become a novice monk now] called me to help with the sewage project so we could save a lot of money. After I came back, I found out that every project is bigger than the last, so I have stayed to help in the City.
If the Abbot hadn't saved me, I'd probably have been dead by 21 or 22. That being the case, why not try my best to repay the Abbot's kindness? I hope I can help the City in any way I can.
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