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果民 ‧凱樂門：
二00二年三月八日星期五，鮑伯 ‧王納考
﹣﹣聖城人人熟知的「老鮑伯」﹣﹣辭世了！他在一九二八年十一月二十日出生於北加州海邊小城布拉堡；父親是攝影師，經營一座小農場。老鮑伯小時，每天放學後就幫媽媽做些農場的事；他姊姊每天放學後，就到爸爸的攝影房幫忙沖洗照片。以前交通不發達，從海邊他家，到南邊大城聖塔羅薩去看親戚，就要花整天的時間，現在坐車子幾小時就到了；從布拉堡到我們瑜伽鎮，也要很長的時間，冬天交通中斷，甚至沒辦法來。
老鮑伯是退伍軍人，參加過（第二次世界大戰後的）韓戰，戰後退伍了。他曾談過很多有關自己參加韓戰的經歷，最重要的是，參加韓戰是他對自己國家的一種責任。離開軍隊後，他在科羅拉多州一個礦場採銀礦，後來修剪樹枝，結了婚，育有有三個孩子。
他第一次知道萬佛聖城是在一九九〇年，那時上人有位弟子叫恩尼，住在聖城，太太叫巴巴拉（果須），在我們的法界佛教大學教梵文。一九九〇年，經由恩尼的介紹，老鮑伯得知聖城。當時老鮑伯得肺氣腫，呼吸困難，醫師判定只剩幾個月的壽命，他因此想尋找份適宜的工作。當時恩尼在「州政府再職部」任職，負責幫人轉業，或者有些人因有困難沒法工作，他就幫助這些人就業。恩尼對他說，「或者你可以去萬佛城做義工。」於是老鮑伯白天就來萬佛城做工，晚上回去北邊紅木谷家中睡覺。
轉眼就是一年，他很喜歡萬佛城，於是申請常住。當時他還沒有皈依，也算不上佛教徒，而且還有一隻心愛的小狗，叫「奇妙狗」，是他非常捨不下的，常坐在他駕座旁。狗越來越老，跟老鮑伯一樣，他倆真是很好的一對。上人答應了，准許他跟他那奇妙狗一起搬進聖城住。老鮑伯很幽默，我有時都搞不清他是不是在開玩笑。我聽說有次老鮑伯跟一位女眾討論結婚問題，他說，「妳真想結婚的話，先養隻狗試試看！」他本人對婚姻的體認是很深刻的。
我認識老鮑伯這十幾年來，他幾乎成了我的第二父親。雖然有時他看起來不好相處，可實際上他內心非常善良、柔軟，蘊藏著一顆廣大的心，一顆時刻守護聖城，關懷城裏住眾的心。他雖然尚未皈依佛，(他在一九九八年正式皈依)，但他當初留在聖城是出自關懷的心；他非常珍惜聖城，聖城對他來講是非常寶貴的。他是到處檢查、修補，確定一切都運作正常。他的心，每天時時刻刻都放在聖城的大大小小事情上，一直不斷，希望聖城事事圓滿。有時聽到槍響，他馬上跳上車，衝到城後空地上，去看有沒有獵人闖進來打獵。
從我認識他的第一天開始，他幾乎都生活在病痛之中，尤其是最後幾年。雖然他常受病痛的折磨，他都不形之於色，也從不放棄自己崗位上的工作，仍然每天做他該做的事，臉上的神情也始終那麼勇敢。他這正是向我們說法，從他身上，我學到了許多佛法的道理，也學了很多珍貴的教訓。
他對自己的工具、車子保護得非常小心；我本人就比較馬虎，他總不斷提醒我。舉例，老鮑伯所開的小卡車已經用了25年；他的鏈鋸有些非常舊了，但因為保養得好，所以用起來還像新的一樣。他生活節儉，非常珍惜自己的福報，就在他最後的日子，他也不斷在對我說法。
老鮑伯在醫院住了一段時間，在最後幾天我去看他時，他已時醒時昏，不能吃喝了，所以我當時就覺得老鮑伯就快走了。從他身上，我真正體會到「生死」這個問題的重要性。
通常，我們每天都被身邊瑣瑣碎碎的事情絆住，以為很重要，其實那些事並不那麼重要；真正最重要的，還是生死的問題。就看老鮑伯最後的情況，就讓我深深體會到，我們對自己的生死，是多麼無力掌握！雖然老鮑伯走了，我非常懷念他；我覺得他是一個了不起的人，他對聖城做了很多的貢獻，他的精神會永遠活在我心中。
張福麟:
我講一件事，一次我在瑜珈鎮的大馬路上，開車超速，被警察開了罰單。那晚輪到我在大門口巡邏，老鮑伯過來了，說「嗨！怎麼樣啊！」「哎！今天真倒楣，收到一張罰單！」「你打算怎樣？」「我可能去上訴。」「為什麼？
你到底有沒有超速？
」「我想有，可是也不很確定，我感覺上那時是超速。」「你知道自己超速。你還上訴！你趕快把該罰的錢繳了算了！」
然後他直截了當地跟我說，「如果你犯了錯，超速，你就該付罰款！」我想想他講得很有道理，所以第二天就把罰款給付了。所以對我來講，他是一個很正直的人，我從他那邊學到有些事不需要去拐彎抹角。
親歸 ‧史多克:
我是親歸。我想報告一下老鮑伯幽默的一面。記得最後看到老鮑伯時，是在他住的屋裏。我進去時，老鮑伯坐在椅上，臉上泛著光。他看到我時，就講，「你要看死人嗎？他就在你眼前！」
有次吃飯時，他開自己的玩笑，「我的胰臟已經開刀拿掉了，所以我再也不會得胰臟癌了！」
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ROGER KELLERMAN:
Bob Wonacott passed away March 8, 2002, at nine o'clock.
Everyone here knew him as Uncle Bob. He was born on November
20, 1928 in Fort Bragg.
His father was a photographer, and the
family had a small farm. Bob helped his mother on the farm
after school, and his sister would help his father develop
films. Just to give you an idea of what life was like in
those days, Bob told me that if you Wanted to visit
relatives in Santa Rosa, it would take a whole day to get
down from Fort Bragg to Ukiah or Santa Rosa. It took a long
time, and in the winter you couldn’t do it, because the
roads were in bad condition.
Bob was a veteran of the US. Army,
serving in the Korean War. He told me a lot about the
horrors of war, and I think one aspect that came out of his
experience in the army was his woods, cutting down and
trimming trees, and he worked in the silver mines in
Colorado. He got married and had three children.
Bob was introduced to the City of Ten
Thousand Buddhas by Ernie Waugh, in 1990. He was suffering
from a sickness called emphysema and had been given only
three months to live, and he was looking for some Work.
Ernie was working in the Department of Rehabilitation, and
arranged for Bob to come and work at the City. At that time,
he lived in Redwood Valley, and he would work on the grounds
of the City during the day and go home at night. After about
a year he asked for permission to live at the City.
He had a very small dog with him named
Wonder Dog, to whom he was very attached. It was getting old
like him and would just sit in his car. They were really
quite a pair together. The Venerable Master gave him
permission to live at the City with his dog. To do justice
to his memory, there is a side of Bob that I cannot omit,
and that was his humor. The trouble is, you couldn't tell if
he was joking or not. I heard from someone else that he
said, "If you ever think about getting married, buy a dog."
He had experience in this. He was an old pro.
It was not until 1998 that Bob took
refuge with the Buddha. He was given the Dharma name Chin
Hao. Over the years that I knew him, he became like a father
to me.
He could be very difficult, yet inside
him was a huge heart-a huge heart of caring. It didn't
matter if it was for the people or for the City. Even though
he hadn't yet taken refuge, he stayed at the City because of
this sense of caring. He was always working and checking
that everything was O.K.
Ever since I knew him, Bob was sick.
Especially toward the end of his life, he was always in
pain, but he would always try to face his difficulties. In
this way, he was speaking the Dharma. I learned other Dharma
lessons from Bob,too. He was extremely frugal, and very
careful with his tools and his vehicles. He really cherished
his blessings. His pick-ups were 25 years old and he had
some chain saws that were even older, and he looked after
them so well that they are still like new.
Right at the end, Bob spoke Dharma for
me, too. He was in the hospital for quite a long time. In
the last few days he lapsed in and out of consciousness, not
eating or drinking, and I knew he was going to die. This
reminded me that birth and death is the one truly important
matter, and what we usually take to be important, the
everyday matters, are really trivial. Being with him at
those last moments was a very humbling experience because I
realized how far I am from having any control over these
matters. Which one of us has solved the problem of birth and
death?
All I was going to say is that I'm really
going to miss him. He was a big person and made his presence
felt. He contributed a lot to the City and I think his
spirit will live on here.
FULIN CHANG:
I want to mention one incident. Once, when I was driving on
the roads in Talmage, I was caught by the police for
speeding and they gave me a ticket. That night was my turn
to patrol at the mountain gate. Then Bob came and said, "Hi!
How are you?" "Oh, I had such bad luck! I got a ticket
today!" "What are you going to do about it?" "I might go to
the court.” “Why? Were you speeding?” “I think so, but I am
not so sure. I felt that I was.” “Well, if you were
speeding, why do you have to go to the court? You should
just pay the ticket!”
Later, he told me directly, “If you were
wrong, you should just pay the fine!” I saw that his words
made sense, so the next day; I paid the ticket. For me, Bob
was a righteous person. He taught me that we should not beat
around the bush.
BRANT STOKES:
I want to share Bob’s sense of humor with everyone. I
remember that the last I saw him was in his room. He was
sitting on a chair and there was light in his appearance.
Upon seeing me, he said, “Oh! Do you want to see a dead
person? He is right in front of you!”
Once during lunch he joked about himself,
“I had my pancreas removed from my body, so I will not have
pancreatic cancer again!”
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