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記得有一年，有很多一群一群野生的驢子，因為破壞農作物，或是吃馬的草，政府決定用直升機在空中射殺牠們。有人知道了，說：「不對，我們去救牠們。萬佛城這麼大，又這麼多草！」就這樣有人去找了幾匹驢子來放生。
放生那一天，我從如來寺走到佛殿去，經過滅火屋（Firehouse）那邊，二個比丘法師一個居士，一匹驢子在那兒僵持不下。原來這個驢，牠怎麼樣都不肯走，放生儀式時間就要到了，牠就是不走。三個人，一個用繩子在前邊拉，第二個在後邊用手用腳推，一個在旁邊拿著念珠念〈大悲咒〉，用盡渾身的力量想令驢子開步走，可是驢子一動都不動，好像在笑他們，「你要我走，我才不走呢！看你怎麼辦？」
就這樣前邊的人在拉、拉、拉，後邊的那個人就推、推、推，旁邊的人就念、念、念，忙了老半天都沒用，因為驢子牠不想聽你的，牠就是不走。難怪有人說驢是最剛強的動物，當時牠真像一輛坦克車停擺在那兒，如如不動。三個人正愁著想不出辦法的時候，「怎麼辦？怎麼辦？哎！有沒有紅蘿蔔？牠會要吃紅蘿蔔。」不過這時廚房已經收拾好了。「怎麼辦？去叫某某人來，他可能有本事教驢子去佛殿。」「唉！不行了。」忽然聽到上人那個高爾夫球車「師父來了！」的聲音。
上人走下車，一句話都沒說，直走到驢子身邊，一邊摸牠的頭，一邊在牠大大的耳朵邊對牠說話；說什麼話，我們聽不到。只見那匹驢子的四隻腳忽然間就跳了起來，像一條小狗似的跟著上人走。因為時間到了，大家都在萬佛殿等著放生。上人很快地走向大殿，驢子就在後邊跟著，像家裡養的馬差不多溫馴，那三個人在後邊看得是目瞪口呆。上人走到大殿門口停了，驢子在後邊也挨到上人的身邊。大家出來給牠做了放生儀式後，就送牠到後邊去吃草，安住下了。
我們都忍不住摸摸頭說：「師父怎麼做的？太神奇了！他會講驢話嗎？好像是喔。」這真是非常非常妙！
要是上人心中沒有歡喜，想讓驢子快樂無比的跟著上人走，是不可能發生的。欲令畜類、鳥類和我們人類等眾生快樂，那份奇妙的緣份是累世結下來的。所以，要令眾生快樂可不容易，菩薩真是難為。
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Do people remember the story about the burros that are in the back property? Wild burros were being culled by the government. There were herds of these burros running wild somewhere in Arizona. The government was basically exterminating them, because they were too many. Somebody said, “Hey, maybe we could buy some and liberate them. Liberating life, something big, not just these pheasants, turtles, and pigeons. Let’s liberate something big.” So they obtained the burros and brought them to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.
I came out of the Tathagata Monastery and was heading over to the Buddha Hall because I heard that there was going to be liberating life. There were two monks, a layman and these two burros. They were trying to get the burros to come over to the Buddha Hall so that they could be liberated. The only problem was the burros didn’t want to go to the Buddha Hall. The burros had in their minds that they were happy right where they were. Have you ever tried to move a donkey that doesn’t want to go anywhere? They planted their feet and one monk was in front tugging on the bridle and the other monk was in the back pushing. The other said, “Don’t push too hard. They can kick, you know.” And they had somebody there with his beads reciting a mantra trying to get the donkey to move, using the Great Compassion Mantra. It got really hilarious because the burros were having a great time. One monk’s tugging, the other monk’s pushing, the other one’s reciting, and the burros are standing still. They just, ‘Hmm hmm hmm hee haw hee haw’ like that. It was very very funny to see. One said, “Let’s call so and so, he used to ride horses, let’s call him.”
“Oh, get a carrot.”
“No, we can’t get a carrot. The kitchen is shut already; it’s after one o’clock. No carrots left. What are we going to do?” And then around the corner comes Shr Fu’s little blue golfcart. Shr Fu [the Venerable Master] gets out and doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t say, “Oh you dummy,” or, “What’s going on?” or anything like that. He gets out of the golfcart. The whole ceremony was waiting. The Buddha Hall was full of people, no monks, no donkeys. So the abbot comes over and walks directly up to one of the burros, takes the burro’s ear and talks into it. The abbot whispered into the burro’s ear and the burros followed Shr Fu down to the Buddha Hall by themselves. Shr Fu got there first. The burros walked right behind him just like little kids following their dad. Totally subdued, they walked right down to the Buddha Hall, where the liberating life ceremony was performed. The monks and layman were standing there with their mouths open thinking, “What did we just see?”
Now, how could that happen if the abbot didn’t have happiness in his heart? Those were happy burros, happy just following Shr Fu. Who knows what Shr Fu did, but it worked great. The burros followed him right down and then we did the ceremony, and later they were released in the back to graze on the grass. That kind of incredible affinities with living beings comes from many many lifetimes of making living beings happy--the four-footed ones, the ones with feathers, the ones with scales slithering on the ground, and the two-footed ones like us. So don’t think it’s easy to be a Bodhisattva. It should be easy to make people happy, shouldn’t it? It’s not that easy.
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