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我的法名是果月，越南出生。一九八六年去三藩市醫治膝痛老毛病時，聽說金山是寺有位老法師－－宣公上人，於是便去拜見。我問，「我可以皈依上人嗎？」上人不答，只叫我禮佛。依上人指示，我就在佛堂禮佛。數小時後，上人進來為我和我女兒授皈依。
回加拿大卡城後，我沒有聽從醫生的話吃藥，反而開始吃素；吃素以後，整個人輕鬆自在很多，不久膝痛就消失了。八七年法總在卡城成立華嚴寺，寺裡的法師鼓勵大家吃素，熟背楞嚴咒。我依教奉行，五句五句地背誦，工作休息時便在教室看經念咒。一晚念《妙法蓮華經》時，我聞到一陣花香。
我喜歡修淨土。上人曾說，「阿彌陀佛的四十八願，每一個願都是渡眾生；若你念佛，佛便在你心，直截了當，自得念佛三昧，不須參究其義，或頭上安頭，沒事找事。」
我想和大家分享一次我參加華嚴法會的感應。法會期間一次早課時，方丈桌子上的一盞燈著火散出火花，一隻黃色的蝴蝶從火花中飛出來；火熄後，蝴蝶飛向佛像裡去了。
九○年我受五戒；九五年受菩薩戒，有人問我願出家否？因為我是上人最後一次為人出家剃度。我向上人申訴我的意願，可是上人說我還有債要還，所以至今我尚是在家身。
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My Dharma name is Qua Nguyet, and I was born in Vietnam. In 1986, during a trip to San Francisco for treatment of my chronically aching knees, I heard that at Gold Mountain Sagely Monaster, there was an old Dharma Master -- the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. So I went over to pay my respects. I asked, "May I take refuge with the Venerable Master?" The Venerable Master remianed silent and did not reply, except to tell me to go bow to the Buddha Hall. Several hours latter, the Venerable Master came in to transmit the refuge to my daughter and me.
After returning to Calgary, I did not take my medicine as the doctor instructed. Instead, I began following a vegetarian diet. After becoming a vegetarian, my entire person felt much more relaxed at ease. Not long afterwards, my knees stopped aching. In 1987, Dharma Realm Buddist Assocoation founded Avatamsaka Monastery i Calgary. The Dharma Master in the monastery encouraged everyone to be vegetarian and memorize the Shurangama Mantra. I practiced as the instructed, memorizing the Shurangama Mantra five phrases at a time. During breaksat work, I read sutras and chanted mantras in the classroom. One night, while reading the
Wonderful Dharma Lotus Flower Sutra, I smelt the fragrance of flowers.
I like to practice the teaching of the Pure Land. The Venerable Master once said that everyone of Amitabha's forty-eight vows was meant to liberate living beings. If you are mindful of the Buddha, then the Buddha is in your mind. It is as simple as that, and one can attain the Buddha Rcitation Samadhi. There is no need to study its meaning, for that would be superflouus, creating trouble for oneself because there is nothing to do.
I like to share with everyone a personal response from participating in the Avatamsaka Dharma assembly. During the Dharma assembly, one dayduring the morning recitation a lamp on the Abbot's table caught fire, and sparks shot everywhere. A yellow butterfly flew out from within the sparks. After the fire was put out, the butterfly flew into the statue of the Buddha.
In 1990, I received the Five Precepts. In 1995, I received the Bodhisattva Precepts. Someone asked me if I wanted to leave the home life, because it would be the last time that the Venerable Master personally shaved the heads of those leaving the home life. I expressed my willingness to the Venerable Master, but the Venerable Master said that I still have (mundane) debts to pay. Therefore I am presently still a layperson.
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