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「在梁武帝的時候，佛法大興，那時候紅、白喜事、喪事，都請出家人來念經；娶媳婦也要念念經，死人也要念念經。現在我們的風氣，只有死人才請僧人念經，活人娶媳婦是喜事，不念經。當時有一個財主娶媳婦，就請高僧來給念經；這位高僧，就是寶誌禪師。這位禪師是在鷹巢裏生出來的；所以寶誌禪師的手像鷹爪似的，他是菩薩再來，示現這麼一個奇特相。當時這個財主，就請他來給說一說吉祥話，就是討個吉利；誌公禪師就答應了。
到正日這一天。他就來念經。他往新娘和新郎一看，他說：「古古怪、怪怪古。」因為誌公祖師有天眼通，他一看，就知道這前因後果了，所以說古古怪，怪怪古。怎麼樣古怪法、怎麼樣怪古法呢？「孫孫娶祖母」。這個祖母臨死的時候，拉著小孫子的手，說：「我呀！現在要死了，誰我都不掛了，可是我就記掛這個小孫子，將來誰能幫助他來成家立業呢？誰能幫助呢？」這麼樣感嘆，就往生到地獄去了。閻羅王一看，這個祖母對小孫子情感這麼重，放不下小孫子；兒子姑娘都放下了，小孫子她放不下。閻羅王就說：「好了，我滿你的願，你真是太可憐了！讓你回去侍候你的孫子，給你孫子做太太去。」這個祖母也沒有說可以，也沒有說不可以；正在這兒模稜兩可的時候，就頓然投胎去了。一投胎，這麼一糊塗，就去做一個女孩子。長大了，巧得很，就給她孫子做了太太，嫁孫子去了。這就是古怪、怪古的原因。
寶誌禪師又往那個廚房窗戶下看一看，有個小女孩子在那地方啃豬爪子；他說：「女食母之肉」。這個小孩子啃這個豬爪子，這豬的前生，就是她的母親，托生做了豬。為什麼托生做豬呢？因為吃豬肉太多了，全身都變成肥豬肉，自己這個人的肉，根本就沒有了；於是乎就投生做豬去了，和豬做了眷屬。豬是預備給人殺了吃的，就在這個祖母嫁孫子這一天，殺的豬，就是這個女孩子前生的母親。女孩子正在這兒吃她母親的肉，吃得很香，越啃這個肉越高興。她不知道這個肉，就是她母親的肉；若是知道，她無論如何也不會吃的！所以我們吃豬肉，這個豬或者就是我們的父母，我們不知道；或者是我們的兄弟，我們不知道這個因果，就吃我們兄弟的肉，或者是我們姐妹也未可知，或者是前生的太太也不一定，或者前生的丈夫，這都沒有一定的。他投生做畜生，你也不認識，你不知道這個原來是我的太太，原來是我的丈夫；於是乎就大口大口那麼吃牠的肉。你說這多麼慘痛！我們也要知道，甚至於祖先、朋友，改頭換面，就不認識了。
誌公老祖又向那個鼓樂棚看一看，說：「子打父皮鼓」。他父親因為有個驢脾氣，像那毛驢子；一發脾氣，就又踢人、又咬人，所以就投生做驢去了。驢被人剝了皮，把這皮就做成鼓。這回碰上他兒子打這個鼓，拼命打，往響了打；假如他知道這個鼓皮，是他以前的父親投生做驢，被剝了皮做的鼓，他怎麼樣也下不了這個手，不能咚！咚！咚！咚！那麼打鼓了，這是子打父皮鼓。
又往這個炕上看，因為是在南京那個地方，家裏有炕，炕底下是燒火的，說：「豬羊炕上坐」。他們以前吃的豬、羊，現在都轉身做人來報復，要討債了！所以「六親鍋裡煮」，以前他的父黨之親、母黨之親、兄黨之親、弟黨之親、這些六親眷屬，都投生做豬、羊了，現在放到鍋裡煮，又給豬羊來吃。「眾人來賀喜」，這個來到這兒說：「你大喜了！」，那個來也說：「恭喜啊！」就都恭喜，可是，「我看真是苦」。我看這種改頭換面，彼此都不認識、也不知道原來是六親眷屬互相吞食，這真是苦中之苦啊！可是我們人雖然在苦中之苦，還染苦為樂，以為吃肉是一種快樂；所以就「習焉不察，便成風」。生也有涯，當努力啊！我們生命是有限度的，我們應該努力修行！「習焉不察，便成風」，不知道這個因因果果這種的道理，就跟著這一種風氣跑；就是因為不追究、不研究，所以大家就你吃肉、我也吃肉，都變成肉吃肉，其實是人吃人啊！人吃人，天怒民怨，所以現在人就生這個癌病，又生這個愛死病。」
現在地球被這個毒都要毒死了，海水裏被毒氣染污，所有的魚都結黨成群：「我們快死吧！快死吧！」一起都死了！把魚的種都滅了，沒有魚吃了。你吃那個魚的肉裏，都含有毒，這種毒，就是生癌病的毒，你吃了，很容易就中這個魚的毒。這個化學工場試驗出來的這種毒。魚本來在水裏悠游自在，洋洋得意的，都會被毒死；你想想，人也沒有水裏的魚那麼大的本事，怎麼受得了這個毒？吃魚肉很容易，所以人也很容易生癌病。還有，地球也染污了，廢氣、有毒的東西，也是化學的這種毒氣，鑽到地裏頭去了，把地球染污了；地球上生出來的糧食裏，也都含藏有一種毒質，我們人吃這個糧食也可能中毒。有人說：「那我不吃糧食，我吃什麼？我喝風啊？」你喝風，風裏頭也有毒，空氣裏都有毒，沒有東西吃了，你不打餓七、都要打餓七，因為什麼東西，都被毒氣染污了！空氣被毒染污，我們人也不知道。土地被毒氣染污，就是修原子爐，這有一種毒的東西，流到地裏頭去。那怎麼辦呢？
想解除這種的災難，我們就多念〈大悲咒〉，多念〈大悲咒〉就能消毒，〈大悲咒〉的力量，可以把這個毒消去。你看〈普門品〉上說：你一念〈大悲咒〉，這毒都變成甘露。我在東北，遇到一個女人喝了一碗磠水，口也冒白沫了，眼睛也翻白了，也不會說話，以後她的兒子跪到我面前，求要救他媽媽，我到他家裏就念〈大悲咒〉，她就吐起來了，居然就把這個磠水的毒都吐出來了，這是〈大悲咒〉的力量。還有萬佛城有一個蕭果兆，他吃這個「毒帽子」；這種毒菇，吃一個、兩個，就救不活了，無藥可醫；吃下去十二個鐘頭後，它就發作。蕭果兆吃了七、八個這種毒菇，醫生一看，這一定死的。當時我知道了，他問我說﹕「法師！醫生說我會死。你說我會不會死啊？」我就對他說，「我不准你死！你就想要死，你摸著閻王鼻子，我也把你搶回來！」我就這麼說的，他就放心了。我叫他念觀音菩薩，大約他也沒有念；過了一個時期，這個病又發作了。他自己因為沒有信心，不念觀音菩薩，又發作。人家把他送到醫院去，醫生說：「你這下完了，沒有得救了！」送他的人就回來對我說﹕「醫生說沒有得救了。」「不行！叫他回來！豈有此理！我不准他死！你去看看他現在好了沒有？」那麼他又去一看，哎！他活過來了，面也有血色，也紅了，不像以前那麼面青唇白的那個樣子，他就活了。為什麼我可以這麼說？就因為我平時持〈大悲咒〉，我說什麼，一定就是什麼。所以我在三藩市，我說過：「我在這兒一天，我不准它地震！」大的地震變成小地震，小地震就不地震；由一九六八年到現在，還沒死過一個人。
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At the time of Emperor Wu of Liang, the Buddhadharma flourished. Monastics recited sutras during wedding ceremonies and funerals. Our custom now is just to recite sutras at funerals. People consider marriage a celebration, so they no longer recite sutras then. When people die, they invite monastics to come and recite sutras.
At that time, there was a wealthy man whose son was getting married. He invited a preeminent monk to come and recite sutras. This preeminent monk was Dhyana Master Bao Zhi. He was born in an eagle’s nest and his hand looked like an eagle’s claw. He was a Bodhisattva come-again, so he had this strange feature. At that time, the wealthy man asked him to come over and say something propitious. Dhyana Master Bao Zhi agreed.
On the day of the wedding, Dhyana Master Bao Zhi came to recite the sutras. He saw the bride and groom and said, “Strange indeed, strange indeed.” Since Patriarch Bao Zhi had the spiritual power of the heavenly eye, he saw the past causes and future consequences in this situation, which made him say, “Strange indeed, strange indeed.” How was it strange? “The grandson marries the grandmother!”
When the grandmother was dying, she held her little grandson’s hand and said, “I am now dying. I am not worried about anybody except this little grandson. Who will help him build a family and establish his business in the future? Who can help?” She moaned like this and was reborn in the hells. King Yama saw how the grandmother had such strong emotions for her little grandson that she could not let go of him. She was able to let go of her son and daughter but not her little grandson. King Yama told her, “Okay, I’ll make your wish come true. You’re really pathetic. I’ll let you go back and serve your grandson. You can be your grandson’s wife.” The grandmother didn’t say okay or otherwise. Just when things could’ve gone either way, she suddenly entered a womb. Confused, she became a girl. When she grew up, she married her grandson coincidentally. This is why it was strange.
Dhyana Master Bao Zhi then looked and saw that beneath the kitchen window, a little girl was chomping on a pig foot. He said, “The daughter eats her mother.” This child was chewing on the foot of a pig that was her mother. Her mother in a past life was reborn as a pig. Why was she reborn as a pig? Because she had eaten so much pork that her whole body turned into pork fat. She didn’t have any human flesh left on her, so she was born in a family of pigs. Pigs are killed for people to eat. On the day of matrimony for the grandmother and the grandson, the pig that was killed was the mother of this girl in a previous life. The girl was here eating her mother’s meat and thought that it was delicious! The more she chomped on the meat, the happier she became. She didn’t know that this meat was her mother in a previous life. If she knew, she would have never eaten it! We eat pork and this pork may have been our parents or siblings, we don’t know. We don’t know the cause and effect of what we eat--we might be eating the flesh of our brother or sister, husband or wife. Nothing is for certain. You don’t know whether they were reborn as animals. You don’t know whether this animal was your wife or husband, so you eat its meat, one big bite after another. How painful! We should know that we don’t recognize our ancestors and friends when their appearances change.
Venerable Patriarch Zhi then looked under the tent where music was being played and said, “The son beats on a drum made from his father’s hide.” His father had had the temper of a donkey, an old donkey that kicks and bites when it gets upset. Consequently he was reborn as a donkey. When the donkey was skinned, its hide was made into a drum. He then ran into his son who played the drum loud and hard. If the son had known that the hide for the drum was from a donkey that had been his father in a previous life, he would never have been able to beat on it. He wouldn’t go bam, bam, bam on the drum! This son was playing a drum made of his father’s skin.
Then Dharma Master Bao Zhi looked on the brick bed. Nanjing, China has beds made of bricks with fires burning underneath. He said, “Pigs and sheep are sitting on the brick bed.” The pork and mutton that had been eaten in the past have now become human beings now; they have come to seek revenge. “The six kinds of relatives are cooking in the pot.” Six kinds of relatives such as their paternal relatives, maternal relatives, older siblings, and younger siblings have all been reborn as pigs and sheep and are being cooked in the pot. “And everyone has come to celebrate.” They’ve come here to say, “Congratulations!” They may say “Congratulations!” but “I see it as real suffering.” I see that they don’t recognize each other because their forms have changed. They don’t know that they are eating their relatives. This is an especially terrible suffering among the different types of sufferings. Although we human beings suffer, we nevertheless regard pain as happiness. For example, we think it’s a joy to eat meat. We follow this practice without questioning, and soon it becomes a habit. We should work hard while we’re alive because our years are limited. We should work hard and cultivate. If we don’t question our practices, they become habits. Without realizing the principle of cause and effect, we follow this type of habit. It’s because we don’t study and investigate this that everyone eats meat. Actually, it is flesh devouring flesh; people eating people. Heaven is angered and people are resentful; hence people develop cancer or AIDS.
The earth is now about to be poisoned to death. The ocean is polluted by toxins. Fish gather in large numbers and hope for a quick death. When species of fish become extinct, there will be no more fish to eat. The poison in fish causes cancer. If you eat fish, you can easily become poisoned. This poison has been tested in chemical laboratories. Fish originally swam happily in the sea, but now they die of poisoning. Just think: people don’t have the capabilities that fish in the sea do, so how can we tolerate this poison? Since it’s easy to eat fish, it’s easy for people to develop cancer too. The earth is also polluted. Exhaust fumes, toxic materials, and all types of toxic chemicals find their way into the earth and pollute it. Grains produced from the earth in turn contain a type of toxin that may poison human beings when we eat them. Some say, “Then I will not eat anything. What will I eat? I’ll drink wind!” Wind is also poisonous. The air is toxic. There is no food to eat. Even if you don’t want to fast, you must. The earth is being polluted without our realizing it. This is like repairing a nuclear reactor; a toxic substance will seep into the ground. So what can we do?
To avert this type of disaster, we should recite the Great Compassion Mantra more often. The power of the Great Compassion Mantra can neutralize toxins. Take a look at the Universal Door Chapter, which says that poisons turn into sweet dew when you recite the Great Compassion Mantra. When I was in Northeast China, I met a woman who drank a bowl of lye. She was foaming at the mouth, the whites of her eyes were turned up, and she couldn’t talk. Later her son knelt before me and pleaded with me to save his mother. I went to their home to recite the Great Compassion Mantra. She then started to vomit. She actually spit up the poisonous lye. This is the power of the Great Compassion Mantra.
There was also Guo Zhao Xiao at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. He ate some “death caps”, a type of poisonous mushroom that if one were to eat one or two, one would die. There’s no antidote for it. Symptoms appear twelve hours after one eats it. Guo Zhao Xiao ate about seven or eight of these poisonous mushrooms. The doctor took a look and thought he was doomed for sure. When I heard about it, he asked me, “Dharma Master, the doctor said that I will die; what do you say?” I told him, “I won’t allow you to die. Even if you want to die and you’ve already touched King Yama’s nose, I will still snatch you back.” He was reassured by what I said. I also told him to recite Guanyin Bodhisattva’s name. He had probably never recited before, so his illness worsened again after a while. Since he didn’t have any faith and didn’t recite Guanyin Bodhisattva’s name, his condition deteriorated. People sent him to the hospital where the doctor said, “You’re finished. There’s no way to save you.” The people who sent him there came back and told me, “The doctor said that he can’t be saved.” “No, tell him to come back. How ridiculous! I forbid him to die. Go and see if he’s well now.” They went and saw that he was alive and the color came back to his face. It was rosy. His face wasn’t green and his lips weren’t ashen anymore. He survived.
Why was I able to say that? It is because I always recite the Great Compassion Mantra, so whatever I say usually comes to pass. That’s why in San Francisco, I said, “As long as I am here, I will forbid an earthquake to occur here!” Major earthquakes will turn into minor earthquakes; minor earthquakes will disappear. No one has died [from earthquakes in San Francisco] from 1968 until now.
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