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我要再講兩則真實感人的慈悲故事，故事中的男女英雄都是動物。第一次讀這些故事時，使我聯想起佛陀的本生經，因為它們頗似佛陀於過去生中化作各種不同的生命型態來修菩薩道的故事。
1996年，在美國「溪原動物園」發生一起3歲男孩墜入猩猩獸欄的事件。其時男孩尚渾然不覺籠中有7隻成年猩猩。正當一隻母猩猩上前抱起孩子時，孩子的母親尖叫道：「猩猩抓走我的孩子! 」人們都緊張起來，焦急地注視著。可是，母猩猩不讓其他猩猩近前，而小心翼翼地將孩子送到獸欄門邊。管理員趕緊打開邊門，把孩子抱出來。這一令人嘖嘖稱奇的事件過程，被全程錄影；救起這男孩後，這隻慈心的母猩猩，便成了全國的英雄。
下一個好漢，是一頭名為「國王」的德國牧羊犬。一天，凌晨三點，「國王」不停推搖一名16歲的女孩；女孩坐起身來推開狗，才發現煙霧正在侵入她的房間。房子著火了！她衝進父母的臥房把他們搖醒。母親一面幫丈夫從主臥室窗戶脫困，一面要女兒快從自己房間的窗口逃生；可是丈夫卻因肺功能不佳不能快走，女兒又偏在此刻逃抵火勢最猛的客廳。母親先趕赴搭救女兒出險，旋又再入，惟見「國王」正伴隨丈夫身側，而丈夫早已傾頹在地。只有借「國王」之力，她才能及時將丈夫拖出室外。
感激這條狗──「國王」，是牠救了全家。牠的爪子嚴重燒傷，背部有一道深刻的割痕。後來，他們才又知道「國王」的牙齦也被尖銳木片刺穿。
其實，大火剛起時，「國王」本可獨自自那扇為牠所開通向戶外的門逃生；可是牠沒這麼做，反而在烈焰煙霧中，死命抓撓囓咬關著的木門，試圖經由此門救出牠的朋友。
這一事件，令我想起數年前在看CNN新聞，見到一個撕心裂肺的畫面: 恐怖分子襲擊紐約世貿中心，正當人人都爭先恐後的想從這棟燃燒的建築物逃生時，消防隊員卻衝進大樓去救人。他們這種無我的勇氣，讓我為之感動落淚。
在《優婆薩戒律經》中，佛說：「善男子，菩薩於無量劫，恆常利益有情，勤行精進作諸善行。是以如來圓滿無數功德，三十二相乃大悲果報…。」
宣公上人對仁慈作過微妙的詮釋，他說：
「慈為善根之母。不慈，善根無以增長…慈悲乃修行人之至要德行。倘若你以慈心行施，此施可獲無邊功德。倘若你以慈心持戒，此戒可長無邊功德。倘若你以慈心修忍，此忍可得無邊功德。倘若你運慈悲於精進，精進功德無量無邊。倘若你以慈悲心修禪定，定之功德旋可得知。倘若你以慈悲心修圓滿般若智，般若恆放光明…」
「慈悲就是佛，佛就是慈悲。慈乃大乘法門，大乘法門無過於慈。人有慈心，就是行菩提道，因為菩提道就是慈悲。」
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I’m going to tell two touching true stories about acts of kindness. The heroes and heroines are from the animal kingdom. When I first read them, it reminded me of the Jataka Tales because they are similar to the Buddha’s birth-stories of his past lives while he was cultivating the Bodhisattva Path in different realms of existence.
In 1996, at the Brookfield Zoo in America, a three-year-old boy fell into the gorilla compound. There were seven full-grown gorillas and the boy was unconscious. When a female gorilla approached the boy and picked him up, his mother screamed out saying, “A gorilla’s got my baby!” The crowd of people tensed and watched anxiously. However, the female gorilla kept the other huge gorillas away and carried the boy carefully to the door by the side of the compound. The zookeeper then opened the side door and brought the boy out. That amazing event was videotaped. The kind gorilla became a national hero after rescuing the boy.
The next hero is a German Shepherd, a dog named King. At three o’clock one morning, King kept trying to wake a 16-year old girl up. She sat up to push the dog away and realized that smoke was coming into her room. The house was on fire. She dashed into her parents’ room to wake them up. Her mom told her to quickly go out through her own bedroom window while she helped her husband to escape through their bedroom window. But the husband could not move quickly due to his lung condition. On top of that, their daughter had ended up in the living room where the intensity of the fire was greatest. So the mother rushed towards the daughter and led her to safety. Then, she went in again and found King by her husband’s side. Her husband had collapsed on the floor. She was able to move the husband out of the house only with King’s help.
Thanks to their dog, King, the entire family was saved. King had burnt his paws badly and there was a deep cut on his back. Later, they realized that King’s gums were also pierced with sharp wooden splinters. Actually, when the fire broke out, King could easily have saved himself by running through a door that was left opened for him to go outside. But instead, he chewed and clawed his way through the closed wooden door, through the smoke and fire, in order to save his friends.
That story reminds me of a heartrending scene I saw when I was watching the CNN news on television several years ago: The terrorists had hit the World Trade Center in New York. While people were trying to get out of the burning building as fast as they could, the firefighters were running into the building to save them. I was moved to tears by the firefighters’ selfless courage.
In the Sutra on the Upasaka Precepts, the Buddha says:
“Good son, the Bodhisattva always greatly benefits sentient beings during innumerable kalpas, and earnestly and diligently does all good deeds. Therefore, the Tathagata perfects innumerable virtues. The thirty-two marks are the rewarding result of Great Compassion…”
The Venerable Master gave a wonderful explanation of what kindness means. He said:
“Kindness is the mother-substance of good roots. Without kindness, it would be impossible for good roots to grow…Kindness and compassion are the most important virtues that cultivators must have. If you use a kind heart to practice giving, such giving reaps boundless merit and virtue. If you hold precepts with a kind heart, your precepts carry boundless merit and virtue. If you can cultivate patience with a kind heart, that patience has boundless merit and virtue. If you apply kindness and compassion to the practice of vigor, the merit and virtue of your vigor are boundless. If you cultivate dhyana concentration with a kind and compassionate heart, the merit and virtue of your concentration will soon be realized. If you cultivate the perfection of Prajna wisdom with a kind and compassionate heart, Prajna will constantly manifest its light…
“Kindness is just the Buddha; the Buddha is simply kindness. Kindness is the Great Vehicle Dharma door. The Dharma door of the Great Vehicle does not go beyond kindness. If you have kindness, you are cultivating the Bodhi Path, for the Bodhi Path is just kindness.”
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