比丘尼近南2024年7月23日講於萬佛聖城大殿
A Dharma Talk by Bhikushni Jin Nan at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas on July 23,2024
今天是觀音七的第三天，大家每天很精進地誦《普門品》、大悲咒，和念觀世音菩薩的聖號，因爲大家對觀世音菩薩的大慈大悲所感動，也對觀世音菩薩的大威神力有很大的信心。
Today is the 3rd day of Guanyin session, all of us here recites the Universal Door Chapter, Great Compassion Mantra and chants the sagely name of Guanyin Bodhisattva continuously. I believe this is because everyone is moved by the great kindness and compassion of Guanyin Bodhisattva and has deep faith in the great spiritual power of Guanyin bodhisattva.
或許在座的各位都聽過觀世音菩薩的靈感故事：菩薩如何救護眾生、度眾生學佛。這裏，跟大家分享兩個小故事，希望透過這故事，可以增加大家對觀世音菩薩和對佛法的信心。
Perhaps most of us here have heard about stories of how Guanyin Bodhisattva has saved, crossed over and taught living beings the Dharma. I would like to share two stories with you about Guanyin Bodhisattva too. I hope that after listening to these stories, it may help you deepen your faith in Guanyin Bodhisattva and the Buddhadharma.
今年三月,觀音七的第一天，有一位男眾到大殿來拜佛。他遇見一位法師，就問：“法師，請問您會常常看到觀世音菩薩嗎？”
On the first day of Guanyin session in March this year, a man came to the buddha hall to bow to the Buddha. When he met a Dharma master, he asked, “Dharma master, do you see Guanyin Bodhisattva very often?”
法師看了他一眼，反問他說：“那你有看見過觀世音菩薩嗎？”
The Dharma master glanced at him and asked, “Well, have you ever seen Guanyin Bodhisattva?”
那位男眾跟這位法師說了一段他自己的經歷。他說：“就在一個月前，我帶我的太太來萬佛聖城拜大悲懺，因為我的太太檢查出來有癌症，已經是末期了。有人就介紹我們到萬佛聖城來拜觀世音菩薩。”
This man told the Dharma master about an experience he had. He said, “Just a month ago, I brought my wife here to join the Great Compassion Repentance because my wife was diagnosed with cancer, and it was already in the terminal stage. Someone introduced us to CTTB to pray and seek help from Guanyin Bodhisattva.”
“那一天我們到萬佛城的時候，佛殿已經開始在拜大悲懺了，因為我們從來也沒有參加過，我先推太太的輪椅到大殿一旁。我的太太全身已經很虛弱，沒有力氣，頭是低著的，根本沒有精神和力氣擡起頭來。大悲懺結束後，我看著正中央的觀世音菩薩像，突然，有一位全身發光的人從台上走下來，我很訝異，看著那個全身光亮的人走到臺下佛殿的中間，伸出很長的手摸我太太的頭，然後從我太太的身上抓了一堆黑色的東西，往台上面丟了上去。”
“That day, when we arrived at CTTB, the Great Compassion Repentance had started in the Buddha Hall. Since we had never participated before, I pushed my wife’s wheelchair to the side of the hall. My wife was completely exhausted. She was so weak that she had no strength at all, her head was lowered, she had no energy to even raise her head. After the Great Compassion Repentance, I looked at the statue of Guanyin Bodhisattva in the center of the front of the hall. Suddenly, I saw a person whose whole body was glowing walked down from the stage, I was very surprised. I kept looking at the man with radiance. He walked to the middle of the hall, then stretched out his hand so long, and touched my wife’s head. Then, he extracted some black substance from her body and threw it onto the stage.”
這位男眾繼續說：“那天之後，我太太的精神突然變好了，因為她是癌症末期，一直有個願望，希望可以回中國老家，在往生之前見到老家的親人。但由於身體太虛弱，一直沒辦法成行。那天參加完大悲懺之後，她恢復了些許精神，有力氣可以坐長途飛機回中國。所以，我很快就帶著我的太太回老家。回到中國不久後，她就往生了。但總算過世前，滿了她的心願 — 可以見到親人，也可以在老家往生。”
The man continued, “After that day, my wife’s condition improved. Since she was in the final stage of cancer and had always wished to return to her hometown in China and see her relatives there before passing away. But she was too weak to travel a long distance, there’s no way it could happen. However, after participating in the Great Compassion Repentance just once, she regained some energy, enough for her to take the long-distance flight back to China. Seeing her changes and improvement, I quickly arrange the journey to bring my wife back to her hometown in China. Not long after returning to China, she passed away. However, her wish was fulfilled before she passed away. She could see her love ones before she passed away.”
這位男眾說，在他的太太的告別儀式當天，送去火化的時候，他看到太太從棺木裡走出來，身旁有兩位發金色光的的童子。他的太太看起來很開心，跟著兩個小童走了。他説，原本那一天他是很難過的，還在掉眼淚，但看到太太開心地笑，跟著兩位童子離開前還轉過頭來對他微笑，他心裡百感交集，覺得這是一個很奇特的境界。所以，在他辦完太太的後事之後，回到美國來便再次來到萬佛聖城，想再來看看觀世音菩薩。
This man told the dharma master that on the day of his wife’s funeral, when she was being cremated, he saw his wife walking out of the coffin with two children standing beside her. These two children are emitting golden light from their bodies. He said that his wife seemed very happy and followed the two children left, with a smile on her face. He told the dharma master that originally, he was very sad during the funeral day and was still crying, but when he saw his wife turned back to smile at him before leaving, he had mixed feelings and thought this was a very special experience and state he has encountered. That is why after he his wife’s funeral, when he returned to the States, he couldn’t wait to visit CTTB again, because he want to come and see GY bodhisattva again.
這位男眾並非佛教徒，他只相信一般的民間信仰，但因爲太太的病情，經朋友介紹他才來到萬佛城。也許是因爲他相信，所以只參加一次的大悲懺，他對觀世音菩薩已經生起信心和依賴心。在經歷了太太往生前、後的這些事，相信往後他會對佛法產生興趣，慢慢接觸佛法，正式進入佛門。這就是觀世音菩薩的神通力方便接引眾生的一個例子。
This man is not a Buddhist, he only takes in folk beliefs. However, due to his wife’s illness, he came to CTTB because a friend introduced Guanyin bodhisattva to him. Probably because he has faith, therefore attending the Great Compassion Repentance just once was enough for him to develop confidence in Guanyin bodhisattva and started to rely on Guanyin. After the experiences while handling the matters before and after his wife’s death, I believe that in the future he will be interested in Buddhism, and slowly will contact and learn more about Buddhism. This is an example of how GY bodhisattva uses his spiritual power and uses expedient ways to attract and guide living beings to learn the dharma.
第二個故事是發生在一位女居士身上，她是一位來自香港的醫生。
The second story is about a lay women who is a doctor from Hong Kong.
這位居士學佛不久，母親得了癌症。由於她曾經聽過上人的一位美國弟子，因爲父親生病，每天拿一碗水為父親念大悲咒，然後給父親喝，後來父親的病就好了。這位居士也想要效仿，為自己的母親念大悲咒，希望母親的病情可以減緩。但因爲她是初學者，所以對大悲咒不熟，一開始一日内只念幾遍，到後來，一天就可以念一百三、四十遍。她不間斷地每天為媽媽念大悲咒，希望媽媽的病情好轉。
This lay women just started studying Buddhism, not long after her mother was diagnosed with cancer. She once heard the story about an American disciple of the Venerable Master whose father was ill, and this disciple took a bowl of water and recited the Great Compassion mantra for his father every day, and gave it to his father to drink. Later, his father’s illness was cured. So, she wanted to emulate this disciple and recite the Great Compassion mantra for her mother too, hoping that her mother’s cancer could be cured. Since she was a beginner, at first, she could only recite the Great Compassion mantra a few times a day. Later, when she became more familiar with the mantra, she could recite around 130 or 140 times per day. She continued to recite the Great Compassion mantra every day in the hope that her mother’s condition would improve.
那段時間，是在2021年前後，全球的疫情處於高峰期。每天的數據統計顯示新增的確診病例和死亡病例持續上升。但很奇妙的是，這位居士所在的醫院那個工作部門，反而開始收到新數據顯示確診和死亡病例下降。原本，她自己也沒有注意，直到某天她工作部門的科長在聊天的時候和她提起。當時，她自己想，是不是因爲她最近每天都在誦大悲咒的原因，所以才有這樣的效果？但她很清楚，當時誦大悲咒是爲了母親，并非爲了疫情。在那不久之後，原本母親需要開刀的，後來再做檢查，醫生說不需要開到刀了，因爲情況有了進步。
It was around the year 2021. During that time, the COVID pandemic was at its peak globally. Daily statistics showed that the number of new positive cases and new deaths continued to rise. But strangely, the hospital department where this lay woman works began to receive new data showing that the number of positive cases and deaths dropped drastically. In the beginning she didn’t notice it herself, until one day, the head of her department mentioned it to her while they were chatting. When she heard about it, she thought to herself, could it be the reason she had been reciting the Great Compassion mantra every day? But she knew very well that the reason she recited the Great Compassion mantra was for her mother, not for the pandemic. Her mother originally needed an operation, but after another checkup before the operation, the doctor told them that it was not necessary because her mother’s condition had improved.
這就是大悲咒的力量。這位醫生一片孝心，對大悲咒和觀世音菩薩有信心，她不僅僅幫助了母親的病情好轉，還無意中幫助了身邊的衆生。因此，我們要有信心，不管遇到任何困難，或者是看不開、放不下的人、事、物，我們只要能夠讀誦《普門品》，或者每天誦持大悲咒，乃至於只是持念觀世音菩薩的聖號，都會得到解脫、清涼，種種問題都能解決。但必須拿出誠心來，要不間斷地修持。不管修任何法門，都需要堅持、恆久，這樣才能得到真正的利益。
This is the power of the Great Compassion mantra. Due to the filiality and her faith in the Great Compassion mantra and Guanyin Bodhisattva, this lay woman not only helped her mother’s condition to improve, but indirectly she also helped other living beings surrounding her. Therefore, we must always have confidence that no matter what difficulties we encounter, or things that we cannot see through and let go of, we just need to recite the Universal Door Chapter, or recite the Great Compassion mantra every day, or even just by reciting the sagely name of Guanyin Bodhisattva, this will lead us to liberation and purity, and many more other benefits. We just need to be sincere and practice constantly. In fact, no matter what Dharma door we practice, we must be persistent and persevere, only in this way can we attain true benefits.