虛雲老和尚出家的因緣

　　The Story of Venerable Master Hsu Yun”s Leaving the Home-life

　　志不退，願不退，行不退，一心一意向前精進。

　　Never retreat from your resolve, from your vows, and from your practice. Advance with single-minded vigor.

　　虛老是湖南省湘鄉人氏，俗姓蕭，父玉堂公，曾任福建省泉州府知府之職，爲官清廉，愛民如子。年逾四十，膝下無子，夫婦到城外觀音古寺求子。心誠則有感應，回府之後，夫人果然懷孕。十月期滿，夫婦同夢一位老者，長須青袍，頭頂觀音，跨虎而來。驚醒，胎兒降生，乃是一肉團(八地菩薩，才有此境界)，母驚嚇而氣絕。

　　The Venerable Master Hsu Yun (Empty Cloud) was born to the Xiao family and was a native of Xiang County of Hunan Province in China. His father, the Elder Yutang, was an incorruptible magistrate of Quan Prefecture in Fujian province who loved the people as if they were his own children. At the age of forty, he was still childless. One day, he and his wife went to the ancient Guanyin Temple outside of town to pray for a son. Their sincerity inspired a response; soon after their return to the prefecture, Mrs. Xiao conceived a child. When the pregnancy reached full term, one night both husband and wife dreamed of a long-bearded old man, wearing a dark-green robe and bearing an image of Guanyin Bodhisattva on his head, who came riding astride a tiger. Startled awake, the woman delivered a child who emerged in a bag of flesh. (This is the state of Bodhisattvas at the eighth stage or above). Frightened by the uncanny event, the woman passed away.

　　翌日，來了一位賣藥的老翁，用刀將肉團剖開，內裏有一男嬰，遂由庶母撫育。虛老因爲有善根，不歡喜讀儒家的書籍，對功名視爲浮雲，可是對佛經頗有興趣，所以在年少就萌起出家修道的念頭。有一次，逃到福州鼓山擬出家，被家人找回。其父遣之回湖南老家去，請二叔嚴加管教，杜絕其出家之念。

　　The following day an old peddler of medicines passed by and cut open the flesh-bag to reveal a baby boy inside. The child was raised by his stepmother. Endowed with keen faculties, the boy considered honor and position to be meaningless. Rather than delighting in the Confucian classics, he had a consuming interest in studying the Buddhist Sutras, and at an early age, he conceived the idea of leaving the home-life to cultivate the Way. Once, he tried escaping to Gu Mountain in Fu Prefecture to become a monk, but his family dragged him back home. His father ordered him to return to their old home in Hunan, and told his uncle to keep a close watch over him and to drive the idea of leaving home out of his mind.

　　虛老是獨生子，叁叔很早就往生，沒有兒子，所以就成爲「一支兩不絕」的繼承人。按照當時的風俗，可以娶兩個太太，一個是父母的媳婦，一個是叔父的媳婦，使兩支都有後代，可以延續香煙。這是一舉兩得的事，一般人求之不得，可是虛老認爲是苦惱事。

　　The Venerable Master Hsu Yun was the only child in the family. His third uncle had passed away long ago, leaving no descendants. Thus he became the heir of two branches of the family. By social custom, he was entitled to marry two wives; one to be the daughter-in-law of his parents, and the other to be the daughter-in-law of his uncle. In this way, both branches could have heirs, and both family lines could continue. To get "two birds with one stone" was a situation most men might seek but never find, but to Venerable Master Hsu Yun, it only meant suffering and affliction.

　　爲傳宗接代的使命，奉父叔之命，在十八歲時，和田氏、譚氏二女，同時舉行結婚儀式。這二女都是名門閨秀，深明大義。結婚之夜，虛老向二女約法叁章，有夫妻之名，無夫妻之實，保持童真之體，叁人同居，互不侵犯，相安無事。

　　In order to preserve the family lineage, he obeyed his father and uncle, and, at age eighteen, he married Miss Tan and Miss Tian in a double wedding. Both women were well-bred daughters of noble families, and both had deep understanding of ethical conduct. On the night of their wedding, the Venerable Master Hsu Yun entered into a solemn oath with the two young women, promising that their marriage was to be in name only, and that they would never consummate their troth. Maintaining their virginity, the three of them lived together without sharing husband-wife relations.

　　次年，虛老決心出家修道，征求二女同意(此二女後來亦出家爲尼)，偷偷離開溫暖的家，來到福州鼓山湧泉寺，禮妙蓮長老爲師，名演徹，號德清。虛老深恐被家人再找到，所以在深山岩下修苦行，饑時吃松子和草葉，渴時喝山澗之溪水。這種苦行，不是一般人所能修持的，所謂：

　　穿人所不能穿，

　　吃人所不能吃，

　　忍人所不能忍，

　　受人所不能受。

　　The following year, the Venerable Master decided to leave the home-life and cultivate the Way.…

《虛雲老和尚出家的因緣 The Story of Venerable Master Hsu Yuns Leaving the Home-life》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…