..續本文上一頁 do people die
How can they avoid dying
" I asked. A relative of the family who was visiting answered, "The only way to not die is to leave the home-life and cultivate the Way." The sight of death scared me, and I didn”t want to die. The idea of undergoing round after round of birth and death seemed meaningless, and I conceived the idea of leaving the home-life, since only by cultivating the Way can one put an end to birth and death.
有一天，我對母親說：「我想出家修行，不知媽媽同不同意？」母親說：「出家是好事，我不能攔阻你。可是等我死後，你再出家也不遲。」母親已經許可我出家，我心中非常高興，但是不能即刻出家。當時的我，反省過去做了不知孝順父母的事，惹父母操心，令他們費了很多精神。怎樣來報答父母的養育之恩呢？我左想右想，想出一個笨法子––向父母叩頭，表示忏悔。想到這個，我就決定發這個心願。
One day I said to my mother, "I want to leave the home-life and cultivate the Way. Is that all right with you
" She said, "To leave home is a good thing, and I cannot prevent you from doing so. But I hope you will wait until after I die before you leave home; it won”t be too late." Having obtained my mother”s permission to leave home made me very happy, even though I could not fulfill my wish right away. At the time I reflected on my unfilial behavior in the past. I recalled how I had made my parents upset and wasted their energy in concern over me. I asked myself how I was going to repay their kindness in raising me and giving me my education. Tossing the question around in my mind, I struck upon a dumb idea: I would bow to them, to demonstrate my shame and remorse for my misbehavior. At that point, I decided to make a vow to do this.
當我開始給父母親叩頭的時候，我的父母嚇了一跳，便問：「爲什麼要叩頭？」我說：「因爲我以前不知孝順父母，惹父母生氣，現在知道不對了，所以從今天開始，向父母叩頭。」父親說：「既然知道錯，能改就好了，不必再叩頭了。」我說：「孩兒的個性一向倔強，說出的話，一定要做到。」父母親知道我的脾氣，不再說什麼，默許我的願心，接受我每天早晚叩頭。
As soon as I began to bow to them, my parents were startled, and asked me, "What are you bowing for
" I answered, "Because in the past, before I knew that I should be filial and respectful to my parents, I did many wrong things and made you both angry. Now I know I was wrong, and from today on, I am going to bow to you to make up for the past." My father said, "Since you already know that you were wrong, all you need to do is change; you don”t have to keep on bowing like that." I responded, "I”ve always had a stubborn streak, and whatever I say, I will certainly do!" My parents were well-acquainted with my temperament; they didn”t say anything, but silently complied with my wish and accepted the morning and evening bows that I made to them.
從此以後，每天清早起來(家人在睡覺時)，就到院中向父親叁叩頭，向母親叁叩頭。每天晚間，家人上炕睡覺之後，就到院中向父母各叩叁個頭。叩了一個時期，感覺不夠，于是又向天地叩頭。當時不知有天主、地主、人主等名詞，只知有天、地、君、親、師，所以每天早晚，給天叩叁個頭，給地叩叁個頭，給國家元首叩叁個頭，給父親叩叁個頭，給母親叩叁個頭，給未來老師叩叁個頭。這樣子叩頭，經過一段時期，感覺還不夠，又增加給天下大孝人叩頭，給天下大善人叩頭，給天下大賢人叩頭，給天下大聖人叩頭。以後又增加給全世界所有的好人叩頭，也給全世界所有的壞人叩頭。我對天叩頭，向天禱告，希望大惡、大壞的人，改惡遷善，統統成爲好人。
From then on, I”d rise early in the morning while the family was still in bed, and go out into the yard to bow three times to my father and three times to my mother. Each evening after my family had retired, I”d go out again and bow three times to each of my parents. Before long I felt that these bows were insufficient, and I added some bows to heaven and earth. At the time I had never heard the names of God, or earth-rulers, or kings among people; I knew only about heaven, earth, the emperor, parents, and teachers. So every morning and evening, I”d bow three times to heaven, three times to earth, three times to the leaders of the nation, three times to my father, three times to my mother, and three times to the teachers I would meet in the future. Time passed and I felt once more that this wasn”t enough, so I increased my prostrations to include bows toward all the great filial sons and daughters on earth, and the great samaritans, and also the great worthies the world has known, and the great sages as well. The bows continued to expand to all the great good people, and even to all the great evil …
《宣化老禅師出家的因緣 The Story of the Venerable Master Hsuan Huas Leaving the Home-life》全文未完，請進入下頁繼續閱讀…