..續本文上一頁he considered their flesh to be tender, savory, sweet, nutri-tious, and much more nourishing than vitamin supplements. The ghost mother had given birth to a thousand sons of her own, but unfortunately, she had a fondness for the flesh of human children. Consequently, the human race was close to extinction.

　　所以佛再不能不管這件事，于是將鬼子母的最小兒子捉來，放在佛的缽裏。鬼子母各處吃小孩子後，回來發現小兒子不見了，就整個世界到處找。她也有神通，知道被佛捉去了，所以到佛那裏興師問罪，說：「你爲什麼無緣無故把我的小兒子抓去？」

　　At that point, the Buddha could no longer ignore the situation so he captured the ghost mother”s youngest son and put him inside his alms bowl. When the ghost mother returned from her bout of devouring children and found her young son gone, she went searching for him all over the world. Since she was endowed with spiritual penetrations, she became aware that the Buddha had taken her son. She then mobilized her forces and went to accuse the Buddha. "Why did you so arbitrarily take away my little son

　　" she asked

　　佛說：「你現在也知道要你的小孩了，那你出去吃別人的小孩，別人又去向誰要小孩呢？」

　　"Now you know how it feels to miss your child!" said the Buddha. "When you go and eat the children of others, when they go to get their children back

　　"

　　鬼子母說：「我吃小孩子，是爲了維持我的生命；你現在把我的小孩抓來，你也不吃，那你要我的小孩幹什麼？」

　　"I have to eat those children in order to survive," said the ghost mother. "Now you”ve kidnapped my child, but what do you want with him, since you aren”t going to eat him

　　"

　　鬼子母說：「我若不吃小孩子，就沒有東西可吃，那我豈不是要餓死了嗎？」佛說：「不要緊，你餓不死的，我叫我的弟子每逢用齋時就分出一部份給你吃，你以後不要再吃人間的小孩子了。」所以從此以後，鬼子母就改惡向善，發菩提心，不食人間的小孩子了。

　　The Buddha told her, "Just as you want your own child back, others also wish to have their children back. When you eat the children of others, their hearts are filled with grief and pain. From now on, you must never eat any more children."

　　The ghost mother said, "If I don”t eat children, I”ll have nothing to eat. Won”t I starve to death

　　"

　　The Buddha said, "Don”t worry, you won”t starve. I shall tell my disciples to offer you a portion of their food when they take their meal. Don”t eat children ever again." From that point onward, the ghost mother mended her evil ways and became good. She brought forth the resolve for Bodhi and no longer fed on the children of the world.

　　「甘露悉充滿」，無論是大鵬金翅鳥、曠野鬼神衆，或鬼子母，我現在都用甘露法食來供養你們，令你們得到飽滿。所以我們出家人中午念供養咒施食，就是這樣的因緣。

　　"May you all be filled with sweet dew." To the great golden-winged garuda bird, the ghosts and spirits in the desolate wilds, and the ghost mother and her children, I offer the Dharma-food of sweet dew, so that you will be well-fed and warm. These are the reasons for the custom that left-home people follow of reciting mantras and offering food at noon each day.

　　金翅鳥在生時有大勢力，但是死後骨肉也消盡散滅，各歸四大，唯有它的心不化，火燒、水淹都不壞，還是完整如初。它的心是圓的，能放出燦爛的光明。龍王若能得到此心，就是龍珠，放在龍宮一照，龍宮就會放大光明。轉輪王若能得到此心，就變成他的如意寶珠，能救度一切災難，神通妙用不可思議。

　　Although the golden-winged garuda bird is very powerful when alive, after death its flesh and bones disintegrate and return to the four elements. Its heart alone does not decay; even if burned by fire or drowned in water, it remains whole and intact. The heart is spherical and emits a radiant light. If a dragon king obtains this heart, it becomes the dragon”s pearl. Placed inside the dragon”s palace, it begins to shine, and the entire dragon palace radiates brilliant light. If a wheel-turning king obtains this heart, it becomes his wish-fulfilling pearl, with which he can rescue all those who are trapped in disasters and difficulties. With the wonderful functioning of such a wish-fulfilling pearl, the spiritual penetrations of the wheel-turning king are truly inconceivable.

　　可是這顆寶珠，我們人是不是沒有份呢？不是的。我們每一個人都有這顆無價寶珠，它是在人的自性裏，可是我們人被無明遮蓋住了，就把這顆如意寶珠給埋沒了，不能放出光明；我們怎麼找也找不著，所以也不會用它，這是一件令人很痛心的事。

　　What about us

　　 Don”t we have any share of this pearl

　　 We do! Everyone possesses this invaluable pearl within his own nature, but we”re so shrouded by ignorance that our wish-fulfilling pearl is smothered and cannot shine. No matter how hard we look for it, we cannot find it. We don”t know how to use it, either－what a pity.

　　世界上的人都舍本逐末，背覺合塵；不想返本還原，背塵合覺。所以每一位宗教聖人都苦口婆心來教化世人，無非是要令我們藉假修真，反迷歸覺，返本還原，認識自己本地的風光，本有的家珍，本具的如意寶珠。可是我們人人都願意向外馳求，不知道回光返照，反求諸己，所以生生世世流浪于生死苦海之中，想要修行又舍不得這些邋遢東西，始終不肯去除塵累，不願自己清淨，這真是可憐啊！

　　People of this world renounce the root to chase after the branch tips. They turn their backs on enlightenment and merge with the dust. They neither wish to return to the source, nor want to escape the dust and merge with enlightenment. For this reason, sages and saints of every religion have taken great pains to teach people to make use of this transitory existence to discover the eternal truth. Their only wish is for us to leave confusion and go toward enlightenment. They hope we will return to the source and recognize our original nature, that is, our inherent treasure－the wishfulfilling pearl we all possess. Most of us, however, prefer to seek externally, not realizing that we really ought to seek within and reflect upon ourselves. In life after life, we”ve drifted aimlessly in the sea of suffering, wanting to cultivate, yet unwilling to renounce our dirty habits and sloppy ways. We don”t seriously want to purify ourselves and cast off the dust of this world. What a pity!

　　一九八二年六月六日開示于萬佛聖城

　　A talk given on June 6, 1982

　　at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas

《大鵬金翅鳥 The Great Golden-Winged Garuda Bird》全文閱讀結束。