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This was my first visit to the CTTB. I feel there is something special here that you won”t find elsewhere: the young schoolchildren, even the young Americans can all recite sutras and mantras. It makes me happy to see that Buddhism is going to flourish here in this country. Moreover, the "Style of Cultivation", the spiritual atmosphere here is different from other places. The Sangha members eat just once a day at noon, yet they work hard all the time. I feel that the ascetic practices that are practiced here ought to be learned by monks the world over.
The first day I arrived, the Guest Prefect nun was very friendly, and helped me move a heavy suitcase upstairs. What a shame, I don”t even know the right way to address monks and nuns, so I call them all "Shr Fu". and I still don”t know the name of the Guest Prefect who helped me out. The CTTB is a large place, and to this day I”m not sure which part of the campus is restricted to men and which to women. Some of the guests here didn”t even know how to find the worship hall, nor did they know the difference between the Long Life Hall and the Rebirth Hall. Others couldn”t even recognize Shr Fu”s face, if they saw it, they knew him only by reputation.
Some people came here only to bow to the Buddhas, they paid attention to nothing else, while others wanted to get the whole picture before they began to bow. The Ven. Abbot”s comings and goings are not our business; but the one thing that I do regret was that I didn”t join in on the Three Steps, One Bow pilgrimage to the Buddhahall. I”m really sorry I missed it!
洪慧真(新加坡)
這是我第一次到萬佛城。覺得這裏有別于其他的佛寺，是在萬佛城中小學的學生，甚至是美國小學生，年紀小小都會念經、念咒，很高興看到佛法能在此地興盛。此外，這裏的道風也與其他地方不一樣，法師們日中一食，也很賣力工作，這裏出家衆修的苦行是值得其他的出家人學習的。
到萬佛城時，知客師很友善，還幫我搬了一個大行李上樓。可惜我連出家人怎麼稱呼都不會，一開口就叫師父，也不知道知客師的名字。萬佛城很大，我們也不知道那裏是女衆可去或不可去的地方；有些人連佛堂在那兒也不知道，更不曉得什麼是延生堂、往生堂也不懂，連師父是什麼樣子都是聽說的。有些人只想來拜佛，其他的事也不理；有些人要把事情弄明白了才拜佛。尤其是師父的行蹤，更不易知道，還有浴佛節當天早晨的叁步一拜，我也錯過了，實在可惜！
Lucille Hui (Gwo Hsuan) from Hong Kong, currently a resident of Florida
Finally I got my long-held wish to come to the City Of Ten Thousand Buddhas! I was happy to learn that the CTTB was going to hold the Ten Thousand Buddha”s Bowing Repentance in order to celebrate the Buddha”s Birthday. In order not to miss this splendid chance, I bought a plane ticket from Florida to San Francisco.
Time flies and I”ve been here for two months now, the first month was spent in bowing to the Buddhas and climaxed by celebrating the Buddha”s birthday.
I enjoyed the entire period spent bowing the Repentance. It passed in a daily state of "Dharma-bliss". I would like to share my experiences at the time. It was really exciting the first day, with everybody wearing their tidy robes and standing in straight lines in front of the Buddhas. Then after we made our first offering of flowers and incense, we got down to business bowing to the names of all the Buddhas. Everything was arranged according to Dharma, and stayed under control. The ceremony proceeded in orderly fashion. The nuns who worked in the kitchen were so kind to prepare us drinks everyday to soften our voices.
Once I read in a sutra that when we finish reciting we should transfer the merit to all living beings, and we should not be greedy for the virtue ourselves. So the first thing I did was to pray to the Buddhas to make transference to my parents. But then later on I realized that I wanted to transfer to every living being as well. So I did that very happily.
While we bowed and chanted, I tried hard to concentrate and focus on each Buddha”s name, and if some other false thoughts arose, I would put them aside immediately.
My left leg has given me trouble for a long time, and for years it would hurt me from time to time. During the bowing the pain really got serious. It began to bother me, since we did so many bows each day. I worried that I might not be able to finish the Repentance. A friend gave me some medicine but it didn”t change anything. Therefore I could only pray to the Buddhas and try the best I could.
The time passed, and one day I was kneeling down on a cushion to make a bow, I saw a Bhikshuni”s face appear before me. She looked pretty and adorned, and she smiled. The vision lasted only an instant, and then disappeared. I recalled that the Ven. Master said that if we see anything, no matter whether it is the Buddha or a demon, we should just ignore it. So I continued to focus on the bowing. And a few days before the ceremony was over my leg was suddenly released from pain, and the soreness was all gone. I felt comfortable, and nothing bothered me.
It was quite incredible, but from then until now, I feel really fine. I pray and give thanks to the Buddha.
果璇 香港人—來自佛羅裏達州
我想要到萬佛城的願望終于實現了！當我知道萬佛城將舉辦萬佛忏來迎接佛誕日時，我很高興，爲了不要錯過此殊勝因緣，我買了飛機票從佛羅裏達州到叁藩市。
現在我于此已經兩個月了。一個月的拜忏及佛誕日也已過了。回想起我參加萬佛忏時，我覺得法喜充滿。第一天的拜忏，我心情緊張，每一個人都穿得很整齊的排列在佛殿的拜墊前。獻了花之後，接著唱佛名號及拜佛。一切事情處理得很有規律，廚房工作的法師也很慈悲，每天准備茶水給我們潤喉。
我想起曾閱佛書說，當我們誦經之後，就要回向功德給一切衆生，所以我也回向功德給我的父母；但接下來，我也領悟到我也要回向給一切衆生，我就很高興的這樣做了！拜忏其間，我都在嘗試觀想佛名號，當妄想來臨時，我就把它放下。然而，我的左腳向來有問題，很久以前它不時會有疼痛，所以現在愈加嚴重了。我拜忏幾天之後，我的腿開始不聽話，我很擔心不能拜完整個萬佛忏。我的朋友給了我一些藥，也不見效果，所以我開始向佛來祈求。
幾天過後，有一次我跪拜在拜墊上，我看到一位法師的面孔出現在我眼前。他很莊嚴的笑著，一閃即失。我記起師父曾說過，我們無論見到了什麼，是佛或魔，也不要管他，所以我繼續觀想及拜佛。在萬佛忏結束的前幾天，我的疼痛消失了，覺得很舒服。還是件很不可思議的事，到現在一直很好，我只有祈禱和感激佛菩薩的慈悲。
[ 《拜萬佛忏感言 Reflections on the Ten Thousand Buddhas Repentance Dharma Assembly》全文閱讀結束。