虚云老和尚出家的因缘
The Story of Venerable Master Hsu Yun”s Leaving the Home-life
志不退，愿不退，行不退，一心一意向前精进。
Never retreat from your resolve, from your vows, and from your practice. Advance with single-minded vigor.
虚老是湖南省湘乡人氏，俗姓萧，父玉堂公，曾任福建省泉州府知府之职，为官清廉，爱民如子。年逾四十，膝下无子，夫妇到城外观音古寺求子。心诚则有感应，回府之后，夫人果然怀孕。十月期满，夫妇同梦一位老者，长须青袍，头顶观音，跨虎而来。惊醒，胎儿降生，乃是一肉团(八地菩萨，才有此境界)，母惊吓而气绝。
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，来了一位卖药的老翁，用刀将肉团剖开，内里有一男婴，遂由庶母抚育。虚老因为有善根，不欢喜读儒家的书籍，对功名视为浮云，可是对佛经颇有兴趣，所以在年少就萌起出家修道的念头。有一次，逃到福州鼓山拟出家，被家人找回。其父遣之回湖南老家去，请二叔严加管教，杜绝其出家之念。
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.
虚老是独生子，三叔很早就往生，没有儿子，所以就成为「一支两不绝」的继承人。按照当时的风俗，可以娶两个太太，一个是父母的媳妇，一个是叔父的媳妇，使两支都有后代，可以延续香烟。这是一举两得的事，一般人求之不得，可是虚老认为是苦恼事。
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.
为传宗接代的使命，奉父叔之命，在十八岁时，和田氏、谭氏二女，同时举行结婚仪式。这二女都是名门闺秀，深明大义。结婚之夜，虚老向二女约法三章，有夫妻之名，无夫妻之实，保持童真之体，三人同居，互不侵犯，相安无事。
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，虚老决心出家修道，征求二女同意(此二女后来亦出家为尼)，偷偷离开温暖的家，来到福州鼓山涌泉寺，礼妙莲长老为师，名演彻，号德清。虚老深恐被家人再找到，所以在深山岩下修苦行，饥时吃松子和草叶，渴时喝山涧之溪水。这种苦行，不是一般人所能修持的，所谓：
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.…
《虚云老和尚出家的因缘 The Story of Venerable Master Hsu Yuns Leaving the Home-life》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…