..续本文上一页 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，我对母亲说：「我想出家修行，不知妈妈同不同意？」母亲说：「出家是好事，我不能拦阻你。可是等我死后，你再出家也不迟。」母亲已经许可我出家，我心中非常高兴，但是不能即刻出家。当时的我，反省过去做了不知孝顺父母的事，惹父母操心，令他们费了很多精神。怎样来报答父母的养育之恩呢？我左想右想，想出一个笨法子––向父母叩头，表示忏悔。想到这个，我就决定发这个心愿。
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.
当我开始给父母亲叩头的时候，我的父母吓了一跳，便问：「为什么要叩头？」我说：「因为我以前不知孝顺父母，惹父母生气，现在知道不对了，所以从今天开始，向父母叩头。」父亲说：「既然知道错，能改就好了，不必再叩头了。」我说：「孩儿的个性一向倔强，说出的话，一定要做到。」父母亲知道我的脾气，不再说什么，默许我的愿心，接受我每天早晚叩头。
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.
从此以后，每天清早起来(家人在睡觉时)，就到院中向父亲三叩头，向母亲三叩头。每天晚间，家人上炕睡觉之后，就到院中向父母各叩三个头。叩了一个时期，感觉不够，于是又向天地叩头。当时不知有天主、地主、人主等名词，只知有天、地、君、亲、师，所以每天早晚，给天叩三个头，给地叩三个头，给国家元首叩三个头，给父亲叩三个头，给母亲叩三个头，给未来老师叩三个头。这样子叩头，经过一段时期，感觉还不够，又增加给天下大孝人叩头，给天下大善人叩头，给天下大贤人叩头，给天下大圣人叩头。以后又增加给全世界所有的好人叩头，也给全世界所有的坏人叩头。我对天叩头，向天祷告，希望大恶、大坏的人，改恶迁善，统统成为好人。
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 …
《宣化老禅师出家的因缘 The Story of the Venerable Master Hsuan Huas Leaving the Home-life》全文未完，请进入下页继续阅读…