..续本文上一页y and medical science have no understanding of the underlying causes, and so cannot treat the victims of such diseases in an ideal manner. The Buddhadharma alone provides the ultimate medicine, the special formula for resolving difficulties and averting disasters!

　　这条毒蛇由瞋心所持，发奋修炼，继而成精。它的法术日益增进，久而能通天彻地，总以恼害庶民为乐。时下，类似这条蛇的事，不知多少，希望它们赶快生忏悔心，无复妖孽，祸害民间。

　　As for the snake, it was driven by hatred and cultivated energetically until it became a spirit. When it developed the ability to penetrate the heavens and earth, it took delight in troubling multitudes of people. There are many cases similar to this snake. We hope it will soon repent and will never harm people again.

　　后来到了宋朝的时候，这蛇已变成毒龙，在大江里翻风覆雨，杀害无数的渔民或渡船人。这个时候，那地方的人民，生活在恐惧惊怖、焦急万分之中。

　　By the Song Dynasty [960-1279 A.D.], the snake had turned into a venemous dragon that dwelt in a large river and stirred up violent storms which killed countless fishermen and ferry passengers and caused people to live in great fear and anxiety.

　　幸好得到某位法力高强的圣僧，特来营救。他手持着锡杖，站在岸旁，大声呵斥毒龙。毒龙闻声，勃然大怒，于是使出本领，现数千丈的巨蟒身。然而这法师由金刚三昧力所持，毫无怖畏，于是用钩召法、降伏法，经过三天三夜的生死苦战，终于把毒龙折伏。

　　Fortunately, a sage, a monk of formidable Dharma powers, came to the rescue. Grasping his tin staff, the monk stood on the shore and called out loudly to the venemous dragon. Hearing his voice, the dragon flew into a rage and displayed its powers: It appeared in the body of a giant python, tens of thousands of feet long. Aided by the power of Vajra-Samadhi, the Dharma Master was not daunted in the least. Employing the Dharmas of Hooking and Subduing, he battled with the dragon for three days and nights and finally subdued it.

　　邪不胜正，毒龙的恶术被破，无奈之下，只好投降。法师为它说法：一切皆苦、空、无常、无我，唯有业随身，并谏彼应生慈悲心，以法术来裨益众生，不可加害生灵。彼蛇闻法后，恍然有觉，得清净眼。法师遂授以三皈五戒，命它到某山洞去修行，不要再扰乱人民，毒龙欣然从命。从宋朝到现在，已有数百年历史，这条龙至今已成天龙八部之一，神通变化自如。

　　After its evil powers were defeated, the venomous dragon had no choice but to surrender. The Dharma Master taught the dragon that everything is characterized by suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and lack of self; only karma follows us. He urged the dragon to be compassionate and to use its powers to benefit living beings instead of harming them. After hearing the Dharma, the dragon suddenly had an awakening and attained the pure Dharma eye. The Dharma Master transmitted the three refuges and five precepts to it, and told it to cultivate the Dharma in a certain mountain cave and never trouble people again. The dragon gladly did as it was told.

　　(编按：这个时候，女界有比丘尼说：「数星期前，我们见到这条蛇在喜舍院女界佛堂附近。因为怕是响尾蛇，所以把它放在罐子里，还用坚硬的木板盖上，预备把蛇送到较远的树林释放，以免扰害住众。谁知一转过头来，打开铁罐，这蛇已经不在，按理说它是没有法子跑的。原来它有神通，难怪！」)

　　[Editor”s Note: A Bhikshuni reports, “Several weeks ago, we saw this snake at Joyous Giving House (nuns” quarters), near the women”s Buddha Hall. Fearing that it was a rattlesnake, we put it in a can with a firm wooden lid, and planned to set it free farther away in the woods, so that it wouldn”t bother the residents. Who would have thought that when we opened the can, the snake was gone! Logically, there was no way it could have escaped. No wonder it”s said to have spiritual powers!”]

　　这条蛇我老早就认识它，二十多年前在香港大屿山慈兴寺，它常到庙上听经。虽然不曾恼害任何人，但是众生都害怕它的蛇形。一次有人也把它放到铁罐内，运送到几哩外的山林处，拟释放之，孰料打开罐子一看，蛇已不翼而飞！而今，佛法传到西方，它亦不惮远渡重洋，来美国护法。

　　I”ve known this snake for a long time. More than twenty years ago, it would come to Cixing (Flourishing Kindness) Monastery on Lanto Island in Hong Kong [a monastery founded by the Venerable Master] to listen to Sutra lectures. Although the snake never harmed anyone, people were scared because it was a snake. Once someone caught it in a metal can and took it into a forest several miles away to set free, but when that person opened the can, the snake was gone! Now that the Buddhadharma has come to the West, the snake has also crossed the ocean, undaunted by the distance, and come to America to protect the Dharma.

　　学佛的众生要深信因果，不要种恶因，否则会结恶果；若种善因，一定会结善果。因果是丝毫不爽的，杀人之父，人亦杀其父；杀人之兄，人亦杀其兄。不要为了得到好处，而不择手段去杀人。你若害人，到最后反而是害了你自己。上天有好生之德，天不愿任何人做恼害众生的事，所以不要错因果。所谓：

　　Living beings who study Buddhism should believe deeply in cause and effect. If we don”t plant bad causes, we naturally won”t receive a bad retribution. If we plant good causes, we will certainly receive a good retribution in the future. The law of cause and effect is clear, and it never fails. If you kill someone”s father, that person will kill your father. If you kill someone”s brother, that person will kill your brother in turn. You shouldn”t kill people just to gain benefits. Harming others merely harms yourself in the end. The heavens cherish life and do not want living beings to harm each other. Therefore, you should not go against the law of cause and effect. As it”s said,

　　「一失足成千古恨」

　　Once you lose your footing, you will regret it forever.

《蛇来听法 A Snake Comes to Hear the Dharma》全文阅读结束。