蛇来听法
A Snake Comes to Hear the Dharma
佛法传到西方，它亦不惮远渡重洋，来美国护法。
Now that the Buddhadharma has come to the West,
a snake has also crossed the vast ocean and come to America to protect the Dharma.
(编按：一九八二年六月二十日星期日晚，万佛圣城法筵正盛，四众弟子绕着万佛殿，齐念「南无阿弥陀佛」。回殿时，赫然发现一条青色花斑小蛇，伏在大殿前门侧，蛇长约三、四尺，形状细长。大众中有人睹之，即被吓得却步不前。
[Editor's Note: On the evening of Sunday, June 20, 1982, the fourfold assembly of disciples was holding a Dharma celebration at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas. Everyone was circumambulating the Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas, reciting in unison, “Namo Amitabha Buddha.” As people were returning to the hall, they suddenly noticed a mottled green snake lying to the side of the front door. The snake was three or four feet long and very thin. Upon seeing it, some of the people in the assembly froze in fear, unable to take a step forward.
当时纠察建议把蛇拿走，但上人莞尔微笑说：「不必。所有众生皆有佛性，此蛇乃来亲近三宝听法，不应驱之。」
The monk who was the prefect at the time suggested that the snake be removed, but the Venerable Master smiled and said, “It not necessary. All living beings have the Buddha-nature. This snake has come to draw near the Triple Jewel and listen to the Dharma, so it should not be driven away.”
奇怪的是，此蛇不同于普通的蛇，它伸直躺在地上，虽然有近百人前后来往，它却毫无怯意，甚为柔顺驯服。上人登法座后，说：「告诉它可以进来听法。」该蛇立刻听招呼，随即从前门爬行到殿内，未曾惊怖任何人。再从大殿左侧爬至右侧，做绕佛一圈状，然后静静地伏在法座前面，俨如跪在佛前，聆听说法。)
Strangely enough, this was no ordinary snake. It stretched out on the ground, and although there were nearly a hundred people coming and going on all sides, it didn't show the slightest sign of fear. Rather, it was tame and docile. The Venerable Master ascended to the Dharma-seat, and said, “Tell it to come in and listen to the Dharma.” The snake immediately responded by slithering into the hall from the front door without frightening anyone. Then it slithered from the left side of the hall to the right side, as if circumambulating the Buddha once. Finally, it settled down in front of the Dharma-seat, as if kneeling before the Buddhas with quiet dignity in order to listen attentively to the Dharma. In response to the snake's appearance, the Master spoke as follows:]
「一切众生皆有佛性，皆堪作佛。」这是佛亲口告诉我们的，但因众生妄想执着，故不能证得如来的智慧德相。从这句「一切众生皆有佛性」看来，就应该不杀生、不偷盗、不邪淫、不妄语、不饮酒，持这五戒。若杀众生，则与杀十方诸佛一样。盖一切众生乃是诸佛所示现，但因「一念不觉生三细」(即业相、现相、转相)，便愈跑愈远，所以沉沦苦海，永失真道。这种道理是很浅显的，可惜被人忽略。
All living beings have the Buddha-nature and can become Buddhas. This is what the Buddha personally tells us, but because we have discursive thoughts and attachments, we cannot certify to the Buddha's wisdom and virtue. In view of the fact that all living beings have the Buddha-nature, we should refrain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and taking intoxicants, and we should uphold the five precepts. If we kill living beings, it's the same as killing the Buddhas of the ten directions. All living beings are manifestations of the Buddhas; however, since a single unenlightened thought produces the three subtle attributes (the attribute of karma, the attribute of manifestation, and the attribute of turning), the more we run, the farther off we stray, and so we sink and drown in the sea of suffering, losing sight of the truth forever. This is a very simple principle, but unfortunately people have overlooked it.
修道人又应作如是观想：「一切众生皆是我过去生中父母，未来诸佛。」既是过去生中父母，就应想法子孝顺他们，超荐他们，令他们离苦得乐，了生脱死，不再流转于轮回之中。既然是未来诸佛，在他们还未成佛之前，就应当尊重恭敬他们，如面对十方三世诸佛无异。若能常做如是观想，就不会对任何众生有不恭敬、不礼貌，或恼害众生。
Cultivators of the Way should contemplate in this way: “All living beings have been my parents in former lives, and they will become Buddhas in the future. Since they have been my past parents, I should find ways to be filial to them, save them, and enable them to leave suffering, attain bliss, and end birth and death. Since they will become Buddhas in the future, I should honor and respect them just as I would the Buddhas in the ten directions and three periods of time.” If we always keep this contemplation in mind, we will never be disrespectful, rude, or mean to any living being.
所谓众生，不单是我们凡夫肉眼所能看见的，有很多是看不见的，譬如鬼、神、仙、魔等，也是众生的一部分。既然是众生之一，就应该要平等恭敬，尊重他们，不应看不起任何的众生。
There are many living beings, such as ghosts, spirits, immortals, and demons, which we cannot see with our physical eyes. We should also respect these invisible beings and not look down on them. All living beings should be regarded with equal compassion.
今天大家进佛殿时，看见一条蛇，它也是众生之一。但因示现蛇身，众人便望而生畏，见之而不认识，甚至被吓呆了。但这蛇是来亲近三宝，听经闻法的，否则它怎么会老老实实躺在门槛上，一点也不动弹呢？
The snake that appeared as we entered the Buddha Hall today is also a living being. Since it appeared in the body of a snake, everyone was apprehensive and failed to recognize it. Some were even scared out of their wits. However, this snake came to draw near the Triple Jewel, and to hear the Dharma and the Sutras. Why else would it be so docile, lying motionless by the door?
虽然乍眼看去是一条小蛇，其实它懂得千变万化，会隐形，会现小、变大，又能腾云驾雾，在空中自在飞行，只是我们不能知道它的本领而已。这蛇将来修行成功，也能得道的。佛经上讲「天龙八部」，它就是其中一部「摩喉罗伽」，就是大蟒蛇。
Although it appears to be a relatively small snake, it is able to transform in countless ways; it can disappear, shrink, expand, mount the clouds and ride the mists, and fly freely through space. We just aren't aware of its powers. This snake can also cultivate and attain the Way. It belongs to the eightfold division of gods, dragons, and other Dharma-protecting spirits mentioned in the Buddhist Sutras, in particular the division of mahoragas (great pythons).
观察这条蛇的来由，可能它在周朝时为一小国的大臣，可是心怀诡计，谋篡国位，以浸过鸩酒的匕首，藏于袖内，刺杀国王。但此举不但没有夺得王位，反而搞得天怒民怨。大臣临终时生大瞋恨心，死后即堕蛇身，转为巨蟒。
A contemplation on the background of this snake might reveal that it had been a high official in a small kingdom during the Zhou Dynasty. With a treacherous heart, this official plotted to usurp the throne. Hiding a poison-tipped dagger in his sleeve, he went to assassinate the king. However, not only did he fail to seize the throne, he also provoked the anger of the heavens and was blamed by the people. At the time of his death, he felt great wrath and consequently fell and became a snake, a giant python.
世间上有两种力量：一为「阴」，一为「阳」；亦可说一为「善」，一为「恶」。从善者尽修福慧，能成仙、成圣、成菩萨、成佛。恶者的力量亦大，但专做黑暗见不得光的勾当，互相仇报杀害，所以酿成一股巨大无比的怨气。
Two kinds of forces operate in the world: yin and yang, or good and evil. Good beings who constantly cultivate blessings and wisdom can become immortals, sages, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas. Evil beings are also very powerful, yet they engage exclusively in devious intrigues, killing and hurting each other in vengeance, generating a great deal of hatred.
世上都是毒蛇、毒龙布满，这些毒蛇、毒龙，不是一般肉眼所能看见，然而他们确实弥漫国土。这些毒蛇，就是由人心里的「贪瞋痴」积累成形，而到处为患。世上天灾人祸、飞尸邪鬼、妖精魔魇、瘟疫流行，种种不治之奇症，都是这类毒蛇在作怪。这些恶龙疫鬼，专放毒气，惑乱民心；或是魑魅魍魉，夺人精气，使人惊怖颠狂。所以现在时下流行的种种心理病，譬如精神分裂、颠狂恐惧，生理上种种顽疾，都不外乎是这些妖魔鬼魅在兴风作浪，荼毒生灵。
Open your eyes and look around. You'll find the world is filled with poisonous snakes and dragons. Although they aren't visible to our ordinary eyes, they actually fill up the land. These poisonous snakes are the greed, anger, and stupidity in people's minds, which have accumulated and taken shape, and cause illness everywhere. These poisonous snakes cause all the natural and man-made calamities, zombies, demons, ghosts, goblins, epidemics, and strange and incurable diseases in the world. Evil dragons and pestilential demons emit poisonous vapors which confuse people's minds. There are also nightmare ghosts and wang liang ghosts, who steal people's essence and energy, frighten-ing them and causing them to go insane. Nowadays, ghosts, goblins, and demons cause mischief and cause people to develop schizophrenia, insanity, phobias, and other mental illnesses and incurable diseases.
现代心理学、医学界均不深明个中道理，不能对症下药，所以治愈率不甚理想。当然，唯有佛法才是最究竟之灵药，消难息灾之奇方！
Modern psychology 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.
