新的生命之路
The Path of a New Life
万新生/文
By Wan Xinsheng
My name is Wan Xinsheng, and I am fifty-eight years old. I have always worked in a hospital.
我叫万新生，现年五十八岁，一直在医院工作至今。
In July 1989, I was diagnosed as having diabetes. In June 1990, I was diagnosed as having liver disease. In September 1991, the liver disease grew worse. A medical check-up revealed that I had liver cirrhosis and abdominal dropsy at an early stage. In June 1993, the liver disease and diabetes became serious, abdominal dropsy occurred for the second time, and I was constantly running a fever. My temperature sometimes reached as high as 40.3 degrees Celsius [approx. 104.5 F] and never dropped below 37 [approx. 98.6 F] or 38 [approx. 100.4 F]. This condition lasted for over a month. Although my condition improved slightly after over a year of hospitalization, the indices could be maintained only with medication. At that time, many friends were very concerned about my health. My wife and children were also pretty worried. They found the most famous doctors in the country for me. I took several hundred prescriptions of Chinese herb medicine and had hundreds of intravenous transfusions and close to one hundred shots of high protein. I spent over sixty thousand RMB (equivalent to over US$7,000) but did not see much improvement and only managed to get the situation under control.
一九八九年七月，我患糖尿病。九○年六月，又患肝脏病；九一年九月，肝脏病加重，经检查，是早期肝硬化腹水。在九二年六月时，肝脏病、糖尿病严重恶化，出现第二次腹水，高烧达摄氏四十度零三(华氏104.5 度)，最低也在三十七、三十八度(华氏98.6、100.4度)，先后持续一个多月。经住院一年多，病情虽有好转，但一些指标仍靠药物维持。当时，朋友们都很关心我的身体，我的太太和儿子也很着急，给我找了全国最有名的国医看病，吃了几百帖中药，输了几百瓶液体和近百支蛋白，花去医疗费六万多元(中国人民币，合算美金是七千多元)，也没有取得好的效果，只是有些好转，病情得到初步控制。
In early 1993, a Mr. Wang gave me a book about Qi Gong. I practiced off and on for a period of time according to the book but did not persist. The book talks about the mind, thoughts, and images such as lotus seats, temples, and Buddhas; and also about matters like sitting, lying down, standing, and reciting the Buddha’s name. Later, a Ms. Bai introduced a Mr. Chen from Manchuria to us. They took us to the Great Compassion Chan Monastery in Tianjin, where we bowed to the Buddhas, acquired some Buddhist Sutras and statues of Earth Store Bodhisattva and Guan Yin Bodhisattva, and had an initiation ceremony performed on the statues. After returning home, since we wanted to understand the principles, we began reading the Sutras, looking up unfamiliar terms in the dictionary. It was quite difficult and we did not know where to start. Even so, we have never quit reading the Sutras.
一九九三年初，有位姓王的先生送给我一本气功书。我看后，照书本上所讲的做了一段时间，但没有坚持下来，断断续续。书上讲的意念、图像，如莲花坐、寺庙、佛像，还讲到坐、卧、站立、呼佛号的问题。后来，又有一位姓白的女士，引见我们认识了一位从东北过来姓陈的先生，他们带我和我的太太去天津大悲禅院，拜佛、请了经书，请了地藏王菩萨、观世音菩萨像，并开了光。回来后，我们为了摸清这个道理，查辞典看经书，学起来很费劲，不知从何入手，但没有间断。
On January 1, 1994, through Ms. Meng and Ms. Qu and their husbands, we met Mr. Yang and his daughter, Miss Yang. Miss Yang first summed up my personality in a few sentences. I was thoroughly impressed, because every one of her words was accurate. There was not a single redundant word. Then she talked about my health. She said that I had liver disease and diabetes, that my kidneys were not very good, and that there were two small tumors on my liver. She explained that all these illnesses were effects. What were the causes? She said that in the past I had killed living beings and eaten green turtles, eels, crabs, prawns, pigeons, and snakes. She also said that I had once shot a small bird’s wing with a gun held in my left hand, and that the bird had later died. I was totally dumbstruck. How could she know everything about my illnesses, the beings I had killed, and even about the bird I had shot with my left hand? It was amazing.
一九九四年一月一日，经孟女士夫妇和曲女士夫妇介绍，又见到了杨先生和他的女儿杨小姐。杨小姐先用几句话，刻划了我的性格和为人，当时说得我心服口服，我感到字字句句恰如其分，没有一个多余的字；说的就是我。后又讲到我的身体，说我有肝脏病、糖尿病，肾脏也不好，肝上还有两个小肿囊。说这是果；因呢？说我杀过生，吃过甲鱼、鳝鱼、螃蟹、大虾、鸽子和蛇肉，还说我用左手持枪打伤一只小鸟的翅膀，这只小鸟后来死了。当时，我很莫名奇妙，为什么我的病和我杀过的生，甚至我用左手打枪，他们都一清二楚！真神了。
Just when I was half-believing and half-dubious, Mr. Yang explained how they had practiced according to the Dharma talks of the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua. He said, “Master Hsuan Hua taught us to observe the five precepts and ten good deeds, to be a good person and do wholesome things, to repent and recognize our own faults from deep within our hearts every day, to firmly resolve never to transgress the five precepts, and to change and reform ourselves.” His words inspired me greatly. I felt that the principles Master Hsuan Hua talked about were very true, profound, and practical. I thought: “If we want to be a good person, we should simply follow the Master’s teaching!” Mr. Yang saw that I was quite sincere, so he taught me how to recite the Buddha’s name and how to repent, and also helped me to send those living beings I had killed away from my body to rebirth. My whole body suddenly felt very relaxed. It seemed that my illnesses were cured. Mr. Yang then gently patted my body all over. It felt as if a heavy, thick, and ragged cotton-padded coat that I had worn for many years were being stripped from my body. My body gradually warmed up and the heat slowly moved downward. I felt light and relaxed. It was truly the feeling of “the doctor arrives and all illnesses are cured.”
正在我半信半疑时，杨先生又给我讲了他们是怎样学习大师《宣化上人开示录选集》一书的，他说：「宣化上人大师教诲我们按着五戒、十善，做人行善。要天天忏悔，从内心深处认识自己的错误，下狠心不犯五戒，改过自新。」对我启发很大。我感到宣化上人大师讲的都是实实在在，而且又很深刻的道理，当时我想：「做人就按大师讲的去做！」杨先生看我的心很诚，他又引导我怎么呼佛号，怎么忏悔，并帮我把被我杀害的众生从我身上送走。顿时我感到全身很轻松，好像我的病都好了。接着，杨先生又拍打我的全身，我感到就像穿在我身上多年的又肿又重的一身破棉衣，从上到下地脱在地上。当时全身发热，而且慢慢地下走，身上轻松极了，真有个医到病除的感受。
Afterward, Ms. Meng brought over some books, such as Records of the Life of Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, News from True Cultivators, and Introduction to Meditation, as well as a handwritten Great Compassion Mantra. We also went to the Great Compassion Chan Monastery a few times by ourselves to acquire copies of the Great Compassion Mantra, the Shurangama Mantra, the Venerable Master Hsuan Hua’s Talks on Dharma, and the Shurangama Sutra and the Sutra on the Past Vows of Earth Store Bodhisattva with the Master’s explanation.
后来，孟女士还给我们送来《宣化上人事迹》、《修行者的消息》、《静坐入门》等书，和用手抄写的〈大悲咒〉给我们看。我们自己也去过几次天津大悲禅院，请了〈大悲咒〉、〈楞严咒〉、《宣化上人开示录选集》，和宣化上人讲述的《大佛顶首楞严经浅释》、《地藏菩萨本愿经浅释》。
Since then, we have persisted in meditating, repenting, reciting the Buddha’s name and the Great Compassion Mantra, and studying the Sutras on a daily basis. In the beginning, my legs would hurt and grow numb. I could sit for only some ten minutes. Later on, I slowly became used to it and my sitting time increased from some ten minutes to twenty, thirty, forty, fifty minutes, and then to an hour. During this period, I experienced occasional drowsiness but it would soon pass. After three or four months, my body began to tremble during meditation. Some time after that, when I meditated my body would feel warm, and I would perspire so profusely that it was like taking a bath. This situation continued for two to three months. During this period, one evening two to three days after Mr. Yang had gone to the United States, my wife told me that when Mr. Yang met the Venerable Master, he would certainly report my situation to him. What happened? When I meditated the next morning, the Master appeared in front of me and bid me to study Buddhism well. That was the first time I had a vision during meditation. That vision encouraged me greatly and strengthened my faith and will to study Buddhism.
从那时起，我们坚持天天打坐、忏悔、呼佛号、念〈大悲咒〉、学习经书。打坐初期，脚麻、腿痛，每次只能打坐十几分钟；后来，慢慢适应一点了，时间逐渐长了，十几分钟到二十几分钟，半小时，四十分钟，五十分钟，一小时，在这中间出现过发困、打盹，但也很快的过去了。打坐到三、四个月时，身体出现颤动。又过了一段时间，打坐时出现全身发热，出汗特多，每次打坐就像洗过澡似的；这种现像持续两三个月。
在这中间的一天，也就是杨先生去美国的两三天后，晚上我太太和我讲，杨先生到美国准和宣化上人老法师汇报你的情况。结果在第二天早上打坐时，宣化上人大师就出现在我的面前，让我好好学佛。这是我在打坐时，第一次出现的图像，这次图像的出现对我鼓舞很大，使我坚定了一定要学佛的信念。
Later, those beings that I had killed appeared in front of me during my meditation. There were snakes, porcupines, green turtles, frogs, lizards, and eels. They all crouched on the table and refused to leave. I confessed my faults, apologized, and bowed to them, and also recited the Buddha’s name for them. Then I saw them leave in satisfaction, and I was also happy.
后来在打坐时，被我杀害的那些生命出现在我的眼前，有蛇、刺猬、甲鱼、青蛙、壁虎、鳝鱼，它们都趴在桌子上不想走。我就向它们认错、道歉、磕头、为它们呼佛号，看到它们都满意的走了，我也很高兴。
Once a vision of a temple and a person appeared to me during meditation. The person was a monk holding a whisk in his hand. He led me toward the temple several times, but we never managed to go inside. On another occasion, while in meditation I was led by a monk to see Maitreya Bodhisattva. Maitreya Bodhisattva brought me to a great monastery where I saw Guanshiyin Bodhisattva. I immediately knelt on the ground and bowed to Guanshiyin Bodhisattva. Maitreya Bodhisattva went to sit beside Guanshiyin Bodhisattva. Then he grabbed me by the shoulders, lifted me up, and set me on his lap. I said, “I am a grown man; how can I sit on your lap?” He said, “In my eyes you are still a child, no matter how old you are.” All of a sudden I became a child again. Another time, when I was in meditation, I followed Maitreya Bodhisattva to a faraway place where there were mountains and temples. The place was huge. Inside the temple, there were many Buddhas. When I was bowing, it suddenly brightened up. I looked up and saw a glowing ball of fire. Later, when I read the Master’s biography, I learned that the fireball was the universally shining Buddha-light. When I saw a photograph of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas that Mr. Yang brought back with him, I was extremely happy. Who would have known that the huge place with mountains and temples was the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas?
又有一次，我在打坐时，出现了庙和人物，这个人物是一位手拿拂尘的和尚，他带我往庙里走，但几次都没有走到头。还有一次在打坐时，我在一位和尚的带领下，见到了弥勒佛，弥勒佛带我进到一座大庙里，见到观世音菩萨，我马上跪在地上磕头，弥勒佛坐在观世音菩萨的一边，随后他用手提着我的肩膀，让我坐在他的腿上，我说我是个大人还坐在您的腿上。他说：「在我面前，你再大也是个孩子。」于是我又回到我童年小孩的样子。还有一次我在打坐时，随弥勒佛到一个很远的地方，那里有山、有庙，场面很大。庙里有很多的佛，我跪在地上磕头，忽然眼前发亮，抬头一看，有一个很亮的火球。后来我在学习《宣化上人事迹》一书时，才知道这是佛光普照。当我看到杨先生从美国带回万佛圣城的照片，我心里有说不出的高兴，真没想到那天我看到的那个有山、有庙，场面很大的地方就是万佛圣城。
A few days later, in my meditation, I saw many cockroaches on my body. I recited the Buddha’s name while picking them off my body. Some of the cockroaches left and some came back. Just when I was feeling helpless, Maitreya Bodhisattva showed up. He plucked the cockroaches off my body with his hand. After that, the rash on my body subsided, and my skin no longer itched. Another time, during meditation, Maitreya Bodhisattva very gently stroked my liver with his hand and dusted the filth off my liver. He said, “It will gradually get better.” Later he also checked my pancreas and found that it generated very little insulin: only one drop in a long period of time. He said, “The tube which directs insulin is blocked, so there is not enough insulin.” Then he used a tiny pin to clear out the blockage and also stroked the pancreas gently a couple of times with his hand. Insulin then shot out in the thickness of a large needle. He said that would be enough. Later, he also took me to a pond for a bath, washing the filth and sickness from my body. He also gave me a change of clothes. From that time on, my body started getting better every day. When I stood next to a healthy person, one could not tell that I had been seriously ill.
几天后，我在打坐时，看到我身上趴着很多蟑螂，这时我边呼佛号，边用手往下扒拉，有的走了，有的又回来了，正在我没办法时，弥勒佛又出现在我的面前，他用手把我身上的蟑螂一个个都扒了下去。从那以后，我身上起的一片片红疙瘩就消失了，皮肤也就不痒了。还有一次，我在打坐时，弥勒佛还用他的手轻轻地抚摸我的肝脏，把肝脏上的脏物拂掉，并说：「慢慢地会好的！」而后，弥勒佛又检查我的胰岛功能，排出的胰岛素很少，半天一滴半天一滴地往外流，弥勒佛说：「排胰岛素的管子不畅通，流出的胰岛素不够用。」于是弥勒佛用一根小细棍疏通了一下，又用手抚摸了两次，胰岛素像粗针头似的喷出来的很多，并说这就够用了。后来，又带我到一个水池子里洗了澡，冲去我身上的脏物和病毒，又给我换了衣服。从那时起，我的身体一天比一天好，和健康人站到一块，看不出我得过大病。
Some time later, I went to the hospital for a checkup. The doctors were very surprised because I should have gotten worse or at best my condition should have stabilized. But my situation was totally different. Many indices indicated that my health had recovered to the level of a normal person. For example: before, even with transfusions of high protein, my protein index could only be maintained at 35 or 36, but never exceeded 38. Now it has reached 40 or 41 without any protein transfusion. Some other indices have not reached the normal level but all have shown signs of improvement. Some patients asked me what method I used to cure my illness. I said, “I am walking on the path of a new life.”
又过了一段时间，我到医院检查，医生们感到很吃惊，这是因为按我的病情应该是越来越坏，最好也就是只能维持病情不往坏处发展，可是我的情况就不同了，很多检查指标已达到正常人的水平，例如：白蛋白这项指标，原来靠输白蛋白只能维持到三十五、三十六，最高到三十八，现在在不输白蛋白的情况下，已达到四十、四十一的水平。有几项指标，虽还未达到正常指标准，但也往好处发展。有个病号问我：「你用什么办法治疗的？」我说：「我走的是一条新生命之路！」
After about ten months of meditating, repenting, and studying the Sutras, my understanding of Buddhism has deepened. Based on the shallow principles that I have realized, I feel that Buddhism can benefit a nation and its people, as well as purify the society. If people in this world can practice the teachings of Buddhism, this world will be free of wars, robberies, theft, and frauds, and so on. The world will be in peace, and we will be able to lead happy lives. My other thought is that the issues that Buddhism discusses are neither imagination nor superstition, but profound science. If you can honestly do what Buddhism tells us to do, you will be able to expel the demon of sickness from your body and attain unexpected results. That is why some people who suffered from terminal illness are able to survive and become more healthy every day. My personal experience certifies to this principle.
通过近十个月的打坐、忏悔、学习经书，对佛教的识认，更深入一步；从我初步悟出的一点浮浅的道理，感到佛教是利国利民、净化社会的。如果全世界的人，都能按着佛教的要求去做，世界就不会有战争、抢劫、偷盗、诈骗等，世界就会太平，我们就能过上幸福美满的生活。还有一点感受，就是佛教讲的一些问题，不是幻想，更不是迷信，而是很深的科学。如果你能踏踏实实地按着佛教的要求去做，就能驱散你身上的病魔，达到意想不到的效果。所以，为什么有些人身患绝症、重症，又能顽强地活下来，而且越活越好，也就是这个道理。从我自身康复变化的情况，也验证了这个道理。
Written on October 28, 1994
写于一九九四年十月二十八日
