血施

Offering Blood-Meal

站在窗口，望着往来的人流，看着他们忙碌的身影，不禁思绪纷纭。

Standing by the window, I saw many people out there. As they rushed about here and there, my mind started to wander too.

一阵“嗡嗡”的声音打断了我的思绪。一只花白的蚊子落在了我的手臂上，原来是你这个家伙！

All of a sudden, a buzzing sound cut short my thought. A brown-white mosquito alighted on my arm. So, it’s you, the noisy one!

只见它伸出吸管，插入了我的手臂。我一边念着观音心咒，希望它能早日解脱，一边欣赏它吸血的憨态。可能是怕一不留神丢失了这份难得的食物，它始终目不斜视并纹丝不动。不一会儿，细细的肚子变得滚圆。它满意地抽出吸管，可能是吃得太多的缘故吧，笨重的它飞飞停停，在我身上驻留了好几次，才颤颤巍巍地离开了，空气中又响起了“嗡嗡”的声音，与刚才不同的是，欢乐的成分更重了。没想到，心情快乐的时候，连蚊子也能奏出美妙的音乐。

Presently it drew its proboscis and pierced my arm. I began reciting Avalokitesvara’s heart mantra wishing its swift liberation, and at the same time entertained myself with its cute way of feeding. The mosquito, perhaps fearing to lose its rare feast in a slip, appeared completely absorbed and cast no side-glances. Soon its slender abdomen rounded up, only then did it decide to withdraw its mouthpiece, ever so satiated. Perhaps getting too full and heavy, it wiggled up and down on my body a few times before managing to take off with a wobble. The humming resumed, but unlike the earlier one, it now vibrated with a happy overtone. Strange to say, even a mosquito is able to make pleasing music when in a good mood.

我赶紧将释迦牟尼佛在因地布施血肉时所诵的偈子背诵出来以作回向：“此福愿获遍知果，摧毁作害之怨敌，救度众生皆摆脱，生老病死三有海”。

I immediately made a dedication prayer by reciting the verse from Buddha Shakyamuni when he offered his flesh and blood to evil spirits in his previous life:
By this merit may all beings attain omniscience.
May it defeat the enemies of wrongdoing.
From the stormy waves of birth, old age, sickness, and death,
May we free all beings from the ocean of samsara.

当然，布施一只蚊子微不足道的血，与世尊的功德实在不能同日而语，但“滴水虽微小，渐次盈大器。”作为凡夫，能从一点一滴的小事做起，相信总有一天，就能达到与佛陀无异的境界。

Certainly, my offering of meniscus blood to a mosquito is in no way comparable with the great deeds of the Buddha. The saying goes: “Although water droplets are tiny, gradually they fill a vast huge container.” Although an ordinary person can only accomplish tiny virtuous deeds, by accumulating them drop-by-drop, the day will surely come when he eventually reaches the same level as that of the Buddha.

壬午年五月初六　　
2002年6月16日

6th of May, Year of RenWu
June 16, 2002