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文 恆持法師 | By Dharma Master Heng Chih | |
1984 早在1985年來金佛寺服務之前,我就知道它了。此寺於1984年春開門納眾,當時的方丈是恆實與恆朝兩位法師。此後我何其有幸追隨師父不只一次往訪溫哥華。此寺很大,大到有供師父、比丘和賓客休憩的寮房。是以我能住下,參加寺裡的日課,過幾天再回萬佛聖城。這幾乎已成慣例了。不料,有一次到訪金佛寺的只有師父、一比丘、一女居士和我一共四人,臨離開時,師父問我們—那名女居士和我—想不想留下來參加長達一個月的誦地藏經法會,師父說這是金佛寺有史以來第一次的地藏法會,它能滋生許多好的能量。本已打理行囊準備上路的我,根本沒想到會突然冒出這麼個計畫外的計畫,不過因之而起的念頭,卻使我無法說不!我不是聽過師父講的地藏經,也歡喜誦持地藏經嗎?因此我同意留下來了。道別師父之後,我跟那位女居士重新解開行囊,又在金佛寺待了一整個月。一如預期的,這場法會真是殊勝!至今已20年了,金佛寺依然保有這個傳統。 金佛寺踴躍發心的護法 我在比丘仍然掌理寺務的時期來訪,注意到當時在家護法提供各方面的大量支持。他們洗地、髹漆、於延壽堂和往生堂裝置適用的架子、自己動手做飯桌、捐椅子凳子、捐學校必須之物、煮餐、看門、法會上幫忙敲奏法器、為出家人講法充當翻譯。他們一心為佛寺,什麼時候寺裡需要幫忙,他們就會出現在那裡。伶俐的年輕人更發心為兩位比丘平日講經說法做翻譯,此所以我們能夠聽到英文的、中文的、和廣東話的法。在週末,只用英文說法,這樣做也並無爭議。 北方的文殊師利菩薩護持西方的佛教 在最初的金佛寺道場、文殊師利菩薩坐鎮的講經堂,每天都要講兩堂經。在中國,北方的五台山是文殊師利菩薩的地盤,可見他適合西方,理應住在北美,因此師父稱文殊師利菩薩為金佛寺的當家。這位身為當家的大智菩薩,眼裡瞅著這早期的每天兩堂經,我敢說他老人家對於這兩位美國和尚把佛陀的教誨,輸入到這群人數漸有增加的加拿大聽法眾的身心日用中,一定大感滿意吧。 第一條:不爭,有例為証 正值恆實與恆朝兩位法師完成他們跪拜之旅的當兒,與其說師父特地為他們量身訂做了五條準則,不如說師父藉之運用種種方便,擴大其意涵以及於他所有的弟子、及於所有來聽他講法的人、及於一切立意追隨他的人。接下來,師父開始找機會來闡明每一條的真義及其實際的運用。 這裡有個例子是有關第一條不爭的: 溫哥華本來亦有些個佛教中心,其中一個還經常邀請師父講法,甚至主持開光儀式。師父不僅注意到中文及粵語是當時溫哥華各佛教中心通用的語言,而且亦敏銳地看出何以每個佛教中心都將各自在家護法看得如此重要,原因就是在家人的護持正是道場持續走向成功的關鍵。師父的第一條,針對的就是不欲爭取其他道場現有的信眾。他的弟子恆實與恆朝在洛杉磯金輪寺講華嚴經有多受歡迎,他是知道的,此所以他倆一來金佛寺,師父當即立下「不爭」這一條。成效如何呢? 很簡單,週六和週日經課沒有中文或粵語翻譯,只說英語。這個主意好,完全不爭!這樣一來,現有的溫哥華道場便可依舊以其中粵雙語固定吸引其擁護。金佛寺呢,藉著週末的英文講法,開始吸引一批新面孔,他們是說英語的知識份子和修行人。從此,佛教的視野為之拓展。而一向為金佛寺所默守的智慧和慈悲乃是從不爭得來的。 兩名比丘的講經越來越受許多加拿大人的青睬,從年輕到年長,皆能以金佛寺為門徑,渾然忘我地聞知那無始無終的佛教教義。星期一到五,會有一組年輕人做中文和粵語現場翻譯。週末以英文為唯一語的講法,只在兩位比丘任內進行。 1985-1987 13年來和大眾日日隨師聽經聞法的我,終於給指派了一項任務。話說某天師父叫住了我,並突如其來地問我和恆明師是否願意去加拿大的金佛寺服務。 我知道當時已有兩名尼師到金佛寺填補比丘離開留下的空缺,可是師父說她們只是暫時代理,還問我能否到那兒留任三年。我迅捷懇切地回覆了。我完全信賴師父,我知道這項指派必定會在某些我仍無法見及的層面上對我有所裨益,而且一定對加拿大的佛教有幫助,否則他不會這樣提議。我當然肯去,我恭敬地回稟師父。但我心理其實頗為擔憂,我從未掌理過佛寺,也從未離開過師父的身邊。廣東話我一竅不通,中文也只識得少許。我會想念經課,想念同門僧眾的愛護,尤其是師父耳提面命的教誨。 師父儘量爭取時間。回想起來,他一面給我一天的時間打包行李和找人接替我在萬佛聖城的職務,一面把當時正在洛杉磯金輪聖寺的恆明師召回聖城。那一天,凡事就緒之後,當我們一接到師父的指令,立刻爬上老爺車,一路直奔卑斯省的溫哥華,那是個咱倆誰也沒去過的地方。 我們找了一個臨河的理想地點進餐,它那與我們寺規相應的自在氣氛我們喜歡。一路快馬加鞭,終於在天黑後抵達。將車泊在位處中國城中心地段果爾街的佛寺側門,我們卸下了行李。佛寺的大殿,屋宇高聳如塔,前方高台安置著照明柔和的佛像,自有一派巍峨莊嚴的氣象。我們發現寺裡尼師給予準備離去的時間比起我們來更形倉促,因師父已指示她們第二天清晨搭乘帶我們前來的原老爺車回去。我們能向她們請教有關寺務的基本事情,只有一小時左右的時間。次日一早,她們一走,我們只能靠自己了。 以後經過我們深入探究,才發現比丘們留下一本金佛寺紀錄手冊,內載許多有用的資料,像負責保修機械設備的當地商家名片匣,以及有關這座建物特點的明細和指南。事後證明這些資料的確很珍貴。我們是在夏末秋初的十月份抵達的—謂的印地安之夏,在俄亥俄州我們還是習慣稱它為夏天,可是這兒我們卻被告以得於天氣逐漸轉涼之時,保持建物內一定的溫度,以防水管凝凍。其餘的—像是法會時間安排、說法題目、寺務責任歸屬、各項行政事宜、如何同在家眾溝通等—我們也都有所依循了。 電話的智引 哎,我們那時竟然忘了可用電話做溝通聯絡。反倒師父他老人家為了指示方便竟然頗為新潮、頗有創意地用起了電話。不多久,我們一致認為師父運用電話之妙,當今之世,無人能比。 金佛寺的兩大寶藏 自從首次被分派到金佛寺直至今日,金佛寺一直是我修道的靈泉。在這二十年歲月裡,金佛寺所散發出的持久的穩定及不斷的成長是我觀摩學習的圭臬。 金佛寺能持久的穩定及不斷的成長,來自於兩個原因︰第一、基於上人的大願︰建立正法道場於西方;辦教育,以提供青年人蹲品立德的環境;翻譯經典及弘揚佛法;並提倡不同宗教、信仰、哲裡派系,以人類美好之未來為目標者,做對話交流。 在這數十年中,為了實踐這些願力,我見到上人所付出的心血,見到跟隨上人出家的弟子亦以同樣願力為指標,盡心盡力地開發維護道場。金佛寺是最佳實例,證明用直心,精進修道必能屹立不搖;佛教弘化之疆域能不斷開拓;教育青年並賦予正面創造機會的工具能使世界更美好是一永遠無止盡的工作。 第二個穩定的因素源於護法居士們的心、意、志。不同年齡的人到了金佛寺都有一個共同的感覺︰來對了地方!初次來到佛寺的朋友們,對佛教與修行都很陌生。他們不知要怎麼做,也不知道為什麼要這麼樣做。但在細心聆聽學習之後,佛陀的智慧點燃了內觀之火花;在佛教真理的輔弼下,精進之道心放出異樣的光彩。追求真理、認識智慧,讓他們平穩地步上學習與修道之路。這些都奠定於耐得起考驗的穩定力,也是和諧人生不可或缺的要素。 |
1984 Gold Buddha Monastery was already familiar to me when it came my time to serve there in fall of 1985. After the monastery opened in spring 1984, when Dharma Masters Heng Sure and Heng Chau were the monastic managers, I had the good fortune to travel to Vancouver in the Master’s entourage on more than one occasion. The monastery was big enough to have rooms for the Master, for the monks, and for guests. So I would stay in the women’s quarters, join the daily schedule of activities, and then return to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas after a few days’ visit. That was the routine. But then one time when I went, just four of us traveled: the Master, a monk, a laywoman, and me. When it came time to leave, the Master asked me how we would like to stay—the laywoman and me—and join a month-long Earth Store Bodhisattva Sutra recitation session. It was to be the first annual, the Master explained and was therefore historic and would generate a lot of good energy. I was packed to go and had not had any hint of this proposed change in plans. So I was taken aback and yet how could I not want to accept such an offer! I had heard the Master explain the Earth Store Sutra and enjoyed reciting it. So I agreed with the idea and after bowing our goodbyes to the Master, the laywoman and I unpacked and stayed that entire month. It was, as anticipated, a great session! And for twenty years, to this day, Gold Buddha has kept that tradition. Gold Buddha Monastery’s vigorous and devoted Dharma protectors When I visited Gold Buddha while the monks were still serving there, I noticed the tremendous support that the lay Dharma protectors were offering—in all kinds of ways. They washed the place down, gave it a new coat of paint, built appropriate shelving for the long life and rebirth halls, built dining tables, donated stools and school supplies and other necessities, cooked the meals, watched the door, played the Dharma instruments for ceremonies, and translated the monk’s lectures. They threw their hearts into the monastery; their helping hands were always there when needed. Bright young men and women volunteered to translate the monks’ weekday sutra lectures. So we heard English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. On the weekends, we heard only English. That had to do with non-contention. Manjushri Bodhisattva in the North guarding Buddhism in the West In that first Gold Buddha Way-place, Manjushri Bodhisattva presided over the lecture hall, where two lectures were given daily. In China, Manjushri Bodhisattva resides in the north at Five Peaks (Wutai) Mountain, and so it is fitting that here in the West, he should reside in North America. And so the Master named Manjushri Bodhisattva host of Gold Buddha Monastery. As the host, the Bodhisattva of great wisdom watched over those two lectures a day during that early period and observed, I am sure, with satisfaction how the two American monks brought Buddhist principles into the hearts and minds, the lives and work of the growing group of Canadians who came to listen. Exemplifying the First Guideline: Do Not Contend As Dharma Masters Heng Sure and Heng Chau were completing their bowing pilgrimage, the Master set forth Five Guidelines for them to follow, but, as with all expedients the Master wielded, the scope of those Guidelines expanded, reaching to all his disciples, to all those who listened to his talks, to all those who were inspired to follow them. Time and again, the Master would bring home the meaning of each Guideline with opportunities for practical application. A case in point was the first Guideline about not fighting. Vancouver already had several Buddhist centers, one of which had repeatedly invited the Master to speak Dharma and even to host the opening-of-light ceremony there. The Master was aware that the predominant languages used in Vancouver’s existing Buddhist centers were Mandarin and Cantonese. He was also acutely aware of how important each of the existing Buddhist centers considered their own Dharma-protecting laypeople to be. Their support was essential to the on-going success of each Way-place. Not wanting to attract any of those supporters from the Way-places they currently protected, the Master decided to activate his first Guideline. Knowing how popular his disciples Heng Sure and Heng Chau’s lectures on the Avatamsaka Sutra had been during their stay Gold Wheel Monastery in Los Angeles, the Master set down the Do Not Contend Guideline as soon as the monks became resident at Gold Buddha Monastery. How did it work? Easy. No Mandarin or Cantonese translations of the monks’ Saturday and Sunday lectures was allowed. Only English was spoken. Brilliant idea! Totally non-contentious. The existing Vancouver Way-places continued their weekends of Cantonese and Mandarin, drawing their usual crowds of devotees. And Gold Buddha Monastery, with its English-based weekend Dharma talks, began to draw in a new group of English-speaking intellectual and practitioners. Thus, Buddhism’s scope expanded and Gold Buddha Monastery quietly exhibited wisdom and compassion born of non-contention. The monks’ lectures grew in popularity, with many Canadians, from young to old, finding their way through Gold Buddha’s door to listen with rapt attention to the timeless teachings of Buddhism. During the week, Mandarin and Cantonese translations were done on-the-spot by a team of young translators. The weekend lectures remained English only for the duration of the monks’ stay in Canada. 1985-1987 After thirteen years of being part of the assembly that daily attended the Master’s lectures on the Buddhist sutras, I was asked to go on an assignment. One day the Master stopped me and asked out of the blue if Heng Ming Shr and I would be willing to serve at Gold Buddha Monastery in Canada. I knew that two other nuns had gone to Gold Buddha to replace the monks, who had been assigned to other duties. Those nuns had gone on a temporary basis, the Master explained. Now he was asking me to serve there for a three-year period. My response was immediate and sincere. I completely trusted the Master and knew that this assignment must be right for me in ways I could not see, and right for Buddhism in Canada, or he would not have made the suggestion. Of course I would go, I replied respectfully. My internal misgivings were enormous. I had never managed a monastery. I had never left the Master’s side. I did not know Cantonese at all and knew Mandarin only a little. I would miss the sutra lectures. I would miss the support of the Sangha and most of all, the direct teaching of the Master. The Master kept the time frame short. As I recall, he gave me a day to pack and find replacement for my duties at CTTB, while Heng Ming Shr, who was stationed in Gold Wheel Monastery in Los Angeles, got herself back to CTTB. The day after that, we received the Master’s instructions, climbed into one of the Association’s well-used vehicles, and began our journey by car to Vancouver, British Columbia, where neither of us had ever been before. For the mid-day meal we found a lovely spot by a river and enjoyed an air of freedom that resonated with our monastic discipline. More travel and we arrived after dark, pulling up to the side door on Gore Street in the heart of Chinatown to unload our wares. The Buddha Hall looked magnificent with its towering ceilings and high stage adorned with softly-lit images. The nuns, we found out, had been given even shorter time frame than we. The Master had instructed them to leave at dawn’s light the following morning, driving back in the same rickety car that had brought us. We had only an hour or so that evening to learn from them the bare basics of this monastery and its administration. By the next morning they were gone and we were on our own. As we explored, we discovered that monks had left a Gold Buddha Monastery Record Book, which contained lots of helpful information, including calling cards for local companies that serviced the monastery and detailed instructions about the building and its idiosyncrasies. Those tips and points proved invaluable. We arrived in October, which was the end-of summer-but-not-yet-fall—Indian summer, we used to call it back in Ohio. But we had been warned about keeping heat in the building as the days grew colder, so as not to let the pipes freeze. All the rest of it—the schedule of activities, the topics of lectures, the division of monastic duties, the administration of affairs, how to communicate with the lay congregation—all of that was now in our hands. Wise guidance by telephone Ah, but then we had forgotten about telecommunications. The Master, we discovered, was ultra-modern and quite inventive in his use of teaching expedients. And we soon came to agree that his prowess in wielded the phone was heretofore unmatched. A Long and On-going History with Gold Buddha Monastery From that first assignment to date, Gold Buddha Monastery has provided an inspirational focal point in my monastic life. It has been two decades since I first became resident at Gold Buddha and I have watched and learned from both the enduring stability and ever-changing growth that has transpired. The enduring stability that enhances change and growth has two sources, as I see it. The first is found in the Venerable Master’s vows to establish an orthodox monastic Sangha in the West, to promote education that provides youth a solid foundation in character development, to translate and disseminate the teachings of Buddhism, and to encourage dialogue among the various faiths and philosophies that advocate the betterment of humankind. Over the decades, I was able to observe how the Master’s every effort was dedicated to perpetuating the force and thrust of those vows. I also see that the Master’s monastic disciples who guide the development of the Way-places he established are trying their best to maintain the impetus of those vows. Gold Buddha Monastery is a prime example of how the emphasis on straightforward and diligent practice is unwavering, the dedication to disseminating Buddhism is expanding, and the education of youth that provides them with tools for making positive and innovative choices for the betterment to the world is on-going. The second source of the enduring stability at Gold Buddha Monastery is found in the hearts and minds, the spirits and souls, of its lay community. People of all ages find Gold Buddha exactly the right place to be. Many arrive new to Buddhism and unfamiliar with the how’s and why’s of putting into the practice the Buddhist teachings. But they listen and they learn. And once the spark of insight ignites, their diligence becomes fired by the truth Buddhism tells and tempered by the wisdom Buddhism offers. Their dedication to truth and their recognition of wisdom allows them to tread an even path in their study and practice. The give-and-take of that results in amazing changes and growth, but those are solidly grounded in the enduring stability that is essential to a balanced way of life. |
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金佛聖寺 Gold Buddha Monastery |