迎接善光的那一天起From the Day I Received the Light of Virtue

二十五年前有位小居士幾乎每次見到吾，就歡歡喜喜地與吾分享佛法。當年他雖是居士，可在吾的眼裡，他有如小沙彌的化身，善良且不記吾之失禮，樂意渡化吾這「邊緣少年」。哈。。。！我們已失去聯絡多年，誠心祝福他，依然沐浴佛光裡，善業早圓滿，證得明心見性。

以上是玳瑚師父，一小段最初接觸佛法的敘述。吾真正開始研習佛法，也就是皈依，則是在農曆的八月十五，有道是; 月到中秋分外明，吃餅賞月千情趣。更有; 每逢佳節倍思親。吾這思親指的，是你我他共同的本源。若然知曉吾之意，方為同道中人啊！原本吾皈依並不是這「月圓之日」。之前欲皈依，兩次皆失敗。第三次才成功，而那一天正逢中秋佳節，這當中似乎有些寓意，這寓意著吾上求佛果、下化眾生、利己利他、冥陽兩利，將會是圓滿的。

在還沒學佛前，總以為自己在家中、在學校、在工作崗位上，都是善的。一直到了皈依學佛，才如夢初醒般的覺察到，原來吾所認為的善，並不是真善。因為真善是不計較、無所謂、守戒、懺悔、施恩莫忘報、勤修戒定慧、熄滅貪瞋癡、一切皆感恩的。這些智慧乃是吾，迎接善光的那一天起，實修真實佛法所證得。或許你妳會有所問，人生在世開心快樂不就好嗎？開心快樂無可厚非，但沒有修行的開心快樂，往往都會滋生很多過失出來，最終依然在輪迴痛苦中「欲走還留」，這就不是智慧，而是愚癡啊！

玳瑚師父由衷地期盼著，你妳也會有你妳迎接善光的那一天，證入永恆的快樂光明裡，向所有的痛苦說”拜拜”。感恩。

25 years ago, there was a young Buddhist lay practitioner who would happily share the Dharma with me almost every time he saw me. Although he was a lay practitioner, in my eyes, he was like a little novice monk. He was kind and did not mind my insolence, and willingly shared the Dharma to deliver the wayward youth in me. Ha! We have since lost touch with each other for many years, and I sincerely send him my best wishes that he is still basking in the light of the Buddha, that all his virtuous deeds will come to fruition, and that he will attain total clarity of his mind and revelation of Buddha nature.

The above paragraph illustrated, in a small part, my initial contact with the Dharma. I started my formal practice of the Dharma, and that would mean taking refuge, on the 15th Day of the 8th Lunar Month (Mid Autumn Festival). As the saying goes, “The moon on Mid Autumn is especially clear and pristine, eating moon cakes and appreciating the full moon bring wondrous delights in life.” Another one goes, “The longing of our kins exacerbates during the festive season”. The kinship that I mentioned refer to the common Origin of you and me. For those of you who understand my meaning, we indeed walk the same path! I did not originally intend to take refuge in the Triple Gems on this day of the Full Moon. The past two tries ended up in failure. Only upon the third attempt was I successful, and that day coincided with the Mid Autumn Festival. This seems to signify that my pursuits of Enlightenment, deliverance of the sentient beings, benefiting both self and others, both the living and the dead, shall come to perfect fruition.

Before I learnt the Dharma, I always thought that what I did at home, in school or in my job were of virtuous in nature. Only after I have taken refuge and started learning the Dharma did the awakening occurred. I realised that my previous notions of kindness and virtues were not authentic. Being truly virtuous or kind means not being calculative nor expectant. It involves upholding of precepts and the act of repentance. It teaches us to remember and to repay kindness bestowed upon us. It promotes diligence in cultivating the Three Endeavours (Discipline, Meditation, Wisdom) and douses the fire of Greed, Hatred and Ignorance. It advocates gratitude towards all we have in life. This wisdom was bestowed upon me from the day I received the virtuous light and actualized my Dharma practice and spiritual cultivation diligently. Some of you may ask, “Is it not enough to just be happy during our lifetime?”. It is inevitable for one to crave for happiness, but without spiritual cultivation, our quest for happiness will breed more misdeeds that will eventually lead us down the path of endless sufferings in Samsara. This is not wisdom, but ignorance.

Master Dai Hu sincerely looks forward to the day when you receive the light of virtue into your life, enter into an eternal state of light and bliss, and bid farewell to all sufferings.

My gratitude to all.