我在「葉子湖」施食：
大鵬金翅鳥。
曠野鬼神眾。
羅剎鬼子母。
甘露悉充滿。
嗡。穆帝力。梭哈。嗡。穆帝力。梭哈。嗡。穆帝力。梭哈。
正在此時，外面杉林的樹葉，一一化為惡鬼，我的甘露尚未撒出，全身真氣已被吸食乾淨。
那一陣子，我如同洩了氣的皮球，精神非常的萎靡，整個人困頓疲倦，幾乎連「經行」都困難。舉步都疲憊。
我完了，自覺百千萬鬼趁我不備而盜了我的氣，太不應該了。但，我是一個行者，本來就是奉獻自己身體生命給眾生的，真氣渙散，如果對百千萬鬼有益，我也滿足。
我是非常苦——
吃無食欲。
穿著破落。
蜷縮半躺。
渾身無力。
連連的無法入眠，頭髮沒有理，鬍子沒有刮，灰白的頭髮，灰白的鬍子，我一照鏡子，嚇了一大跳，我是不折不扣的街友（遊民），無氣無力，要死不活，過去的雄糾糾、氣昂昂，不知道哪裡去了，可憐哀哉！拖死屍者我自己也。
算了吧！只要對群鬼有益，我就算死了也行，我這肉身不要也罷，全奉獻了。
有一天「善光佛」示現法身：「教你一咒子吧！否則你死了！」
咒曰：
「菩提發於心。於心無所尋。成就於一切。無古亦無今。」
我得了此咒，就唸一唸，每天唸，唸到百、千、萬鬼竟都得了感應，杉林樹的葉子，原本是鬼，竟然變成了化佛，鬼全因此偈而開悟。
哈哈！化佛來考驗我吧！
我的體力復原了！氣漸漸回復。
Energy Depleted by Ghosts
Written by Living Buddha Lian-sheng, Sheng-yen Lu
Translated by Cheng Yew Chung
Edited by Jason Yu
Proofread by Lufang Hsiung
I made food offerings at Leaf Lake.
The Great Garuda
Spirits in the wilderness
Rakshasa and Hariti
The sky is filled with elixir
OM MUKTI SOHA. OM MUKTI SOHA. OM MUKTI SOHA.
[transliteration: Om mu-di-li so-ha]
At that moment, the leaves of the fir tree transformed into evil spirits, and before I could sprinkle the water of elixir, the energy of my entire body was zapped dry.
During that period I felt like a deflated ball. I was completely worn out, and I felt extremely fatigued, and could hardly make my rounds of walking meditation, as even lifting my feet to walk proved too tiresome.
I was doomed. I felt hundreds of thousands of ghosts had zapped my energy when I least expected it, and they should not have done this to me. But, I have always been a cultivator, and it is only right to sacrifice my body for the benefit of sentient beings. If the depletion of my qi or energy was beneficial to these hundreds of thousands of ghosts, I would be fine with it.
I was suffering. I had no appetite for food. My clothes were torn. I lay down and curled up, feeling extremely drained.
I could not sleep for many nights, and I didn't shave my head or my beard. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I was appalled to find myself with grey hair and a grey beard. I was a mirror image of someone living on the streets (the homeless), and was completely without energy and strength, much like the living dead. Gone were the days where I used to appear strong and confident. Poor me! I was literally dragging my own dead body.
Let it be! As long as it benefited the ghosts, I was more than willing to give up my life. I was ready to sacrifice myself, as I was prepared to give away my body.
Then one day, the Buddha of Virtuous Light appeared, and said, “I shall teach you a special verse. Otherwise, you are done!”
The verse was: Generate the Bodhicitta from the heart. Yet there is nothing to seek within the heart. Attain all there is. There is no past and present.
When I received this verse, I kept up with the chanting everyday, until all the hundreds and thousands of ghosts were touched. The leaves of the fir trees were once ghosts, but they have been transformed into manifested buddhas. The ghosts were enlightened through this verse.
Haha! The manifested buddhas were here to test me!
I regained my strength, and my energy slowly returned.
