蓮生活佛英文文集＿咒的魔力
■Book 148─Power of Mantra
■Written by Master Sheng-yen Lu
■Chapter Two 3/3end
(This chapter takes up where the last one left off.)
When Shen Ding returned home, he hung his painting of the Bodhisattva on the wall and worshipped it with much reverence. In preparation for his daily chanting, he would clean his hands, light incense and prostrate before the image of the Bodhisattva before chanting the mantra. After completing his chanting, he would recite the dedication verse:
May karmic hindrances and defilements be removed
May wisdom and true realization be attained
May all transgressions be eradicated completely
May I follow the path of a bodhisattva life after life
Shen Ding added, “Guanyin Bodhisattva, please protect me when I am in danger, and grant me longevity.”
At home, he could keep to the routine of his practice. But Shen Ding was, after all, a traveling chief engineer with his deep sea fishing ship. He spent most of his time away from home. Nonetheless, he taped a photo of the White Robed Guanyin at a corner of his cabin onboard his ship. He did not stop his daily practice.
His friends sneered at him and thought he was superstitious, crazy, and had lost his mind, but Shen Ding ignored them.
Besides chanting the mantra, Shen Ding committed himself to doing charity work whenever possible.
×××
When he was thirty-seven, Shen Ding’s fishing ship anchored at Hawaii before sailing to Guam the following day. That very night, Shen Ding had a bad stomach ache and was in great pain.
After being rushed to the emergency room in the hospital, he was diagnosed with acute appendicitis and needed an operation right away. Under these circumstances, Shen Ding had to stay behind at the Hawaiian hospital.
However, the ship was scheduled to leave for Guam and could not wait for him. Thus the ship sailed on without Shen Ding and arranged to meet with him again after his surgery.
Sadly, the ship sank on its journey to Guam when it encountered a heavy storm. None of the crew survived the tragedy. The ship and crew sank without a trace. Despite rescue attempts from the shipping company to search the area with helicopters and other rescue ships, they could not locate the missing crew. It was as if they had all vanished into thin air.
Because his acute appendicitis required him to stay behind in Hawaii for surgery, Shen Ding became the sole survivor of this tragedy.
Shen Ding later returned to Hong Kong and met up with the fortune-teller.
He told the fortune-teller, “Your divination was not accurate!”
The fortune-teller was astonished and exclaimed, “What happened?”
“I chanted the mantra of the White Robed Guanyin, that’s all!”
The fortune-teller marveled and said, “The mantra has such miraculous power. It is indeed rare. I would like to chant it too.”
Since then, Shen Ding has developed a deep faith in the White Robed Guanyin, and knew that the compassionate Bodhisattva would certainly answer the cries of all. He knew he must trust the Bodhisattva completely and be sincere; only then could a miracle be evoked. Shen Ding later took refuge in True Buddha School.
I taught Shen Ding how to practice the Four Preliminary Practices and the Guru Yoga. Eventually, he regarded the White Robed Guanyin as his personal deity [Tibetan: yidam] during his cultivation.
Shen Ding felt sorry for the shipmates and crew who had perished in the ocean. He decided to chant the mantra of the White Robed Guanyin one hundred two thousand times. He would then dedicate the merits of the mantra chanting to their spirits.
After the dedication of merits, Shen Ding had a dream. He dreamed of sailing in the ocean and his ship being surrounded by about fifty white birds. The circling birds seemed to come to say thank you to Shen Ding, and one by one, they each flew away. When he woke up from his dream, he realized that the spirits of his friends had all been liberated by the White Robed Guanyin and had left the sea of suffering.
Thus:
From dust to dawn he chants diligently
The White Robed Guanyin enters his dream frequently
The shipmates of the boat have been delivered
Bonded by a great affinity of old friendship
