第十九集視頻文字檔如下:
Please find the full texts of Ep 19 below:
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There is a way to escape falling into hell for people who had committed serious karmic misdeeds
造作嚴重罪業有辦法不墮地獄 – 第19集
Venerable Ying Ke of the Song dynasty was a bhiksu who had committed serious karmic misdeeds as he broke the precepts and did not abide by the rules. His strength was he believed in the law of causality and the existence of hell. He often reflected and compared his deeds with the teachings in the sutras, so he knew well that he would surely fall into the hell of unremitting pain (i.e., the Avici hell; the lowest hell of the hell realms) after death. The thought of the endless hell made him frightened. What could he do then? He sought his fellow practitioners’ advice whether there was a way to save him from falling into hell. One of the practitioners gave him the book, Biographical Accounts of Rebirth in the Pure Land. After reading it, he was deeply moved. He wept as he read the accounts of those who were reborn in the Pure Land by chanting Amitabha Buddha’s name. He really let go of all worldly matters as he finally made up his mind to single-mindedly chant Amitabha Buddha’s name for three days and three nights without taking a moment of rest. On the third day of his chanting, Amitabha Buddha came and told him that he still had ten years to live, and that he would come to receive him to the Pure Land in the final moment of his life. This seeking-and-response was inconceivable! You see, his single-minded chanting for three consecutive days and nights had generated a response from Amitabha Buddha. The ancients had a saying, “When one’s fortune comes, one becomes wise.” When a person’s fortune comes, he suddenly becomes wise. Venerable Ying Ke was also like this. When Amitabha Buddha told Venerable Ying Ke that he would come to take him to the Pure Land ten years later, Venerable Ying Ke immediately said to Amitabha Buddha, “I have deep-seated inferior nature and cannot resist temptations. When others come to tempt me, I will commit misdeeds again. I don’t want this 10-year lifespan. I just want to follow you to the Pure Land right away.” This is what we call, “When one’s fortune comes, one becomes wise.” Could he wait any longer when this was a great opportunity? Amitabha Buddha agreed and told him that he would come to take him to the Pure Land in three days. Why three days? Because Amitabha Buddha wanted him to set an example for others. Had Amitabha Buddha taken him to the Pure Land at that moment, no one would have known about his rebirth in the Pure Land. Amitabha Buddha let him stay for three more days so that he could tell everyone that Amitabha Buddha would come to take him to the Pure Land in three days. But no one in the temple believed in what he said. What is the reason? Because he was known for breaking the precepts and breaking his promise, and often lied. They said, “Luckily three days isn’t that long. Let’s wait and see if you could go to the Pure Land in three days.” On the third day, Venerable Ying Ke requested everyone to chant Amitabha Buddha’s name to send him off. Of course, they were happy to do so. After everyone chanted Amitabha Buddha’s name for about fifteen minutes (a quarter of an hour in ancient times is about 30 minutes now), Venerable Ying Ke told them that Amitabha Buddha had come (he saw Amitabha Buddha, but not others) and bade farewell to them, saying that he was bound for the Land of Ultimate Bliss with Amitabha Buddha. Having said this, he really left.