養豬人的善念 A Pig Farmer’s Kind Thought
精舍的遠處傳來了陣陣莊嚴肅穆的念佛聲，剛才我在靜中就如同身歷其境，和他們一同起步朝山念佛一樣。這樣的氣氛，真是令人感到輕安喜樂。
The sound of solemn and serene chanting in Buddha’s name was heard from the distant abode of Jing Si.  Just as I was meditating I felt as if I had joined them in the pilgrimage and chanted. Such atmosphere was so joyful and peaceful.

佛陀說人生二十難，其中的第十八難是「隨化度人難」。「度」人，實在是很不簡單，尤其是要對方一見到你就起歡喜心，由你的一切舉動、語言、聲音就能夠讓他 改過，這就更難了──佛陀如是說。不過，現在大眾於殿內打坐靜思，而外面有朝山者的修持念佛聲，我們的身心就好像被他們所融合，可見「誠」能感人。
The Buddha said there were twenty challenges in life and out of which, the eighteenth was the most difficult: “the challenge of transforming people at an instant’.  This is especially so if you want people to be joyous at first sight.  Buddha also said that it’s even more difficult to reform the other person based on your actions, speech and voice.  However as we were meditating in the hall, our minds merged with the sound of the pilgrims chanting outside; such was the power of sincerity.

記得幾年前，在朝山的路旁有一排豬舍，裡面養了很多很多的豬，豬舍的旁邊還有很大的魚池；飼養的人利用豬糞導入池內餵魚。到了夏天南風一吹，我們的精舍周圍就臭氣沖天；可是土地是別人的，他們要養豬、餵魚，我們也是無可奈何。

I remember several years ago, there was a stretch of pig farms, along the pilgrim road, fully housed with pigs beside a big fish pond where pig manure was used to feed the fish.  When the Southern wind blew in summer, it brought the stench from the fish pond into the abode.  There was nothing we could do since the farmers owned the land and they were free to farm pigs and feed the fish.

有一天，一群慈濟人來朝山，那時的朝山者並沒有像現在浩浩蕩蕩的這麼多人；只有十幾位吧！他們半夜從蘇花公路朝山進來，三步一拜非常地虔誠。養豬的人看見了，覺得很奇怪，心想：「這些人怎麼這樣呢！走路不好好走，一會兒就拜一次，走不到幾步又拜下去？」當時朝山的人默念佛號而拜，所以，對一個沒有信仰，又不曾見過朝山的人而言，他覺得非常好奇，也有滿腹的狐疑……。不過他也一片好心地回家拿了手電筒，牽著腳踏車跟在朝山者的後面，為他們照明路況；因為他看 到山上有些年輕人，騎著機車飛馳而過，而朝山者身穿黑色海青，天色又暗，萬一出事可怎麼辦？因此他就牽著腳踏車，手裡提著照明燈，讓騎機車的年輕人，和開 車往來的人有所警覺，注意到前面有人。總之，他就這樣一路跟著朝山者念佛進入精舍。
One day a group of Tzu Chi people made the pilgrimage.  At that time, there were not that many pilgrims, only about 10 people and it was nothing compared to the current bustling level of human activities.  They began their pilgrimage at midnight from Su Hua Highway. They knelt down and prayed every three steps with such devotion. The pig farmer saw their behaviour and curiously thought: ‘Why are these people acting this way? They don’t walk properly; they knelt down and pray every few steps’.  They were actually chanting Buddha’s name quietly in their minds.  For people who were not exposed to pilgrims or religious concepts, such actions seemed odd and suspicious.  Yet this pig farmer kind heartedly went home to fetch a torch and rode his bicycle to follow behind the pilgrims, lighting up the way ahead. He saw some youths speeding past with their motor bikes and was worried they might hit the pilgrims as it was hard to see the pilgrims in dark outfits in the darkness of the night. So he rode the bicycle, lighted the road to alert bike riders and car drivers that there were people in front.  As a result, he inadvertently followed the pilgrims chanting Buddha and entered the Jing Shi Abode.

他看到朝山的人，非常虔誠地迴向頂禮。這時天色也亮了，他原本想回家去，剛好那時我走到外面看見他，和他打了招呼，他說：「師父！這些人好誠心哦！」我告訴他說：「這叫做朝山！」。他說：「我從來不曾見過，真使人感動哦！」。過了一會兒，他鼻子嗅了嗅說：「你們這裡怎麼有豬糞的味道？」我說：「這就是從你們的豬舍飄來的啊！」他說：「我以為只有我們那裡會臭，聞久了也不太覺得，沒想到這裡的味道比我們那邊還濃！」我問他：「像這種情形你認為好嗎？」他說：「不好，不好，這樣好了，我把這一批豬養大了就結束經營吧！」他真的從此結束養豬業。
He saw the pilgrims going through the ritual of prayers with such deep devotion.  It was already bright in the morning and he was about to return home.  At that very moment, I met and greeted him as I was walking outside and he said, “Master, these people are very devoted!”.  I told him,” This is called pilgrimage”.  He said: “I have never seen it before and it is very touching”.  After a while he noticed a smell and said, “How come there is a smell of pig manure here?”. I said, “It came from your pig farm.”  He said, “I thought the stench was only at my place as I was used to it after a while and I never thought it could be so much worse here.”  I asked him, “Do you consider this situation good?”  He said, “No, not at all.  Alright, I will raise these pigs until full grown then sell them off and close the business down!”  He did close his business in the end.

這就是以誠來感動人，本來他們一養就是好幾百隻的豬，一大早拜佛時，常聽見豬群嚎叫的聲音。當豬要被送到屠宰場時，聽牠們哀喻的聲音，真是令人心碎！幸好這群朝山者，以虔誠的舉動，把豬舍的主人感化了！
This is how sincerity can move people. Originally the pig farmers could easily raise hundreds of pigs.  When praying to Buddha in the morning, we often hear the noises from the pigs and when the pigs were delivered to the abattoir, their pitiful scream could be heard and it was heartbreaking!  Fortunately the pig farmers were transformed by the devotion of the pilgrims.

修行的人有時因久處於良好的環境，也許不太察覺它的好，有句話說──「處於芝蘭之室，久而不聞其香」正是如此。反之，「處於鮑魚之肆，久而不聞其臭」，在臭穢的環境中住久了，也會不聞其臭。
Some Buddhist practitioners who have been in a good environment for a long time take it for granted and not aware of how good it is. There is a saying: “In an orchid shed, we don’t smell the scent after a long while”.  In contrast, “In a fish market, we don’t smell the stench after a long while”. That’s why people who have been living in a filthy environment are numbed to its unpleasant smell.


Translated by Anderson Jiang, Edited by Richard Wong, Sydney, Australia