一號公路上的妖魔－成就解脫之路

一號公路上的妖魔

一九九八年夏天，我有幸能跟隨偉大的多杰羌佛第三世雲高益西諾布頂聖如來聖駕外出弘法，我們一行人浩浩蕩蕩沿著一號濱海公路開往舊金山。

當車隊進入曲折環繞的山區後，三世多杰羌佛要司機關掉冷氣，打開窗戶，讓外面的海風吹進車內。佛陀上師並隨口問道：「你們覺得這裡的空氣比洛杉磯如何？」

「當然是這裡的空氣好啊！」我們幾乎異口同聲的回答。

「為什麼呢？」佛陀上師反問。

擁有化工碩士的張師兄搶著說：「報告佛陀上師，因為凡是樹林茂盛或近海的地區，空氣中含有大量的負離子，而這負離子……」

他說了一番有關化學方面的知識，三世多杰羌佛耐心地聽完後，又問：「那負離子長得什麼樣子？」

「啊？這個……」這下考倒了張師兄及在座的師兄們。佛陀上師微笑不語，就這樣經過幾分鐘後，突然一道藍光從正面車窗「穿」進了車內，然後「嘩」的散開，大家頓時吸到一股清香無比的氣味！

大夥兒瞪大眼睛，你看我，我看你，還不知是怎麼一回事時，佛陀上師回過頭，看看大家說：「知道什麼是負離子了嗎？修行人若只會講空頭理論是不行的！」

當車隊行駛到BigSur地界，大家正陶醉在沿途風光明媚的景致時，佛陀上師突然喊我們開進路邊的小路，並且停車。佛陀上師大步走向斷崖邊上的一座涼亭內，嚴肅地對我們說：「這附近有妖魔很快要來干擾了，大家靜心持誦觀世音菩薩心咒，不要分神聊天。」

這時的天空萬里無雲，海面上一片寧靜，哪裡來的妖魔呢？只見佛陀上師凝視天空，結印修法，結果不到五分鐘，突然狂風大作，飛砂走石，原本平靜的海面，一下子變得波濤洶湧，浪擊千尺，連雞蛋大小的石頭，都吹得滿天飛起，十分恐怖。大家見到這景象，更加專心高聲地念咒，一直到妖魔被佛陀上師降服了，才恢復了原來的平靜。

三世多杰羌佛開示說：「這次出來弘法的隊伍中，有仁波且、大法師，以及基金會與出版社的幹部，妖魔們畏懼如來正法將在西方利益眾生，因此才千方百計想整垮佛教，但是大家不要害怕，妖魔是傷害不了你們的。」

雖然車隊繼續前進，但因天色已晚，加上山路崎嶇，只好臨時決定找間旅店過夜。好不容易找到山中一家旅館時，竟然已經客滿；跟大堂經理商量，可否在大廳勉強過一夜？想不到也被拒絕了。

當大家拖著疲憊冰凍的腳步，走向停車場，當時室外正是攝氏零下二度，佛陀上師突然搖下座車車窗說：「妖魔又趕來加害你們了！趕快上車，專心持咒。」

可是我們連屁股都還沒坐穩，就聽到樹林中傳來一陣淒厲的哀嚎聲，剎那間由遠至近，恐怖到頂點，那聲音才一入耳，大家無不毛骨悚然，全身哆嗦，什麼饑餓寒冷全都忘光了，只顧拚命持誦咒語。

這樣過了幾分鐘，一陣急促的敲窗聲，把大家又嚇了一跳，回頭一看，佛陀上師在窗外正指著我說：「博元（即龍舟仁波且——編者注），你趕快下來！」

我急忙跳下車，緊跟在佛陀上師身後，一直走到樹林邊，只見佛陀上師不時地對著林中幾團漆黑晃動的影子打出手印，這影子就是妖魔，這些壞東西，一直要找機會對我們下手！

如此折騰了將近半個鐘頭，妖魔總算被降服了！

此時，已是半夜十二點多，佛陀上師坐在車上修法，沒有言語，而住的問題仍沒著落，正當大家一籌莫展時，一位美國白人突然走過來，很有禮貌地說：「你們是不是需要旅店？我的別墅就借給你們吧！」

這突來的喜訊，讓大家驚奇不已！我們一路摸黑，終於找到了這家別墅，幾位師姊先進廚房，想準備煮一些宵夜，誰知櫥櫃中只有十四副餐具及十四個座位，正好是此行弘法團的人數，如此神奇，真是令人訝異！

第二天清晨，大夥兒聚在別墅的涼臺上，才發現這裡的風景無比秀麗，一望無際的山谷中，奇峰峻嶺，雲霧繚繞，東西萬里碧海，銀光翻花，濤延聯山，海歌動日，醉臥祥雲，千姿媚態，難以盡述，一朝宿此極樂情矣。觀山風徐來，蜂鳥低鳴，真是令人心曠神怡，陶醉其中，悅樂乎魂兮何處也，一夜的驚嚇與疲勞，早已拋到九霄雲外。

早餐過後，大家幾乎異口同聲說，昨天是護法神的化現，解決了我們的難關吧！佛陀上師說：「弟子們以為呢？」

接下來的行程中，仍是充滿驚險與危機，因為妖魔們一路尾隨，不斷的伺機下手，我們有幸在佛陀上師的威德庇護下，才能將妖魔一一捉拿，轉危為安。從洛杉磯到舊金山本來一日可到，竟用了七天時間。

佛陀上師的功德與聖蹟，我就是七天七夜也訴說不盡，僅能以此拙文來表達心中的感恩於萬一。

無上金剛總持尊，功德浩浩難思議，

開演如來秘密藏，大悲利樂眾有情。

金剛獅吼震三界，古德法王文讚稱，

人天導師駕紅塵，救拔倒懸不辭勞。

師恩巍巍如須彌，肝腦塗地難回報，

祈請我師永住世，化作輪迴展聖境。

慚愧弟子龍舟造文記實

Demons on Highway One, the Pacific Coast Highway

I n the summer of 1998, I was fortunate and honored to follow the holy presence of H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III Wan Ko Yeshe Norbu Holiest Tathagata on a trip to propagate and spread the Buddha-dharma. We formed a large contingent and were driving along Highway One, the Pacific Coast Highway, toward San Francisco.

When the motorcade went into the curvy and twisty mountain roads, H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III told the driver to turn off the air conditioning and opened up the windows to let the wind come in. The Buddha Master asked, “How do you like the air here compared to the air in Los Angles?”

“Of course the air here is better,” we all answered at the same time, as if in one voice.

“Why?” The Buddha Master asked.

Brother Chang, who possesses a Master’s degree in chemical engineering, hurried to answer first: “Buddha Master, this is because in any place that has dense trees or is close to the sea, the air contains a large amount of negative ions. And negative ions would...” He continued with a whole set of his knowledge in chemistry.

H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III patiently waited for him to finish and then asked, “What do the negative ions look like?”

“Oh, this ...” Brother Chang and the rest of us were all at a loss on what to say.

The Buddha Master smiled but did not say anything. A few minutes later, a ray of blue light suddenly penetrated into the vehicle through the front windshield and dispersed. We all smelled a very fresh and sweet scent.

We all stared at each other and did not know what happened. The Buddha Master turned back toward us and said, “Now do you know what negative ions look like? As practitioners, you can’t just stay at the level of talking about hollow theories.”

When our motorcade came to the Big Sur area, we were all intoxicated by the bright and beautiful views of scenery. Suddenly, the Buddha Master told us to drive into a small road and stop. The Buddha Master strode towards a pavilion near the edge of a cliff. His Holiness seriously stated to us, “Demons will come right away to disturb us. Let’s all calm our minds and recite the Heart Mantra of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva. Don’t chat to each other or be distracted.”

At that time, there was not a single cloud in the vast sky, and the sea surface looked smooth and calm. Where would the demons come from? The Buddha Master stared at the sky and practiced a dharma using mudras. Within five minutes, violent winds started to blow fiercely. The wind brought sand and dust into the sky and made rocks move. The tranquil sea surface that had been calm suddenly changed into roaring waves rising higher and higher. The surging tides hit the shore and splashed as high as hundreds of feet. Even rocks the size of eggs were brought up and thrown into the sky. All these combined into a very scary scene. On seeing this, we had our minds concentrated on the dharma and recited the mantra loudly. Calm eventually returned after the Buddha Master subdued the demons.

H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III gave us a discourse on that: “Among our group on this trip to propagate the dharma, there are rinpoches, great dharma teachers, and officers of the Institute and the publishing house. Demons are afraid that the correct Buddha-dharma will benefit living beings in the Western world, so they are going to do everything to break us down. However, you need not be worried. The demons will not be able to hurt you.”

Our motorcade continued on the journey. It was already dark, and the mountain road was rugged and rough. We decided to find a motel to stay for the night. After all our efforts, we found one motel on the mountain, but it had no vacancy. We tried to negotiate with the manager on duty to let us stay in the lobby for the night but were refused.

We walked back to the parking lot with tired and cold steps. The outside temperature was about -2 degrees Celsius (29 degrees Fahrenheit). The Buddha Master suddenly rolled down the window and told us, “Demons are coming to hurt you again. Hurry up and get in the vehicles. Concentrate on reciting the mantra.”

Before getting back onto our seats, we heard a series of sad and shrill howls from the forest. From far away they came closer and closer and were very scary. We all felt chilled to the bone, and our bodies were shaking. At that moment, hunger and cold were of no concern to our minds. We just kept doing our best to recite the mantra.

A few minutes later, we were frightened by a burst of hurried knocking on the window. I looked out. The Buddha Master was pointing at me from outside, “Boyuan1 , come out immediately.”

I rushed to get out of the vehicle and followed the Buddha Master, who was walking towards the forest. The Buddha Master was repeatedly applying a mudra towards several piles of dark shadows in the forest. “The shadows are demons. These scoundrels are constantly looking for opportunities to attack us,” he said.

It took almost half an hour before the demons were subdued.

At this time, it was already after midnight. The Buddha Master was practicing a dharma inside the vehicle without talking. The problem of finding a place to stay was still not solved. As we were at a loss on what to do, a Caucasian man walked toward us and politely said, “Are you looking for a hotel? I can let you use my mansion.”

We were all pleasantly surprised by this happy news. Finally, we arrived at the mansion after driving in the dark. Several sisters among us went into the kitchen to prepare some food. In the cabinet, there were fourteen sets of dinnerware. And the dining room also had fourteen seats. This was exactly the number of people in our contingent. What a miracle! We were amazed.

In the early morning of the next day, we all gathered on the balcony of the mansion. The fright and fatigue of the previous night had all gone away. We found that the surrounding scenes were extremely beautiful. The valley extended endlessly. Ridges and peaks of all shapes were surrounded by circling clouds and mist. From east to west, we saw the sea on the horizon, with silver light reflecting from the surface. Waves were splashing on the shore cliff. The sun also seemed to be moved by the song of the tides. Up in the sky, auspicious clouds floated by as if in various enchanting horizontal postures. It was really a superlative joy to spend the morning in such a place. As mountain winds came from time to time complimented by singing birds and bees, we all felt very relaxed and intoxicated by the scene. The joy and pleasure simply made us unaware of where we were.

After breakfast, we all mentioned that it must have been dharmaprotecting deities who helped us through the crisis the day before. H.H. Buddha Master asked, “Is that what you disciples think?”

The rest of the journey was still full of dangers and crises. Demons followed us all the way and were always looking for opportunities to attack. Fortunately, we were under the protection of H.H. Buddha Master. The demons were captured one by one, and we returned from danger to safety each time. Normally, it takes one day or less to go from Los Angles to San Francisco. This time, we spent seven days and seven nights.

I would not be able to tell of all the merit and holy deeds of H.H.Buddha Master even if I spent seven days and seven nights. I can only use the poetry I composed below to express a little bit of my feeling of gratefulness:

The Supreme Buddha Vajradhara of all sects, the honored one,

Possessing boundless merit beyond imagination;

His Holiness expounds the esoteric scriptures of the Tathagata;

With great compassion, His Holiness benefits and brings happiness to all living beings.

The roars of the Vajra Lion shake the Three Spheres,

Praised in writing by holy and virtuous dharma kings;

Coming to the earthly realm as guiding master of both humans and celestial beings,

He never shirks from saving and rescuing the suffering ones.

The Buddha Master’s kindness is as grand as Mount Sumeru,

I will never be able to return the favors by any means;

I pray for my Buddha Master to stay in this world forever;

To exhibit a holy realm in samsara!