Bodhisattva Manjusri and the Life Saving Tree
菩薩顯靈樹神救人
During construction, many cargo containers arrived daily, along with many contractors working onsite. In 2012, an onsite superintendent was hired to handle them, and to safeguard the proper respect being made to all the sacred Buddhist statues onsite.
五台山在開始籌建後就陸續有許多貨櫃從不同的國家和區域送達五台山工地。2012年為了保證工地安全,達義大和尚特別找了一位居士住在山上,每日晨昏定時開關山門和巡視山上的情況,並交代其每天在菩薩聖像前上香禮拜。
The onsite superintendent became a Buddhist devotee, and was given the dharma name “Ren Sheng”, hoping he would reach enlightenment as his given name: “realizing true form is formless”. Many knew him by his English name “Poon”. One of his duties was to patrol the site before lock down at night.
大和尚為這位男居士傳授三皈五戒,賜法名「仁性」,希望他能證悟空性。說來也是有點意思,這位師兄在家姓氏姓「吳」,所以湛山的人們從來都不敢稱呼他為「吳仁性」,而是親切地稱呼他「仁性師兄」。
On one wintry evening in December 2012, the hilltops were foggy with very poor visibility, making it treacherous to drive up and down the gravel tracks to reach the Manjusri Peak. When Poon made his rounds at the Manjusri Peak, he had to rely solely on his memory of the area to make a 90-degrees turn of his car to go down on the other track. Suddenly he lost control of his car, felt it was forcefully stopped, and heard faint noises at the same time. He got out of his car to investigate, and was alarmed to discover that he was only a few feet from the edge of the cliff, with a sheer drop of about 20 – 30 metres down. Luckily his car was stopped in time.
2012年冬的一天,接近佛誕。臨時車道的路面仍可行車走動。天氣不好能見度很低,他如同往常駕車,做當日最後一次巡山。沿大殿建築工地左側向上,到五台山的【菩薩頂】。霧氣變大,即使開着車燈亦未能看清楚路面。他唯有依靠記憶駛至山頂文殊菩薩銅像前,需九十度右轉再從另一側下山,此時車輛突然沒有了剎車,仁性深感危險,耳邊感覺有聲音,車輛似乎被什麼東西擋了下來,他下車察看情況,嚇了一驚。發現眼前數米便是山崖(此崖約二三十米高,位於大殿工地背後山上,直立九十度),幸好當時車輛停住而未沖下去。
The next morning, he drove up to the Manjusri Peak and found a fallen tree across the path where his car stopped the night before, with visible brake marks on the ground. He had not seen any fallen tree previously, nor did he brake hard the night before at that spot. The tree was very big, about 40 - 50 feet long, with a diameter of about 10 feet. He thought someone had cut the tree down and laid it across the path before the edge of the cliff as a safety precaution. However, when he asked the contractors if they had cut down the tree, none of them knew anything about it. He then realized it was an act of blessing from Bodhisattva Manjusri together with help from the Tree God that his life was saved on that night.
翌日早晨,他依原路上山巡至同一位置。發現有棵大樹橫臥地上,明顯看見有剎車輪胎痕跡,發現此大樹幹底部近地面處已經斷開,其斷截面猶如斬斷一般,像是被強風吹倒。他記得前一天,這里並無大樹,相信事後才橫向倒下來擋住車輪。此大樹直徑也有十尺,長四十至五十尺左右,可作為屏障攔阻車輛前行滾落山崖。於是,當天他便向工地的工人求證,是否是他們砍下作安全措施之用,但工人說沒有做過。仁性此時深知是文殊菩薩顯靈,樹神搭救保全性命。