祈請 林鈺堂

處境堪憐知見狹,無能釐清解困局;
祈請加倍仰佛慈,豈得祝禱如指令?

佛友請求代禱,所呈禱文論斷人事,妄冀殊果,不似祈請,反類指令。吾人欲蒙佛恩加被,應先認清自身所知太有限,能力太微薄,處境極困窘,功德談不上,唯一仰賴是佛之平等大慈。因此只宜陳述困難所在,以祈求佛恩舒解,轉危為安,重報輕受。至於出乎個人偏見、成見之評論以及由有限知見所妄作之決斷,皆不宜加入禱文之中,以免失敬之咎。凡有此類禱文,我皆向佛祈求寬恕彼等之愚昧。

                       
                     二○○二年三月九日
                     養和齋   於加州


Supplicating Yutang Lin

Under pitiful circumstances, with narrow views,
Unable to clarify and resolve the net of clutches.
Our supplication relies on Buddha's compassion;
How could any prayer be phrased like directives?

Comment:

Occasionally prayers submitted by Buddhists for me to pray to Buddha on their behalf contained criticism or judgment on others, or fanciful expectations. The wordings resembled rather like directives but not supplication. For us to receive Buddha's blessing we need to recognize in advance the following: what we know are very limited, what we are capable of is minute, the circumstances are very difficult to resolve, the merits we have accumulated are meager, the only thing that we are relying on while making our pleading is the great compassion of Buddha that is universally fair to all. Therefore, it is only proper to state our predicaments with the hope that Buddha would bless us with relief such that dangers would be averted and serious consequences would be lightened. As to criticism out of personal views and prejudices and judgements made based on limited knowledge and views, they should not be included in one's prayer lest the mistake of disrespect would be incurred. Whenever such prayers came into my attention I would beg Buddha's forgiveness for their ignorance.


Written in Chinese on March 9, 2002
Translated on March 16, 2002
El Cerrito, California


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