【來不及說的再見】

這位女客人是我在去年7月10日面對面見的新加坡客人。

見面後的當晚，客人寫了封感謝函給我，裡頭有這句話：
Thank you for reminding me that life is temporary and don’t be too stubborn.
（感謝您提醒我生命是短暫的，及不要太執著。）

今年5月，她50多歲的嬸嬸在家中意外跌倒，就這樣一命嗚呼了。因為死得突然和離奇，一家大小的悲痛和不捨可想而知。大家也在想，嬸嬸離世後，是否過得好。

嬸嬸過世一週左右，女客人半夜寫了電郵問我該怎麼做，讓嬸嬸能走得安詳，放下人間的種種。

我收到電郵後，感觸甚多。我和她的嬸嬸應該素昧平生，沒想到卻有這因緣指點她的晚輩，來助她好上路。另外一個感觸是，我雖曾提醒，但我客人並未來得及學好佛法，為已故親人做黃金八小時的助念。

這黃金八小時的助念，在自己悲痛欲絕時，是真的很考自己的修法功力。如果平時沒有訓練說佛法，一把鼻涕一把眼淚，一手拿著數珠一手拿著紙巾，坐在那個冷冰冰的停屍房裡，看著眼前已斷氣的至親，說的佛法難免會亂七八糟。因此如果一個家庭裡面，有許多人都會的話，就能互相幫忙，為自己的至親做一個完美的送行。

在我的經歷裡面，有得到眷屬黃金八小時助念的遺體，會呈現祥和之相，因為心中的恐懼和不捨會因有眷屬的咒音和佛光的加持，而消滅。

我當時是這樣回覆我的客人：

亡者過世七七四十九天內，應該為她皈依、報名超度、以她名字做許多功德。眷屬也該誦經/念佛/持咒迴向給她往生淨土。

報名超度，應該每個星期做，因為越有佛菩薩的光加持您的小嬸，她的無明和執著會越能被淨化。一次兩次是不夠的，每做一次超度，也等同於在提醒她，為她消業。

我師尊每星期天都有主壇超度護摩法會，我常常報名，您可以到這裡報名：https://tbs-rainbow.org/Donate

她這一生的因緣已結束，不該想她回來。

她放不下誰，就請眷屬本身告訴她，他們能好好照顧自己，請她好上路。

如果她功德不夠，自不會過得好。如果蒙眷屬迴向，她功德圓滿，就不必再受輪迴之苦。

我這幾隻影片請您去看：
一、如何度過生死的大海 -
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=227601605696126
二、祖先入夢求皈依 -
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=965033157579054
三、報名超度祖先有何用 -
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=708392879830515
四、如何為父母和自己做功德 -
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=335748614469035
五、寵物能往生淨土？骨灰可以放家中嗎？ -
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=443456376845125

學佛應當趁早，您將來才有更大的能力去幫助您的至親離苦得樂。

請節哀，阿彌陀佛。

————————————

我會在三個星期後，開放八字諮詢報名表30分鐘。

這將是我今年最後第二次接受報名，最後一次可能在十一月。

八月開放時，如果您想報名批八字，也曾購買我推薦的我根本上師蓮生活佛所寫的佛書：
一、當下的清涼心
二、度過生死的大海
三、不可思議的靈異
四、神變的遊歷
五、靈異的真面目
六、走入最隱密的陰陽界
(影片：https://fb.watch/6-A_RTPp_b/）

閱讀後，有佛法上的問題想請教我的，請註明在報名表裡。

到時能提供購書證據，會得到諮詢排期的優先權。八字諮詢時間是一個半小時，我會排多些時間給您問閱讀後的佛法問題。

如果您沒報名批八字，但有關於這些佛書問題想問，可留言在留言區，告訴我是哪本書，及您的問題是什麼。

我時間允許時，會抽空回覆。

學佛不要拖拉，因為我們不一定有明天，來世不一定能遇到明師。

＃外婆傳說勸世篇：【 萬物有靈，勿造殺業！（上）】
外婆從年輕時便開始茹素，她說她是先從不吃肉類開始的，剛開始時有一陣子外婆還是偶爾會食用喜愛的海鮮貝類，結果某次做夢神遊仙界時，竟然看見河裡的魚蝦和蚌開口向她求饒，嚇得外婆趕緊忌口海鮮並開始茹全素，外婆說魚蝦都有靈了，更何況牛羊雞鴨呢？接下來跟大家分享兩則殺業之人因果報應的故事。
……
＃鵝肉攤販的女兒
一早起床的外婆呆坐在床邊，反覆回想著夢中仙佛所說的話，百思不得其解。

「信女，妳要救村口鵝肉攤販的女兒，讓她來妳的工廠做事，不要跟著父母造殺業！」夢中觀音大士的話說得很是清晰。

「村子口好像是有家賣鵝肉的攤販，每次開車經過都會看到他們生意很好，門口總是大排長龍，但是這家店我根本沒去過呀！」外婆茹素，從未到過這家鵝肉攤買東西，自然也不清楚這家店的老闆是否有位女兒。

「去問問煮飯的阿滿好了！」外婆想起幫工廠員工煮三餐的阿姨應該會知道，便三步併兩步，前去廚房找煮飯阿姨了。

「阿滿，早！」外婆走進廚房跟正在煮飯的阿姨打了聲招呼。

「老闆娘早呀！」正在炒菜的阿滿抬起頭回道，手上的鍋鏟還利索的翻攪著鍋中菜葉。

「阿滿，我們村子口是不是有家賣鵝肉的店？他們是否有個女兒？」外婆問道。

「是沒錯…但是老闆娘妳怎麼知道他們有個女兒？」阿姨滿臉疑惑，心想老闆娘吃素，應該從來沒有去買過鵝肉，怎麼會知道那家店的老闆有個獨生女。

外婆大驚，店家果真有位女兒，外婆心想：「我跟這家店又不熟，突然跑去跟店家說要請人家女兒來工廠上班，人家會答應嗎？」

「不管了，既然是仙佛的指示，我就試試看吧！」隔天一早外婆專程開車，抱著姑且一試的心情來到了這家鵝肉攤門口。

「請問老闆或老闆娘在嗎？」外婆走到攤子前向一位在櫃檯的中年婦女問道。

「我就是老闆娘，妳有什麼事？」老闆娘手裡還忙著算著找給客人的錢，頭也沒抬的回道。

「我是前面那家XX工廠的老闆娘，想請您的女兒來我公司上班。」外婆開門見山的說。

鵝肉攤老闆娘一聽，抬起頭看了外婆一眼：「妳是沒看到我們家生意有多好嗎？我女兒在家賺錢多好，哪裡需要去妳的工廠上班？」

「但是造殺業總是不好，您要不要考慮一下……」

「去去去，別妨礙我們做生意！」不管外婆怎麼好說歹說，老闆娘都不為所動，外婆實在莫可奈何，只好打消了遊說念頭無奈的離開。

過沒幾日，煮飯的阿滿一早便急急忙忙的跑來找外婆。

「老闆娘！老闆娘！…鵝肉攤的女兒出事了！」

聽阿滿說那天早上鵝肉攤的女兒手提著兩隻鵝，正要穿越馬路送去給對面的店家時，竟被對向車道的大卡車不幸迎面撞上當場慘死！讓目睹女兒慘死的鵝肉攤老闆和老闆娘傷心欲絕哭斷了腸。

外婆一聽相當震驚與自責：「怎麼會發生這種事……早知道當初我應該再多堅持一下，說服她父母讓她來工廠上班也許就不會發生這個悲劇了！」說完，外婆便頌了數遍往生咒迴向給鵝肉攤的這位可憐女兒，希望她早日投胎去做好命人家的孩子。

這件事讓外婆親眼見證了殺業果報的可怕，所以經常勸人茹素清心以減少殺生之罪，而這件事之後，外婆也對仙佛的夢境感應之事更加謹慎與重視，不敢輕忽怠慢，阿彌陀佛！

********************************************
《外婆傳說》的故事於2021/09/01~10/31在嘖嘖平台進行公益出版募資，所有的販書收益將全數捐出做公益，期待大家的一同響應，再次感謝大家的支持～🙏《外婆傳說》嘖嘖募資連結：https://www.zeczec.com/projects/grandma-tales

「地獄空」攝影集即將在八月中元節前出版，由知名設計師與攝影家黃子欽設計，內附在下二位高徒精美繪製符咒、心經版畫書籤、愣嚴咒牌、尊勝咒語...等，感恩十方大德助印，希望疫情退散，平安喜樂，後記如下：

野放台灣五十餘年，貪狼獨坐，三方四正殺破狼格局，少年多舛，白手起家，隨展覽雲遊四海，如閒雲野鶴常持各類底片機流連廢墟、山川、宮廟忘返，遂設幻影堂自詡堂主，一日三省「凡所有相皆是虛妄」，常宅於暗房沖片放大通宵、鍾情黑白世界之單純，彩色照片俗世繽紛花俏做作甜美甚至比現實更現實故少拍也。知天命之年有餘，了悟人生一瞬、眨眼即逝，雖非仙人，亦無道骨，初聞離垢地生清淨心，但離華嚴「不動地」尚遠，待修持也。
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創立於1986年的石門金剛宮風景優美可眺望北濱，雖主祀四面佛，儒釋道眾神尊也不含糊，可過七星橋解厄、繞行五百黝黑羅漢敲鑼印心、跪拜亞洲最大臥佛涅槃像，安太歲自不在話下，甲子太歲爺雙眼長出手掌印象甚深，1994年經閻羅王指示廟公建造一條肚內設極樂世界及陰曹地府之神龍，行走暗黑通道觸動感應機關，只見面容猙獰受刑者呼天搶地喊冤、身邊盡是血肉糢糊殘肢敗屍腦漿塗地，十殿閻羅各司其職、威儀攝人。新北市林口區青嶺湖北文紫祥宮包公廟則以壁面彩塑地獄浮雕獨步全台，粉嫩色彩搭配卡漫風格，尤為造型簡直恐怖到可愛透頂，該廟主祀森羅殿閻羅天子包拯（包青天），陽世冤屈者可至此參拜祭解，求破懸案者眾，逢中元普渡皆以紙紮船渡亡魂至彼岸，全台唯一閻羅天子巨像籌備中，四周環繞墓地，適合修不淨觀也。台灣首尊彰化八卦山大佛旁南天宮（1971）地府則是首座電動地府，規模精小但驚嚇度破表，略顯破敗但五光十色仍蠻凶悍，出自已故台南大道長金登富之作，而電動神明起始可追溯至1960年代北港朝天宮。倒是嘉義水上鄉白人牙膏觀光工廠「戴相府」、「將軍府」設置十殿地府出乎意料之外，乾淨亮麗、ㄧ殿ㄧ間、簡單樸實。由高雄蓮潭龍虎塔龍口入內可見全臺唯一交趾陶地獄牆面，尊尊栩栩如生，續入龍身乃進聞聲救苦白衣觀音大士三十三化身浮雕隧道，造型設色甚為古錐。高雄大岡山超峰寺入口處「西方三聖蓮池海會」（阿彌陀佛、觀世音菩薩、大勢至菩薩巨像）旁設靜態十殿閻羅（1970年代初），雖略為陳舊然韻味猶存，續往上行可抵「證菩提道－釋迦如來應化事迹」雕塑園區，一攬世尊畢生精華。如來年邁時，琉璃國王為報長期被釋迦族輕蔑之傲慢心，世尊雖三次單獨伽跌坐 阻擋大軍進攻之路，但因緣果報無法逆轉，昔日婢女所生王子瞋恨無以復加，還是滅了祖國。自持神通第一目犍連不忍無辜百姓慘遭屠殺，遂以缽盛救度五百族人，最終卻化為血水，佛言神通廣大仍不敵千百劫業力，因緣果報屢試不爽。其母死後墜入餓鬼道飢餓難耐，目犍連遂展神通救渡，但所食尚未入口皆化為赤火，佛陀囑咐農曆七月十五日僧眾解安居自恣日，於盆中設甘露美食供養十方僧眾，因此超度亡母。後世「盂蘭盆法會」乃至「水懺法會」、「瑜珈焰口法會 」皆為消業障、斷塵垢之超渡儀軌，既渡亡魂也自懺悔。

台南麻豆代天府規模宏大、造型豔麗，不但可遊十八層地獄尚可逛天堂（1979年興建，1983年開放)，燈光絢爛、聲響駭人，獨自漫步宛如觀落陰、地獄走一回。先過「心頭山」、入「清心池」、進「陰陽界」、抵「交簿廳」、達「鬼門關」、遊「補經所」、探「枉死城」、行「奈何橋」，至ㄧ殿泰廣王照「孽鏡台」現造惡原形，睹抱柱、火床等小地獄。二殿楚江王開「陰查簿 」判案定奪，觀糞尿泥、餓鬼、舞池、寒冰、膿血、鞭韃、舌犁、劍葉、戟腹拋接、砧截……等小地獄。三殿宋帝王刑罰為倒吊、銅鐵刮臉、挖眼、搗樁、倒烤、吸血、穿肋、抽筋、蛆蛀等小地獄……兼遊「四生（胎、卵、濕、化）回魂府」。四殿五官王掌管腰斬、拔舌、沸湯、刺嘴、剝皮、箭樹、車崩、射眼……等十六小地獄。隨五殿森羅王豋「望鄉臺」回眸親人最終眼後觀擊膝、誅心、刀山、飛刀火石……小地獄。六殿卞城王別稱「大叫喚大地獄」，轄火牛、虎啖、噬腎、鉗嘴含鍼、釘喉、磨摧、砍頭……等小地獄。七殿泰山王為「熱惱大地獄」，窺烙手指、抽腸、頂石蹲身、油釜滾烹、割舌穿腮……等十六小地獄。八殿都市王掌管「大熱惱大地獄」兼火狗、鐵汁、鐵蛇、鋸劈斷肢、釘板、灸脊、鐵丸、磅秤……等小地獄。九殿平等王直轄十八層「阿鼻大地獄」，直透地心、內中陰森、不見五指、滿溢地漿，皆為極犯，另轄紫赤毒蛇鑽孔、夾頂、鐵鴉、針雨、蜂蠍……等小地獄。至十殿輪轉王上「觀生臺」、「轉劫所八司」（查驗司 、稽善司 、考過司 、恩怨司 、壽命司 、支配司、掌劫司 、授生司）後至「孟婆亭」飲「醧忘湯」忘盡前塵往事，依前世功德過金、銀、玉、石、木、竹六種橋樑至「轉輪臺（紫河車）」入六道輪迴轉生投胎。據《十八泥犁經》記載，人過世後七七四十九天為「中陰生」，經閻羅王審判善惡業力判定去留或懲罰百千萬劫，犯五逆重罪則墮入「無間地獄（阿鼻地獄）」永劫不復。地藏王乃幽冥教主，統轄十殿閻羅，逢三曹普渡便在各殿設「講道所」超度尚存善根之鬼魂。

人類居於五趣（阿修羅、人、傍生、餓鬼、地獄）雜居地五濁惡世之堪忍世界，犯十惡業（殺生、偷盜、邪淫、妄語、兩舌、惡口、綺語、貪慾、嗔恚、愚痴）者必墮三趣惡道。如何出「三界」（欲界、色界、無色界）二十八天？凡人無此意識，別說能破「十二因緣」（無明、行、識、名色、六入、觸、受、愛、取、有、生、老死）還滅門，更別想斷除「四聖諦」（苦、集、滅、道）集地八十一品見惑與八十八使思惑（五利使-身見、邊見、邪見、見取見、戒禁取見、五鈍使-貪、瞋、癡、慢、疑），了悟「五蘊」（色、受、想、行、識）本空、「十二入」（眼、耳、鼻、舌、意、色、聲、香、味、觸、法）空、「十八界」空，破俱生我執與分別我執、法執甚至空執，生十一處「善心所」（信、精進、慚、愧、無貪、無瞋、無痴、輕安、不放逸、行捨、不害），降二十六處「惡心所」（貪、瞋、癡、慢、疑、惡見、忿、恨、覆、惱、嫉、慳、誑、諂、害、憍、無慚、無愧、掉舉、惛沉、不信、懈怠、放逸、失念、散亂、不正知），須知善根斷盡則陷永劫輪迴、無垠轉世之苦。

地獄可能空滅嗎？若地獄空乏人間多鬼怪，地獄淨空世間何嘗非淨土？若能證空性何處現地獄？

地獄曠古來便廣泛流傳各部族間，老死生滅為自然運行之基礎、宇宙意識之核心，然今文明昌盛如咱城邦並非慾望消弭之所，惡性所及實無可根除，礙於憲法國家法律社會軍隊企業公司學校家庭團體之層層束縛不亞於十八層，乃遁於壓抑、束己情懷，暗埋心底、日久貪嗔痴慢疑怨噌會疊穢。而六塵未熄，心多妄念，妖魔鬼怪魑魅魍魎孤魂閃靈出沒於荒郊乃至人間，會靈於曠野密林以增性靈乃出世高人修煉之舉，我等凡人擅闖宛如迪士尼般之人造地獄，三魂七魄尚不足以出竅，驚邪恐怖淒厲猙獰倒滿足了自以為是的慚愧，豈不謬哉？

病毒肆虐年半有餘，全球確診者逼近一億八千萬，枉死者近四百萬，堪比戰爭規模，望眾生發慈悲心、令往生者安息、善待其他物種、平等有情眾生。地獄本空，唯妄念生起一切羨慕嫉妒恨而地獄現前。盡以此書作為世界新冷戰獨裁者、超限戰者、暗網駭客、陰險狡猾冷嘲熱諷落井下石者之良知備忘錄矣。

姚瑞中寫於2021年端午節

Postscript

I have been living recklessly in Taiwan for more than fifty years. According to Zi Wei Dou Shu (Purple Star Astrology), Tan Lang is the sole star in my house of Self. This star, which represents xxx, forms an equilateral triangle with that star Qi Sha and Po Jun on the square chart and constitutes a Sha Po Lang pattern. The pattern indicates a kind of turbulence and change, a life of wandering with ups and downs and it tells a lot about my life. After my ill-fated youth, I started from scratch and traveled around the world with exhibitions that I participated. Like a flaneur, I wandered around ruins, nature, and temples with every type of film camera obliviously. Thus, I founded the Hall of Illusion and claimed to be the master of the hall. Several times a day, I pondered a quote from the Diamond Sutra, “Everything with form is unreal.” In addition, I usually stayed in the darkroom developing film and enlarging those negatives overnight. However, I treasured the simplicity of the black and white world. The earthly, gaudy, garish, phony and pleasing qualities within colored photos make the images even more realistic than the real world. It is not my cup of tea, so I seldom took colored photos. In Confucian thought, the age of fifty marks the stage knowing the mandate of Heaven. I am now at my fifties and realize how ephemeral human life is. However, I am not an immortal, nor having sagelike characteristics. I just learned that the stage of stainless (the second bhūmi) and develop a pure mind that is free from doubt and defilement. However, I’m still far from the immovable state and need to practice.

In the summer of 2017, after filming the work Incarnation, I experienced a severe heart rhythm problem which almost triggered myocardial infarction and could have killed me. Consequently, I realized that death was waiting for me and the life is too short to figure out how I can liberate myself from the cycle of Birth and Death. I couldn’t comprehend how to be free from all afflictions and worries and how to avoid delusive ideas. I wept for three days and nights after being enlightened by Shakyamuni Buddha. Up to the moment, I felt ashamed that I failed to realize that the self is as insignificant as dust after these years learning and practicing Buddhism. Since then, I have visited famous temples and monasteries in my spare time, worshiping Buddha, Bodhisattvas, arhats, and all the deities and immortals. Taiwan’s temples are myriad with a enormous number of sects, including Buddhism, Taoism, Yiguandao, Catholicism, Christianity, Chinese religions of fasting, Islam& Baháʼí Faith, Confucianism, Tiandiism& Tian-De Teachings, Xiwangmu cult, Yellow Emperor Sect, Precosmic Salvationism, Liism, World Wide Ethical Society, séance cult, etc. Some people even claim that they can mediate communication between the deities or spirits of the dead with human beings, having their believer rely on themselves instead of the orthodox dharma or dogma and pay excessive respect and admiration for the mediums or objects, accumulating wealth through such an unfair means or even harassing their believer sexually. Due to Taiwan’s historical changes, social turbulence, political struggles, and ideological issues, Buddhism and Taoism are somehow mixed. However, there are few emphases on the concept of the hell. As I took photographs of Yama of each court, judges, wardens of the underworld, jailers, General Fan and Hsieh (the ghost escorts) and all sinners, I found few temples cleverly created hellish scenes that are intriguing, exaggerating, and extraordinary. However, the creations are unparalleled unique. I have been studying Western arts for decades and then I came to realize that simplicity makes the most beautiful works of art. These hellish scenes can even compete with works of Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337) and Michelangelo Di lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (1475-1564).

Jingang Temple Shimen District, founded in 1986, overlooks the beautiful North shore. Although the temple is mainly dedicated to Phra Phrom (the Thai representation of Mahabrahma), spirits of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism can also be founded in the temple. The worshipper can go cross the Seven Star bridge to relieve bad luck, walk along the five hundred arhat statues and knock on the gong to affirm one’s Buddha nature. Furthermore, the worshipper can also prostrate themself before Asia’s largest statue of Buddha in Nirvana (the Reclining Buddha statue) and pacify the Taoist Tai Sui deity of the year. I was impressed by the Jia-Zi Tai Sui General that a pair of palms grow out of his eyes. In 1994, the biō-kong (the person taking charge of the temporal affairs of a temple) received a divine inspiration from Yama (the King of Hell) that he had to build a sacred hall in the shape of a divine dragon, with the interior designed according to the World of Ultimate Bliss and the Underworld. When the visitor walks in the dark hallway, they will see the tortured people (dioramas, of course) scrunching their faces and crying bitterly and loudly in excessive grief as the visitor triggers the mechanism. One will even find them in the midst of flesh, body liquid and blood, mutilated limbs, and rotten corpses. While each of the ten Yamas are focusing on their own duties, showing their sacred dignity that collect visitors’ attention. The Baogong Temple in Linkou District, New Taipei City exclusively features colorful depiction of hellish scenes in relief in Taiwan. With its pastel shades and cartoon-like style, the relief is both grotesque and adorable at the same time. This temple is dedicated to Bao Zhen (also known as Justice Bao) representing the incarnation of Yama. Living people who have been treated unjustly can come worshipping Bao Gong and receive exorcism. Therefore, many people come here for seeking to solve unsolved cases. In Zhongyuan Festival (the ghost festival), the temple will burn the Zhizha (paper craft) boat to ferry the ghosts to the other shore, which is the shore of enlightenment. The only giant statue of Yama in Taiwan is still in the making. The temple is surrounded by a cemetery, suitable for meditating on the loathsomeness and impurity. Nantian Temple (1971), located next to the Eight Trigram Mountains Buddha in Changhua, features the first animatronic underworld. Despite the small size, the animatronic underworld is intensely shocking. Though it’s slightly worn, the colorful dioramas are still brutally ferocious. The creator was the late venerable Dao Zhang (Taoist priest) Jing Deng-fu while the origin of animatronic deities can be traced back to the 1960s Beigang Chaotian Temple. On the contrary, the Whiteman Toothpaste Tourism Factory in Shuishang Township, Chiayi, features ten Yamas with individual booth. The place is unexpectedly clean and polished yet keeps a simple and modest tone. Then, the Dragon Pagoda of the Dragon and Tiger Pagodas at Lotus Lake in Zuoying, Kaohsiung, holds the only relief of hellish scenes made of Kochin ceramic. All the figures are vivid and life-like. If one goes further into the pagoda, they will see a relief tunnel of the thirty-three incarnations of the white-robed form of Guanyin (Avalokiteśvara) on a white lotus, with a lovely and interesting design. Another Hall of Yama is built in the 1970s next to the entrance of Dagangshan Chaofeng Temple, located in the Alian District of Kaohsiung. Visitors will also see three statues of the Three Holy Ones of the Western Pureland (Amitābha, Avalokiteśvara, Mahāsthāmaprāpta) which assemble at a lotus pond. Although the hellish scene looks somewhat antiquated, you may still find its previous charm. If one goes further, they will reach the sculptural garden of “Attaining the Bodhi Way: the Incarnation of Sakyamuni Buddha,” where the visitor can see the essence of Bhagavato’s (meaning the Blessed one, one of the common epithets for Buddha) life. When Tathāgata (another epithet for Buddha) was old, the king of Kosala wanted to avenge the arrogance of the tribe of Shakyas who had long despised him, regarding him as a son of a maiden. Although Buddha has sat in lotus position alone three times to stop the army from attacking his tribe. However, one can never reverse the cause and following karma. The prince born of a maiden was so furious that he eventually destroyed his homeland. Maudgalyāyana (one of the Buddha’s closest disciples), who is said to have had supernatural abilities that surpassed the other disciples, could not bear to see the slaughter of innocent people. Thus, he saved five hundred people of his tribe with a pātra (an eating utensil of Buddhist monks). Unfortunately, everything he did was in vain, those who were saved eventually turned into a puddle of blood. The Buddha said that the supernatural abilities cannot surpass the power of karma. The cause and effect work all the time. When Maudgalyāyana’s mother fell into the path of hungry ghost, he used his supernatural abilities to save his mother from hunger. However, all the food turned into fire before being fed to his mother. Later, the Buddha commanded the monks to put nectar and dishes in a basin on the 15th day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar for the monks from all directions to free his mother from reincarnation. In later times, the Ullambana Dharma Service, the Compassionate Samadhi Water Repentance, and the Yoga Collection for Feeding the Searing Mouths Dharma Service are rituals to eliminate karmic hindrance and to cease to worldly delusions. Through such practices, one can free the dead as well as confess their repentance.

Madou Daitian Temple is a magnificent and colorful temple in Tainan. Not only can the worshippers visit the eighteen levels of Hell but also the Heaven (it was built in 1979 and inaugurated in 1983) here. The lighting and sound effects are stunning and frightening. When walking alone in the space, one may feel like taking a Guan Luo Yin trip (a Taoist necromancy which leads people’s spirits to hell and communicate with the dead ones) to visit the underworld prison. Before arriving the first court of the underworld, the visitor will walk through the Mountain of Heart Summit, the Pure Heart Pond, the Frontier between the Living and the Dead Realms, the Soul Registry Hall, the Portico of Demons, the Center for Complementary Teaching of Canonical Books, the Citadel of Premature Death, and the Bridge of Vanity. When one arrives at the first court, they will see King Chin-guang, who is in charge of the court, using the Mirror of Retribution to show the earthly form of evil creatures and also witness the sub-hell of Pillar-Holding and Fire Bed, etc. At the second court, King Chu-jiang collates the register of sins the souls of the dead have committed to impose the punishments. Here, you will see the sub-hell of Excrement and Urine, Hungry Ghost, Burning Dance Floor, Ice, Pus and Blood, Whipping, Tongue-Raking, Sword Blade, Stomach-Piercing, Chopping, etc. Next, the dead at the third court, ruled by King Song-di, will receive the punishments including inversion tortures, face-skinning with steel and copper knife, eye-wrenching, pounding, blood-sucking, rib-piercing, roasting, tendon-taking, being eaten by maggots. The visitor can pay a visit to the Palace of Soul-Resuscitation for the Four Forms of Creatures (birth from an egg, birth from a womb, birth from moisture, and birth by transformation). King Wu-guan is in charge of the fourth court. There are sixteen sub-hells at the fourth court including Waist Chop, Tongue Removal, Boiling Pond, Mouth-stabbing, Skin-peeling, Sword Tree, Burning Wheels and Cart, Eye-shooting, etc. Next, at the fifth court, sinful souls are allowed to ascend the Tower of Hometown-Viewing to take a final look of their family. The visitor will witness sub-hells of Knee-striking, Heart-slicing, Blade Mountain, Flying Swords and Burning Stones, etc. The King of Bian City takes charge of the sixth court, which is also known as the “Great Hell of Screaming,” with sub-hells including Fire Cattle, Tiger-Biting, Kidney-Eating, Mouth-Poking, Throat-Nailing, Iron Mill, Decapitation, etc. The King of Tai-shan is in charge of the seventh court, the “Great Hell of Heat and Fire.” The sixteen sub-hells at this court include Finger-Searing, Bowel-Hauling, Stone-Bearing, Boiling Oil, Tongue-Removal and Cheek-Piercing, etc. Next, the King Du-shi is in charge of the eighth court, the “Great Hell of Intense Fire and Heat,” and the sub-hells including Fire Dogs, Molten Iron, Iron Snakes, Dismemberment, Steel Spikes, Burning-Marrow, Iron Ball, Scale, etc. The ninth court is ruled by the King Ping-deng. It is known as the biggest court, Avici Hell (the Hell of Incessant Suffering), which if the lowest level of the hell realm and the interior is gloomily and terrifyingly dark. Those who committed the most serious evil deed will be sent to the Avici Hell. Sub-hells such as Poisonous Snake, Brain-Removal, Crow-Gnawing, Raining Needles, Wasps and Scorpions are included at this court. After arriving the tenth court, ruled by the Great King of the Reincarnation Palace, one can visit the “Observatory of Life on earth” and the “eight bureaus of the Reincarnation Palace” (including the Bureau of Judicial Control, the Bureau of Good-Actions, the Bureau of Bad-Actions, the Bureau of Debts, Gratitude, and Vengeance, the Bureau of Longevity and Destiny, the Bureau of Familial Ties, the Bureau of the Reincarnated, and the Bureau of Birth). The sinful one will be sent to the Pavilion of Mengpo and made to drink the Soup of Forgetfulness to forget all past affairs. According to the sinful one’s merits of previous life, they will go across one of the six bridges (gold, silver, jade, stone, wood, bamboo) to the “Reincarnation-Wheel (Wheel on the Crimson River).” Finally, one is able to reborn in the six realms. According to the Aṣṭadaśa nāraka sutra ( the Eighteen Hells Sutra), after one passes away, they will enter an intermediate and transitional state between death and rebirth, known as antarābhava in Sanskrit, for forty-nine days. The being will be evaluated by Yama, who will decide if one should get reborn or get punished at the hell. Those who committed the Five Grave Offenses (killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing an Arhat, shedding the blood of a Buddha, and creating a schism within the community of Buddhist monks and nun who practice for attaining enlightenment.) will be sent to the Avici Hell and stay there eternally. Kṣitigarbha is the Lord of the Nether World, ruling the ten court of Hell. The lord will set up the “Hall of Teaching” at each court to salvage those sinful ones who still obtain few merits at the offering rituals.

Human beings live the Sahā world (sahāloka in Sanskrit, meaning “endurance of suffering,” a concept of mundane world in Mahāyāna Buddhism) where they share with other reincarnations (including beings of the hells, of the preta, and of malevolent nature spirits) with five turbidities (the Kalpa turbidity, the view turbidity, the affliction turbidity, the living beings turbidity, and the life turbidity). Those who commit the ten evil deeds (killing, stealing, adultery, lying, using immoral language, slandering, equivocating, coveting, anger, and false views) must fall into the three evil paths (animals, preta, and hell). However, how can one escape from the three realms/ twenty-eight heavens (including the six heavens of the desire realm, the eighteen heavens of the form realm, and the four heavens of the formless realm)? Worldly people who don’t have such an awareness cannot leave the cycle of the twelve nidanas (meaning causes or motivations), let alone eliminate the eighty-one afflictions (that have been produced due to misunderstanding regarding reality) and the eighty-eight illusions (including five afflictions of advanced practitioners, also known as five views: view of self, extreme view, evil view, view of attachment to views, and view of morality; and five unintelligent temptations: desire, anger, stupidity, arrogance, and doubt) of thought within the three realms and four Arya satyas (noble truths, including suffering, arising, ending, and path). They cannot realize that the essence of the five skandhas (referring to aggregates of clinging, including the matter of form, sensation, recognition, mental formation, and consciousness) , the twelve ayatana (meaning sense base, including six internal bases: eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind and six external bases: visible objects, sound, odor, taste, touch, and mental objects), and the eighteen dhātavah (meaning compositional elements of human existence, including six consciousness, six faculties, and their objects) are the emptiness and the void. Furthermore, they cannot dispel the two reasons for clinging to the idea of the self and the attachment to elemental constructs and even believe in the two (false) tenets that that karma and nirvana are not real and that the ego and phenomena are real. As a consequence, they fail to develop the eleven wholesome mental factors (faith, energy, conscience, being ashamed, non-attachment, non-aggression, non-delusion, calmness, equanimity, conscientiousness, and non-injuriousness) and cease the sixteen unwholesome mental factors (desire, greed, anger, delusion, arrogance, doubt, wrong view, wrath, enmity, hypocrisy, vexation, jealousy, parsimony, deceit, flattery, harming, ambitiousness, stupidity, lacking of faith, idleness, being unrestrained, forgetting, distraction, non-discernment, ). One must bear in mind that once all our virtuous roots are discontinued, they will be trapped in the never-ending reincarnation and the suffering of infinite continuity.
Is it possible that the hell will be empty one day? If the beings in hell will become extinct while evil spirits inhabit the mundane world, the world could be considered as a pure land. If we could witness the nature of the void, then hell will exist no more.
Since ancient times, the concept of hell has been widely spread among all tribes. Aging, death, beginning, and end are the basis of nature and the core of cosmic consciousness. However, the prosperous civilization as our island is not a place where desire can be eliminated. It’s impossible to eradicate evil nature. Since fetters brought by the constitution, the state, the law, society, the military, corporations, schools, families, and groups are not less than the eighteen levels of hell, the mortals repress themselves, bury their feelings. Day after day, greed, anger, stupidity, arrogance, doubt, and resentment are stacking. However, since the six dust (visible objects, sound, odor, taste, touch, and mental objects) has not yet been extinguished, people in the mundane world are still full of delusions. The demons, devils, evil spirits, and the wondering dead exist in the wilderness, while only advanced practitioners with transcendent would attempt to make contact with the dead in the wasteland and forest. Worldly people like us trespass in Disneyland-like man-made hell. It is absurd and ridiculous that the hellish scenes cannot stop us from perpetrating evil deeds, but the horrific and cruel scenes yet satisfy our self-righteous shame.

The pandemic has been boiling over for more than a year and a half. The number of infected patients worldwide is nearly a hundred and eighty million, and the death toll has risen to four million, which is equivalent to a war crisis. I hope that we can all be compassionate, give peace to the dead, treat all sentient beings well and equally. The hell is innately empty; however, deluded and misleading thoughts would give rise to all jealousy and hatred and then manifest the hell before us. This book merely serves as a memorandum of conscience for dictators of the world’s new cold war, supporters of unrestrained warfare, dark web hackers, and those who are cunning and contemptuous and maltreat others when knowing they have problems.

June 2021,

Yao Jui-chung

藏曆九月適逢天降月也是報恩月，所有功德皆十億倍增長🙏🙏🙏~
農曆九月適逢初九重陽節，是敬老崇孝和祭祖的日子~
中華蓮花雨顯密佛學會特別於
2020年10月24日舉辦了長壽佛法會
可選擇參贊報名《煙供布施、螢火蟲護生》✨

長壽佛又名無量壽佛，
乃是法身阿彌陀佛以報佛身呈現的另一形象。
佛經中說：「持誦長壽佛心咒，能增長壽命、福德智慧，可避免夭折或意外身亡，消除一切罪業，往生西方極樂淨土。」
人身是無常的，出生於此世間當中，往生也是必然存在的。
修持長壽佛，現生可消除疾病、延長壽命，
善業善緣增長，惡業惡緣縮短，令世間法之事業長壽。
當我們往生的時候，對我們有利益的只有佛法。
命終亦可往生長壽佛淨土。
願以此功德，普及於一切。
眾生與我等，皆共成佛道🙏🙏🙏

🙏長壽佛心咒：Om ama rani jivente svaha
嗡‧啊瑪惹納‧則聞德意‧梭哈
長壽佛心咒不僅可以延伸眾生的壽命，
深信長壽佛心咒與長壽佛是無二無別的，
心咒所在之處即是長壽佛的智慧身所在之處。
勤修長壽佛心咒能延長壽命，增長福德智慧資糧。

本次法會內容：
🔸修法主尊：長壽佛
🔸主法上師: 堪布 曲尼敦多仁波切
🔸法會主修:長壽佛護生儀軌，山淨煙供儀軌
🔸報名時間：即日起至2020年10月20日
🔸【台灣】報名連結：https://pse.is/w798a
🔸【新馬】報名連結：https://pse.is/twkwg
🔸其他國家請加LINE詢問 https://lin.ee/qCId6Ko
（+ LINE 好友 官方帳號 ID] :@ yohofans ）
🔸修法時間：2020年10月24日
🔸修法地點：台灣文山農場

🙏【長壽佛法會】煙供祈福
藏曆九月適逢天降月，所有功德皆十億倍增長~
誠心煙供修持慈悲、布施、懺悔的功德，煙供是蓮師送給我們最簡便、最迅速的殊勝的方便法門。煙供是經由點燃如法製成的「福、財、緣、願」煙供粉，每一包煙供粉的供養都是無量的慈悲和功德！
誠心上供、菩薩歡喜下可迴向給歷代祖先及冤親債主，回向法界有情，增長福報資糧、滅除累世業障，達到圓滿祈願、歡喜自在的究竟快樂。
加持力殊勝無比，除了可以改變運氣，也能改變不好的習氣，去除障礙與煩惱！

🙏【長壽佛法會】螢火蟲護生
藏曆九月適逢天降月，所有功德皆十億倍增長~
護生功德:當眾生在受苦難，應興起護生的心，尊重生命如護己，保護、疼惜萬物之命，累積在世功德。
佛陀說「諸法中，菩提心為根本，而一切有漏善法中，無有能比護生之功德更大者。凡其它善業，若自心不凈，就無有功德，但護生時，無論其心凈或不凈，其事皆是直接對眾生有利」，因此有不可思議的善果，功德無法衡量。
護生為十善之首，希望大家的心中都存著分享生態之美的精神以及守護環境的行動力，一齊為環境盡份心力。

🙏【長壽佛法會】螢火蟲護生功德主
功德主結緣品【長壽寶瓶】
長壽佛（Amitayus），一頭二臂，身紅色，盤發成髻，戴五佛寶冠，
上穿天衣，下著綢裙，身佩珍寶瓔珞，具足一切報身佛的種種莊嚴，
雙手結定印於膝上，手上置長壽寶瓶，兩足以金剛雙跏趺安住於蓮花月輪上長壽佛，為息增懷誅四事業空行母圍繞，以勾召五大精華、壽命、福智等。

「長壽寶瓶」即為長壽佛之淨土壇城所在，故如法恭敬供養寶瓶，能消除供養者壽命上的一切障礙，舉凡外在違緣所引起的意外危險死亡傷害，邪道咒詛毒害等，都能獲得回遮；並能得到佛菩薩護法的護佑與殊勝延壽的加持。

「長壽寶瓶」 可供養於家中佛堂或佛堂，無佛堂者請供於高處乾淨之處，能獲得世間福壽加持與出世間解脫成就！