Clarifying Doubts About the Pure Land (I)
淨土釋疑(一)
Answer to Question 40 (3 /6):
Another Example:
At the end of 1995, one of my relatives was hospitalized in Tainan. One afternoon, I went to visit this relative. As I entered the room, a patient from the neighboring ward followed me in. She was a woman about forty years old, yet she looked more like fifty or sixty. The area around her eyes was dark, her face was drawn and exhausted, her voice weak and feeble, and she walked very slowly. She appeared to be at the point of collapse.
When she came in, someone brought her a chair to sit on.
She told me that she had not slept for an entire week. It was not that she did not want to sleep—she simply could not fall asleep. This made her feel extremely miserable. Being ill and unable to sleep, she had naturally become very weak and looked almost lifeless.
I said to her, “You should recite Namo Amitabha Buddha. If you do, you will be able to sleep.”
She replied, “In my condition, how can I possibly recite?”
I said, “If you cannot recite, that is all right. In a little while I will get a Buddha-recitation device for you. Just listen to the recitation of Namo Amitabha Buddha, and you will be able to fall asleep.”
I quickly obtained a recitation device and told her to lie down in bed and simply listen to it. After that, I returned home.
The following afternoon, I went again to visit my relative. As soon as I entered the room, I saw that the patient from the neighboring ward was already sitting there. She was chatting and laughing with everyone around her. Her complexion and appearance were completely different from the day before. She looked healthy, radiant, and full of energy.
She thanked me and said: “Yesterday I lay in bed and, because I was afraid of disturbing others, I put the earphones from the recitation device into my ears.
Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. I slept for a very long time, and when I woke up, I felt completely refreshed.”
Just think about it: for seven days she had been unable to sleep at all, yet upon hearing the recitation of Namo Amitabha Buddha, she fell asleep.
From that day onward, whenever she lay in bed, she listened to the recitations of Namo Amitabha Buddha. Even when sleeping, she continued listening to the recitations. Gradually and almost imperceptibly, her condition improved very rapidly, and within only a few days she was discharged from the hospital.
This example illustrates that the sound of the recitation of Namo Amitabha Buddha can bring peace and stability to both body and mind. Even when a person is unable to recite personally, simply listening to Namo Amitabha Buddha may calm mental agitation, relieve distress, and promote physical and emotional well-being. In this way, the compassionate benefit of the recitations works naturally and quietly in the lives of those who hear it.
(to be continued tomorrow)
40問：師父講的公案，就是地獄眾生聽到阿彌陀佛六字名號，即得往生。我們 人間是不是也有聽聞而往生的，請師父開示。(3 /6)
答(3 /6)：
再一件：一九九五年底，我有一位親戚在台南住院。一天下午，我去看望這位 親戚，進入病房的時候，後面也跟進一位住在隔壁病房的患者，是女眾，四十 歲，但看起來好像有五六十歲了，眼睛四周都是黑的，而且面貌很憔悴，講話 有氣無力，走起路來很緩慢，好像奄奄一息的樣子。她進來，人家就拿椅子給 她坐。她告訴我說，她整整一星期都沒有睡了，因為不能睡，睡不著，所以覺得很痛苦。又生病、又沒有睡覺，當然很虛弱，好像奄奄一息的樣子。 我就跟她說：「你要念佛，你念佛就能睡著。」
她說：「像我這個樣子，怎麼能夠念呢？」
我就對她說：「你不能念沒關係，等一下我去請一部念佛機，你聽佛號的 聲音，就能入睡了。」
我很快去請來念佛機，交待她躺在床上就放念佛機聽，然後我就回去了。
隔天的下午，我又去探望我的親戚，一進門，隔壁房的那位患者已經事先 坐在那裏，而且跟大家有說有笑，氣色面貌也跟昨天大不一樣了，非常好看， 也有精神。她感謝我，跟我說她昨天躺在那裏，因為怕吵到別人，所以將念佛 機的耳機塞在耳朵裏，不知不覺就睡著了，睡了好久，一醒過來精神就很好了。
你看，七天睡不著，不能睡，一聽佛號就睡著了。
從此，她每天躺在那裏就是聽佛號，睡覺也聽佛號，所以無形中病情好轉 得很快，沒有幾天就出院了。
Namo Amituofo!
