请佛住世To request the Buddhas to remain in the world
8th April, 2015, 1900 hours; After months of expectation, finally, there we were. Right at Samantabhadra bodhisattva’s dojo (道场). We were standing at the entrance platform headed towards Samantabhadra’s golden statue. The mist was very thick at that time. We can hardly see anything that resembles a statue. Not even a shadow of the statue. We could only imagine that there was a large statue in front of us based on Master Chuan Wen’s description of the scenery that we were supposed to see up there.
Whilst walking towards the platform, I was already experiencing butterflies in my stomach. Mixed feelings; I was supposed to be excited to see the large statue appearing before my eyes. But I was nervous (maybe scared is the more appropriate word) to see Puxian bodhisattva in such a near distance. The feeling was just like a pupil waiting to see a disciplinary teacher after committing some naughty acts. After seeing Him (or rather not seeing Him due to the thick mist), I was a bit relieved. The feeling was just like being let off the hook by the teacher.
At that point of time, I was like an ostrich ~ to bury my head in the sand. Puxian bodhisattva hinted to me otherwise. He saw me and really saw me. He reminded me not only once or twice to correct my misdeeds. He reminded me thrice during this Mount Emei pilgrimage.
My being there at Mount Emei was for 2 main objectives, to repent misdeeds and to make a vow with Puxian bodhisattva in person. For the first objective, Puxian bodhisattva, in return, showed me His reply. On the 9th April, 2015, Master led us to make 3 steps 1 bow all the way up the stairs to Puxian bodhisattva’s statue. Along the staircase, there were a few flat platforms. When we performed our bows at those platforms, I would get hard knocks on my forehead. I was carrying backpack at that time and inside my backpack was my SLR camera. The camera will roll forward when I bow, causing my whole backpack to fall forward creating a momentum to push my forehead against floor hard. After the initial few knocks, I was trying to ‘manage’ the impact by slowing down my motion but that didn’t help as my camera was quite heavy ~ unless, I didn’t bow. Thereafter, I was like telling myself, “I got your message, Master Puxian. I knew that you want to punish me.” So, I continued being knocked until the last flat platform before the ultimate level when Puxian bodhisattva stood. I stopped once I reached the last platform thinking that the bowing exercise was over.
But there was a second round of knocking. After everybody has reached the last platform, Master asked all of us to stand in rows of three to continue ascending the final flight of staircase in unison. I got a few more knocks after that. To me, the few knocks that I had was very mild compared to the misdeeds that I have made.
I have made many mistakes in my present life and have hurt many people especially those close to me. I hope to rectify things while I still have chance to do so.
智洪合十
[Puxian Bodhisattva is known as the Bodhisattva of Great Action. It is never too late to repent and apologize to the people we have hurt, most importantly, Action need to be taken.]
