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帝又復曰。已蒙指示。超拔夫人。如是觀之善惡業緣。受報好醜。如影隨形。果然不昧。吾今復問。寡人今作一朝人主。未知前世。作何功德而來。請師究竟。
誌公答曰。我王欲問前世。修因之事。吾今不便言說。
【白話】梁武帝又問道：”承蒙大師指點，使我夫人得以超度。由此看來，善惡業報、因果輪迴，果然如影隨形，絲毫不差。如今我還有一個疑問：寡人今生貴為帝王，不知前世積下何等功德，才得此福報？懇請大師明示。”
誌公和尚答道：”陛下詢問前世修行的因緣，此事貧僧不便明言……”
The emperor then said, “I am much obliged to you for your guidance; my wife’s soul was liberated. Now, I see that each good or evil deed brings about its respective karmic retribution just like a shadow following a form. The Law of Cause and Effect never errs. I would like to ask， ‘I am now the lord of a country. I wonder what virtuous deeds I did in past lives that led to this result? My Master, please thoroughly explain to me the underlying causes.’”
Master Zhi Gong answered, “My lord has asked about the causes you created in past lives. It might be embarrassing if I talk about it.”
武帝聞言。心中慚愧。又復問曰。朕今拜你為師。云何不說。弟子願欲聞知。
誌公答曰。我皇前世。是個樵夫。只因上山砍柴。遇見山間。靈壇古廟。庵宇朽爛。惟有古佛一尊。雨淋日曬。無人侍奉。汝自發起善心。將己頭上箬笠一個。遮蓋佛身。佛以天眼觀見。有此善心。讚言善哉善哉。貧苦布施。甚為希有。汝如來世。當作上人。是故今生。得此福報也。
【白話】梁武帝聽完這番話，心中既慚愧又不解，追問道：”朕如今已拜您為師，為何還是不願明說？弟子誠心想知道前因後果啊！”
誌公和尚這才回答道：”陛下前世原是個樵夫。有次上山砍柴時，發現山間有座破敗的古廟，佛壇傾頹，廟宇朽爛，只剩一尊古佛像日曬雨淋，無人供奉。您當時心生善念，摘下自己頭上的斗笠戴在佛首上遮風擋雨。佛祖用天眼看見這番善舉，讚嘆道：『善哉善哉！一個貧苦樵夫能如此布施，實在難得。你來世必當成為尊貴之人。』正因這段因緣，陛下今生才得享帝王福報。”
Hearing this, Emperor Wu felt ashamed, but asked again, “Now that I venerate you as my teacher, why don’t you tell me? I want to know.”
Master Zhi Gong then answered, “In a past life, my lord was a woodcutter. Once, you went to a mountain to cut wood and saw an ancient, dilapidated temple; its structures were rotten and decayed. Only a statue of an ancient Buddha remained. It was exposed to the sun and the rain, and nobody cared for it. A thought arose in your mind, and you removed the bamboo hat from your head and put it on the statue’s head to cover its body. With his Heavenly Eye, the Buddha saw your kind thought and exclaimed the praise: ‘Excellent, excellent indeed! It is very rare for a poor person to practice giving. Thus, in a future life, you will become a person of superior status.’ For this reason, you have such blessings in the present life.”