鄭格 整理／白嬋 中譯
Compiled by Zheng Ge / Chinese translated by Bai Chan VBS 616
Dharma Realm Buddhist University (DRBU)’s Contemplative Exercise Immersion (CEI) retreat was held on its main campus at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas from September 27-30, 2021. Approximately 75 participants, including the entire DRBU student body, along with the faculty and staff, joined this year’s CEI in-person retreat, including a few remote participants online.
法界佛教大學（法大）2021年的「攝心修行週」自9月27日至9月30日，在校本部萬佛聖城舉行。約有75人參加，包括法大全體學生、教職員，都到現場參加了今年這項活動，另有幾位在線上參與。
A pivotal dimension of both the graduate and undergraduate experience at Dharma Realm Buddhist University involves directly applying methods learned from the texts read in the curriculum to one’s own experience. Each semester students, faculty, and staff pause their regular class, work, and study routines to immerse themselves in a carefully planned and structured contemplative exercise for one week. This year, Professor Stacy Chen and others requested that this year’s CEI be focused on the Dharma method of bowing, which had been considered as a possibility for a while and all of the conditions seemed to finally ripen for it to come together this year.
法大碩士班和大學部的一大要項，是將課程中所學的方法直接應用到生活上。每個學期，學生和教職員都會撥出一週的時間，暫停上課、工讀、唸書，讓身心完全投入「攝心修行週」。這是經過事先精心策劃、安排緊湊的一段修行時間。今年，陳彥君教授和其他人要求這次的「攝心修行週」聚焦於拜懺法門。這可是醞釀了一段時間，直到如今所有因緣終於成熟，才得以落實拜懺的修行機會。
This Fall’s CEI consisted of four days of “Bowing as Heart Cleansing,” which was led by Dr. Martin Verhoeven, DRBU’s Dean of Academics, and Dharma Masters Jin Chuan and Jin Wei. Dr. Verhoeven, formerly Dharma Master Heng Chau, shared his experiences and demonstrated the methods of contemplation used while accompanying Reverend Heng Sure on their Three Steps One Bow pilgrimage dedicated to world peace from May 1977 to November 1979.
今年秋季班的「攝心修行週」是為期四天的「拜佛淨心」，由法大教務長馬汀•維荷文以及近傳法師、近威法師等人帶領。馬汀•維荷文（前恒朝法師）分享他自己從前陪同恒實法師，自1977年5月至1979年11月，三步一拜迴向世界和平的經驗，並示範三步一拜攝心的方法。
This CEI emphasized that there were three parts to the practice of three steps and one bow: to return, repent, and reconnect. The first three steps are a practice of returning. Thus, we begin by taking refuge with the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha of our essential nature. This teaching is found in the The Sixth Patriarch’s Dharma Jewel Platform Sutra, wherein Venerable Huineng says,
法大這次的「攝心修行週」強調三步一拜可分為三個部份：皈依、懺悔、復本心源。最初三步修的是皈依，皈依自性三寶佛法僧。正如惠能大師在《六祖壇經》中所説：
The Buddha is awakening.
The Dharma is what is right and true.
The Sangha is purity.
「佛者，覺也。法者，正也。僧者，淨也。」
Then, after a complete bow, “Samantabhadra’s repentance verse” is recited to repent for all of the negative karma that has been committed. The verse goes as follows:
接著，拜下去之後，要念誦〈普賢菩薩懺悔偈〉，以懺悔所造的種種惡業：
For all the harmful things that I’ve done,
With my body, speech, and mind;
From beginningless greed, anger, and stupidity,
Through lifetimes without number,
To this very day,
I now repent and I vow
To change entirely.
往昔所造諸惡業，
皆由無始貪嗔癡，
從身語意之所生，
一切我今皆懺悔。
Upon standing up, one pays homage to Guanyin Bodhisattva. And again, three steps are taken forward, as one takes refuge and reconnects with the essential nature, then again one bows and silently recollects the repentance verse, then stands again silently reciting homage to the Guanyin Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva of Compassion Who Hears the Sounds of the World. This process was repeated daily during the bowing portions of the CEI. Some of the participants have decided to continue the journey, the practice, on their own, even after the session has been completed.
起身時，則念誦皈依觀音菩薩。再一次向前踏出三步，皈依自性、復本心源，然後再度拜下，默誦懺悔偈，起身，默念觀音菩薩 ——大慈大悲觀世音菩薩。這樣的過程在「攝心修行」每天的禮佛時段，不斷重覆。有些參與者已決定，即使在「攝心修行週」圓滿後，自己仍要繼續這樣的修行。
Covid antigen testing was done every morning starting at 6:30 a.m. during this retreat. Because of ongoing concerns regarding the health and well-being of all participants due to the ongoing global pandemic, Yuen-Lin Tan, Associate Dean of Campus Life shared that extensive safety protocols were rigorously observed, “With all participants fully vaccinated, comprehensive multi-layered Covid safety measures, and strong cooperation by everyone to maintain a safe environment, DRBU was able to successfully hold a CEI retreat. No suspected or confirmed Covid cases emerged from the retreat. Safety measures included rigorous masking, physical distancing, good ventilation, HEPA filtration tailored for the space, frequent rapid testing, hand hygiene, designated seating, and more.”
這次的「攝心修行週」每天清晨6時30分起，就展開新冠病毒快篩。基於防疫考慮，希望保障所有參與者平安健康。校園生活副學務長陳原霖表示，校方採取嚴格而廣泛的安全措施。他説：「所有參與者都已接種兩劑疫苗，加上多層次全方位的防疫措施，人人大力支持配合維護安全，法大得以成功舉辦這次的『攝心修行週』，沒出現任何確診或疑似新冠病例。我們的安全措施包括嚴格規定佩戴口罩，保持安全距離，通風良好，採用適合我們空間的高效率空氣微粒子過濾器，經常快篩，維持手部衛生，指定座位等等。」
Talks on bowing followed at the Wonderful Words Hall at 8 a.m, which was followed by walking meditation and three-step-one-bow to the green area in front of the Main Buddha Hall where participants bowed on the sidewalks leading up to the large incense burner in front of the main entrance. After a mindfully eaten lunch in noble silence, there were bowing and sitting meditation periods twice each afternoon. Participants were given an option to observe noble silence during the retreat, except for during the Q&A periods in the morning and afternoon respectively.
上午八時起，在妙語堂安排了重點談話。接著就是經行，以及三步一拜，來到萬佛殿前草坪時，繼續在草坪中間的人行道上三步一拜，直拜到祖師殿前的大香爐為止。中午止語攝心用齋，下午則是禮佛和打坐各兩次。除了上下午的問答時間之外，參加者可選擇全程止語。
Reverend Heng Sure joined the retreat remotely on the third day via Zoom from Australia, and shared his experiences along the 800-mile bowing pilgrimage from downtown Los Angeles to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas in the 1970s. He originally was inspired to undertake this pilgrimage after reading about a five-year bowing pilgrimage made by the Venerable Hsu Yun in China. However, Venerable Master Hsuan Hua, Rev. Heng Sure’s teacher, told him to wait. A year later, Dr. Verhoeven heard about Rev. Heng Sure’s vow and asked if he could bow with him. Within a week, he took the novice precepts, received the Dharma name Heng Chau, and became Rev. Heng Sure’s pilgrimage companion and Dharma protector. He also handled the logistics of cooking, cleaning, setting up camp, and talking with strangers while Rev. Heng Sure observed the practice of noble silence for the entire bowing pilgrimage.
恒實法師在這次的「攝心修行週」第三天，在澳洲上線，分享他1970年代，從洛杉磯市中心到萬佛聖城的800英里三步一拜種種經驗。他最初是讀了虛雲老和尚在中國，以五年三步一拜完成朝聖之旅，而深受啟發，也發心三步一拜，但師父宣公上人要他等一等。一年後，維荷文博士聽説了恒實法師發的願，就問是否可以加入？一個星期之內，維荷文博士就受了沙彌戒，法號恒朝，跟實法師一起三步一拜，並擔任護法。所有後勤作業包括煮飯、清潔、紮營、回答陌生人的問題等，都由前恒朝法師負責，實法師則是全程一心拜懺。
One of the retreat participants, Ajahn Kovilo, a Bhikkhu from Abhayagiri Buddhist Monastery who is currently also an undergraduate at DRBU, when reflecting on the retreat said, “Bowing with fellow students was a very encouraging reminder of our shared respect for that which we hold as being higher than ourselves.”
參加者之一是來自無畏寺的比丘科威洛法師，目前為法大本科生。他對這次「攝心修行」的感想是：「和同學們一起拜懺，可說是非常給力的提醒——我們對更高性靈的共同尊重。」
Blake Plante, a first-year graduate student, reflected on this retreat: “The bowing practice helped me meet a lot of circumstances in the past where I’d, for whatever reason, numbed myself. In re-encountering these moments, I was finally able to allow held-up emotions—especially grief, love, and gratitude—to pass through me and release.”
法大一年級碩士生梅夢嵐（布萊克•波嵐特）的感想則是：「過去遇到很多情況時，我會讓自己麻木。拜懺幫助我在重新遇到這些情況時，我終於能夠將悶在心裡的情緒宣洩出來，讓自己放鬆。」
DRBU’s first-year undergraduate student, Tehya Jackson, said, “Bowing allowed me to open up to myself about my relationship with myself, other people, and the world around me. I felt discomfort, compassion, gratitude, embarrassment, arrogance, and many other things. The act of bowing helped me to be conscious of all these emotions and begin the process of letting go: understanding, accepting, forgiving, and sometimes repeating this process over and over until I truly let go.”
法大本科一年級新生夏雨荷（特西亞•傑克遜）説：「拜懺讓我打開自我，坦誠以待自己、他人、以及圍繞著我的世界。我的感覺錯綜複雜，有不舒服、慈悲、感恩、困窘、傲慢、以及其他的感受。禮佛這個動作讓我意識到這所有的情緒，開始能夠一一放下：了解、接受、原諒。有時不斷重複這個過程，直到我真正放下。」
Tehya also shared her experience of observing noble silence during this four-day retreat, “During my time in noble silence I reflected on how I spend a lot of time consuming (thoughtful) media, looking for answers outside of myself. One of the core elements of this is my fear of getting lost in whatever I may find in my thoughts. I realized I am able to answer most questions that I ask with time and effort, and that cultivating wholesome qualities is what helps me transform this fear into something beneficial to my cultivation.”
夏雨荷也分享了她在這四天裡止語的經驗：「我在止語時，反省自己如何花費許多時間在媒體上，向自己以外的地方尋找答案。核心元素之一是我害怕在自己的念頭中迷失。我了解到，時間加上努力，我就能回答自己大部分的問題。我也了解到修行善業，能幫助我將這種害怕轉為對我的修行有益之事。」
In one of his talks during this retreat, Dr. Verhoeven said, “Bowing is a powerful form of engaged Buddhism, not because it is invoking the heavens and Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to save us, but because we are making ourselves agents of change here and now, in this world, in this time, in this thought and deed. Change your heart; change the world. This is called ‘mind-ground bowing’ as it goes to the heart and core of consciousness itself, the generator of ‘the ten thousand things.’ Mind-ground bowing is meant to activate inherent wisdom by revealing and removing karmic-obstacles—physical, verbal, and mental impediments to awakening from accumulated and layered unwholesome and thoughtless actions.”
維荷文博士在一次談話中提到：「拜懺是攝受佛教中很有力的形式，並不是因為我們祈求老天、佛菩薩來解救我們，而是因為我們當下此世此地此時此念此行，就讓自己成為改變的力量——改變你的心，改變這個世界。此之謂『心地拜懺』，因為直指人心、直接針對意識的核心，也就是生出『萬法』的心。心地拜懺藉著顯現、除去身語意三業的業障，啟動本有的智慧，讓我們從重重累積的不善和不經大腦的行動中省悟過來。」
DRBU’s Contemplative Exercise Immersion program changes practices from semester to semester, students are able to experience diverse Dharma doors in the laboratory of their own minds. As a result, they learn about themselves and their interconnection with all living beings from various angles. This first three-step-one-bow retreat was a long anticipated and successful one. Several of the participants were introduced to bowing as a Dharma method for the first time, and some of them plan to include it as a regular practice in their cultivation.
法大每個學期的「攝心修行週」都嘗試不同的行門，學生們得以在他們自己的「心地實驗室」體驗各種不同的法門。結果就是學生們得以認識自己，並從不同角度認識自己和所有眾生的息息相關。這次首度舉辦三步一拜清心禮懺，是期待多時、而且十分成功的嘗試。若干參與者第一次有機會認識拜懺法門，有些還計劃將拜懺當作他們自己平日的定課之一。♣