13.我的膝蓋就是你棲身之處 My Lap Is Your Perch
- MY LAP IS YOUR PERCH
Long ago, an old, old hermit lived deep in the woods. He was so kind tha the never killed any living creature.
One day he was sitting under an ancient tree. Just as he began to meditate,he felt a gust of wind coming towards him. “That’s strange,” he thought, and opened his eyes. He saw a little bird sitting in his lap. The bird was not at all flustered to be sitting there. It was quite at home, as if it were perching on a twig.The hermit recited the Buddha Amitabha’s name, and said to himself, “So you think my lap is a perch? Well, then, I can hardly refuse you. Amitabha, this is good. This is good.”
Then the little bird curled up and went to sleep, right there in his lap. The hermit was afraid to disturb its dreams, so he began looking into his own heart,and immediately entered a very deep state of meditation.
Much later, he left his mediation state, but the bird was still sleeping soundly.He didn’t move, because he didn’t want to bother it. He said very quietly,“Amitabha. Just keep sleeping. You can fly away when you’ve slept your full.”
Finally, the little bird woke up. It flapped its wings and stretched its legs. It chirped quietly a few times. Then it straightened its feathers with its beak, and flapped its wings a few more times. Only then did it fly away.
When it had flown away, the old hermit got to his feet. He watched his little friend until it was out of sight. Then he left the tree and went back to his little hut.
- 我的膝蓋就是你棲身之處
很久以前，密林深處住著一位很老很老的隱者。他是那麼的善良，從來沒有殺生過。
有一天他坐在一棵古樹下。當他正要開始入定時，一陣風向他吹過來。「真奇怪啊。」他想，睜開了眼睛。他看到有一只小鳥立在他的膝蓋上。小鳥一點也不慌 張。它看起來很自在，就好像是棲息在一根樹枝上一樣。隱士念了一聲「阿彌陀佛！」，然後自言自語道，「你把我的膝蓋當成棲息的地方了？那好吧，我怎能拒絕 你呢。阿彌陀佛，善哉，善哉。
然後那只小鳥蜷曲起來，就在他的膝蓋上睡著了。隱者擔心自己打攪了鳥兒的夢境，所以他開始 觀照內心，並且很快入了很深的禪定。
後來，他出定了，發現鳥兒還在酣睡。他一動不動，唯恐驚擾了鳥兒。他輕輕地說，「阿彌陀佛，睡吧睡吧。 當你睡夠了，你就可以飛走了 。」
最後，小鳥醒了。它拍拍翅膀，伸伸腿，唧唧地叫了幾聲。接著它用喙理了理羽毛，又拍了幾下翅膀。然後才飛走了。
它飛走後，老隱者才站起來。他看著他的小鳥朋友直到再也看不到痕跡。然後他緩緩地離開古樹，走回他的小屋。