‘Namo Amituofo’ reciter managed to escape from the apprehension of the Guards of Hell
By Dharma Master Jing Ben
Dharma Master Hui Yang once shared his experience on reciting Amitabha's name. Master Hui Yang was fond of reciting 'Namo Amituofo' even before he was ordained. He said previously, he was very ill and no medical treatments could cure his illness. Eventually, due to his recitation of 'Namo Amituofo' he recovered without the aid of any medication. After this experience, he enjoyed Amitabha-recitation even more. He continued to recite even after his ordination as a Buddhist monk, and it has become a habit. There was a time where he had a unique experience.
It was in relation to his brother. At that time, the brother was only 26 years old. But his character was rather bad, which is what we usually call bad boys and hooligans. So, there was once when he was surrounded and beaten up by 10 people. Being attacked by so many people, inevitably he passed out on the spot. The brother revealed that, at that time although he appeared to be unconscious to others, he was in fact rather clear-headed. That means at that time, he could still feel and see things. But he said all he saw was total darkness, and at the same time he saw the presence of the ‘Guards of Hell’(黑白无常).
The ‘Guards of Hell’ are the two deities in Chinese folk religion, in charge of escorting the spirits of the dead to hell. Hence, they were there to capture the brother. At the very moment, the brother saw a large, comfortable and solemn hand appeared, it extended in front of his chest, blocked and prevented him from following the Guards of hell. Then a voice said,"Quick! Recite Namo Amituofo and all will be fine!" On hearing that, the brother immediately recited 'Namo Amituofo' as instructed. Unexpectedly, upon a single recitation of 'Namo Amituofo,' the ‘Guards of Hell’ took a step back; with another utterance, the ‘Guards of Hell’ retreated another step; that is the more he recited, the further the ‘Guards of Hell’ retreated. The guards eventually disappeared.
He opened his eyes and found himself lying in a hospital bed. In no time, he was up and about and hurried to the monastery to look for his elder brother. After all, it was Amitabha's name that saved him, so that reminded him of his brother. He told Master Hui Yang that he passed out after being beaten up and how reciting 'Namo Amituofo' rescued him from the clutches of the ‘Guards of Hell’. The Master was very surprised. Why? It was because his brother was a bad boy. He had never practiced Buddhism nor recited ‘Namo Amituofo’, he was not a vegetarian, had not taken refuge in the Triple Gem, and knew nothing about the Buddha Dharma. How did he manage to attain salvation through Amitabha's grace? Why would a Buddha hand appear randomly just when he passed out? There was even a voice that urged him to recite 'Namo Amituofo'. It then dawned upon Master Hui Yang: Oh yes! At that time when the brother was in trouble, he was reciting 'Namo Amituofo' in a recitation session. Hence, the Master said, perhaps his recitation of Amitabha's name led to Amitabha's blessing which saved his brother's life. Otherwise, how could there be such a phenomenal response? Let's see, when ordinary people meet with a mishap, it is usually unavoidable. However, if there's a family member who recites 'Namo Amituofo,' such unique responses are likely to occur. So have we suffered any loss by participating in the Amitabha-recitation session? Some people may say, "Oh, Master! spending several hours reciting 'Namo Amituofo' is such a huge loss!" I'm thinking, if you don't recite 'Namo Amituofo', it's then really a great loss! Give it some thought. If that day, the elder brother was not reciting 'Namo Amituofo' at a recitation session, but was at a ‘karaoke’ session, singing and enjoying himself, and the younger brother was beaten up by more than 10 people, think about it, could he have survived? The ‘Guards of Hell’ were there to apprehend him, would a huge hand appear for no reason to save him? Of course not! It must be the elder brother's recitation of 'Namo Amituofo' that led to Amitabha's blessing and salvation.
Therefore, Great Master Sheng An said, "Escaping the pursuit of creditors by hiding in the emperor's residence, despite facing the sentence now, he will nonetheless receive pardon through the emperor's grace. With Amitabha Buddha's power and protection, the karma power of hell will not be able to intervene." That is to say, although we, the Amitabha-reciters, may have numerous past karmic obstructions, however, so long as we recite 'Namo Amituofo', we will receive Amitabha Buddha's blessing and mercy which will help us to resolve our karmic obstructions. Just as in ancient times, a convict was supposed to be executed and suddenly met the emperor's amnesty to exempt him from his sins. Just like the younger brother who had great karmic obstructions, had never practiced Buddhism, and established bad karmic connections with people wherever he went. He was about to be apprehended by the ‘Guards of Hell’. However, upon reciting Amitabha's name, the ‘Guards of Hell’ disappeared, and he was instantaneously rescued from the brink of death. In fact, it doesn't matter if we die, because people will die anyway, but the most important thing is where we end up after death. Like the way the younger brother almost got killed in a fight, and was nearly captured by the ‘Guards of Hell’, it's definitely not a ‘good way’ to die. Fortunately, due to reciting 'Namo Amituofo', he was brought back to life; after being attacked by ten people and lapsed into a coma, he could still be revived. Therefore, the practice of Amitabha-recitation doesn't mean that the person will die upon reciting Amitabha's name. Some people have a misconception regarding Amitabha-recitation. Thinking that Amitabha-recitation will bring forth immediate death. Just as we are now, our Dharma masters and lotus friends that are present, some have been reciting 'Namo Amituofo' for 10, 20 or 30 years, how could it be that death strikes upon recitation? Even poisoning does not cause a person to die immediately, how is it possible that reciting 'Namo Amituofo', one will die immediately? If it's not the end of our life, we will not die immediately even if we wish to. But it doesn't matter if it's not the time of our death yet, let's recite 'Namo Amituofo' first, and Amitabha Buddha will eliminate our karmic obstructions for us. Just like the younger brother in the story, the effect of his recitation can be said to be immediate: upon a single recitation of 'Namo Amituofo', the ‘Guards of Hell’ took a step back; with another recitation of 'Namo Amituofo', the ‘Guards of Hell’ retreated another step; the effect was so fast. We have to know that this younger brother had been a bad boy, and had never practiced Buddhism. However, he was still able to benefit from reciting 'Namo Amituofo'. Obviously, reciting Namo Amituofo really doesn't require any conditions. Whoever recites Amitabha's name gets the benefits. This is the dharma teachings of Amitabha Buddha's compassionate deliverance. (End)
Translation of excerpt from Master Jing Ben’s dharma talks
中文原稿 / 净本法师 述
有一位慧旸法师曾分享过自己念佛的经历。这位法师出家前就已经很喜欢念佛；他说，因为他之前生病到很严重，怎么医都医不好；但是最后就是因为念佛，竟然不药而愈了。这次经历以后，让他更喜欢念佛了，包括出家后一直把念佛养成习惯。有一次，他又遇到一个特别的经历。
他说，他有一位弟弟。当时他的弟弟才26岁，但是性格不好，就是一般讲的坏孩子、流氓。所以有一次，弟弟遭到10个人围殴他一个。弟弟被这么多人打，当场就受伤晕倒过去。事后，弟弟就说，在那个时候，虽然别人看到他是昏迷的，但是他还是清醒的，因为当时他还是可以看到东西的。就是在昏迷的时候还是可以“看到”。不过他看到的，都是眼前一片的黑暗，同时也看到“黑白无常”出现。
黑白无常就是华人讲的鬼，就是专门抓死人的。黑白无常出现就是要把弟弟给抓走。但是这个时候，突然，他看到有一只很舒服、庄严的大手出现！就挡在弟弟胸口的前面，不让他继续跟黑白无常走。从那个大手的方向，有声音就说：“你赶快念“南无阿弥陀佛就没事！” 弟弟听到就赶紧念佛。结果没有想到念佛一声，黑白无常就跑开一分；再念佛一声，又跑开一分…就是越念佛，黑白无常就离开他越来越远。最后黑白无常就消失不见了。
这个时候他睁开眼睛，发现自己原来是躺医院里面。过后他很快就痊愈，就赶紧来到寺院找这位出家的哥哥，毕竟是佛号救了他，所以就想起出家的哥哥。这位弟弟跟哥哥法师说，他这次自己受伤昏死、念南无阿弥陀佛，从黑白无常手中逃脱的事情。这位法师听到的时候也很惊讶。为什么？因为这位弟弟是坏孩子，也从来没有学佛念佛，也没有吃素，也没有皈依，对佛法完全不懂的。那怎么会感应到阿弥陀佛的救度呢？怎么无端端会在他昏迷的时候，有佛手出现呢？又有声音来劝他念佛。法师再回想就发现：啊，原来弟弟出事的时候，他是在念佛共修。这位法师就说，或许是他念佛，才感召阿弥陀佛加持，救了弟弟一把。要不然怎么会这样奇特的感应呢？我们看，普通人出事的时候就出事了。但是有念佛的家人，就有这样特别的感应。所以各位，像我们今天来念佛有没有吃亏呢？有人或许心里想说：师父，今天念佛几个小时，吃亏极了！我再想：如果不念佛的话才真的是大吃亏了。想想如果今天这位哥哥不是念佛的，反而去唱卡拉OK吃喝玩乐，那弟弟被10多人打，还能活命吗？被黑白无常抓走，还能无端端出现一只大手救回来吗？肯定不行。当然是哥哥念佛，感召阿弥陀佛加持的原因嘛。
所以省庵大师说过，“深逃私债藏王府，现受官刑遇圣恩（亲蒙佛力，冥府不得勾牵）”，就是说，我们念佛人虽然过去业障很多，但是念佛就能蒙受阿弥陀佛加持、赦免，帮我们化解业障。就如同在古代，这个人本来是要被砍头，突然遇到皇帝大赦，免去他的罪业一样。像刚才那位弟弟业障这么重，从来没有学佛，到处跟人家结恶缘。眼看就要被黑白无常抓走了。结果因为家人念佛，出现佛手救度；当下念佛，当下黑白无常就走掉，起死回生。其实人死了还不要紧，因为人都会死的，最重要是死到哪里去。像这位弟弟的死法，是因为打架，是因为被黑白无常抓走，这种死法肯定是不好的下场。但是幸好念佛得度。被十多个人打到严重受伤、黑白无常出现还能救回来。所以念佛法门也不是说“马上念佛，马上就死掉”的。有些人对念佛就会有这样的误解，以为说“马上念佛，马上就死掉” 。如果真的是这样的话，像我们这么多法师、莲友，有些念佛10年、20年、30年都有，所以怎么可能“马上念佛，马上就死掉”呢？我们讲中毒都不会马上死，那怎么可能念佛马上就死？寿命没有到，要走也走不了的。但是不要紧，寿命没有到，现在念佛，阿弥陀佛就给我们先消业障。就像刚才那位弟弟，人家念佛效果可以说是当下立刻显现的：一念佛，黑白无常就退一步；再念佛，又再退一步。念佛效果多么快速。要知道这位弟弟之前是坏孩子，是从来没有学佛的，但是念佛照样得到利益。很明显。念佛真的没有条件，谁念谁就得到利益。这就是阿弥陀佛慈悲救度的法门。（完）
节录自净本法师《往生论注》第23讲
