作者:净行居士 翻译:净土、净普
I just wanted to share with you an experience that I had today. On my way to pick up my daughter at the horse stables where she rides, I was driving north on our local stretch of E18, a highway that runs from the south of Norway up to Oslo. Due to a recent bridge collapse, the highway closes and detours through a small town on the coast. Before the road closes, however, the speed limit is decreased and the normal two lanes are reduced to one by concrete barriers. This one lane then exits the highway directly onto the detour.
我希望与大家分享我今天的经历。我驾车沿着E18高速公路北行,接正在马廐骑马的女儿回家。此公路由挪威南部直上首都奥斯陆,但近日有一公路桥塌下来,公路封了,汽车必须改道沿海岸经一小镇行走。临近封路处放置混凝土路障,指示逐渐减慢车速,并由两条綫收窄为一条綫,离开高速公路进入改道地方。
Having reduced my speed, I happened to glance in my rear-view mirror and, to my horror, saw an SUV attempting to pass me in the left lane at an incredible rate of speed. I was just about to enter the portion of road that narrows to one lane, and I understood immediately that the vehicle would not manage to pass me before colliding with the concrete barrier. The driver of the SUV, realizing this as well, began to merge into my lane. His rate of speed, however, meant that his lane change put him on a direct collision course with my vehicle.
我减慢车速後,从後视镜发觉一辆越野车,以难以置信的高速企图在左綫超越我。惊恐的我当下明确意识到,这辆越野车是没法超越我的,因我的车正进入收窄的单綫道上。越野车的司机亦意会到,并开始强行切入我的驾驶綫。但以其速度,换綫无疑会使越野车直接撞入我的汽车。
I braced for impact; I saw that the SUV was going to sideswipe me and force me off the road into the hillside. Though I had slowed my vehicle, I was still traveling at around 70 km/h, and the SUV was travelling significantly faster. The moment felt electric with catastrophe. Any collision would certainly result in death for one or both of us. Against what appeared to be an inevitable outcome, the SUV managed to execute the lane change and fall into place directly behind me without incident. The whole thing was surreal; it truly seemed as if the laws governing three-dimensional space had been momentarily altered. I was badly shaken, but otherwise unhurt. Inexplicably, our vehicles never so much as touched.
我作好被撞击的准备。预料越野车在旁横扫过来,迫使我的车驶离道路到山边去。虽说我已减慢车速,时速仍有70公里左右:越野车的车速更快得惊人。我感到悲剧在瞬间来临了!任何碰撞将会导致其中一人,或两个人死亡。可是,一个违反了无可避免的灾难之现象却发生在我眼前。这辆越野车竟成功地切綫,并突然间紧随着我,没有发生任何意外。整件事是超现实;似乎三度空间的法则转瞬间改变了!我吓得颤抖起来,却得幸没有受伤。令人难以理解的是,彼此的车辆从没有接触过。
What stands out in my mind is that I had been practicing Amitabha-recitation just prior to this. I drive deliveries for a living, and one of the advantages of this line of work is that it gives me the time and solitude needed to recite the name of Amitabha. Thus, I have long made it a habit to practice nianfo whenever I am driving somewhere alone. Today was no exception. While I understand that this near-disaster was the flowering of some of my past evil karma, I have no doubt that my practice of Amitabha-recitation saved me from certain injury or death. Because of the intimacy with Amitabha that single-minded, exclusive recitation promotes, I was able to return home to my family.
当时我想起来,发生此事之前,我正在念佛。我以驾车送货为生,此工作使我有时间独个儿念佛,是优胜之处。久而久之,养成念佛的习惯。不管何时往何地都念佛,今天亦不例外。我明白今天所遇的近似灾难,是往昔恶业之报,但我毫不怀疑念佛的行持救了我,免难乃至身亡。我一心专念佛名,使我与阿弥陀佛有亲缘,我才可以回到家中,与家人相聚。
I've known from the testimony of others that the effects of exclusive Amitabha recitation are profound and often mysterious. Today, I know it firsthand. I share this with you in the hopes that it will be passed along and help to strengthen the faith of fellow practitioners.
曾得知他人的念佛感应,感到玄妙和神奇。今天,我亲身体验了。我与大家分享,希望能将此事传开去,帮助各位莲友增强信心。
29 March, 2015
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