r/Mahayana

The Drunkard and the Ghosts

In the Province of Sichuan, China there was a man who stayed by the river side.

One day while he was at home, he heard some voices from the river. He went out to take a look and saw two ghosts were talking on the river.

What were these two ghosts talking about?

One ghost said, ‘Tomorrow afternoon a drunkard will come to drink water by the side of the river. Then we can pull him down so that he will be drowned, taking over our place.’

The man heard this but he was not sure if this would really happen.

Anyway, they are only the ghostly speech!

True enough, the next day, a man came to the river side. He looked like a drunkard as he was walking unsteadily towards the river. He squadded down and took a sip of water.

The Sichuan man tried to call him to be careful but he was quite a distant away. The drunkard could not hear him.

But after drinking the water he stood up and left. Nothing happened.

He was wondering why the ghosts did not catch hold of him. At night again he heard the ghosts were talking.

They were discussing the incident in the afternoon, the reason why they could not catch hold of the drunkard.

In fact, the two ghosts had already planned to pull him down while he was drinking. But they did not expect the drunkard was drinking the water this way.

He took a sip of the water and exclaimed,

‘Namo Amituofo, the water is really sweet! Namo Amituofo the water is truly nice….’

So, he repeated Namo Amituofo while drinking the water.

Suddenly there was a light that separated the ghosts from the man and they were unable to go near him.

The drunkard walked away safely.

So, do you see the efficaciousness of Namo Amitabha Buddha?

I would like to ask you some questions.

Is this drunkard a man who is clear minded? The answer is no. Yes, he is reciting the Buddha’s Name but he is not in Samadhi, neither has he cut off false thoughts, do you see?

He only recites without much mindfulness. Besides he recites Namo Amituofo just because the water is delicious! What is more he is all drunk!

In brief, he cannot even uphold the five precepts.  In the five precepts, he is not supposed to drink wine.

Yet as he was reciting the Buddha’s Name, Namo Amituofo came forth to rescue him.

That is why the Great Master Shandao who is the transformation body of Amitabha Buddha, the Patriarch of the Pure Land Sect said,

‘Amitabha Buddha will appear when we recite his Name.’

It means Amitabha Buddha will come forth when we recite his Name.

It means wherever there is the recitation of Amitabha Buddha, Amitabha Buddha will be there.

It does not matter if we are reciting His Name wholeheartedly or with dispersed thoughts, reciting seriously or accidentally.

All these are counted as nianfo-Buddha recitation.

As we have known, this man, the drunkard recited the Buddha’s Name accidentally, in a confused manner.

But anyhow he had recited Namo Amitabha Buddha.

That is why Amitabha Buddha gave him the protection, saved him from disaster.

So, my dear audience, do not treat this Name Namo Amitabha Buddha lightly, treating them like common words.

A Dharma Talk by Venerable Dharma Master Shi Jing Ben – title: the Ghosts and the Drunkard