Please persevere in taking this medicine
【Explanation of the Confession to the 35 Buddhas Practice - Notice 1】Please persevere in taking this medicine
By Teacher Zhen-Ru, 15/12/2017
Can the 35 Buddhas bring about a breakthrough, when our lives are in a specially difficult state? Be it in terms of physical or spiritual, I feel that for those who have personally carried out the Confession to the 35 Buddhas Practice, they would have direct experience in this. The experience you have gone through in your mind is the best Dharma explanation - the explanation to yourself.
Many years ago, I had explored with Master; Master had always wanted to set up a retirement residence and to provide care for the Sangha members' parents. Actually, at that time, I kept on pondering this matter - rather than getting injections and taking medication after we fall sick, is there a method that would prevent illness before we become ill? Then, I asked many doctors; in any case, for the past many years, I have been exploring for such a method. That is, how can Dharma practitioners care for our bodies, in order to practise supreme enlightenment?
After much consideration and having seen a lot, I finally made a decision that you all must do the Confession to the 35 Buddhas Practice! Many patients do not dare to do this. In addition, there are those whose minds are all curled up for puzzling reasons, they gradually retreat to their rooms and dislike contact with others. In reality, for those with illness, their spirits would eventually also feel lonely, which is a very helpless state. Moreover, we will all have to undergo the suffering of old age, what can we do? When I see the Rinpoche, wow! At age 86, he walks like there is wind under his feet. I have also seen those at age 80, 79 who are doing 500 prostrations each day. I am thinking, this is something we can promote now. It is alright if we are now 50, 60 or even 70 years old; and at 80 years old, we still have 10 more years! We can train in this!
Actually, I made the aspiration many years ago and at that time, I searched for the explanation of the Confession of the 35 Buddhas Practice. After finding it, I requested the Venerables to translate it. The translation and review took a long time. Finally, the explanation is available and I hope to propagate it. However, my explanation is really inferior, thus, I explain it while feeling ashamed.
I am also like this; actually, I started from 1 prostration. After my earlier serious illness and I could get up, I started with walking first. After you have been ill for a long time, you would no longer know how to walk. When attempting to move the leg forward, you will discover that you want to move forward, but the leg remains standing on its own, it will ignore you. After walking a few times, why does it seem you are still at the original spot? That is, the body no longer follows your orders. It is because I too have the experience of being ill, therefore I can empathize with those who are sick but yet have a tenacious grip on wanting to practice the Dharma. I also wish to repay the parents of the Sangha members as well as all patients - with illness in the mind or body.
Actually, how should I say it? I am very, very grateful to the lineage masters for passing down the Confession to the 35 Buddhas Practice. Furthermore, they have written such wonderful annotations & explanations to enable the listeners to develop confidence. There are also so many monks before us - their practice according to the teachings, their prostrations to Buddha, lead us to move forward in our pursuit, despite the suffering of illness and mental torment and then to transcend these.
If we can find a medicine that is beneficial both physically and spiritually, then I hope that everyone will persevere in taking it.
【三十五佛忏讲记—预告 1】请坚持服用这一味药
参考书本位置：《吾愿无悔：三十五佛忏讲记》第 291 页第 2 行起
三十五佛能不能带给我们生命在特别困境的时候给与突破，无论是身体上的、还是心灵上的，我觉得对《三十五佛忏》身体力行的修行者，都会有直接的体验。你们内心的体验就是最好的说法——对你自己说的。
很多年前的时候跟师父探索过，师父一直想要成办退居寮，还有法师父母的安养。其实那个时候我就一直在这个地方思考，与其病了去打针、吃药，有没有一种在没病的时候防病的这样一个办法。然后也去问了很多医生，反正这么多年都在探索这种办法。就是我们修行人到底如何来保养身体，是为了修行无上菩提。
想来想去，也是看了很多之后，我最后决断出：你们必须拜《三十五佛忏》！很多病号是不敢拜的，还有一些心里边莫名其妙地缩成一团的人，慢慢地会缩进他的房间，不喜欢跟别人接触，实际上病人到最后心灵也会整个孤单起来，是非常无助的一种状态。还有我们都会经历的就是老苦，怎么办？看到仁波切，哇！八十六岁走路像脚下生风一样，看到八十岁的、七十九岁的，一天五百拜。在想：这个我们现在可以推动，现在五十、六十都没关系，七十也没关系，到八十还有十年呢！可以练啊！
其实发誓了好几年，那时候在寻觅《三十五佛忏》的解释，后来找到之后，又请法师们把它翻译出来，翻译和校对就进行了很久。然后终于找到解释希望就把它推出去，但是我自己实在是讲得太差，所以就是一边惭愧、一边把它讲了。
我自己也是这样的，其实我是从一拜开始。我上次大病之后，起来之后是先从走路开始，你病久之后走路都不会了，腿往前走的时候，你发现想往前走，腿是自己站着它的，它不管你的，走了好几下，怎么好像还站在原地，就是已经完全这个身体它不听使唤了。正因为自己也有生病的经历，所以比较体会那些又生病、心里又很顽强想修行的人。也是想要回报法师的父母亲，还有所有的病人——心理的、还是身体的。
其实怎么说呢！就是非常非常地感谢祖师们把《三十五佛忏》传下来，而且写了那么精彩的注释，能让我们听闻的人生起信心。然后也有那么多的僧人在前面，他身体力行的事迹、他拜佛，引领着我们在自己的病苦和精神的痛苦中继续向前追寻，进而超越它。
如果能找到一味药，既有益于身体、又有益于心灵，就希望大家回去坚持服用！