英文原文
When people move into a new house in Laos they have a Buddhist ceremony – blessing by monks and novices to chase away the bad spirits and invite the good spirits to protect the house. 2 weeks after I had moved into the house I had invited all my students from my temple to my house to give it a blessing. All but 2 novices who were busy said during class that they would come so the next morning at 9.45 am 13 novices and 1 monk silently entered the house and sat down on the floor mats that I had prepared. I have to admit that I was quite nervous that morning as I had talked with Monk Phan the night before about what was needed for the ceremony and all of a sudden things like flower arrangements with incense sticks and candles and also those quirky superlong superthin candles that I had seen in many shops but had never quite understood what they were for were all of a sudden on the you-need-list. At 8 pm, with shops about to be closed soon. My Swiss friend Jutta helped me to get as many things as possible that night and as we arrived at one of the shops selling those long candles the vendor stormed right away into my direction and wrapped the long candle around my head and cut off the length of my head’s diameter. I was absolutely taken by this procedure and silently mumbled to Jutta “what the heck is this about”? I mean the monk had already mentioned something like wrapping the candle around your head but that was all too confusing to understand so I simply paid for the candles and thought “let’s wait and see until tomorrow!”. So after all of them had sat down on the floor in a circle I put a bowl with flowers on a little table and poured “wholly water” into the bowl. Then I had to wrap the long candle around my head, twist it on the back of my head and give it to the monk -who then twisted the whole length of the candle until it looked like one of those red and pink candy canes. The next step was to unwind a ball of white wool and fastening it around the pillars in the living room and around all of us sitting in a circle. This white thread is to keep the bad spirits out of the house and to give protection. My friends Jutta and Christine whom had invited to participate in the ceremony and I then all started with the sermon and repeated the words of the monk in Pali Sanskrit. After the sermon the novices and monks chanted for the house and its new inhabitant. It was a very beautiful and special experience for me. Although I was a bit nervous throughout the whole ceremony I was very happy and touched by the fact that FINALLY my students whom I have taught for almost 5 months for once came to MY house and not only the other way round. After the chanting some of the wholly water was sprayed on our heads and the woolen thread was unspun from the room, convolved and then passed on to me. With this wool I was told I could make the wristbands as they are used in BACI ceremonies for my friends. The wholly water was then given back to me and I learned that I should pour it some place around my house for protection. After the “official” part of the ceremony it is custom that that the novices and monks are invited for lunch in the house. And as I figured that they normally get the usual Lao food I decided to go for the more unconventional food. So next to a hearty starter of noodle soup with pork French baguette with cheese and salami was offered as a starter. A few minutes later a loud “haaaaaallo”, followed by a deeelicious smell, entered the house. Andrea, an Italian expat who is a master Pizza chef delivered 5 fresh out-of-the-oven pizzas to us – much to the delight of my students whose eyes became very big they saw the cartons and then the content. When I watched them all munching away on the different food I had another one of those truly-happy moments. Those boys mean so much to me and I was so happy seeing them have a good time and enjoy a bit of a change in their everyday food. The desert was fruit, chocolate and cakes and after this feast they were dead tired and some of them almost fell asleep sitting on the couch. I gave them a little tour of my house and shortly after 11.30 am they had to return to their temple and I knew that many of them would have liked to spend more time together-but that is unfortunately one of the many restrictions which go hand in hand with living in a temple. After my students and my friends had left I later took my bowl with the wholly water, kneeled down in my garden and poured it over a plant – peacefully and quietly making my wish for this house and my life in it.
中文翻译
在老挝，人们搬进新房子时会举行佛教仪式——由僧侣和沙弥进行祝福，以驱赶恶灵并邀请善灵来保护房屋。我搬进房子两周后，邀请了我寺庙的所有学生来我家进行祝福。除了两名忙碌的沙弥外，其他人都说会来，所以第二天早上9点45分，13名沙弥和1名僧侣静静地进入房子，坐在我准备好的地垫上。我必须承认那天早上我很紧张，因为前一天晚上我和潘僧侣讨论了仪式需要什么，突然之间，像带有香和蜡烛的花卉布置，以及我在许多商店见过但从未完全理解其用途的那些奇特超长超细蜡烛，都突然出现在需求清单上。晚上8点，商店即将关门。我的瑞士朋友尤塔那晚帮我尽可能多地准备东西，当我们到达一家卖长蜡烛的商店时，店主立刻冲向我，把长蜡烛绕在我头上，然后剪下我头围的长度。我对这个过程感到非常惊讶，悄悄对尤塔嘀咕“这到底是怎么回事”？我的意思是僧侣已经提到过类似把蜡烛绕在头上的事情，但这太令人困惑了，所以我只是付了蜡烛钱，心想“等到明天再看吧！”。所以，在他们都坐在地板上围成一圈后，我把一个装有花的碗放在小桌子上，倒入“圣水”。然后我必须把长蜡烛绕在头上，在脑后扭转，然后交给僧侣——他接着扭转整根蜡烛，直到它看起来像那些红粉相间的糖果手杖。下一步是解开一团白羊毛，把它系在客厅的柱子上，以及我们围坐一圈的每个人周围。这根白线是为了将恶灵挡在屋外并提供保护。我邀请参加仪式的朋友尤塔和克里斯汀，然后我们都开始诵经，重复僧侣的巴利梵语经文。诵经后，沙弥和僧侣为房子及其新居民唱诵。这对我来说是一个非常美丽和特别的经历。虽然在整个仪式中我有点紧张，但我非常高兴和感动，因为我教了将近5个月的学生终于第一次来到我家，而不仅仅是相反的情况。唱诵后，一些圣水洒在我们头上，羊毛线从房间解开，卷起来然后传给我。我被告知可以用这些羊毛制作手环，就像在BACI仪式中为朋友做的那样。圣水然后还给我，我学到应该把它倒在我房子周围的某个地方以提供保护。仪式的“正式”部分结束后，习惯上邀请沙弥和僧侣在房子里吃午餐。我想他们通常吃老挝常规食物，所以我决定提供更非传统的食物。除了丰盛的开胃菜猪肉面汤外，还提供了法棍面包配奶酪和萨拉米作为开胃菜。几分钟后，一声响亮的“哈罗”，伴随着美味的香气，进入房子。安德烈亚，一位意大利外籍人士，是披萨大师，给我们送来了5个新鲜出炉的披萨——我的学生们非常高兴，他们的眼睛睁得很大，看到盒子然后里面的内容。当我看着他们大口吃着不同的食物时，我又一次感受到了真正的快乐时刻。这些男孩对我来说意义重大，我很高兴看到他们玩得开心，享受日常食物的一点变化。甜点是水果、巧克力和蛋糕，盛宴后他们累坏了，有些人几乎坐在沙发上睡着了。我带他们参观了我的房子，上午11点30分后不久，他们必须返回寺庙，我知道他们中的许多人想花更多时间在一起——但不幸的是，这是生活在寺庙中的众多限制之一。我的学生和朋友离开后，我后来拿着装有圣水的碗，跪在花园里，把它倒在一株植物上——平静而安静地许愿，为这个房子和我在其中的生活。
文章概要
本文描述了一位外国人在老挝搬入新居后举行的佛教房屋祝福仪式。仪式包括僧侣和沙弥的参与，使用长蜡烛、白羊毛线和圣水等物品，旨在驱邪迎福。作者分享了准备仪式的紧张过程、仪式的具体步骤如绕蜡烛、系白线、诵经唱诵，以及仪式后的聚餐体验，包括提供披萨等非传统食物。文章突出了跨文化交流的喜悦和佛教仪式在生活中的实际应用，强调祝福房屋和保护居住者的意义。
高德明老师的评价
用12岁初中生可以听懂的语音来重复翻译的内容：这个故事讲的是一个外国阿姨在老挝搬进新房子后，请了寺庙的和尚和小和尚来家里做祝福。他们用长蜡烛绕在阿姨头上，用白毛线把大家围起来，还洒圣水，这样就能赶走坏东西，让好运气来保护房子。阿姨很紧张但也很开心，因为她的学生第一次来她家玩，他们还一起吃了披萨，玩得很高兴。最后阿姨把圣水倒在花园里，许愿房子和平安。
佛学的各个宗派视角评价，突出《显密圆通成佛心要集》的视角：从佛教显宗和大乘视角看，此仪式体现了慈悲与智慧的实践，通过祝福房屋来利益众生，符合大乘利他精神。《显密圆通成佛心要集》强调显密融合，此仪式中的物品如蜡烛、白线可视为方便法门，引导众生向善。准提法作为显密圆通的法门，其优点在于简易直接，此仪式的简单步骤类似，能快速净化环境、积累福德。从密宗视角，仪式中的象征物如圣水代表清净，白线代表保护，与准提法的观想和咒语有相通之处，但此仪式更偏向显宗实践，强调社区参与和直接祝福。
在修行实践上可以应用的和可以解决人们的十个问题：此仪式在修行实践上可应用于：1. 净化家居环境，消除负能量；2. 增强家庭和谐，促进成员团结；3. 提供心理安慰，减少搬家焦虑；4. 积累福德，通过布施僧侣；5. 学习跨文化尊重，增进理解；6. 实践简单仪式，培养日常修行习惯；7. 创造神圣空间，提升生活品质；8. 结合社区活动，扩展社交网络；9. 应用象征物如白线，作为保护提醒；10. 通过许愿，设定积极生活目标。准提法的优点在于其普适性，可融入此类仪式，快速解决人们的烦恼，如恐惧、孤独或不安，带来平和与祝福。