文／ 蓮生活佛盧勝彥
在藏地，有這樣的故事流傳：
有一名喇嘛爬在一棵大樹上，大樹上有很大的蜂巢，蜜蜂飛舞，圍在喇嘛的四周，喇嘛細聲的對蜜蜂說：「不要叮我！」說也奇怪的是，蜜蜂對這位喇嘛視若無睹，根本就不叮這位喇嘛！
有另一位喇嘛看見了，非常的奇怪，就問不被蜜蜂叮的妙訣，這位不被叮的喇嘛就說，沒有什麼妙訣，只對蜜蜂說聲不要叮我而已。
這好奇的喇嘛上了樹，用同樣的話對蜜蜂說：「不要叮我！」想不到蜜蜂不領情，一起上前，把好奇的喇嘛叮個滿頭泡泡，喊爹叫娘，求饒不已。
同樣一句話，為何結果不同？
據說，第一位喇嘛在爬樹之前，已祈求上師加持自己，於是蜜蜂就聽他的。第二位喇嘛，因沒有上師加持，只是有樣學樣，結果被叮得滿頭泡。
顯教的經典佛號，人人可拿到就可以唸，沒有什麼特別的限制。
密教不同，密教的法本，均印有：「未經灌頂，請勿翻閱」。密教的咒語也一樣，未皈依受灌頂，未得上師的加持力，唸了等於白唸，等同盜法，還犯了三昧耶戒，唸咒修持不會產生相應的法力。
有皈依，有灌頂，有上師的加持力，這樣才能如法去修行，才能從迷惑、顛倒、妄想、執著中，因上師加持，法流灌頂，本具佛性能夠顯現。
上師加持力，正是修密成就的鑰匙！
The Guru’s Power of Blessing
Written by Lian-shen Linving Buddha Sheng-yen Lu
Translated by Cheng Yew Chung edited by Victor Hazen
True Buddha Foundation Translation Team
A certain story is widespread in Tibet:
A lama climbed up a huge tree where a beehive was found. The bees were buzzing around the lama, but the lama whispered to the bees, saying, “Don`t sting me!” And interestingly, the bees ignored the lama and did not sting him at all！
Another lama who saw this was very puzzled, and wanted to know the secret of avoiding being stung by the bees. The lama who was not stung by the bees revealed that there was no secret to this except that he just told the bees not to sting him. The curious lama then climbed up the tree and spoke the same words ‘don`t sting me!’ to the bees, but the bees ignored his words and swarmed towards the curious lama and stung him fiercely. The poor lama screamed and begged for his life.
Why is it that the same words would bring different results? It is said that the first lama prayed to his guru for a blessing before climbing the tree, resulting in the bees listening to him, whereas the second lama followed the instruction without first seeking a blessing from the Guru, thus ending up being stung.
The Buddha epithets mentioned in the sutras of the Sutric tradition are available for recitation to anyone who comes to know them. There is little restriction over this chanting. But Tantric Buddhism approaches this differently. The practice texts of Tantric Buddhism are printed with the words, ‘Please do not refer to the text without first receiving the proper empowerment.’ It is required that before the recitation of Tantric mantras, one must first receive the proper empowerment and blessing from one’s guru. Otherwise, all chanting is void and fruitless, as it is tantamount to an act of fraud, a breach of the Samaya Pledge. Under this circumstance, no Dharma power would ever be invoked through the cultivation of mantra chanting.
Hence, it is only by taking refuge, receiving empowerment, and gaining the blessings of one’s guru that cultivation can be authorized. Only then can the inherent Buddha Nature emerge from delusions, topsy-turvy events, discursive thoughts and attachments.
The Guru’s power of blessing is the very key to attaining accomplishment through Tantric cultivation！