时间：04/04/2026 04/05/2026
地点：星湖禅修中心
主讲：龙示林
佛法修行
慈悲的鹿王
很久以前，如来曾为鹿王，身毛五色，体型俊雅，统领着上千只鹿群。一次，一位国王出门狩猎，鹿群受到围捕四处奔逃，死伤惨重。鹿王看见这种情形，心中非常悲痛，于是独自进城见国王。城内百姓看到五色金光的鹿王，认为是神鹿出现，所以并没有人伤害、阻挠它。
鹿王来到国王面前，跪下说道：「任何含灵蠢动都知道要爱惜自己的生命，今天我们寄居在大王的国境内，遭猎人追逐，死伤惨重。请大王慈悲告诉我每天所需要鹿的数量，从今以后，我们愿意每天进献以供大王享用，但请不要大量的围杀，使鹿群日日生活在惊惶生死边缘。」
国王听后说道：「如果每天都能有一只鹿供御厨所需，我誓言不再打猎。」
从此鹿群依序每天派遣一只鹿前去。一天，轮到要去供馔的是一只怀胎的母鹿，母鹿为了腹中小鹿，前去请求鹿王，希望能够延迟几天。鹿王心生不忍，便以自身相代。国王见到这天是鹿王亲自前来，便追问原因，在明白事情的经过后，流泪说道：「鹿王尚能如此慈心济物，我身为人王，却每天杀害众生以饱口福。难道我还不如鹿王？」从此断食一切肉类。并下令：如果有谁伤害了鹿，将受国法。此鹿群之居处，名鹿野苑，此即「鹿野苑」一名之由来。
Date: 04/04/2026 04/05/2026
Location: Star Lake Meditation Center
Teacher: Shilin Long
Dharma Talk
The Compassionate Deer King
Long ago, the Tathāgata was once a Deer King, whose body bore five-colored fur, graceful in form, and who led a herd of thousands of deer. One time, a king went out hunting. The deer were surrounded and chased, scattering in all directions, suffering heavy casualties. Seeing this, the Deer King was filled with sorrow and went alone into the city to meet the king. The people of the city, seeing the Deer King shining with five-colored golden light, thought it was a divine deer, and thus no one harmed or obstructed it.
The Deer King came before the king, knelt down, and said, “All sentient beings cherish their lives. Today we dwell within Your Majesty’s realm, yet are pursued by hunters and suffer great loss of life. I beg Your Majesty, out of compassion, to tell me how many deer are needed each day. From now on, we are willing to offer that number daily for your use. Only please do not carry out large-scale hunts, causing the deer to live in constant fear of life and death.”
After hearing this, the king said, “If each day there is one deer to supply the royal kitchen, I vow to stop hunting.”
From then on, the deer took turns sending one deer each day. One day, it was the turn of a pregnant doe. Concerned for the life of the fawn in her womb, she went to plead with the Deer King, asking to delay her turn for a few days. The Deer King, moved with compassion, took her place himself.
When the king saw that the Deer King had come in person that day, he questioned the reason. Upon learning the full story, he wept and said, “Even a Deer King can show such great compassion for others. I, as a human king, kill living beings daily just to satisfy my appetite. Am I not inferior to this Deer King?” From that moment on, he gave up eating all meat and issued an order that anyone who harmed a deer would be punished by the law of the land.
The place where the deer lived thereafter came to be known as Deer Park, which is the origin of the name “Deer Park.”
