對座談心敘舊

至此已兩年矣。談次知公出家鼓山。籍湘鄉。德老不覺淚下。曰予有同參三人。一衡陽。一福州。伴朝山。同住林下。三十年分手後。消息斷絕。今見上座。恍如同參。不覺動念。予年八十五矣。

宣化偈曰：
向對談心有前因。溯往追來淚潸然。
老僧為何不放下。想起同參未了緣。

Chatting about old times

Two years had now passed since the Master began his journey. When the Elder Master Te Lin learned that the Master had left the home-life at Ku Shan (Drum Mountain) Monastery and that he was a native of Hsiang-hsiang, his tears flowed unbidden. He said, "I had two companions, one was from Heng Yang and the other from Fu Chou. We made a pilgrimage to the mountain and lived together in a grove. Some thirty years later, we went our own ways and I have not seen or heard of either of them since. Seeing you has reminded me of them. Ahh, I'm already 85 years old!"

The verse says:
The hearty chat of the monks had its prior causes.
Recalling the past and pursuing the future, the Elder Sanghan's tears came down like rain.
Why was it that the old cultivator couldn't put it down?
Reminiscing about old friends with whom he shared unfinished affinities.