八哥鳥念彌陀

壬子七十三歲。公回滇後。即開辦佛教分會。在文昌宮開成立大會。請了塵師設分會於貴州。藏喇嘛來者甚眾。擬舉辦佛教學校。佈道團。醫院等慈善事業。有一人送一八哥鳥放生。能言。初食肉。皈依學念佛。吃素。一日被鷹捉去。

宣化偈曰：

飛至空中仍念佛。盡此報身生極樂。
胡為萬物之靈者。人不如鳥戀娑婆。

Liberating a mynah that recited Amitabha

In 1912, when the Master was seventy-three years old, after returning to Yunnan Province, he began to set up branches of the Buddhist Association. At Wen Chang Hall, he convened a large meeting, at which he asked Dharma Master Liao Ch'en (Ending the Dust) to establish a branch in Kueichow Province. A large number of Tibetan Lamas took part, and it was decided to organize Buddhist schools, groups for spreading the Dharma, and hospitals, among other means of performing philanthropic works. Someone donated a mynah bird, which was to be set free. The bird could talk, and at first ate f1esh; but after receiving the Refuges, it learned to recite the Buddha's name, and became a vegetarian. One day, it was seized and carried off by an eagle.

The gatha says:
Carried off, flying through the air, it still recited the Buddha's name.
At the end of this retribution body, it was born in Ultimate Bliss.
If people are the magic essence of the ten thousand things,
Then how can we measure up to this bird if we linger on in the Saha World?