水陸感應祥瑞

戊午年七十九歲。唐繼堯督軍。禮請赴昆明。作佛事。公偕徒修圓往。途遇匪。說服。至滇見唐。云欲行三事。〈一〉作一場大佛事。求佛加被。消災免難。超荐亡靈。〈二〉建大叢林。宏揚佛法。〈三〉辦一完善大學。教育青年。公曰我亦定三事。禁屠。大赦。賑濟。皆照辦。己未八十歲法會開始。燭皆獻蓮花。霞彩奪目。七七圓滿。送聖。空中獻幢旛寶蓋。

宣化偈曰：

感應難思。

Performing a "Water and Land" ceremony, which brought auspicious omens

In 1918, when the Master was seventy-nine, the Military Governor T'ang Chi Yao respectfully invited him to come to Kunming to perform Buddhist ceremonies. The Master set out with a disciple named Hsiu Yuan (Perfect Cultivation), but enroute they encountered bandits whom the Master convinced to desist. Arriving in Kunming, he met with T'ang, who stated his three intentions, as follows: 1) to convene a large Buddhist assembly to seek the support of the Buddhas in eradicating disasters and misfortune, and in crossing over the spirits of the dead; 2) to establish a large monastery in order to propagate the Buddhadharma; and 3) to set up a college for the education of the young. The Master told him, "I also have three suggestions: 1) Prohibit the slaughter of animals for meat; 2) proclaim a general amnesty; and 3) send relief for those in distress." It was done, and in 1919, when the Master turned eighty, the Dharma assembly began. The flames of the candles took on the shape of lotus blossoms, and their rainbows of colors dazzled the eye. At the completion of forty-nine days, during the Sages Ceremony of Sending Off, jeweled canopies appeared in the sky, along with banners and flags.

It was said:
An inconceivable response!