赴香港傳鼓山

丁卯八十八歲。建幽冥鐘樓等工程。戊辰八十九歲。為募佛像款。同王九齡居士至香港。時陳真如主粵政。派員接公至廣州。遊白雲山。陳擬留公住持南華寺。重振曹溪道場。公卻之回閩。至鼓山。講經畢。赴育王拜舍利朝普陀。

宣化偈曰：

為募善緣涉山川。普令同倫種福田。
有緣即栽無漏果。當面錯過萬劫難。

Going to Hong Kong and Ku²² Mountain

The bell tower for the dead and other construction projects were completed in 1927, the Master's eighty-eighth year. The following year, in order to raise money for the making of Buddha images, the Master went to Hong Kong accompanied by Upasaka Wang Chiu Ling. At that time, Ch'en Chen Ju, head of the Kuangtung Provincial Government, sent his representative to escort the Master to Canton. They passed by Pai Yun (White Cloud) Mountain, and later, Ch'en urged the Master to stay and assume Abbotship of Nan Hua Monastery²³, to restore the famous Bodhimanda at Ts'ao Hsi (Creek). The Master declined, and returned to Drum Mountain in Fukien Province where he lectured a sutra. When it was completed, he bowed to the Buddha's sharira at King Ashoka Temple and made a pilgrimage to P'u T'ou (Potala) Mountain.

The gatha says:
In order to set up wholesome conditions he crossed the mountains and rivers,
Universally causing everyone to sow the field of blessings.
By nurturing such affinities, beings can reap the fruit of no outflows.
If we miss this opportunity when it presents itself, it will be difficult to encounter in ten thousand kalpas.

22. "Drum"
23. The monastery of the Venerable Master Hui Neng, the Sixth Patriarch in China.