一九九三年八月十五日，我坐胡果浩開的車往烏龜山的方向急駛。在路過一片茂密的林蔭路上，往左面的方向有一叉道。胡果浩和我說：「我們去看千年古松，保證讓你一飽福眼。」我聽說要看大松樹，心生莫大歡喜。師父上人在一次電話中和我說過：「有大樹的地方都是很有靈氣的。」

車行進入叉道後沒多久，胡果浩開車從一棵大樹洞的中間穿過。我放下車窗的玻璃向上望去，這棵有樹洞的千年古杉差不多能有一百米高？它的枝葉已把陽光擋得嚴嚴實實的了。

二十分鐘以後，我們在一個掛著雜貨店招牌的房子前面停車。胡果浩下車後領我往店門口走去。我望著房子門面像厚厚的樹皮對起來的立體塊裝飾生了好奇心：「胡哥，是誰用樹皮做了這麼大的房子？ 」胡果浩沒有回答我的問話，他只是笑。

我們信步走到店內，裡面的貨物很奇特，有樹根做的木盤、木盆、有像火燒過的黑黑的木熊貓、木刀劍，還有美西牛仔用過的鞍轡及皮靴等物。除了這些特殊的東西以外，裡面還擺著菸酒、糖果之類的東西。店裡很寬敞，少說也有三間房那麼大，有一些顧客進進出出，生意還蠻不錯的。胡果浩向我介紹說：「這是   大自然給主人製造的千年樹屋，樹齡少說也有四千年。這家店裡面賣的都是外面買不到的奇 貨。」

我恍然大悟，原來這就是人們所議論的神秘古杉，真想不到在這深山老林裡還有這等好的去處。正是：

千仞絕壁摩蒼穹，峽谷嵐陰倚杉松：
古木籠蔥望不盡，只緣身在最高層。

不便在這裏久留，我們又繼續往烏龜山行車。下午兩點整，我們就到了烏龜山。山下有一棟房屋，只有一位美國法師和一位大鬍子美國醫生在這裡修行。房子裡面有一個房間做佛堂，佛堂供著很多佛像，書架上還擺滿了好多經書和佛教刊物。

兩點三十分，又有一位美國居士開車來了。美國法師分給我們幾個人每人一把砍柴刀，然後我們一起去烏龜山山頂。

烏龜山有兩個山頭，南面的山頭很小，北面的很大，一眼望去像一個大烏龜臥在崇山峻嶺之中。山的外圍有一條二十多米寬的河，彎彎曲曲環繞烏龜山山腳，在金色陽光的照耀下，河水泛著銀光。

我們五人步行到河旁，看見河水只有三尺餘，岸邊有一隻小船，兩岸各有一棵粗樹環套著一根長長的尼龍繩，繩子緊緊挂住了船頭和船尾。

只見大鬍子醫生輕輕上了小船，兩手一拉尼龍繩，小船輕飄飄地向對岸駛去，大約用了兩分鐘的時間，小船就靠岸了。大鬍子下了船以後又是用雙手拉尼龍繩，小船在尼龍繩的牽動下，又回到了我們的眼前。  

我生來還是第一次看見用繩子擺渡，原來上人買的地方都有「度人舟」啊！

我跟胡果浩學著他們的樣子，坐船到了對岸。美國法師在前面引路，我們順著雜草叢生的小路向山頂攀去。山上有很多碗口祖細的樟松、楊樹、機樹和樺樹，林木空隙的草叢中山花爛縵，開著紅、黃、藍、紫、水粉等顏色的野花爭艷，吐露芳香。

美國法師時而用柴刀砍斷路前面橫在路上的樹杈，時而又用柴刀割開腳下爬過來帶刺的荊條。看著法師以身作則的勞動，我們也都各自奮勇揮刀開路。待到出了滿頭大汗 ，我們已到了烏龜山脊背的頂峰。

法師向我們介紹：「師父上人很喜歡這裡的風水，待到機緣成熟，在山頂上修造禪宗的道場。」

這裡簡直是人間仙境！任何地方都沒有 這裡清靜。山間祥雲繚繞，沒有人、畜、車輛的喧囂聲；山下離房子很遠的山路上偶爾才能有一、兩輛汽車在路上通過。  

法師又介紹說：「這位大鬍子醫生精通中醫學。他在山下種了很多中藥草，還做了中藥成藥送給各個道場。」

這位美國法師出家快二十年了，他說話時大部分講中文。他和上人學的華語；上人派他在這座山上「悟禪機」。  

我們回到山下房子的時候天氣突然轉陰，猦風大作，雨聲沙沙地打著窗子。漸漸地風聲、雨聲越來越猛烈，暴風雨持續了兩個小時。

暴風雨過後，我開門向外一望，只見天空被雨水洗得一片碧藍。火紅的太陽躲在幾抹浮雲裡， 脈脈含情地偷窺烏龜山方圓幾十里的群山和小河。草葉上豆粒大的水珠像珍珠一樣眨動著，雨後的美景秀麗脫俗，給人一種美的享受，真地令人心曠神怡。正是：

寂寞雲峯絕塵埃，鐘磐梵音亦快哉；
漫天華雨如注下，紅蓮又見一枝開。

一九九九年元月十六日　零晨1 : 15

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On August 15, 1993, I sat in a car driven by Guo-Hao Hu rushing toward Turtle Mountain. As we passed through the shade of a thick forest along the way, the road forked off to the left. Guo-Hao Hu said to me, "Let's go see the thousand-year-old pine tree; I guarantee it will be a feast for your eyes." When I heard that we were going to see a great pine tree, I was elated, for the Venerable Master once told me over the telephone, "Places where tall trees grow have a wondrous spiritual energy." Soon after taking one of the forked paths, Guo-Hao drove through a great tree tunnel. I lowered the window to look upward. This thousand-year-old cryptomeria that contained the tunnel was about one hundred meters tall, and its branches and leaves completely blocked out the sunlight.

Twenty minutes later, we parked in front of a house with a sign announcing that it was a general store. Guo-Hao Hu got out of the car and led me to the door of the store. As I glanced at the thick bark-like material on the surface of the door, I was curious about these three-dimensional decorative pieces. "Brother Hu, who built this big house out of tree bark?" Guo-Hao only smiled and did not respond.

We walked into the store and saw that the merchandise was quite unusual. There were plates and pots made from tree roots, dark wooden raccoons that might have been charred with fire, wooden knives and swords, as well as saddle straps and leather boots used by cowboys of the Old West. Besides these odd items, there were also cigarettes, alcohol, and candies on display. The interior of the store was wide and spacious, at least the size of a three-bedroom house. There were some customers going in and out, so business was not too bad. Guo-Hao explained to me, "Mother Nature made this thousand-year-old treehouse. This tree is at least four thousand years old. This store sells only unusual items that cannot be bought elsewhere."

Suddenly, it dawned on me, "So this is the mysterious ancient cryptomeria tree that people had talked about. I had not expected to find such a great place to visit inside this old forest in the middle of a remote mountain.

The sheer ledge of eight thousand feet touched
the deep blue sky.
In the canyon, the hazy and obscure
mist draped the conifers' sides.
The ancient forest stretched so vast
that it exhausted the eye.
By self-bestowed fate, I found myself at the utmost high.  

It was inconvenient to prolong our stay there, and we continued the drive toward Turtle Mountain. At exactly two o'clock in the afternoon, we reached Turtle Mountain. At the foot of mountain was a house where only an American Dharma Master and a bearded American doctor cultivated.

Inside the house, a room which had been converted into a Buddha Hall contained numerous Buddha statues and a bookshelf full of Sutras and Buddhist periodicals. At two-thirty, an American lay disciple drove up. The American Dharma Master then gave each of us a machete, and we began our trek to the top of Turtle Mountain.

Turtle Mountain actually has two peaks. With a small southern peak and an enormous northern peak, it resembles a great big turtle lying down in the middle of the vast crests and cliffs. A river about twenty meters wide meanders around the base of Turtle Mountain. Under the radiance of the golden sunlight, the river sparkled with silver reflections. Our group of five hiked to the riverbank. We saw that the water was only about three feet deep, and that along the shore was a small boat. On each side of the river, a long nylon rope was tied to a sturdy tree; these ropes held the bow and the stern of the boat tightly in place.

The bearded doctor agilely climbed aboard the little craft. With both hands he pulled on the nylon rope and the boat gently drifted toward the other side. After only two minutes, the boat reached the shore. After the bearded one got off the vessel, he again used both hands to pull upon the nylon rope. Under the tugging of the looped rope, the little boat returned before our eyes.

That was the first time in my life that I observed ferrying by rope. I realized that all properties acquired by the Venerable Master are furnished with "vessels of deliverance"!

Guo-Hao and the rest of us imitated the technique and got to the other shore by boat. Then the American Dharma Master went up front and led the way. We followed a small trail covered with wild weeds that climbed toward the summit. Various kinds of trees grew on the mountain, including camphor, poplar, and birch, their trunks the diameter of a rice bowl. In the open meadow, wild flowers bloomed lushly in red, yellow, blue, violet, and pink, each blossom emitting a refreshing fragrance. The American Dharma Master sometimes used the machete to break down the fallen branches on the trail or to hack off the thorny vines that crawled about our feet. Moved by his exemplary efforts, we zealously chopped away along the trail as well. When sweat began to drip from our foreheads, we reached the rocky summit of Turtle Mountain. The Dharma Master explained to us, "The Venerable Master really liked the lay of the land and water here. When conditions are ripe, we will build a Chan monastery on the summit."

That place was like heaven on earth! There is no other place as serene. Auspicious clouds drifted over the mountains. There were no humans, no animals, and no vehicles to cause noise pollution. The only road available was far away from the house at the foot of the mountain, and only one or two cars would go by on occasion.

The Dharma Master explained to us, "This bearded doctor specializes in Chinese medicine. He plants in these mountains many Chinese medicinal herbs, which he makes into medicine and donates to all the Way places.  

That American Dharma Master had been a monk for nearly twenty years. He spoke Mandarin most of the time. He had learned Chinese from the Venerable Master, and the Venerable Master sent him to that mountain to gain insight into Chan. When we returned to the house at the bottom of the mountain, the sky suddenly turned gray, and a fierce gale began to blow. Soon, raindrops started pelting the window panes. The howl of the wind and the roar of the rain grew more intense, and the violent storm continued for two hours.

After the violent storm subsided, I opened the door to look outside, only to see the heavens completely cleansed by the rain to a pure azure. The flaming red sun was hiding behind some wispy clouds, bashfully peeping out at the slopes and small river around Turtle Mountain. The beads of water collected on the green leaves were like glistening pearls. The beautiful scenery after the storm was pleasing and extraordinary, giving one an exquisite feeling that uplifted the heart.  

The lone peak in the clouds is removed from dust and impurity. The pure sound from the tolling of the bell brings bliss indeed. The violent rain pours down from the sky.
Another red lotus opens its petals.

January 16, 1999 at 1:15 a.m.  

~The End