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Dear Venerable Master:
Venerable Master, although you are gone, you were there to protect me in last night's dream. I didn't know where you were, probably somewhere very far away, but when I called to you in my dream, you seemed to appear. I know that even though you are no longer physically with us, your compassionate heart is with us at all times. Venerable Master, do you know that even though I have studied music for many years and have read many poems written by classical authors, I find that your words surpass all other songs and poems in beauty? Because your words come straight from the heart and are full of sincerity, deep wisdom, and clever wit, they are more beautiful than all those popular songs. The poet Tu Fu once
praised Li Bai in a poem to describe his aspiration
in a poem: "Where the brush falls, it stirs up a storm; when the poem is completed, it moves the ghosts and spirits to tears." Yet his divine poems are mere childsplay compared to yours, because your brush stirs up a storm even before it touches the paper, and the ghosts and spirits start weeping even before you have finished your poem. Every one of your eighteen great vows startles heaven and quakes the earth. Two of those vows are:
Eleventh Vow: I vow to dedicate all the blessings and bliss which I myself ought to receive and enjoy to all living beings of the Dharma Realm.
Twelfth Vow: I vow to fully take upon myself all sufferings and hardships of all living beings in the Dharma Realm.
Every time I read these two vows, I cry inside, thinking of manifold and immense sufferings of living beings.
Venerable Master, you suffer too much. Every time I think of it, I figure that even if I cannot physically take your suffering, at least I can lessen your burden a bit by sharing your worries. But how can I begin to share your worries? I can only use my tears. With tear-filled eyes I gaze at Guanshiyin Bodhisattva, hoping to be able to repay a tiny part of your kindness.
Venerable Master, aside from my father you are the only person in the world who can move me. I hope that, in whatever time and space system you are, everything is well.
Your unworthy disciple, Yingjin, bows in respect.
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