对座谈心叙旧

至此已两年矣。谈次知公出家鼓山。籍湘乡。德老不觉泪下。曰予有同参三人。一衡阳。一福州。伴朝山。同住林下。三十年分手后。消息断绝。今见上座。恍如同参。不觉动念。予年八十五矣。

宣化偈曰：
向对谈心有前因。溯往追来泪潸然。
老僧为何不放下。想起同参未了缘。

Chatting about old times

Two years had now passed since the Master began his journey. When the Elder Master Te Lin learned that the Master had left the home-life at Ku Shan (Drum Mountain) Monastery and that he was a native of Hsiang-hsiang, his tears flowed unbidden. He said, "I had two companions, one was from Heng Yang and the other from Fu Chou. We made a pilgrimage to the mountain and lived together in a grove. Some thirty years later, we went our own ways and I have not seen or heard of either of them since. Seeing you has reminded me of them. Ahh, I'm already 85 years old!"

The verse says:
The hearty chat of the monks had its prior causes.
Recalling the past and pursuing the future, the Elder Sanghan's tears came down like rain.
Why was it that the old cultivator couldn't put it down?
Reminiscing about old friends with whom he shared unfinished affinities.