赴香港传鼓山

丁卯八十八岁。建幽冥钟楼等工程。戊辰八十九岁。为募佛像款。同王九龄居士至香港。时陈真如主粤政。派员接公至广州。游白云山。陈拟留公住持南华寺。重振曹溪道场。公却之回闽。至鼓山。讲经毕。赴育王拜舍利朝普陀。

宣化偈曰：

为募善缘涉山川。普令同伦种福田。
有缘即栽无漏果。当面错过万劫难。

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.