无畏精神挽教难

乙丑一百有一十岁。春戒后。回云门。装修全堂圣像。八十余尊。赴港讲经。一日遇岑学吕。谈次问曰。世变至此。我将安适。曰学道人随处都是家乡。放下便是道场。居士安心罢。岑留公居港弘法。曰弘法自有人。我责在维护数万僧伽。

宣化偈曰：

维护教难救僧伽。誓报佛恩赴汤火。
无畏精神奋三昧。有为行愿越万劫。

Rescuing the teaching with fearless vigor

The Master was one-hundred-and-ten in 1949, and following the annual Spring Precept Period, he returned to Yun Men (Cloud Gate) Monastery, where he had crafted a full set of more than eighty sacred images. Later, he went to Hong Kong to expound Sutras, and one day met Ts'en Hsueh Lu²⁹, who asked, "Where can I go to attain peace in this ever-changing world?" The Master answered, "For a student of the Way, wherever he goes is his home. Letting go of everything is just the Bodhimanda. Don't worry about it so much." Ts'en insisted the Master stay in Hong Kong to propagate the Dharma, but he said, "There are already people here who can do so. My responsibility lies in holding together the several tens of thousands of bhikshus on the Mainland."

The gatha says:
To hold together and protect the Teaching, he saved the Sangha members.
Vowing to repay the Buddha's kindness, he would go through scaldings and fire.
With fearlessness and unfledging vigor, his samadhi was energetic.
The practice of his magnanimous vows extends through thousands of kalpas.

29. See #187.