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有一天，一位地方派出所警員挨戶勸募防衛基金，古炳妹從費了好大力量出售地瓜葉所得的十二元現款中捐了八元。該警員不忍心，去而復返交還錢，自願代她捐出八元。
為擴建房子，開山挖土工作持續著。無雨衣中趁大雨多運挖些泥土，藉水流土以減輕工作困難。某天古炳妹爬上屋簷修理茅屋，不慎摔暈在地上兩塊大石之間，幸未重傷，二女抱母哭叫多時方醒，三人狀極悽愴的相擁而泣。曾有牧牛者聞知哭聲回莊向人訴說，但未有人上山來以明究竟。古炳妹曾因勞苦過重而中暑，二女也病了，茅屋中哀哀憐憐，疾病呻吟，無人照料，吃水成了問題！最後，古炳妹精神分裂，口中誑言，多言神鬼，生活中斷；幸有親弟弟古燈郡上山帶回母女醫治數月，才恢復正常。
秋天的豪雨颱風吹破了屋頂，母女共擁一條棉被度夜，饑寒交迫，體弱驚恐。此時，唯一指望於劉醫師當年所留下的一些錢，卻因幣制貶值，猶如廢紙一般。為了上山砍柴修房子，赤腳難行，在墓地中拾了葬用麻繩草鞋穿用，因不習慣而絆倒摔暈了，古炳妹眼眶留下傷痕，迄今仍在。
民國四十三年，傳來闊別十二年的劉醫師在日本平安健在的消息，但母女三人，在怨恨及希望交織中不知如何自處？三人仍住破屋裡，地方上好心人鐘麟發，發起協建佛殿工作，用土磚、木柱子、釘子做堂。其間利用泥土，稻草攪拌成塊放入木模中完成。古炳妹日夜不停加重腰痛，一年後才好。有空時，三人便下山找石塊，再一擔一擔運上山。
美京十六歲時，至美濃鎮蘇添傳醫師家為女傭煮飯兩年。在二十歲前，又受僱鐘麟發家中為長工，每日上山下田做所有農家工作，雖然辛苦，但有固定收入協助家庭，也可以吃飽。一次上山砍木柴，繩子綁在樹上準備拉木，但樹頭反彈，把美京吊在半空中，不上也不下，良久才經人救下。
四十六年六月二十三日，美濃鎮發生空前大水災，山崩水溢，平地汪洋，死了三十六人。所居茅屋被毀，但與同住山上的五名工人及佛堂土屋皆共平安。母女驚恐之餘，下山借住善化堂，除為人做工餬口及按時上山禮佛外，也抽空開闢另一塊山坡。二年後再住上山建西側瓦屋，並開墾正面佛殿基礎。次年搬入落成之西側房屋，母女心情稍安。五十年以積蓄及熱心人士之捐助在正面土地上建了三間佛堂，劉永壽也寄來一部份現金，工程順利完成。次年三月，「註生娘娘」安座，首次席設三十桌宴地方人士，母女三人歷經二十年的艱難，吃苦受罪，並未倒下。
二年後雙十國慶，劉醫師以華僑身分首次回國，在闊別二十一年後一家人首得相見。堂兄劉巢上曾率美京美惠北上松山機場接機，兩姐妹心中暗怨父親狠心。劉永壽下機時，父女相見不敢相認，他心情沉重激動，無法啟口說話，也無從說起，目呆口滯。次日劉醫師上山，古炳妹出迎，劉醫師無言下淚如泉水，許多地方人士也擁上山來看熱鬧！
劉醫師臨別贈了新台幣三萬元以表心意，母女以此款做「拜亭」及接電源，地方人士亦有協助。福慧堂及住房完成後，生活也略見改善。五十三年開始利用堂園四週小塊土地種花出售。四年後，劉醫師協助十五萬元購了廣善堂前三分半耕地，做為生活補助之用。六十年以出售竹材及賣花做工所得建了兩間客廳，完成一切設備。
六十二年劉永壽再回國時留下部分現款，協助母女改善生活。六十四年春節前，母女合力整理小路以方便香客親友登山，卻遭人破壞挖斷，以巨石攔路。時有地方讀書熱心青年要仗義力爭，但以佛為念而息事。五年後鎮公所協助核准公墓用地，開闢觀光道路，改善交通，由山麓林宅右側直上福慧堂。六十九年由縣政府及鎮公所補助鋪好了柏油路面，即是今日通行之方便大道。
六十八年春節，劉醫師回美濃省親，在福慧堂與林亦榮、溫彩信、林滄生、劉瑞仁夫婦、高天相等人作陪下吃「素食迎春宴」。劉永壽當年宿願得償，心情似較往昔安慰。次年十月二十五日，福慧堂財團法人及首屆管理委員會正式成立，住持古炳妹，堂主鐘麟發、副堂主邱秀友，有三十七位理事，黃辛富任監事主席。福慧堂為慶祝三十六週年，設了八十桌的空前大宴。
七十年春，將管理會餘款十萬餘元做堂左大水溝山谷護岸，三年順利完成。後在兩月內連經二次山洪豪雨發威，護岸平安下證明工程可靠。天理及佛之聖靈，必有公道安排，世事人心，自有公正評價。回憶這四十年餘之歲月，不堪回首，往者已逝，未來尚遠；願福慧堂及母女三人，在廣大社會關注，及佛陀保佑下，不斷進步發展。
（按：福慧堂後改稱福慧聖寺，已於一九九二年三月一日獻給法界佛教總會創辦人宣化上人，古炳妹也已出家；但願正法住持福慧寺，為眾生鋪出一條無限寬闊的成佛之路。）
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One day, a local inspector sent an individual to their door to collect taxes for the local defense fund. Gu Bing-mei brought forth eight dollars from the twelve dollars she had just earned from arduously harvesting and selling a bunch of sweet-potato leaves. After he left, pity made him come back to return her money. He himself contributed eight dollars for her.
Wishing to enlarge the house, they continued to excavate the mountain. With no raincoats, they were drenched by the heavy rain as they worked. The rain turned the soil to mud, making the excavation easier. One day Gu Bing-mei climbed on top of the cottage roof to fix it, and accidentally fell to the ground and landed between two large stones. Although she fainted, she was not hurt. Her two daughters hugged her, crying in alarm. After a long time she revived. Clinging to one another, they wept pitifully. At that time a cowherd heard them weeping, and reported it down in the village, but no one ever came up to investigate.
Another time Gu Bing-mei worked too hard, and suffered a heatstroke, and the two girls were also ill. Inside the cottage, they grieved and moaned, but with no one to care for them, even finding water to drink was a problem. Finally Gu Bing-mei suffered an emotional breakdown. Muttering insanely, she seemed to be talking with ghosts and spirits. Luckily, her younger brother Gu Deng jyun took her and the girls home to get medical care for several months, until they recovered.
That autumn, a fierce typhoon carried away the roof of their house. The three women could only huddle under a blanket in the dark night. Weak, afraid, and oppressed by the hunger and cold, their only hope was to use the last bit of money left by Dr. Lyou Yung-shou. Unfortunately, the bills had been devalued until they were as worthless as the paper they were printed on! They began climbing the mountain barefoot, gathering materials to repair their house. Later they wove sandals out of hemp ropes left in the graveyard where they had been used to lower coffins down. Not being used to wearing them, they tripped and fainted. Gu Bing-mei's eyes formed cataracts, which are still there today.
In 1954, upon receiving news from Dr. Lyou Yung-shou, who had been in Japan for twelve years, living a tranquil and secure life, the three women felt a mixture of hatred and hope. They themselves were still living in the run-down house. The neighbors now helped them build a Buddha-hall with clay tiles, wooden pillars, and nails, and mixed clay and rice straw as mortar. Working non-stop day and night, Gu Bing-mei's backache worsened, and was only cured a year later. In their spare time, the three women would haul loads of stones up the mountain.
Starting at age sixteen, Mei Jing worked two years as a servant and cook in the home of the doctor in Mei Nung, Su Tyan-fu. Before turning twenty, she also began to work full-time for the family of Jung Lin-fa, farming and working in the fields. Though it was tough, her steady income helped her family and enabled them to eat their fill. One time she climbed the mountain to gather firewood for curing tobacco. They first tied off the top of a tree and pulled it over, but the tree sprung in another direction, suspending Mei Jing in mid-air for quite some time before she was rescued.
On June 23, 1957, Mei Nung suffered an unprecedented deluge, followed by a landslide and a flood. The valley was turned into a lake and thirty-six people died. Their house was destroyed, but the five other laborers on the hillside and their Buddha-shrine escaped harm. The three frightened women moved down the mountain to live at Good Transformation Hall. In addition to working to feed themselves, and ascending the mountain to bow to the Buddhas, they also began construction at another mountain site. After two years, they moved back onto the mountain, started constructing the tiled Western Hall, and poured the foundation for the Buddha Hall. The following year, they felt more at ease as they moved into the completed Western Hall. In 1961, they began building the three rooms of the Buddha-shrine in front of the property. It was funded by their own savings, the contributions of local devotees, and a large donation from Lyou Yung-shou in Japan. The project was smoothly completed. In March of the following year, the image of "Ju Sheng Niang Niang" was installed, and a banquet held in honor of the occasion was attended by thirty tables of guests. The day marked an end to twenty years of tribulations.
Two years later, on National Day, Dr. Lyou Yung-shou travelled back home as an overseas Chinese. After a twenty-one years, husband and wife now saw each other again for the first time. Dr. Lyou's brother Lyou Au Shang brought Mei Jing and Mei Hwei to greet him at Pine Mountain Airport. The two daughters were filled with resentment for the cruelty of their father. The doctor walked off the plane and father and daughters stared at each other, neither side daring to say hello. Heavy at heart, yet excited, he stood speechless before his daughters. The next day when Dr. Lyou reached the mountain, Gu Bing-mei came out to welcome him. Dr. Lyou had nothing to say, but the tears poured down his face. Many local people ran up the hill to take in the spectacle.
Before he left, Dr. Lyou left NT$30,000 with the mother and girls, as a token of his esteem. Mrs. Gu and the daughters used the sum to build a bowing pagoda, and also connected electric power to the temple. The neighbors chipped in to make up the difference. Now that Blessings and Wisdom Temple and the dwelling quarters were complete, their living conditions were also better. In 1964 they began selling flowers they planted around the temple. Four years later, with the financial help of Dr. Lyou, they paid NT$150,000 for three and a half hectares of agricultural land in front of the Gwang Shan Hall to boost their income. In 1970 with the proceeds from the sale of bamboo and flowers, they built a fully equipped guest hall.
In 1973 Dr. Lyou Yung-shou came back again and made another cash gift to improve their lives. Before Spring Festival of 1975, for the convenience of the many tourists and pilgrims, the mother and daughters joined their strength to repair the little road that led up to the temple. However, some people dug up the road and rolled boulders in the path. At that time, some local students ardently took up their cause. They resolved the matter by simply reciting the Buddha's name. Five years later, the county government built a road to the public cemetery below the temple to improve transportation. From the forest at the foot of the mountain, it passed by the right of the Lin's house, and climbed straight up to Blessings and Wisdom Temple. In 1980 the county and town governments allocated funds to blacktop the road, which today is a convenient thoroughfare.
During the Spring Festival of 1979, Dr. Lyou Yung-shou returned to Mei Nung to see his family. He attended the traditional "Vegetarian Feast to Welcome the Spring" at Blessings and Wisdom Temple, along with Lin Yi-rung, Wen Tsai-syin, Lin Tsang-sheng, Mr. and Mrs. Lyou Dwan Ren, Gau Tyan-syang, and others. Seeing the temple flourishing, Dr. Lyou felt that some of the debt that he owed his family had been redeemed. On October 25 of the following year, committees for organizing and managing the monastery were established. Gu Bing-mei was named the Abbot, Jung Lin-fa the Host, and Chi Syou-you the Vice-host. Thirty-seven members joined the board with Hwang Syin Ren as the Chairman. A banquet held on the thirty-sixth anniversary of Blessings and Wisdom Temple was attended by an unprecedented eighty tables of guests.
In 1981 they used NT$100,000 of the surplus income of the Management Committee to build a flood control dike to the left of the hall. It was smoothly completed in three years. Later, when huge rainstorms flooded the area, the dike held fast and protected the buildings, attesting to its stability.
The truths of heaven and sagely teachings of the Buddhas are revealed by righteous actions. The world and the mind are each governed by their own impartial justice. As we recollect these forty-odd years of experiences, we don't dare turn our heads around, as the past is already gone, and the future is still far off. We hope that Blessings and Wisdom Temple, and Mrs. Gu and her daughters, under the concern of all of society, and the protection of the Buddhas, will continue to develop and progress.
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