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我生長在香港，是受英國式的教育。在我小學五年級時，因家父皈依度輪上人，而認識了佛教，繼而我也皈依了上
人。中學畢業後，我本申請去澳洲念書，澳洲方面也批准了，但家父卻希望我到美國。我請示師父之後，師父說：「妳還是去美國好了。去美國，將來就會很美嘛！
如果去澳洲，妳就會懊悔！」因此我便改向美方提出申請，沒想到只等了兩個月左右，就批准下來。
我姊姊（譚果正）比我早幾年來美留學。那時，她常寫信給師父，曾提到美國這裡沒有佛堂，只有道堂。所以師父就
在一九五八年一月，我飛美之前，囑咐說：「妳和妳姊姊要好好地把佛法帶到美國。」
到了美國，我們就在呂宋巷找到一個地下室做為建佛堂的地方。請示了師父以後，在一九五八年成立了「佛教講堂」
（師父在香港有佛教講堂）。最初登記註冊就叫「佛教講堂」(Buddhist Lecture
Hall），中英文完全都照香港的。每逢週末、週日，在這裡舉行各種佛事：講經、開示，還有念佛法會。起初，大都由我來講經。同時也邀請一些教授、老華僑
來講法。來參加法會的，大部分都是從廣東四邑僑鄉移民過來的老華僑。
那時我們也沒有特別向大眾介紹師父的事。當時這些老華僑，看我們所做的佛事，聽我們所講的佛法，就知道我們在
香港是曾受過訓練的。加上老一輩的華僑，都認識家父，就想，既然家父都會皈依這麼年輕的法師，可見這位法師必定有與人不同之處。另外，當時來美國留學並不
是很容易的，尤其是女眾，所以這些人對我們姊妹都很尊重。
我們姊妹因為在大學念書，只能週末去佛教講堂。所以講堂的鑰匙，就由比較發心的信眾去保管。當時所有的會員每
個月都要繳會費，以便支付房租、水電費等。若有人不願意繳費，也不勉強。
來佛教講堂的信眾越來越多，他們都知道我們姊妹是皈依師父的，所以就有人想要皈依師父，經稟告師父後，師父就
來函指定，哪一天，什麼時間打皈依，某某人的法名是什麼。我們就在美國這邊舉行皈依儀式，當時是由我來主持的。
我之所以熟悉這些佛事，是因為在香港時，師父曾請旭朗法師來教我們唱梵唄。師父說：「這位法師在東北是很有名
的讚王，是數一數二的。」那個時候，誰想學唱誦都可以的，只是我比較年輕，學得也快，所以在香港時一些佛事大都由我做維那。甚至師父來美初期，一有皈依及
法會等佛事，仍然由我做維那。後來師父在美有了出家的弟子，就叫我教他們唱念、打法器、作佛事、誦經等。之後，就由他們自行來主持。
一九六○年初，基於絕大多數皈依師父的弟子，從未見過師父本人（只能從佛桌上看到師父的德相），因此便提出
了，「請師父來美國弘揚佛法」的建議。徵得許多人的贊同及支援後，於是我姊姊便辦理申請師父來美的部份手續，並開始籌備資金。按照美國移民局規定，我們必
須保證提供師父的來回機票（當時的機票是很貴的），及師父在美期間的一切生活費用，這樣才可以得到移民局的批准。
因為美國移民局的手續繁雜，師父來美國的事情，進展緩慢。信心不足的弟子，就開始懷疑我們是不是在騙錢什麼
的……，於是要求退款。姊姊告訴我這件事後，我就說：「如果這個樣子下去，這事一定辦不成的。」於是我就一個個地對他們解釋，最後達成協議，擔保說：「如
果師父不能來的話，所有的錢，一定原封不動退回。」並要他們在捐款的收據上簽字，並言明是給師父來美的費用。不久，師父來美的手續也被批准了，但師父來美
以前，先去了澳洲一年（一九六一年）。
師父來美之前，我們先後搬了兩個地方。原本佛教講堂是在Pacific St.
租的店面，預備給師父來的時候用，因為這店面原做過長生店（棺材店），沒人敢租。我們因為用來做佛堂，不怕，因此租下了。但合約期滿後，業主卻逼我們搬
家。以後又找了許多地方，都不合適。而師父又快要來美國了，所以只好搬到 Clay St.
，並將已租給人家做會社的地下室收回來（家父在美時所遺留下來的房子的地下室），好讓佛友們能夠有地方暫時集會。
就在此時，由於講堂內部不和，少數佛友們爭權奪利，甚至有一位居士煽動要成立董事會，目的是想讓在家人為中心
的董事會，來執掌佛堂的一切行政事務。佛堂的主持法師要由董事會來聘請，法師們的職責，只是進行法事的安排，不能干預董事會。這樣的顛倒行事，把僧寶置諸
度外，所以造成佛教講堂分裂成派。部份對佛教一知半解的佛教徒就另起爐灶，信心堅定的弟子們，則忍耐著，盼上人早日來美主持法務。
一九六二年三月，師父終於由香港，途經日本，在檀香山稍事停留後，飛抵美國舊金山（三藩市）。師父剛抵美國
時，姊姊因回香港探親，而被美國領事館拒簽返美，而我臨時有急事須往美國東部，於是請余果興居士組成一團人到機場迎接師父。四月份，師父即開講《金剛般若
波羅蜜多經》，並成立禪坐實習班，指導年輕人打坐。
由於地下室太潮濕，實在不適合住人。所以在附近另租一個住處，給師父居住。師父來美後，信眾日多，經一些老華
僑的資助，在 Sacramento St. 租了一處地方，也就是「開平同鄉會」的樓上，就這樣佛教講堂便由原來的地下室搬遷該處了。
新的佛堂建立後，很多人來聽師父講經說法，也引來許多當地的華僑來聽經，也有很多人皈依了師父。在農曆七月，
師父在那裡舉行虛雲老和尚圓寂週年的紀念法會，有很多原來皈依虛老的弟子，也紛紛來參加法會。那時已有幾個美國人常來親近師父。
之後，搬到 Sutter
St.，這地方是一九六三年由弟子們籌款買的（講堂目前還保留著）。因為那地方靠近黑人區，所以比較便宜。但並沒有住很久，因為治安不好，交通也不方便，
很少人去。所以才又搬到 Waverly St. ，地點在中國城天后廟的樓上。
一九七○年，師父買下了位於十五街的一幢床墊工廠，改裝後成立了金山禪寺。
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I was born and grew up in Hong Kong and received a
British-style education. When I was in fifth grade, because my father
took refuge with Venerable Master To Lun, I came to know Buddhism and
later took refuge with the Master as well. When I graduated from high
school, I applied to go to Australia to attend college, and my
application was approved. My father, however, wished for me to come to
America. When I sought the Venerable Master’s advice, he said, “It’s
better if you go to America. It will be very beautiful! [In Chinese,
‘America’ is literally ‘beautiful country.’] If you go to Australia,
you will regret it! [In Chinese, one of the characters for ‘Australia’
sounds like the word ‘regret.’]” Hence I applied to study in America,
and unexpectedly received approval within two months’ time.
My elder sister (Stella Tam) came to the United
States to study a few years earlier than I did. She often wrote letters
to the Master and mentioned that there were only Taoist temples, no
Buddhist temples, in America. And so before I flew to America in
January of 1958, the Master instructed me, “You and your sister should
do a good job of bringing the Buddhadharma to America.”
When I arrived in America, I found a basement on
Pacific Street [in San Francisco’s Chinatown] where a Buddhist temple
could be set up. After we asked the Venerable Master, we established
the Buddhist Lecture Hall in 1958 (the Master had a Buddhist Lecture
Hall in Hong Kong). The name we registered under was “Buddhist Lecture
Hall"; both the Chinese and English names were identical with those
used in Hong Kong. Every weekend, there would be various Buddhist
events: Sutra lectures, instructional talks, and sessions for reciting
the Buddha’s name. In the beginning, I gave most of the lectures on the
Sutras. Some professors and overseas Chinese were also invited to give
Dharma talks. Most of those who attended these events were immigrants
from four counties of Guangdong Province.
We didn’t make a special point of introducing the
Venerable Master to the assembly. Yet when these overseas Chinese
observed us leading Buddhist ceremonies and heard our explanations of
the Buddhadharma, they knew we had had training back in Hong Kong. The
older generation of overseas Chinese also knew my father, and they
thought that if my father had taken refuge with such a young Dharma
Master, that Dharma Master must be quite special. Furthermore, since it
was not easy for students, especially girls, to come to America to
study in those days, they regarded my sister and me with great respect.
Because my sister and I were attending college, we
could only come to the Buddhist Lecture Hall on the weekends, so the
key to the Lecture Hall was given to the more devoted laypeople to
keep. All the members had to pay a monthly fee to help pay the rent and
the gas, electricity, and water bills. However, no one was forced to
pay against their will.
More and more laypeople began coming to the
Buddhist Lecture Hall. They all knew that my sister and I had taken
refuge with the Venerable Master, and some of them also wished to take
refuge with the Master. We told the Master, who wrote back telling us
on which day and at what time we should hold the refuge ceremony, and
what each person’s Dharma name would be. So we held the ceremony for
taking refuge here in America, under my direction.
I was familiar with all these Buddhist ceremonies
because in Hong Kong, the Master had asked Dharma Master Xulang to
teach us to sing the Buddhist praises. The Master said, “This Dharma
Master is a very famous cantor in Manchuria. He is one of the best.”
Everyone was welcome to learn to sing the praises, but because I was
younger, I learned fast, and so I served as cantor for most of the
ceremonies in Hong Kong. When the Master first came to America, I also
served as cantor for all the refuge-taking and other Buddhist
ceremonies. After the Master had left-home disciples in America, he
asked me to teach them how to sing the praises, play the Dharma
instruments, perform the ceremonies, and recite Sutras. After that,
they were able to lead the ceremonies themselves.
In the beginning of 1960, almost all the disciples
who had taken refuge with the Venerable Master had never seen the
Master in person (they could only look at the Venerable Master’s image
on the altar). They proposed that we request the Master to come to
America to propagate the Buddhadharma. After we gained the approval and
support of many people, my sister and I initiated the process of
applying for the Master to come to America. We also began raising
funds. In order to gain approval from the U.S. Immigration Service, we
had to prove that we could provide a roundtrip air ticket for the
Master (in those days airfare was quite expensive) and all the Master’s
living expenses during his stay in America.
Due to the complicated procedures of the
immigration service, the Master’s trip to America was delayed.
Disciples with insufficient faith began to suspect that we were
cheating them and demanded their donations back. When my sister
informed me of this, I said, “If this continues, we will never
accomplish our goal.” I went to each of them and explained the
situation. In the end we reached an agreement and guaranteed them, “If
the Master cannot come, we will return all the money untouched.” We
also had them sign their receipts and write down that the money was to
pay for the Venerable Master’s trip to America. Soon afterwards, the
Master’s visit to America was approved. However, before coming to
America, the Master went to Australia for one year (1961).
Before the Master came to America, we moved twice.
The Buddhist Lecture Hall had originally rented a storefront on Pacific
Street where the Master could stay. It had been a coffin store before,
and no one dared to rent it. Since we were going to use it as a
Buddhist temple, we had no qualms about renting it. But when our lease
was up, the landlord demanded that we move out. We looked at many
places, none of which were suitable. Since the Master was coming to
America soon, we decided to move to Clay Street, reclaiming the
basement that we had rented out to a tenant (the basement of a house
that my father had bought when he was in America), so our fellow
cultivators could have a place to meet.
At that time, there was some disharmony in the
Lecture Hall. A few of the members wanted to seize power, and one
layman even instigated a move to form a Board of Trustees of laypeople
to handle the administration of the temple. His plan was to have the
Board of Trustees engage Dharma Masters for the Lecture Hall, and for
the Dharma Masters to only carry out the scheduled Dharma events and
not serve on the Board of Trustees. This inverted plan would place the
Sangha Jewel far from the center of control. Consequently, the Buddhist
Lecture Hall divided into factions. Those who had only a partial
understanding of Buddhism went off to start their own group, while
disciples with firm faith patiently bore out the matter and hoped the
Venerable Master would soon come to America to direct the temple’s
activities.
In March 1962, the Master flew from Hong Kong via
Japan, stopped briefly in Honolulu, and landed in San Francisco. When
the Master arrived in America, my sister had returned to Hong Kong to
visit our family, and the American consulate had refused to issue her a
visa to return to the United States. I was also temporarily called away
to the East Coast on urgent business, and so I asked Layperson Yu
Guoxing to form a group of people to welcome the Master at the airport.
In April, the Master began lecturing on the Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra
and held a Chan meditation class to guide young people in meditation.
Because the basement was too damp and unfit for
residence, another place was rented nearby for the Master to live in.
After the Master arrived in America, his followers increased day by
day. With the support of some overseas Chinese, the upper floor of the
Kaiping Villagers Association was rented and the Buddhist Lecture Hall
moved from the basement to the new location.
Many people came to listen to the Master’s
lectures on Sutras at the new temple, including many local overseas
Chinese. Many people also took refuge with the Master. In the seventh
lunar month, the Master held a Dharma Session Commemorating the
Anniversary of Elder Master Hsu Yun’s Completion of Stillness. Many
people who had taken refuge with Elder Master Yun came to attend. By
that time, there were several Americans who frequently came to draw
near the Master.
Later, the Master moved to Sutter Street. The
place was bought in 1963 with funds raised by disciples (the Lecture
Hall is still there today). Because it was near a black neighborhood,
it was cheaper. However, he did not stay there long, because it was not
a very safe place, it was not easy to get there, and few people went.
Later the Master moved to Waverly Street, to the upper floor of Tianhou
Temple in Chinatown.
In 1970, the Master bought an old mattress factory
on Fifteenth Street and renovated it. It became Gold Mountain Dhyana
Monastery.
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