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1973年10月30日
細窄蜿蜒的公路開始向海邊延伸下去，我們遇上了大麻煩。我們離岸邊城鎮Bodega Bay（柏得卡灣）還不到一哩時，我要上廁所。不用說，這裡沒有廁所。我下了公路，進入灌木林裡方便一下。很遺憾，找不到衛生紙，我就近抓了一把橘黃鮮亮的樹葉，造下高代價的錯誤。不久我知道這些漂亮的小寶石似的樹葉，實際是毒橡樹的葉子。（我以前一直以為毒橡樹的葉子總是綠的。）這時想也沒有用，我們安心地拜下去。傍晚，我的全身癢得不得了，整晚都這樣，我一刻也沒睡著；可我一直記得要念觀音，這樣我就可以不想那苦痛。
第二天早晨，我幾乎動不了，更不用說拜了。我和恆由只好坐在路旁土堆上。我們都非常絕望，我心中再次充滿了疑惑，感到所要做的事是既不可能，也不切實際。前面還有半個加州，整個奧立岡州和華盛頓州要拜，而我啥也不能幹了。
我們坐了幾個小時，不能退回去，（能退嗎？）肯定也不能前進了。我們看著汽車來往，想不出什麼解決的辦法。突然，好像有了奇異的感應，兩輛熟悉的房車在我們面前停下了，金山寺全部人馬都來了！上人也來了！我們到一處廢棄的罐頭工廠前的停車場上，他們拿出食品、衣物、藥品，所有我們需要的東西，甚至還有衛生紙，那氣氛真是好極了。
我們環坐下來，直徑約有15呎。首先恆由介紹了我們前幾天的經歷，然後比丘、比丘尼每人都簡單地說法。大家講話時，上人拿起我的手開始揉搓；他很輕地揉著揉著，同時還唸咒。漸漸地，我覺得身上的緊張與痛苦減少了，聽不到別人在說甚麼，只感覺到下午陽光的溫暖，其他甚麼都無所謂了。
聚會大約一小時他們走了，上人告訴我拜時要注入更多的心力。他說這個場合念觀音是最好的法門；他說觀音菩薩不僅有力量幫助個人，而且能以不可思議的方式幫助世界，帶來和平。
分手之前我問上人：「昨晚我求觀音菩薩幫助，今天金山寺的人馬就來了，這不是很巧嗎？」上人說：「這沒甚麼，任何時候你願意求，我都會到。」
今天我學了很多，其中一件是毒橡樹葉的樣子，這輩子我都不會忘記；我還要盡最大努力去避免別人遭受同樣痛苦。更重要的是，我對師父的中心哲學：「怎地都好，一切沒說」有了更好的瞭解。這幾個字是他教授的核心，我已聽了上百遍了。「怎地都好，一切沒說」，並不是說你想做甚麼就可以去做。不是的。「怎地都好，一切沒說」，是種非常嚴謹的內心境界，是在完全無執著條件下，觀照一切有為法升滅時才有的境界。回金山寺之前，師父為我們每個人開示，他說：
難行能行是聖行，難忍能忍是真忍。
十方諸佛行此這，八萬菩薩緊跟隨。
吹大法螺疾聲呼，振寶錫杖化慳貪。
功成果滿凱旋歸，犒賞吾徒餡餅餐。
1973年10月31日
「怎地都好，一切沒說」，並不是躺在沙灘上，一手拿著啤酒，一手拿著金剛經。現在有太多人充滿邪知邪見，卻自認開悟了。懂佛教的人知道法中最重要的一條就是要斷欲去愛。佛曾親口說最高境界就是無欲。金山寺的上人也這樣講，可許多人都不願聽，更不用說去實行了。就拿我來說罷，上人送我的那首偈上說的最後一行提到餡餅，是指草莓餡餅。我講個故事的來源。
待續
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30 October 1973
Now, as the thin, snaking highway begins its descent back to the coast, we have met with disaster. We were just a mile short of the coastal town of Bodega Bay, when I felt the call to go to the bathroom. Needless to say, there were no bathrooms, so I crawled off the highway into a little clump of bushes to perform my daily duty. Unfortunately, there wasn't any toilet paper available, so I grabbed at the nearest bush and pulled off a handful of bright orange leaves. That was a costly mistake! I soon found out that those pretty little gems were, in fact, Poison Oak! (I had always thought poison oak was green.) Thinking didn't help at this point. We secured bowing, and by evening my entire body was itching something terrible. It kept up all night; I didn't get a moment's sleep. I did, however, remember to recite the name of Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva (in Chinese, Guanshiyin Pusa), and it helped keep my mind off of the pain.
By morning, I could hardly move, much the less bow, so Heng Yo and I just sat down on a mound of dirt by the side of the road. We were both in total despair. Once again, I was overwhelmed with doubts and with the sense of impossibility and unreality of what we were doing. Here, with half of California, all of Oregon, and all of Washington left to bow through, and I don't even know how to perform even the simplest of tasks correctly!
We definitely couldn't go on. We sat and watched the cars pass by. There seemed to be no conceivable way to solve our problem. Suddenly though, as if in magical response to our dilemma, two familiar-looking vans pulled to a stop before us. Out popped the whole group from Gold Mountain! And the Master, too! We moved to an empty parking lot in front of an abandoned cannery. They brought out food, clothing, medicine, everything that we needed, even toilet paper! What a wonderful feeling filled the air!
We all sat down in a circle, about fifteen feet in diameter. First, Heng Yo and I explained our experiences over the last few days; then one by one the monks and nuns gave short Dharma-talks. While they spoke, the Master took my right hand and began rubbing it. He rubbed and rubbed, very softly, while he recited a mantra. Gradually, I could feel every bit of tension and pain leave my body. I couldn't hear what anyone was saying; I could only feel the warmth of the afternoon sun. Nothing else mattered.
The meeting lasted about an hour, then they got in the vans to depart. The Master instructed us to put more mental energy into the bowing. He said that reciting the name of Guanyin Bodhisattva is the best method (dharma) for this situation. He said that not only does Guanyin have the power to help individuals, but this Bodhisattva can greatly help in the bringing of peace to the world, in ways that are inconceivable.
Just before they left, I asked the Master, "Last night I called for Guanyin Bodhisattva to come and rescue me, and today you and the people of Gold Mountain have come to the rescue. Isn't this quite a coincidence?"
The Master immediately replied, "It's no big thing. Anytime you like, just give a call. I'll be there."
I learned a lot today. For one thing, I'll never forget what poison oak looks like as long as I live, and I'll do my best to save others from this painful experience. But more important, I got a better understanding of what I call the Master's central philosophy, "Everything's O.K." Those two words are the essence of his teaching; I have heard them spoken hundreds of times. "Everything's O.K." doesn't mean that you can just run out and do whatever you please. No, "Everything's O.K." is a very disciplined state of mind, wherein one observes the rise and fall of all conditioned things with complete detachment.
Before going back to Gold Mountain the Master gave each of us his instructions. This is what he said:
Practicing what is difficult to practice is the conduct of the Sage;
Enduring what is hard to endure is the genuine patience.
All Buddhas throughout the ten directions have walked down this road,
The eighty thousand Bodhisattvas have followed right along.
Blow the magnificent Dharma conch, and raise up the cry,
Shake your precious pewter staff, transform stingy greed.
Your work complete, and result full, return midst songs of triumph,
Then I'll give my disciple a meal of berry pie.
31 October 1973
"Everything's O.K." doesn't mean slopping around the beach with a can of beer in one hand and a copy of the Diamond Sutra in the other. There are too many people now who live like heathen pigs and think they are enlightened. People who really understand Buddhism know that the single most important dharma is cutting off desire. Buddha himself said that the highest consciousness of all is simply no desire. The Master at Gold Mountain teaches it that way, too, but not many people really want to hear it, how much the less do it. Take me, for example. In the last line of the poem that the Master just gave me, there is reference to a berry pie; I'll now tell the story it refers to.
To be continued
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