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在一個濛濛飄雪的早晨，一輛載著56人的大巴士從華嚴聖寺（加拿大卡加利城）出發，另有兩輛箱型車尾隨其後；一行人浩浩蕩蕩往聞名已久的堡壘山進發，每個人都懷著一份虔誠朝聖之心。因為上人曾說：此山是文殊師利菩薩的道場，在去之前，我們已聽說了一些爬山遇到的靈感事蹟；今日親臨，更覺此山的神聖莊嚴。
抵達時，大眾先向此山九拜，再各自背午餐上去。儘管6小時的來回山程，有些人的腳力已不勝負荷；但沿途的寧靜、群樹的偉岸、皚皚白雪的祥和，早已使大家的疲勞化成喜悅。不久雪花停飛，陽光灑進樹林間，彷彿鼓舞我們不斷前進。一行人當中，有兩個人聽見了敲大鐘的聲音，還以為是山上有寺廟呢！即將到山頂時，由於一部份路結冰易滑，所以除了少數人到達最上面，其餘的則原路下山。山頂兩個湖都已結凍，放眼望去，盡是白雪，景色壯觀。約下午六點左右，大眾都陸陸續續到齊了，便前往附近旅館住宿。
隔天早上7：10，我們去參觀一個高山湖─摩寧湖，湖面波平如鏡，群山倒影盡入眼簾，其中一座酷似國劇臉譜，彷彿上演一幕幕人生百態，訴說歲月滄桑；寶藍滲淡綠的湖色，就像一塊藍寶石鑲在白玉帶上，高貴而典雅。接著開了一段路程，來到另一個湖─夢蓮湖，此名稱是以英國女王的小女兒命名，因為她下嫁加拿大一位官員，所以更改翡翠湖舊名，一直沿用至今。不久驅車到「寶瀑布」，它雖沒有尼瓜拉瀑布的萬馬奔騰，卻有幾分橫掃千軍的氣勢；滾滾浪花似乎把來往過客的塵囂、煩惱都洗滌盡淨，而化入清澈見底、盪漾著碧綠微波的湖水中。
一路上，我們也曾在幾個景點略為駐足，還經過一座像臥佛的高山，後來便進入黃金鎮。坐在巴士內眺望天空，不時發現有七彩雲在左上方飄，絢麗無比；忽然我看見一朵大烏雲，定眼一瞧，竟然是一尊菩薩坐在蓮華上。我驚呼全車的人向左邊窗外看，有的法師迅速地按下快門，拍攝這難得的影像。
第三天一大早，大夥起身坐巴士去參觀法總黃金鎮的道場(尚未建寺)；上人說那座山是大鵬金翅鳥守護之地，山頂像是一尊彌勒菩薩，平地是萬佛聖城的三倍大。我們朝著山九拜，便繞著道場預定地走一圈。目前有位男眾居士在那兒住茅棚，他告訴我們幾次遇見熊的經驗，但都化險為夷，不禁令人佩服其膽量。中午到餐廳用膳後，大家便分道而行，有的回華嚴聖寺，其餘則繼續前往溫哥華的金佛聖寺。望著沿路漸遠的群山，隨著萬家燈火，為這次卡加利朝聖之旅劃下美麗的句點。
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It was a hazy morning with snowflakes drifting in the sky. A big bus carrying fifty-six people from the Avatamsaka Sagely Monastery (Calgary, Canada) headed towards the well-known Castle Mountain, followed by two other vans. Everyone’s heart was filled with sincere devotion for this pilgrimage. The Venerable Master once said, “This mountain is Manjusri Bodhisattva’s Bodhimandala.” Before we started, we had already heard about some auspicious responses and events that occurred when people climbed that mountain. Today when climbing it ourselves, we felt its sacredness and majesty even more.
When we arrived, we bowed nine times facing the mountain. Each of us put our lunch in our backpacks before heading up. The mountain trip took us six hours, and some of us were exhausted. However, the serenity on the way, the mighty trees clustering on both sides, and the peaceful and tranquil white snow soon transformed our weariness to blissful happiness. Shortly thereafter, the snowflakes ceased drifting as rays of sunlight shone through the woods. It seemed like an encouraging sign for us to keep moving ahead. Two people heard the sound of a big bell and thought there was a temple in the mountain. When we were nearly at the peak, because part of the road was covered with ice and was quite slippery, a few people continued to venture to the top while the rest turned back. The two lakes on the peak were already frozen. There was snow everywhere in sight. It was an awesome panorama. Around 5:00 PM, everyone finally gathered together to check-in at a nearby hotel.
Early next morning at 7:10 AM, we went to visit a lake in a high mountain – Lake Louise. The surface of this lake was flat like a mirror, and one could see the vivid reflections of many mountains in it. There was one which resembled a Chinese opera mask. It seemed to be acting out the myriad scenes of human life, telling of the vicissitudes of the years gone by. The color of the lake was aquamarine tinted with pale green. It resembled a blue crystal gem embedded in a white jade belt – graceful and elegant. Next, we drove a distance to another lake – Lake Marie, named after a daughter of a queen in England. Because she married a Canadian government official, they changed the original name of Lake Emerald to her name and it has been used ever since. Shortly after that, we drove to visit the “Bo” waterfall. Though it does not have the panoramic view of “ten thousand stampeding horses” like Niagara Falls, it has the vehement force of “striking and overcoming a thousand troops”. Endless waves seemed to continuously cleanse and scrub off the mundane dust and afflictions of its passing guests, transforming them into lucid lake water that gently flowed in emerald green ripples.
On our way, we stopped briefly at several other scenic spots. We even passed a tall mountain shaped like a reclining Buddha.
 Eventually we entered the town of Golden. While sitting inside the bus and looking up at the sky, I discovered a seven-colored cloud floating towards the upper left side. It was brilliant beyond compare. Shortly after, I saw a big dark cloud. When I took a close look, to my surprise, it became the image of a Bodhisattva sitting on a lotus flower. I hollered to everyone in the bus to look through the windows on the left side. Two people seated in front quickly pressed on their camera shutter to take a snapshot of this rare sight.
On the third day, we all woke up early in the morning to take the bus to visit the site of DRBA’s Bodhimandala in the town of Golden (no monastery has been built yet). The Venerable Master had said that the mountain was stationed and guarded by the Great Golden Winged Peng Bird. The peak resembles the image of Maitreya Bodhisattva, and the flat land is two times bigger than the Sagely City of the Ten Thousand Buddhas. We bowed nine times facing the mountain and circumambulated the site once. At present, there is a layman living in a hut at the site. He told us of his experiences encountering bears several times and how he was saved from danger every time. I could not help but admire his courage. In the afternoon after we all had lunch, we departed separately. Some returned to Avatamsaka Monastery; the rest continued their travel to Gold Buddha Sagely Monastery in Vancouver. The mountain ranges receding in the distance and the bright lights shining from the myriad houses painted a beautiful picture to end this pilgrimage to Calgary.
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