175.雖亂世猶海單 Despite the unrest, still receiving visitors by sea

雖亂世猶海單

癸酉九十四歲。日本進入山海關。民心慌慌。兵亂紛紛。到處不寧。十九軍在閩舉事。全省寺院均止單。惟鼓山公住持故。仍留海單。十方海眾。云水僧人。云集于鼓山者。數達千五六百之多。齋糧困難。然仍維持一粥一飯水準。

宣化偈曰：

佛教己任擔如來。僧伽飢渴身受懷。 患難顛沛必于是。世變流離更宜栽。

Despite the unrest, still receiving visitors by sea

In 1933, the Master was ninety-four. The Japanese Army occupied Shan Hai Kuan and caused great trepidation among the people. Soldiers were reckless and unruly. Unrest was widespread. In Fukien, the Nineteenth Army started an uprising. All the other temples and monasteries in the province stopped receiving visitors. However, because the Master was Abbot, Ku (Drum) Mountain continued to receive monks coming by sea. Wandering bhikshus from the ten directions gathered in large numbers at Drum Mountain. Supplying adequate food for all as difficult, since there might be as many as fifteen or sixteen hundred, and rationing permitted just one bowl of gruel and one bowl of rice per day per person.

The gatha says: Personally bearing the Buddha’s teaching, he carried it on into the future, While bodies of the Sangha members were subject to hunger and thirst. Times of trouble and difficulty are a certainty, So wandering through this changing world is the best place to cultivate.