荻港渡水遇难
癸巳谛闲法师来度夏。甲午仍习经教。乙未五十六岁。扬州高旻寺月朗和尚。约打十二个禅七。将届七。众推公先行。至大通荻港后欲渡无钱。舟去。沿江行。忽失足堕水浮沉一昼夜。
宣化偈曰:
高僧习教已三年。月朗相约众参禅。
荻港水难经昼夜。死而不亡寿命昌。
Encountering difficulty while crossing the river at Ti Kang
The following year, Dharma Master Ti Hsien (Examining the Barriers) came to spend the summer. The Master remained on the mountain studying sutras. When the Master was fifty-six, the monks learned that Abbot Yueh Lang (Clear Moon) of Kao Min Monastery in Yang Chou was going to convene a continuous twelve-week session of dhyana meditation. Preparing to leave, the group asked the Master to go first. After reaching Ti Kang at T'ung (Great Penetration), he had to cross the water, but had no money. The ferry left without him. As he walked along the river's edge, the Master suddenly lost his footing and fell into the rushing water, where he bobbed helplessly for a day and night.
The verse says:
The eminent Sanghans had studied together for a period of three years,
And the Venerable Abbot Yueh Lang invited the monks to investigate Ch'an.
But at Reed Harbor, the Master slipped, and drifted for a day and night.
Although he probably should have drowned, his life was not yet over.