荒年割稻与民食

癸亥八十四岁。时现李氏化莲。道明蚁塔。具行自化。生西等异迹。甲子八十五岁。修诸塔寺。乙丑八十六岁。传戒讲经。起长七。丙寅八十七岁。近年滇境。多兵劫民畏。稻熟而不敢收。公向官请以僧领收。勿阻。故千人聚食。始饭。继粥糠水等。共甘苦。民德之。

宣化偈曰：

始则同食饭。继而饮粥浆。
终至糠和水。僧俗共蒸尝。

Reaping rice during a barren year and feeding the people

In 1923, the Master was eighty-four. At that time, several strange events were witnessed: a transformational lotus appeared upon the cremation of Mrs. Li; a pagoda was made by ants for Bhikshu Tao Ming; and Bhikshu Chu Hsing transformed himself and attained birth in the West. Next year, 1924. the Master was eighty-five, and spent time rebuilding various shrines and temples. In 1925, when the Master was eighty-six. he transmitted the precepts, explained sutras, and held long meditation sessions. The Master was eighty-seven in the year 1926. In the ensuing few years, large numbers of soldiers plundered Yunnan Province, frightening the people. The rice was ripe, but they did not dare harvest it. The Master, therefore, asked the Army commander not to allow his troops to obstruct the harvest, which was subsequently carried out by the monks. Because of the lack of food, one thousand peasants gathered at the monastery to take their meals. At first, rice was eaten, then gruel, then chaff, and finally just water was all that remained. The people appreciated the fact that the monks underwent the same hardships of life along with them.

The gatha says:
At first they all ate rice alike, and then drank thin rice gruel.
Finally they took just chaff and water, the monks and the peasants eating together.