The Dharma does not arise
haphazardly, but only grows in accordance with causation. It is now four years since the
establishment of the Chinese Buddhist Society of Australia with the aim of bringing
Mahayana Buddhism into the Southern Hemisphere. During this period, the work of the
propagation of the Dharma has steadily proceeded without any interruption.
The seven foot portrait and the bronze statue of the Buddha have been
installed in the centre of the Prajna Hall, with the five foot statue of the Bodhisattva
of Great Compassion (Kuan-yin) on the right side and the statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva
on the left side. We now have a complete set of ritual objects: banners, green-bell,
wooden fish, etc.
Mrs. A. Howe, wife of the late Mr. S. C. Howe, a wealthy businessman of
Chefoo, Shantung, China, is kind, benevolent and charitable, and was once the president of
the Shantung Club of Australia Ltd, Sydney. She became a Buddhist in her old age, and now
recites the name of Avolokitesvara Bodhisattva daily and observes Eight Prohibitory
Precepts once a year.
She is very interested in the Society's propagation of the Dharma, and
makes donations to the Society every year. Recently she sent me a cheque for five hundred
dollars, in addition to her donation, stating that this money should be used for the
erection of the statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Because the statue of Ksitigarbha
Bodhisattva was already erected in 1974 with the money left over from contributions used
to print two important Sutras of Pure Land Sect, I have therefore decided to use her money
to print the Ksitigarbha Sutra in order to meet her wish. It will be distributed free by
the Society to commemorate her seventieth anniversary birthday of April, 1976.
I should like to express my gratitude to Ven. Chee Hoi of Hong Kong
Buddhist Book Distributor for solving the problem of printing and of the occasion of the
printing of this Sutra. I feel it appropriate to relate the circumstances connected with
this publication.
Sydney, Australia
Y. Y. Liao
B.B. 2520 (A.D. 1976)
