The Heavens Rain Down Flowers;
Golden Lotuses Well Forth from the Earth

天花乱坠　地涌金莲

While still in Nanjing, after he left the imperial court, Patriarch Bodhidharma met the Venerable Shen Guang (Spiritual Light), who was lecturing on the Sutras. When Dharma Master Shen Guang explained the Sutras, the heavens rained down flowers, and golden lotuses welled forth from the earth. Heavenly maidens scattered blossoms, and from beneath the earth golden lotuses burst forth. Ah! What a supreme state!

在南京，离开皇宫后，达摩祖师遇到神光法师在那儿讲经。神光法师讲经讲得天花乱坠，地涌金莲──天女散花，地下涌出金莲花来。啊！这种境界是很殊胜的。

The Patriarch heard about that, and so he also went to observe the Dharma assembly and listen to the Sutra lecture. By then he probably had learned some Chinese and could speak a few sentences. If on the road from Guangzhou to Nanjing, he learned one sentence a day, he would have learned ten sentences in ten days, and a hundred in a hundred days. That Patriarch was very intelligent; he did not have to study to learn Chinese, he just listened.

达摩祖师一听说，就去看一看这个法会，到那个地方听经。这时候他大约学会说几句中国话了，因为从广州到南京，这一路上，一天学一句，那么十天就学十句，一百天就学一百句。这位祖师也很聪明的，他学中文不用学，一听就会了。

In Nanjing, he listened to Dharma Master Shen Guang explain a Sutra. Dharma Master Shen Guang was quite pleased by that. "Hah! See how well I lecture the Sutras? Even an Indian has come to listen! Ah! He came from so far away to listen to my lecture. How truly inconceivable!" He felt quite good about it.

在南京，听神光法师在那儿讲经。这个神光法师也很神气的：“噢！你看我讲经讲得多好，印度人也来听！哈！这么远跑来听我讲经，这真是不可思议！”就觉得自己很不错的。