Wisdom Lake

靈泉湖

The water of Wisdom Lake shimmers with the changing seasons of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden, resembling a beautiful painting reflecting in the pure land of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden. But in the earliest times, there was no lake here. Instead, it was a swampy area. So, how did this swamp transform into the beautiful Wisdom Lake?

Back in the day, when the construction of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden was underway, Venerable Master Sing Hung wished for the Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden to have both mountains and water, which would be especially auspicious. Therefore, Master Dayi Shi had a special desire to dig a lotus lake to fulfill the elder's wish. Shortly after determining the location, Master Dayi arranged for the excavation to begin. One winter morning, an Italian worker named Peter was operating a large excavator at the construction site when he suddenly heard someone clearly say "Stop!" in English! Peter felt very strange because he was the only one working in the wilderness, so who could have called out to stop him?

Peter got out of the vehicle and was startled to see that in front of the bulldozer was a muddy swamp. If he hadn't heard the "Stop" call, the bulldozer would have sunk into the swamp, and since there was no one around at the time, the consequences would have been unimaginable. Peter quickly reversed the bulldozer and avoided disaster. After regaining his composure, he continued to dig with the excavator at the spot where the call had come from, and suddenly a spring gushed forth, with the bulldozer precisely over the spring source.

This news quickly reached Toronto. Venerable Sing Hung and Master Dayi Shi rushed to the scene and were overjoyed. Venerable Sing Hung immediately named this place "Wisdom Lake." Subsequently, the lake was dug larger and larger, from 100 meters to 400 meters, and eventually to 600 meters, creating the sparkling Wisdom Lake we see today.

Today, Wisdom Lake is approximately 600 meters long, 70 meters wide, and has a depth of 6-7 meters. It is home to fishes and otters. In gratitude for the Bodhisattva's voice saving a life, Master Dayi made a vow to build four great Bodhisattva statues by the side of Wisdom Lake for people to worship and commemorate. Thus, we now have the square with the four great Bodhisattva statues by the shores of Wisdom Lake.

Wisdom Lake is located on the eastern side of the Main Hall. When you ascend the Main Hall, you can see the beautiful Wisdom Lake lying quietly in the embrace of Wutai Shan Buddhist Garden in Canada. It is like a bright green emerald, clear and transparent, embedded in this land full of spirituality and radiant Buddha light. We hope that everyone will come to admire and appreciate it in different seasons.

靈泉湖的湖水波光瀲灩，伴隨著五台山的春夏秋冬，靈泉湖彷彿一幅美麗的畫卷，映照在五台山的清淨道場。但是最早的時候，這裡是沒有湖水的。而且不但沒有湖水，這裡還是一片沼澤地。那麼，這個沼澤地是怎麼變成美麗的靈泉湖的呢？

想當年，在籌建五台山的時候，性空長老希望五台山有山有水最為殊勝，所以達義大和尚就特別想挖一個蓮花池來完成長老的願望。不久，達義大和尚在確定方位之後，便請人開挖。冬天的一個早晨，一位名叫彼特Peter的義大利工人在施工現場，開著大型挖土機向指定地點開去，突然聽到有人清晰地用英文說了一聲「Stop 」！ Peter覺得很奇怪，荒山野地只有他一個人在施工，怎麼會有叫停的聲音呢？

彼特下車後一看，嚇了一大跳。原來鏟車前面就是一片泥濘的沼澤地。如果沒有聽到「Stop」的叫聲，鏟車就會陷入沼澤裡，當時四周寂靜無人，一旦陷進，後果將不堪設想。彼特開著鏟車趕緊往後退，才倖免於難。等他定了定神以後，開著挖土機對著沼澤地挖下去，頓時一股泉水噴湧而出，鏟車正好挖在泉眼上。

這個消息很快就傳到了多倫多。性空長老和達義大和尚聞訊趕來，歡喜不已，性空長老立刻為這裡命名為「靈泉湖」。隨後，湖越挖越大，從100公尺到400米，最後到600米，就有瞭如今碧波蕩漾的靈泉湖。

如今整個靈泉湖長約600米，寬70米，水深也有6-7米，湖內有魚和水獺。為了感謝菩薩發聲救人，達義大和尚發願，在靈泉湖邊建造四大菩薩聖像，以便大眾朝拜，予以紀念，於是就有了今天靈泉湖畔四大菩薩的廣場。

靈泉湖位於大雄寶殿的東側。如果登上大雄寶殿方位來看，美麗的靈泉湖靜靜地躺在加國五台山的懷抱中，猶如一顆碧綠的翡翠，玲瓏剔透，鑲嵌在這塊靈氣十足、佛光四射的寶地，期待大家在不同季節都能前來觀瞻欣賞。