我出家之后，发了一个愿：要把佛经先译成白话文，然后再翻译成英文。我虽然不懂英文，可是想尽方法，能翻译多少算多少。
After I left the home-life, I made a vow to explain the Buddhist Sutras in colloquial Chinese first, and then to translate them into English. Although I didn't know English, I still tried every possible way I could think of and translated as much as I could.
后来到了美国，因缘成熟，于一九六八年夏天，成立暑假佛学讲习班，开讲《楞严经》，便开始将中文经典翻译成英文。直到今天已经翻译很多种经典，虽然不一定完全正确，可是我们尽自己最大的力量。
Later, when I came to the United States, the conditions ripened. In the summer of 1968, we held the Summer Lecture and Cultivation Session, during which we lectured on the Shurangama Sutra and began translating the Sutras from Chinese into English. By now, we have translated many Sutras. Although the translations may not be exactly accurate, we have expended our best efforts.
现在懂佛法的人多了，能翻译的人也多了，你们将过去所翻译的经典重新整理，务必正确详实，契合佛意。这是我的愿力，希望你们共同努力，完成这个使命。
Now there are many people who understand the Buddha-dharma and also many people who are able to translate. We should take the Sutras that were translated in the past and revise them to make sure that the translations are absolutely correct, true, and in accord with the Buddha's meaning. This is my vow, and I hope all of you will diligently work together to carry out this mission.
一九八三年十月十三日开示
A talk given on October 13, 1983
