我叫張平玉，而我也欣沐於南傳佛教的教導。我曾任教於天主教學校附設的幼稚園長達二十五年之久，但是在兩年前我放棄了原有的工作，並在斯里蘭卡開始了我的慈善志業 ── 我們的新設道場在那裡為村裡的貧民服務。我畢業於新加坡學院，主修藝術，並且於兩千零四年取得了「南傳佛教研究」的碩士學位。
當我致力於我的碩士學位時，大約在年中的時候我做了一個夢。在夢裡我見到一個素未謀面的人，他一身白色裝束，白髮及肩，並留著白色的鬍子；他用中國話告訴我：「你應該要讀《楞嚴經》！」那時，我根本不知道什麼是「楞嚴經」，而且也從未聽過。夢醒之後我並不在意，因為在南傳佛教並沒有所謂的「楞嚴經」。我已讀過很多的經典但從未涉獵《楞嚴經》，所以我把這個夢置諸腦後。
所以我請教了另一個人──我的太極老師，問他是否知道關於《楞嚴經》的任何知識。他告訴我他曾聽過，並給了我一個短的咒。這個咒或許是楞嚴咒的一部份，並且它實在是太短了；但我還是很高興看到了這個咒，並開始每天誦持它。
當親淨到機場來接我的時候，我告訴她關於我做的這個夢，她覺得這個白袍老人應該是虛雲老和尚。但我自己覺得通常佛教徒是穿黃袍，為什麼他是穿白袍呢？
我們到達金岸法界聖寺時，親淨帶我直往圖書館，我們一起瀏覽〈虛雲老和尚畫傳〉，我指著其中一張照片說：「他就是那個人！」但我指的那張畫像，他的臉頰比我夢中的消瘦。在我夢中，老和尚比較豐腴一點，而且臉色紅潤，看上去讓人覺得樂於親近。
我個人覺得非常幸運及喜樂能來到這裡。
About six months after, I had the same dream. This renounced person told me the same thing. He asked: “Did you read the Shurangama Sutra?” When I woke up, I thought, “Shurangama Sutra again? Oh no!” This time, I got worried and asked my younger sister, who had more exposure to Mahayana teachings than I did. She told me: “Yes, in the Mahayana Teachings, there is the Shurangama Sutra, but I can’t tell you much about it, because I never studied it. I’ve heard of it, though.”
Strangely enough, six or seven months after, I had the same dream again. The renounced person asked me again: “Did you read the Shurangama Sutra?” When I woke up I got really anxious because it was the same dream and same person again. I told a friend of mine, who happened to be the aunt of Elaine Ginn, a participant here. One day, she called and told me: “There is a Shurangama Retreat in Australia, and you must not miss this. This may be a once in a lifetime chance. You told me about your dream so you should go and join this retreat.”