勅修百丈清規 5.6

5.6

不殺生

(catvāraḥ pratipannāḥ; sixiang), may they all descend to manifest

themselves in response to my prayer and witness the conduct of the

following rites.

After repeating this prayer three times, the ordination master then says:

O sons of good families, if you wish to have the precepts confirmed

upon you, you must first repent and be cleansed of your faults and

flaws, just as cloth must be washed before it is dyed. Now, you must

repent with utmost sincerity by following along with my recitation of

the verse of repentance:

Whatever evil karma I have committed in my past lives,

Rooted in beginningless forces of desire, hatred, and delusion,

All a result of my acts of body, speech, and mind,

I now repent of all of it completely, without remainder.

The master repeats the verse three times as the practitioners follow in unison, and the candidate novices perform three prostrations. They then kneel before the master, left knee up and right one down, with their palms joined together.

The ordination master says:

O sons of good families, the Dharma has already cleansed your actions

(karmas) of body, speech, and mind. You are now obliged to take refuge

in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha.

He then immediately calls for the recitation of the set of ceremonial phrases for conversion:

I take refuge in the Buddha,

I take refuge in the Dharma,

I take refuge in the Sangha.

I take refuge in the Buddha, the most honorable, highest being

[among all humans].

I take refuge in the Dharma, the most honorable [truth] that transcends

the profane.

I take refuge in the Sangha, the most honorable among all human

assemblies.

Now, having already taken refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha,

I declare that the Perfected One (Tathāgata) who realized the ultimate

truth and supreme enlightenment is my master, and I now take refuge

in him. From this moment onward, I call the Buddha my teacher and

will not take refuge in any other evil, wrong teachers and heretics. May

the Buddha’s compassion be upon us.

The candidates for ordination silently concentrate on these passages while the practitioners recite them along with the ordination master.

(From the initial passage, “I take refuge in the Buddha,” to the last passage, “May the Buddha’s compassion be upon us,” the entire set of verses must be repeated three times; however, the last passage, “May the Buddha’s compassion be upon us,” is to be repeated twice at the end of the second recitation of the verses and three times at the end of the third recitation.)

At the end of each recitation, the candidates for ordination perform one, two, and three prostrations, respectively, after which they once again kneel before the master, left knee up and right one down, with palms joined together. The ordination master says:

O sons of good families, you have already forsaken the evil teaching

and taken refuge in the right teaching. The efficacy of the [moral and

religious] norms of action has already permeated the whole of your

being. If you wish to know the rules of the precepts and maintain them,

you must vow to keep the set of five rules:

As long as I live (literally, “till the end of my body and life”),

I will not commit an act of killing,

I will not commit an act of stealing,

I will not commit an act of sexual indulgence,

I will not commit an act of lying,

I will not commit an act of becoming intoxicated.

The ordination master then says: “These are the five rules of the [Buddha’s] precepts, with which you must comply. Answer me: Will you uphold these rules?”

The candidates answer, “Yes, we will, sir.”

The ordination master continues, “The foregoing five member rules of the precepts must not be violated separately or all together. Answer me again: Will you keep these rules of the precepts?”

The candidates again respond, “Yes, we will, sir.”

“So be it,” completes the master.

Thereupon the candidates for ordination perform three prostrations and again kneel before him, left knee up and right one down, with palms joined together. The ordination master says:

O sons of good families, the foregoing set of five rules is the initial

step to enter the path of enlightenment and the foremost cause to escape

from the cycle of the threefold evil courses of life. Next, you must

accept the ten rules of the precepts prescribed for aspiring novices.

Whoever is committed to these rules in external form is called “one

who aspires to become a Buddhist disciple” (śrāmaṇera; qince). Who-

ever observes these rules under his master’s guidance and receives the

same benefit from the sangha is an authenticated novice worthy of

becoming a practitioner. [Therefore,] you are most obliged to accept

the ten rules of the precepts:

As long as I live, I will not commit an act of killing,

I will not commit an act of stealing,

I will not commit an act of sexual intercourse,