勅修百丈清規 6.24

6.24

抱病僧某。右某本貫某州某姓幾

Venerable So-and-so, native of such-and-such province, became a Zen

practitioner by receiving the ordination certificate in such-and-such

year at such-and-such place. He came to establish his residency at So-

and-so Temple in such-and-such year and date. Having been struck

with an ailment these past days, it is feared that there is no certainty

as to whether or not he will survive it. Hence he requests that [after

his death] the content of the parcel that he has kept in his possession

be distributed through due official procedure, and that his funeral rite

be conducted as prescribed by the Zen monastic regulations.

Day, month, and year

Orally conveyed by

Practitioner So-and-so, who is ailing

X. The Death of a Resident Practitioner

1. Collecting the Possessions

Left by the Deceased

When a practitioner dies due to illness, the nursing attendant reports this to the infirmary hall master and also to the director of practitioners’ affairs, and requests permission to seal the parcel belonging to the deceased. The attendant of the practice hall office reports the [practitioner’s death] to the primary seat official, the training and administrative officials, and the abbot’s assistant. He then visits the infirmary hall for the departed in order to copy the document of the orally transmitted will. Along with the practitioner in charge of public proceedings, the practitioner who attended the ill person collects the contents of the sutra cabinet [located in the practitioners’ quarters], the storage box [located in the practice hall], and all personal possessions, and prepares a record of them, numbering and sealing each item. He then places them on the space unit belonging to the deceased. Excluded from this, however, is the clothing that the deceased’s body will be dressed in [for cremation] and other items. (These include the one-piece garment, simplified robe,

under- and outergarments, prayer beads, an incense case, a pair of gaiters, a pair of traveling shoes, a handkerchief for shaving the head, a cloth for collecting ashes, and so on.)

These necessary items are gathered together and retained. This procedure must be handled jointly by the infirmary hall master and the practitioner who attended the deceased. If, however, these two cannot leave the side of [other] ailing practitioners, the director of practitioners’ affairs and the primary seat official must carry out this task instead.

Even when the deceased has no bamboo case [or other such container] for his personal possessions, an equally dedicated funeral rite should be conducted for him. The record of the revenue from the auction [of the deceased’s personal goods] as well as the account of expenditures must be presented to the primary seat official after sealing the documents. The items in the bamboo case, such as those previously collected and sealed, are to be carried to the practice hall office by lay workers who belong to the quarters of the primary seat official, the director of practitioners’ affairs, the guest reception official, and the assistant official. In the case that an administrative retiree who resided in the private quarters left behind many bamboo cases after his death, the deceased’s possessions, once sealed off, may be placed in that particular quarters but must be guarded by a practitioner assigned by the treasury office. Unless the recently deceased practitioner had previously informed the abbot, the dual order officials, or the retirees about the manner in which he wished his possessions to be distributed, or unless he left a written will in regard to the matter, no one can arbitrarily distribute his possessions to anyone or any place.

(Zen Master Dachuan, while residing at Jingcisi, discovered that the primary seat official and the director of practitioners’ affairs had made forgeries concerning certain items that were entrusted by a deceased practitioner, and hence subsequently expelled them.)

When an ailing practitioner closes his eyes (i.e., passes away), the infirmary hall master at once notifies the director of practitioners’ affairs and requests the attendants of his office to prepare hot water. The attendants also notify the primary seat official, the guest reception official, the abbot’s assistant, and the administrative official of the matter, and arrange for the delivery of a portable funeral shrine and a special bathtub to the hall so that the

deceased may be given a final bathing. Bathing the body, they shave the head cleanly. The cloth used for drying the bathed corpse is to be distributed to those who bathed it, and the handkerchief used for shaving is to be given to the person who shaved the head. The director of practitioners’ affairs is obliged to supervise them in clothing the corpse, placing it in the portable shrine, and enshrining it within the infirmary hall by setting up the name tablet on the table, with the following words written on it:

The Enlightened Spirit of Venerable So-and-so,

Having Newly Entered Perfect Quiescence

If the deceased is the distinguished west hall official, it may be written as:

The Spirit of the Previous Abbot of Such-and-such Temple,

So-and-so Title, Zen Master So-and-so

In other cases, the title is given according to the office held by the deceased.

Offering incense, candles, and various food provisions, the sacred assembly of practitioners chant the Mahākaruṇā-dhāraṇī before the shrine and thereby settle the deceased spirit through the invocation of merit transference. During the night, the candles are kept lit all night. The practice hall attendants prepare beforehand artificial funeral flowers made of white paper, while the attendant of the deceased offers morning gruel and a noon meal every day. The administrative official serves tea and sweet hot water three times a day and burns incense. The rice gruel and rice meals are to be offered after the regular chanting held at the Buddha hall and also after the release from the evening session. As the practice hall office attendant rings his hand