勅修百丈清規 2.25

2.25

His family belonged to the noble class, and his own name was originally

Bodhitāra. Later, along with his two brothers he happened to meet the twenty-

seventh patriarch Prajñātāra. Because the master saw the innate capacity of

the patriarch, he tested him and his brothers in debate on the meaning of his

gift of a gem to them. [After years of study and practice under Prajñātāra,]

the patriarch had already discovered and cultivated the essential nature of

the mind. Prajñātāra told him, “You have acquired the whole inclusive prin-

ciple and since ‘Dharma’ conveys the entire inclusive meaning of the

Mahayana, your name should be changed to ‘Dharma.’” Thus, the patriarch’s

name became Bodhidharma.

The patriarch asked his master, “As I have accomplished the essentials

of the religion, in which country should I propagate Buddhism? Please, give

me a suggestion, sir.”

Prajñātāra replied, “Although you have obtained the essential of my reli-

gion, you shall not go anywhere far distant. Just stay in South India and wait for an opportunity sixty-seven years after my death. Then you should go to China where you can set up a great Dharma session to teach the best qualified, but do not leave India immediately lest you become quickly exhausted by the troublesome environment of China’s capital city.”

On the twenty-first day of the ninth month in the eighth year of Putong of Liang, in the year of the “fourth stem and sheep,” Bodhidharma arrived in Southern China. Suang, the prefect of Guangzhou, sent an official report to Emperor Wu of Liang (r. 464–549). The emperor dispatched his envoy with a decree inviting the patriarch to his imperial court. Bodhidharma arrived in Jinling on the first day of the tenth month and spoke with the ruler, but they did not reach an accord in their meeting. Thereupon Bodhidharma crossed the Yangtze River to the north on the nineteenth day and reached Luoyang on the twenty-third day of the eleventh month, which was the tenth year of Taihe under the reign of Emperor Xiaoming of the Wei dynasty. He stayed in Shaolinsi, the temple of Mount Songshan, and spent years facing the wall in silent meditation. No one was able to fathom his purpose; he was called the “wall-facing brahman.” On the fifth day of the tenth month in the nineteenth year of Taihe (“fourth stem and dragon”), he passed away while sitting upright in meditation. He was buried on Mount Xiongershan on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month of the year, and a memorial stupa was erected within Dinglinsi. During the Tang dynasty, Bodhidharma was honored by the title Yuangue Dashi (“Fully Enlightened”), and the stupa is called Kongguan (“Contemplation of Emptiness”).

III. The Memorial Day for Baizhang

1. The Memorial Rite for Baizhang

Prior to the appointed day, the practice hall official collects contributions to obtain various offerings. On the evening before the day, the ceremonial place should be set up properly in the Dharma hall. The portrait of the master is placed on the rostrum seat and various vessels for the rite of offerings are solemnly set up on the central altar as well as on tables on the right and left sides at the rear of the hall. There will be a memorial service with sutra chanting in the evening,

and also another for the fulfillment of the memorial service on the following day, including a special serving of tea, the word of insight and prayer with incense offering, and the word of tribute, as well as incense offering by the dual order officials and three prostrations with opened sitting cloth performed by all the practitioners in unison (so far, the proceedings are identical with those of the memorial rite for Bodhidharma), but excluding the prayer chanting. The invocation of merit transference for the evening rite is as follows:

The pure Dharma body has essentially neither phenomenal appearance

nor disappearance, but because of great compassion and the power of

its vow, it shows, as it were, phenomenal appearance as well as non-

appearance. We implore: May compassion shine its bright mirror reflec-

tion upon us. On the seventeenth day of the first month, we have respect-

fully honored the memorial day on which Baizhang Dazhi, Jiaming

Huangcong Miaoxiang Changshi, entered absolute quiescence. Assem-

bling all the disciples and offering incense and provisions, we thereby

express our care and devotion for the master. We humbly dedicate the

merit accrued from chanting the [dhāraṇīs] of the Śūraṃgama-sūtra

for the sake of discharging our indebtedness for the compassion which

has bestowed refuge upon us. We humbly pray: May the rare flower

of the uḍumbara tree once again appear to herald springtime in the

garden of enlightenment, and the insight of the sun extend daylight to

forever illuminate the night of dark delusion. Veneration to the Buddhas

of the ten directions and the three times, and so on.

2. The Word of Tribute

He spoke, it became the law of the land. It exactly marks the norm and

establishes the standard. Through tens of thousands of generations, the

Way he established has been known as worthy of reverence. It contains

principles and precedences, on the basis of which the harmonious life

of the Zen monastic institution has flourished, creating many notable

personalities. The Chinese expressions in the Book of Regulations (Qing-

guai) exactly correspond to those of the Sanskrit Vinaya. The richness

of the content is comparable with that of the literary works of Shiqu and