勅修百丈清規 2.28

2.28

Tianlu. In content, the discourses of teaching (sutras) and the rules of

restraint (Vinaya) are combined in a mutually complementary form, and

the precision represents a specimen of golden sentences and gemlike

phrases combined. The rules of regulation are ceremonial forms that dis-

play footprints inside the building; they do not represent the manner of

footsteps by which men collect silk floss outside in the field. Whether

one should follow a certain norm or leave it, the words avoid the weight

and subtlety of thought. Whether one should depart from an occasion or

enter into it, the principle permeates every wonder. He ought to be

enshrined along with every Zen patriarch. Why should he be enshrined

only on his memorial day? May the victorious flags of Indra in his strife

overcome all evil ones and heretics, and may great trees of shady cool-

ness such as Linji fill the Buddhist world.

3. A Brief Biography of Baizhang

The master was a native of Changle of Fuzhou province, son of the Wang family. He renounced the world in childhood and was broadly trained in the three areas of Buddhist study (śīla, samādhi, and prajñā). He sought out Mazu for instruction and training in Jiangxi province and joined his flourishing Zen community. Among Mazu’s able young disciples, Dazhu, Nanquan, Guizong, and so forth were called great figures, yet the master was appointed primary seat official. When Mazu passed away in Letan, Baizhang succeeded to his position, but due to the increase in the number of practitioners the place became overcrowded with little extra space, and he decided to leave.

While traveling, he passed Xinwu and took a rest below Chelun Peak. A man called Ganzhenyuochang donated land and requested him to stay. In the meantime many more practitioners had gathered around him, and finally he decided to build a temple, naming it Datuoti (“Great Development and Improvement”). He passed away on the seventeenth day of the first month in the ninth year of Yuanhe. It is said that the forest of fir trees appeared to look fiery, as if burned, and the beautiful gorge dried up by springtime. The four groups of followers mournfully buried his ashes on Daxiong Peak (“Great Virility”). Prior to this event, a foreign ascetic monk, Sima (Dhutadhara;

Toutuozhe) by name, had chosen this place as the burial site, saying, “Since this peak is linked to three other peaks but has not been fully appreciated for its wonderful beauty, if his holiness [were buried] on this mountain, it would enhance his stature as a spiritual ruler and command reverence throughout the land.” It is said that the people of that period all agreed with him.

The Tang imperial court granted Baizhang the title Dazhi Chanshi (“Chan Master Great Wisdom”) in the first year of Changqing. The stupa erected at the burial site was called Dabaoshenglun (“Great, Precious, Victorious Wheel”). The Song imperial court further added the title Juezhao (“Mirror of Enlightenment”) in the first year of Daguan, and the commemorative tower built was called Huiju (“Assembly of Wisdom”). In the third year of Yuantong the great Yuan court further added another title, Zen Master Hongzongmiaoxing (“Grand Master Wonderful Practice”).

IV. The Memorial Rites for the

Founder and the Patriarchs

The founder’s memorial day and the successive patriarchs’ religious deeds should be properly honored. Whoever contributed to the temple must be enshrined in the Dharma hall the evening before each memorial day. (The procedure is identical to that of the memorial service for Baizhang.) The word of tribute may be exempted. The head administrative official should prepare various offerings. If the word of tribute is omitted for the memorial days of the successive patriarchs, it is not necessary to conduct the special serving of tea and sweet hot water.

Prior to the appointed day, the practice hall official notifies the head administrative official to prepare a set of offerings to be placed on the altar. The tablet of the patriarch in question must be placed at the western end of the rostrum seat. In the morning, after breakfast, the abbot and the dual order officials stand in a single horizontal line facing the altar. The director of practitioners’ affairs steps forward and salutes the officials, inviting them to offer incense in pairs. When this is completed and the officials have returned to their positions, the entire assembly performs in unison three prostrations with [opened sitting cloth.] The abbot’s assistant does the same at the end of the

east-order column. (The Zhida Regulations suggest that though the memorial rite of chanting is directed to a particular patriarch, it is not appropriate to prepare only a single set of meal offering.) The director calls for the chanting of the Mahākāruṇikacitta-dhāraṇīs and concludes with the following invocation of merit transference:

The vast ocean of illumination of the Tathāgata’s insight comprises the

waves of whirlpools like the cycle of birth and death (samsara). The

teaching of great concentration (samādhi) dissolves the distinctions of

coming and going, past and present. We implore: May compassion

shine its bright mirror reflection upon us.

On this day of such-and-such month, the temple respectfully hon-

ors the memorial day of So-and-so, Patriarch and Zen Master, of such-

and-such generation in the succession of this temple. By offering var-

ious delicacies, we express our care and devotion for him, and the