勅修百丈清規 2.78

2.78

are [funds and temple property] diverted for alternative purposes, but also,

in extreme cases, temple possessions are stolen for personal use. What can

be done about such people?

15. Receiving the Serving of Tea from a

Disciple in the Dharma Succession

If a disciple of the abbot in his Dharma lineage visits the temple and wishes to

serve tea at the practice hall on behalf of his master, his accompanying admin-

istrative official must first meet with his counterpart at the host temple. After

the amount of the expense to be shared is determined, the guest disciple must

pay that amount to the host temple. The evening before the day of the serving

of tea, the guest disciple visits the office of the abbot’s assistants to convey his

wish and then pays homage at the abbot’s office by offering incense and per-

forming a prostration with opened sitting cloth. If this formality is excused, he

performs a single prostration with unopened sitting cloth. He then says:

Tomorrow morning, I wish to humbly conduct a serving of tea at the prac-

tice hall. May your reverence in your compassion grant your presence.

The guest master conveys this request to the dual order officials as well

as to the retirees of the individual quarters, and posts a signboard announcing

the occasion. On the appointed day, a crepe-covered table is solemnly set at

the abbot’s position in the practice hall. The kitchen hall metal gong is struck

to call the practitioners to return to the practice hall. The guest disciple enters

the hall behind the abbot in order to help him take his seat. He then turns

toward the altar of the guardian bodhisattva and burns incense before it, then

proceeds toward the abbot with his hands clasped at his chest and bows before

him. He goes around the back of the altar, and [at the moment] he reappears,

the abbot signals him to take his seat. The guest takes the head seat on the

raised platform of the guest reception official [in the outer hall].

The meal serving attendant announces: “Request to take the bowl down.”

When the first serving has been completed, the guest disciple leaves his seat,

bows before the altar of the guardian bodhisattva, places a monetary gift on

the altar, and then proceeds to bow before the abbot and present him with a

monetary gift for the practitioners. Thereupon, the kitchen office signals the

beginning of the noon meal by striking the wooden sounding board. When

the noon meal is over, the practitioners clean and put their almsbowls back in proper order and the table is removed from the abbot’s place.

The guest disciple burns incense at the altar, proceeds before the abbot, and bows. Once again, after going around behind the altar, he bows before the incense burner toward the guardian bodhisattva. A bell signals the serving of tea and when [the serving] is nearing completion, the guest disciple proceeds to the abbot and presents tea. Once more he goes around behind the altar, comes before the abbot, and first opening his sitting cloth, says:

It is my greatest joy that you have granted me the privilege of your spe-

cial presence on this day for this humble propriety and meager offering.

After opening his sitting cloth again, he makes a cordial greeting and then performs three prostrations without reopening the sitting cloth. He follows the abbot [out of the hall] to see him off, then returns to the hall to offer incense. He thanks the officials in the outer hall for their participation, and once again returns to the altar to offer incense and, after ringing the bell, retrieves the tea bowl from the altar. Next he goes to the abbot’s office to thank him for his presence. Thereupon, to return his appreciation, the abbot accompanies the disciple back to the guest house.

In the case of an abbot of another temple conducting the propriety of serving tea at the practice hall, noting the time of the noon meal, he makes his request to the abbot of the host temple, accompanies him to the hall, and helps him take his seat. The abbot of the host temple must excuse the guest abbot from the formalities described above, and requests him immediately to take his seat. At the moment when the serving of food is completed, the guest proceeds to burn incense before the altar of the guardian bodhisattva and then bows before the abbot, presents monetary gifts to the altar as well as to the practitioners, burns incense to thank all participants, and returns to his seat to finish the noon meal. Whether he is obliged to conduct the propriety of the serving of tea is contingent on the given situation.

16. Arrival of the Written Will of the

Master in the Dharma Lineage

When an official delegate arrives at the temple with a written will, (the formality of the proceeding is detailed below in part VI, section 17, “Sending

Written Wills”), the abbot opens the will and the dual order officials console

him. A ritual altar should be set up in the center of the Dharma hall, before

which the abbot offers incense and utters a word of insight. With three utter-

ances of grief, he performs three prostrations and offers sweet hot water, and

once again performs three prostrations before placing food and monetary gifts

on the altar. At the drum signal, following the propriety of the special serving,

he performs three prostrations and offers tea. At the signal of three drumbeats,

he leaves his seat and folds his sitting cloth. The director of practitioners’ affairs

calls for chanting the Śūraṃgama-dhāraṇīs and concludes with an invocation

[of merit transference]. (This is similar to the memorial rite for the master of

the Dharma transmission, Chapter IV, part V.) The retirees, those who come

from the same native province [as the deceased master], [those who are in the

deceased master’s] lineage of Dharma transmission, the junior disciples, and