[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Taishō Tripiṭaka (Chinese Buddhist canon)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho) › [勅修百丈清規](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025) › [The Baizhang Zen Monastic Regulations](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-bdk) › 3.115 # 勅修百丈清規 3.115 The Baizhang Zen Monastic Regulations 3.115 - **Language:** English ### [3.115](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-bdk.3.115) Revenue amount Auction held of such-and-such items Revenue amount Payment collected for such-and- such items Expenditure amount Already paid for such-and-such items Expenditure amount To be paid for such-and-such items (itemized in detail) Total revenue amount Total expenditure amount Balance Such-and-such amount used for the initial seventh- day memorial service and for the cost of sutras pur- chased for practitioners and attendants Date and year Recorded by So-and-so, Attendant of the Director of the Funeral Rite Presented to The person in charge of the account books, the dual order officials, and the officials of the funeral rite (to be audited and signed) 16. Depositing the Remains in the Tower The evening before the appointed day, funeral banners should be prepared for the men who will carry them at the forefront of the procession. On the appointed day, the bell is rung to assemble the practitioners. The head administrative official offers incense and then conducts the rite of raising the remains. On reaching the memorial tower, the rite of depositing the remains into the tower should be carried out. The call for sutra chanting, the recitation of the sacred names of the Buddhas, and the concluding invocation are all identical to the rite of interring the body. After returning to the reception hall, offerings should be made before the portrait and the proceedings for thanking the director of the funeral rite and so on are as before. 17. Sending Written Wills When all the funeral affairs are completed, the director of the funeral rite requests the practitioner assistants \[of the secretariat\] to deliver the written wills as special official delegates to the various temples, the deceased abbot’s relations in Dharma lineage, lay patrons, and government officials. It is desirable to choose only very capable persons for this purpose since the official delegates are obliged to engage in conversation when they meet with the high-ranking officials of various temples. When the official delegate reaches the designated temple, he first meets with the guest reception official, who then escorts him to the office of the abbot’s assistant. A crepe-wrapped table has been set up beforehand, and the written will is placed there. The assistant announces to the abbot the arrival of the official delegate, and the abbot then meets the delegate and requests the dual order officials to join him for opening the delivered letter. The official delegate steps forward, bows, and says: “May your reverence sit crosslegged.” If the abbot gives some word, the official delegate must immediately reply and, after burning incense, perform a prostration with opened sitting cloth. If this formality is excused, the official delegate may perform prostrations with unopened sitting cloth in the usual manner. After burning incense, drinking tea, and waiting for the arrival of the dual order officials, the official delegate stands and expresses his thanks for the tea, offers a piece of large-grain incense before the burner, and performs a prostration with opened sitting cloth, saying: Venerable So-and-so of such-and-such locality passed away on such- and such day and month. I have been entrusted with delivering his writ- ten will as well as his gift to your reverence. Thereupon, the official delegate presents the letter and the item. The abbot replies: Our tradition has lost an important person, and I cannot help but feel sorrow. As the dual order officials step forward to bow, the primary seat official moves to the side of the abbot, some distance apart. The official delegate sits across from the abbot and one rank space away from the dual order officials. When tea is over, the official delegate straightens his posture, and the abbot addresses him: It is unfortunate for the tradition that Venerable So-and-so passed away. I cannot help but feel sorrow. The attendant prepares a paper-cutting knife, the letter, and the item, which the assistant hands to the master, who passes them \[through the smoke from\] the incense burner and returns them to the assistant. He, in turn, passes them to the director of practitioners’ affairs. Receiving the paper-cutting knife from the attendant, the director of practitioners’ affairs opens the enve- lope and reads the letter, whereupon the assistant invites the official dele- gate to sit directly in front of the abbot. (The west hall ranking official withdraws a little behind the seat in order to show his respect to the official delegate.) The abbot’s assistant, after burning incense, serves sweet hot water and then escorts the official delegate to the guest house. The abbot visits the lat- ter to bow, followed by his assistant and the dual order officials. Then the guest reception official escorts the official delegate on rounds through the various quarters, beginning with the four quarters such as the administrative office quarters, the training faculty quarters, the retired officials’ individual quarters, and the retired administrative officials’ hall. Thereupon, the abbot’s assistant notifies the official delegate that he is invited to a special serving of sweet hot water. The evening meal follows the serving of sweet hot water, and later that night a serving of sweet hot water and cake is given. If the written letter is delivered from any of the large monastic estab- lishments, the dual order officials participate in the reception; if it is deliv- ered from any lesser temple, only an official representative, the director of practitioners’ affairs, and the abbot’s assistant participate. The head secretar- ial official is requested to compose a notice of the funeral rite on behalf of the temple but the notice of the funeral rite from the abbot’s office may be composed by the abbot himself. The monks of the Zen world, \[the deceased abbot’s\] relations in Dharma lineage, and the serving practitioners are all obliged to carry incense in their sleeves and conduct the rites of offering. The abbot’s assistant must attend to their conduct at each occasion. Next morning, the abbot serves tea in honor of the deceased. A table holding the deceased’s name tablet, with various offerings displayed before it, should be set up in the left rear part of the Dharma hall. The practitioner assistant announces the event of an ascent to the Dharma hall, while the atten- dants inform the practitioners and post the signboard at the practice hall to announce the event. A crepe-wrapped table, on which the letter and material items are placed, should be set before the high seat and the abbot’s seat to the left of the high seat. The drum signals the practitioners to assemble in the hall. The abbot enters the hall, proceeds to the high seat, and stands before it. When the drumming ends, he steps forward to the incense table, while the official delegate escorted by the guest reception official go before him, across the table. \[The official delegate\] performs the formal propriety of two prostrations with opened sitting cloth and three prostrations with unopened sitting cloth. Burning incense and opening his sitting cloth for the first time, he says: I have rushed to deliver the will to your reverence, and cannot help feeling apprehensive of my manner in meeting with your reverence. Opening his sitting cloth the second time, he says: On this day and at this time, I respectfully wish that all is well and felicitous with the master abbot of this temple. He then completes his greeting with three prostrations with unopened sitting cloth and hands the letter to the abbot. Thereupon the abbot censes the letter and gives it to his assistant who, in turn, hands it to the director of practitioners’ affairs to read. The official delegate bows toward him and withdraws behind the guest reception official of the east order. The abbot then ascends to the rostrum seat and preaches. After descending from the high seat, the abbot goes before the funeral name-tablet set on the desk, burns incense, serves sweet hot water, makes offerings, serves tea, and performs prostrations with opened sitting cloth. The official delegate returns to the right side of the high seat and bows toward him. The director of practitioners’ affairs steps forward from the east order, bows to the abbot, and burns incense while his assistant presents to him an incense case. When the dual order officials complete the incense offering, the abbot and all the officials in unison perform prostrations with opened sitting cloth. Thereupon the director of practitioners’ affairs reads the notice of the funeral rite. The abbot again performs prostrations with opened sitting cloth, and the official delegate returns his prostrations. The director of practitioners’ affairs calls for the chanting of the Śūraṃgama-dhāraṇīs and concludes with the following invocation of merit transference: With the merit hereby accrued we intended to promote the rank of honor and reverence for the sake of Venerable So-and-so of Such-and- such temple. Veneration to the Buddhas of the ten directions and the three times, and so on. The dual order officials, the residents of the four quarters, the practi- tioners from all regions, those of various temple functionaries, and those who come from the same native province all make funeral offerings, to which the official delegate returns prostrations respectively. He should not, however, return prostrations to lower-ranking practitioners related in the Dharma lin- eage, the deceased’s disciples, or serving subfunctionaries. When the funeral rite has been completed, the service of chanting the Mahākāruṇikacitta-dhāraṇīs and its concluding invocation of merit trans- ference is conducted. Thereupon, the official delegate steps forward and per- forms two prostrations with opened sitting cloth and three prostrations with unopened sitting cloth to thank the abbot. If this formality is excused, he per- forms only the three prostrations with unopened sitting cloth. Next, the offi- cial delegate makes rounds through the various quarters to thank the practi- tioners. Afterward the temple prepares a special dinner reception for the official delegate, in which the dual order officials are invited to participate. If the deceased master had previously held the position of abbot at this temple, he may be enshrined in the patriarchal shrine hall on the same day. If so, after the chanting is completed, the name tablet is carried to the shrine hall and the current abbot offers incense and places it in the shrine with a due word of trib- ute. The official delegate then expresses a word of thanks to the master. If the deceased was the incumbent abbot of the temple, his enshrine- ment in the patriarchal hall occurs after three days of services conducted before the remains at the reception hall, during which time the new abbot has arrived. The latter then conducts services for transfering the deceased abbot’s name tablet to the patriarchal shrine hall. If there is no written will or material items left for the new abbot, the deceased abbot’s disciples and relations in the Dharma lineage, who are obliged to make the request, first visit the temple to meet the abbot’s assistant and then meet the abbot with - [Previous: 3.114](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-bdk.3.114) - [Next: 3.129](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-bdk.3.129) - [Up: 3](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-bdk.3) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-mt.3.115) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [勅修百丈清規](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025.3.115) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-bdk.3.115](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.taisho.2025~en-bdk.3.115) · Pramāṇa