勅修百丈清規 3.57

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frequently. Each time he returned to the practice hall in time to partake of the morning gruel and the noon meal along with the practitioners. He then requested his guest reception attendant get permission from the assistant of the guardian bodhisattva to strike the octagonal wooden post located at the back of the hall at the moment the practitioners were about to step down [from the raised sitting platform]. The assistant then announced:

May the practitioners remain a moment where they stand. The abbot

is going to make a round of the hall.

[Wuzhun] then burned incense and walked the aisles of the hall. This announcement was then made:

The master asks that the practitioners should not take the trouble to

visit his office.

However, the dual order officials and the retired officials are nonetheless obliged to visit the abbot [upon his return] to welcome him.

10. Keeping the Accounts of the Original

Temple Plan and Material Resources

After the new abbot has been installed, he should meet with the dual order officials and the retired officials over tea to enquire in detail about the temple’s business affairs, the original temple plan, various contract documents, and the temple’s material resources in order to itemize them and differentiate between public and private items. The abbot must prevent fraud or corruption by keeping clear accounts of the temple’s possessions, such as grain and other material goods. This requires detailed inspection.

11. Receiving the Invitation from the

Dual Order Officials and Retired Officials

for a Special Serving of Tea

On the appointed day, the primary seat official, the head administrative official, and the head retired official, representing their colleagues, visit the abbot’s office and burn incense to invite the abbot to the reception. Next, they invite the abbot’s assistants and disciples. The abbot’s seat should be placed at the main position of the reception hall, while the dual order officials and the retired officials are assigned their usual positions [facing each other]. The abbot’s assistants and his accompanying disciples bow toward the abbot and then take their respective seats at the end of the row of the officials’ seats. When the time comes, the primary seat official escorts the abbot into the reception hall, respectfully requests him to take his seat, and performs the formal propriety. If excused [from the formal propriety], he simply burns incense, steps forward to bow, and presents a monetary gift. Representing all the officials, the primary seat official, the head administrative

official, and the senior retired officials together greet the abbot with a bow and return to their seats. After the meal is over, the primary seat official stands to burn incense. If this formality is excused, he remains seated, drinking tea. The proceedings are identical to that of inviting the respresentatives of neighboring temples, old colleagues, minor functionaries, those related in the Dharma lineage, one’s own disciples, and so on to such similar receptions. In serving, the host officials must consider sometimes changing the order of the seating arrangments depending upon the participants’ higher or lower rank.

V. Retirement from the

Office of Abbot

If the abbot is aged and suffers from illness, or if his mental agility declines, or if things do not go well with him, he himself should know when it is time to retire. He is obliged to clearly account for all public and private monetary expenditures and property in his records. As to those material goods that belong to the office of the abbot, it is necessary to clearly distinguish them as public belongings and itemize them; duplicate copies of this account should be signed by the abbot, the dual order officials, and the retired officials and imprinted with the official seal of the temple. The abbot and the head administrative officials keep duplicates for future reference, and the abbot’s office must be guarded by an official of public standing. On the day of his retirement, the abbot ascends to the Dharma hall, expresses his thanks, says farewell, descends from the high seat, and, at the signal of three drumbeats, departs. If the retired abbot chooses to stay on in the east hall of the temple, his successor is obliged to look after his well-being with the utmost care and decorum.

There is an example of this present matter. When Emperor Lizong of the Song decided to build a temple for his deceased empress on the farmyard that belonged to Lingyinsi, the temple’s honorable abbot, Chijueh Chonggong, retired that very day and went to Lushan, carrying his own travel pack and wearing a hat. The emperor sent messengers to try to persuade the former abbot to return, but his effort was in vain. Chijueh’s noblemindedness shines throughout the millennium. Who could ever surpass his deed?

VI. Death of the Abbot and

the Written Will

1. Death [of the Abbot]