勅修百丈清規 6.33

6.33

bell and walks ahead, the primary seat official leads the practitioners before the funeral shrine. As the abbot burns incense, the director of practitioners’ affairs calls for chanting the Mahākāruṇikacitta-dhāraṇīs and concludes with the following invocation of merit transference:

From the foregoing chanting of the sutra, we dedicate the merit thereby

accrued to Venerable So-and-so who newly entered ultimate quies-

cence and was enshrined in the transcendent abode of his realization.

Veneration to the Buddhas in the ten directions and the three times,

and so on.

Next, those practitioners from the same native province [as the deceased] call for chanting the dhāraṇīs, and their senior representative steps forward to burn incense. This same rite is to be conducted three times a day. The only difference in the rite officially held by the temple is that the invocation of merit transference refers to the deceased practitioner by the two characters of his name, whereas in the rite held by the private group, the invocation refers to the deceased by the [second] single character, [perhaps adding an honorific post-positional character such as gong.] (E.g., Qiumoluoshi [Kumārajīva] is referred to as “Honorable Shi” [Shi Gong]). The invocation is identical.

If the occasion coincides with the first day of the month or mid-month days or with the imperial coronation day, the public conduct of the rite is excused and the funeral proceeding must also be postponed.

2. Requesting Buddhist Funeral Rites

Without fail, the abbot must be requested to conduct the rite of applying fire [to the funeral pyre]. All other [funeral] rites, such as closing the shrine door (suokan), lifting the shrine (qikan), lifting the remains (qigu), depositing the remains (ruta), and so on, can be done by inviting the various officials in rotation, upon consultation with the director of practitioners’ affairs and the primary seat official, and taking into consideration ordination seniority. On a small white sheet of paper, the document must be written as follows:

For Venerable Bhikṣu So-and-so, native of such-and-such province,

having just accomplished ultimate quiescence. The funeral rite of apply-

ing fire [to the funeral pyre] is to be officiated by the venerable mas-

ter, abbot of this temple, as respectfully requested by the practice hall

official, Bhikṣu So-and-so. The other funeral rites will be officiated

as acknowledged in this note.

If the deceased is the west hall guest official or a retired administrative official who resided in the individual quarters and left sizable personal possessions, the following additional rites may be conducted: serving tea and sweet hot water (dianchatang), turning around the portable shrine (zhuankan), turning around the remains (zhuangu), and so on. For these rites, an invitation may be sent on the basis of the rotation system to the retired west hall

official and primary seat official residing in the individual quarters, and to renowned personalities of the Zen world. The director of practitioners’ affairs, accompanied by his attendant carrying a crepe-wrapped board with an incense burner, candle, and incense, visits the abbot’s office, burns incense, and, after a bow, says:

Since Venerable So-and-so entered ultimate quiescence, the rite of cre-

mation has been scheduled on such-and-such date, for which I respect-

fully request the venerable to conduct the rite of “touching fire.”

The director of practitioners’ affairs then presents the note of request before withdrawing. The same propriety is used for making the same request to the various training officials. The director prepares a record book of the funeral rites, as a reference to be consulted before making new requests of ritual conduct on the basis of the rotation system.

3. Appraising the Price of Used Items

The director of practitioners’ affairs sends the attendants of his office to request the abbot, the dual order officials, and the assistant officials to be present either at the practice hall office or in the adjacent skylit hall. Before [an assembly of] the practitioners, the seal [on the deceased’s parcel of personal items] is opened and one by one the items are taken out of the bamboo case and placed either on the ground or on the raised platform. Each item is shown to the director of practitioners’ affairs and priced. While the primary seat official settles the price of each item, adjusting [the price when necessary,] the guest reception official and the assistant official write the names of the items on the board and list the prices below each item in accordance with [the prices thus established]. A marker is made by copying the number of each item, which is then affixed onto the item, and the item is then returned to the bamboo case. After that, another sheet listing all items according to their number and price should be prepared for the occasion of “robe auctioning.” No one, whether the abbot, the dual order officials, or the residents of various quarters, is allowed to take away any items for public usage. If there is any item that would be useful for the temple, it may be obtained by paying the due price from the overhead (choufenqian; i.e., the

three-tenths of the entire transaction that belongs to the temple). If there are

numerous possessions, the prices of items may be reduced as a whole so as

to benefit more practitioners and thereby advance the fortune of the departed.

4. Prayer Chanting the Night

Before the Cremation

The afternoon of the day before the funeral procession for the cremation is

scheduled, the attendant of the practice hall office must directly report to the

abbot and the dual order officials about the schedule and notify the practi-

tioners by posting the signboard indicating “prayer chanting.” The treasury

office must also be requested beforehand to prepare a food offering and send

workmen to set up the area for the funeral rite. Those practitioners from the

same province as well as those related in Dharma lineage [to the deceased]

compose a word of tribute for the occasion and pay the treasury office for a

food offering. Three pieces of incense must be prepared for the funeral offer-

ing. If the deceased was a renowned senior practitioner from a large monas-

tic temple, or one of the west hall residents, or a resident of the individual

quarters, and if he accomplished a significant contribution to the status and

affairs of the temple, the abbot as well as the dual order officials all conduct