勅修百丈清規 6.42

6.42

while the director of practitioners’ affairs steps forward to burn incense and invites the training official, as prearranged, to take charge of the rite of lifting the portable shrine. When this is done, the attendants play cymbals, lift the shrine, and carry it out to the temple gate. If the rites of serving tea and sweet hot water and turning the shrine around are scheduled, [the shrine at this point] should be turned around toward the temple buildings, and an incense table placed before it. The primary seat official stands before the shrine, while the practitioners line up in two parallel lines [with the shrine at the center]. The director of practitioners’ affairs burns incense and requests another training official to take charge of the rite at the gate. When this is done, the procession continues.

If there is no rite of turning around the shrine, the director of practitioners’ affairs steps through the gate, stands facing the temple with palms joined together, and calls for the practitioners to intone in unison the Dhāraṇī for Rebirth in the Pure Land (Wangshengzhou). Both lines then proceed in order, the practitioners holding their palms together, and they pick up some artificial wicker leaves [to scatter along the way]. The attendants stand outside the gate, greeting the practitioners with heads down and palms together, and then fall in behind the procession when all have passed by. The director of practitioners’ affairs follows immediately behind the shrine, whereas the head administrative official follows at the end of the two lines of practitioners as the rear guard.

6. Cremation

When the procession reaches the “nirvana platform” (niepantai; i.e., the cremation site), the head administrative official burns incense and offers tea. Next, the abbot offers incense, then returns to his position. Thereupon, the director of practitioners’ affairs steps forward and, after burning incense, invites the abbot to conduct the rite of applying fire [to the funeral pyre]. The maintenance official bows to the abbot and hands him a lit torch, and waits for the completion of the rite. When the rite is over, the director of practitioners’ affairs begins a prayer invocation toward the shrine as follows:

On this day, the venerable practitioner So-and-so, who has entered ulti-

mate quiescence, though once existing by following the change of

causal conditions, has now ceased to exist. Thus, the body is about to

be cremated according to the tradition. It is wished that by burning the

body which was instrumental to his propagation of the Dharma for a

hundred years, his passage to reach the goal of nirvana will be helped

unfailingly. It is respectfully requested of the honorable practitioners

to help the enlightened spirit by intoning the ten sacred names: Ven-

eration to the Western Paradise, to Amitābha Buddha of Great Com-

passion and Commiseration, and so on.

[The following invocation of merit transference is intoned] after ten repetitions of the prayer:

In the foregoing prayer, we called upon the ten sacred names in order

to help the deceased be reborn in the Pure Land. We earnestly hope

that the wisdom mirror distributes its brilliance, the wind of truth dis-

perses variegated colors, and the flower of the enlightened mind will

bloom in the bodhi garden and help the mind become cleansed of defile-

ment in the ocean of the Dharma-nature. Having offered three serv-

ings of tea and having burned incense over a single burner, we shall

send its smoke on a cloud-journey. Veneration to the honorable prac-

titioners.

The head administrative official, at the moment when the prayer refers to “servings of tea” and “burning of incense,” steps forward to serve tea and burn incense, whereby he expresses the propriety of the temple community as a whole. In this regard, it is improper for the director of practitioners’ affairs to do so (i.e., serve tea and burn incense) while intoning the prayer. The director then calls for chanting the Mahākaruṇā-dhāraṇī and concludes with the following invocation of merit transference:

We dedicate the merit accrued by this prayer and chanting for the sake

of the venerable practitioner So-and-so, who has entered ultimate qui-

escence in order to enshrine the transcendental state of his realization

after cremation. Veneration to the Buddhas in the ten directions and

the three times.

The guest reception official then calls for chanting the Śūraṃgamadhāraṇīs and concludes with the same invocation of merit transference. (Here, however, the word “prayer” [niansong] is omitted.)

The practitioners from the same native province and Dharma lineage also chant sutras and conclude with the same invocation of merit transference.

7. The Auction of the

Deceased’s Personal Possessions

After the cremation rite, the practice hall office attendant reports to the abbot, the dual order officials, and the assistant officials that the auction of the deceased’s personal possessions will be held after the noon meal in front of the practice hall. A signboard indicating this event is posted to notify the

practitioners. Preparation [for the auction] in the outer hall should be com-

pleted by the time the practitioners descend from their seats after the noon

meal. The abbot and the primary seat official are seated side by side [with

an arm-length’s distance in between] in the rear, while the dual order offi-

cials are seated in two parallel lines facing each other. Just inside the hall-

way, a table is placed facing the rear of the hall, equipped with calligraphy

brushes, an inkslab, a standing bell, scissors, and a simplified robe, as well

as other necessary items. [The auction items will be placed] directly on the

floor. The practice hall office attendants report to the abbot, the dual order

officials, and the practitioner assistants when these preparations have been

completed. The practice hall bell is rung to assemble the practitioners. The

director of practitioners’ affairs, the guest reception official, and the assis-

tant official simultaneously enter the hall and, on reaching their respective

positions, sit facing the rear, while the practice hall, alms-offering, and meal

proceeding novice attendants line up to bow toward the abbot and the dual

order officials. Then the attendants turn toward the director of practitioners’

affairs, the guest reception official, and the abbot’s assistant and greet them

with a bow. They place the bamboo basket [containing the items to be auc-

tioned] before the abbot and the dual order officials in turn, so that each may

inspect the seal. They then receive the key from the primary seat official,

open the basket, take out the items one by one in numerical order, place them

on the floor display area, and set the empty basket to the side, facing the rear.

The director of practitioners’ affairs rises, rings the standing bell once,

and intones a prayer:

The floating cloud has dispersed, and there remains no sight of it what-

soever. The last remnant of a candle has been exhausted in extinguishing

its own flame. The possessions of the deceased are hereby auctioned

to express this impermanence. May the practitioners now intone [the