勅修百丈清規 1.83

1.83

Whenever prayers are offered, the ritual arena must be strictly prepared and offerings arranged according to rule. The abbot must be single-minded and increasingly cautious, and the Sangha must each maintain solemnity. The administrators inside and out oversee and attend to the necessary provisions, while large and small dormitories inspect and maintain pure cleanliness. If officials come to offer incense, they are respectfully and diligently welcomed and seen off. In advance, the monastery storehouse reports to the abbot and first submits the intention; the karmadāna is notified; the hall office postulant notifies the assembly and hangs the prayer plaque. At the two times of noon meal and gruel, the bell is struck to gather the assembly to chant sūtras, or read the canon, or read the four great sections of the canon, for three, five, or seven days, carried out according to the occasion. If praying for clear skies or praying for rain, ten, twenty, or thirty to fifty monks are rostered and divided into several shifts to chant continuously. Each shift chants the Great Compassion Mantra, the Calamity-Dispelling Mantra, and the Great Cloud Mantra, each three times seven times; this is called the unbroken wheel. Chanting all day long, one must anticipate an efficacious response before concluding and giving thanks of repentance. The texts of their intentions are set forth below.