勅修百丈清規 1.89

1.89

We see that the winter season has been constantly warm, and we fear illnesses among living creatures. When Heaven sends down snow, it cleanses the baleful vapors of the earth below. We thus offer the sincerity of a petal of incense, praying to gather the auspicious omen of six-petaled flakes. Therefore, we respectfully generate a sincere mind, establish a ritual arena to pray for snow, and daily instruct monks to chant sūtras and mantras, reverently beseeching the holy ones. We hope that our prayer for snow will swiftly be granted an efficacious response. We humbly pray that reddish clouds across a thousand leagues provide moisture, that the eight wildernesses, six treasuries, and three affairs be well ordered, that grasses and trees all flourish, that the two qi and five elements follow their sequence, and that spirits and humans be in harmony.