勅修百丈清規 5.4

5.4

Whenever a postulant first receives his ordination certificate, he presents it supported on a platter covered with a cloth to his original master, the two ranks, and the various quarters, sticks incense into the burner, and bows three times. A day is selected, banners are set up, and his head is shaved. (According to the Vinaya, a place is chosen and a seat is prepared; the open ground is sprinkled with perfumed water, and banners are hung at the four corners measuring seven feet around. Nowadays, it is mostly held in the great hall facing the Buddha, or seats are set up facing each other. If in the Dharma hall, an image, flowers, incense, and candles must be set up according to the rules. Today, in the Sangha hall, it is done on the bench-beds for the convenience of the crowd.) First, he informs the karmadāna to consult and arrange with the precept master, the chant-intoning ācārya, and the ushering ācārya. Once the selected day is fixed, the head is shaved the preceding evening, leaving a tuft of hair at the crown of the head (called cūḍā; in Sanskrit cūḍā, translated here as "small knot"). The seat and table for the precept master are arranged opposite the abbot; on the table are placed incense, candles, a handheld censer, and a precept ruler. The seat and table for the chant-intoning ācārya are arranged to the right of the sacred monk, facing the precept master; on the table is placed an inverted bell. Before the table of the sacred monk, the kāṣāya robe, straight robe, and ordination certificate are set out on top. / From the postulants' hall, cymbals are sounded to lead the candidate for shaving out. To the Earth God Hall, the Patriarchs Hall, the Buddha Hall, and other quarters, he burns incense and performs three bows. They line up in front of the Sangha hall, and the bell is struck to gather the assembly. After the prefects and the abbot have all entered the hall, the precept master and the two ācāryas enter the hall for the first time, make three full prostrations with unfolded cloths, and each return to their seats. When the great assembly is seated together, the ushering ācārya steps before the precept master, makes three full prostrations with unfolded cloth, kneels on his right knee with palms joined. The precept master asks: "Is the Sangha assembled?" He replies: "They are already assembled." He asks: "Are they in harmony?" He replies: "They are in harmony." / The precept master says: "Now that the Sangha is in harmony, what is their business?" He replies: "To shave the postulant's head and transmit the precepts." The precept master says: "It is permissible." The usher gathers his sitting cloth, stands up, sounds the handheld bell, and leads the candidate into the hall. He bows three times before the sacred monk, then three times before the precept master, and then kneels down. The chant-intoning ācārya strikes the large inverted bell and intones the chant: / "Rṣis endowed with the five supernatural powers / Are the makers of incantations; / For those who possess a sense of shame / And to restrain all those who lack shame, / The Tathāgata instituted the prohibitive precepts, / To be recited half-month by half-month. / For the benefit of reciting the precepts, / I bow my head and pay homage to all Buddhas." / Then the chant of "How": / "How in this sūtra / Does one ultimately reach the other shore? / May the Buddha reveal the profound and secret / And expound it widely for sentient beings." / The intoning concluded, he announces again: "This is expounded for the one who has shaved his head and is receiving the precepts." The precept master rises from his seat, and the great assembly all stand. The precept master, holding the censer, announces: "Precept-incense, concentration-incense, wisdom-incense, liberation-incense, liberation knowledge-and-vision-incense; a dais of luminous clouds pervades the Dharma realm, making offering to the immeasurable Buddhas of the ten directions, the immeasurable Dharma of the ten directions, and the immeasurable Sangha of the ten directions. May all who see and hear be universally perfumed and realize quiescent extinction; may all sentient beings likewise be so. We dedicate the merits of initiating the shaving of the head and receiving the precepts this morning; first wishing:"