勅修百丈清規 6.43

6.43

When the funeral procession arrives at the Nirvāṇa Platform, the administrators burn incense and offer tea; next the abbot burns incense and returns to his position; the karmadāna comes forward, burns incense, and requests the abbot to perform the Buddhist rite of applying the torch; the annual officer greets with folded hands and hands over the torch, waiting until the recital of the Buddhist rite is finished. The karmadāna recites facing the casket: "On this day, there is the newly deceased Senior Monk So-and-so: having followed conditions and peacefully entered cessation, he is cremated in accordance with the Dharma; burning this body of a hundred years that propagated the Way, it is like the single path toward nirvāṇa. We rely upon the venerable assembly to assist the awakened spirit: Homage to the Great Compassionate Amitābha Buddha of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss." After ten recitations, [he continues]: "The ten recitations just proclaimed assist his rebirth; we only pray that the mirror of wisdom may reflect brilliance and the true wind may scatter radiance, that within the garden of bodhi the flower of awakening mind may bloom, and within the ocean of Dharma nature the defilements of the worldly mind may be washed away. Three libations of tea are poured, a single censer of incense is burned, to respectfully send him on his journey through the clouds, Upādhyāya and holy assembly!" When the administrators wait for the words "tea is poured, incense is burned," they bow and step forward to pour and burn, expressing the etiquette of the monastery; for the karmadāna to do it himself is improper. He leads the Great Compassion Dhāraṇī and dedicates the merit, saying: "The merit of the recitation and chanting just performed is dedicated on behalf of the newly deceased Senior Monk So-and-so upon his cremation, to adorn his realm of reward; to the ten directions, the three times, all...", etc. The guest master evenly chants the Śūraṅgama Dhāraṇī, with the dedication of merit as before (only without the words "recitation and"). The townsmen and Dharma relatives chant scriptures and dedicate the merit (likewise).