敕修百丈清規

CHAPTER 9 – DHARMA INSTRUMENTS

In high antiquity, there was transformative influence without formal instruction. Yet because transformative influence alone was insufficient, rites and music had to be established. Singing while striking the earth was not equal to performing the Nine-Consummation melody; using simple earthenware vessels was not equal to employing the five ritual beverages.

Refinement arises from substance; therefore, it is the substance that is precious. Our Sage of India, when he first instructed and transformed sentient beings, taught that everyone possesses wondrous awakening, that no one is intrinsically ordinary or holy; all phenomena are wholly true, so how could anything be defiled or pure? There was no need to rely upon cultivation and realization, nor was it a matter of exerting effort.

Yet the deluded were dim-witted and confused, as though blind and deaf. Therefore, the Blessed One established teachings according to their capacities, sounded the gandhi, assembled the Sangha, expounded the sacred teachings of the Tripitaka, and had them cultivate the Dharma gate of meditative concentration. After forty-nine years, the forms of his teaching and transformation were complete.

Thereafter, the ancient worthies fashioned such materials as tile, wood, bronze, and iron, which could produce sound, into bells, chimes, cymbals, beaters, wooden boards, conches, and shell trumpets, collectively called gandhi in Sanskrit, for use. From ancient times to the present, Chan monasteries have followed this model in making Dharma instruments to awaken those who are drowsy and indolent, causing them earnestly to observe the regulations, dispel their torpor, and become keen and clear-minded.

As for great samadhi, it is ever quiescent yet possesses great function: hearing, yet not hearing; knowing, yet as though not knowing. Through sounding and stimulation, the wondrous wind blows forth; without thought and without action, its transforming influence endures perpetually. Vast indeed is the realm of benevolence and longevity; serene indeed is the land of security and peace!

TYPES OF BELLS – THE GREAT HONG BELL

The commands of the monastic community depend upon these various bells. It is struck in the morning to dispel the long night and awaken those who sleep, and in the evening to rouse those sunk in torpor and clear away the gloom. The striker should be drawn back and used slowly so that the reverberation is prolonged. Ordinarily, it is struck in three rounds, each round consisting of thirty-six strokes, for a total of 108 strokes. At the beginning and end, three strokes are sounded rhythmically, slightly faster, while the bell-ringer recollects this verse:

“May the sound of this bell transcend the Dharma realm;

May all within the dark Iron Ring Mountains hear it.

With the faculty of hearing purified, may perfect penetration be realized;

May all sentient beings attain Right Awakening.”

At the same time, one recites the name of Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. Striking the bell while reciting brings immense benefit.

On imperial holy days, during sutra recitation, when entering or leaving the main hall, at recitation services on the eighth, eighteenth, and twenty-eighth days of the month, on observances of the Buddha’s birth, awakening, and nirvana, when establishing a Surangama Dharma assembly, during the formal taking of rice or gruel in the refectory, and when entering meditation, it is struck 108 times. When it is struck to welcome or send off officials, the abbot, or venerable elders, however, the number is not restricted to 108 strokes but may be greater or fewer as appropriate. This is administered by the Storehouse Office.

THE BELL SUSPENDED IN THE SANGHA HALL

This bell is used to assemble the Sangha. Whenever the abbot visits the assembly or enters the Sangha hall, it is struck seven times. When the Sangha concludes the meals of rice or gruel and leaves the refectory, at the dismissal of evening consultation, on the first and fifteenth days of the month, during the inspection of the hall, when tea is served, and when leaving the meditation platforms, it is struck three times. (If the abbot does not attend or is absent, however, it is not struck.) When the Sangha performs recitation in the Sangha hall, it is struck softly once for each invocation of the Buddha’s name, and at the end a double stroke is sounded. This is administered by the Hall Office.

THE BELL IN THE MAIN HALL

In the morning and evening, when the abbot enters to offer incense, this bell is struck seven times. Ordinarily, when the Sangha is assembled in the main hall, this bell is sounded in succession after the bell in the Sangha hall, under the direction of the rector.

The Record of Miraculous Responses relates: “When Buddha Krakucchanda resided at the Qianzhu Sutra Monastery, he had a bell made of blue stone. When the sun appeared, transformation Buddhas appeared together with it and secretly proclaimed the manifest teaching, which was arranged into the twelve divisions of scripture. Those who heard this Dharma and attained the noble fruit were beyond enumeration.”

The Ekottara Agama Sutra also states: “When the bell is struck, all suffering in the evil destinies ceases.”

The Gazetteer of Jinling states: “At that time, a commoner died suddenly and descended to the courts of the underworld. There he saw a man confined in a cangue made of five wooden bars, who said to him: ‘I am the former ruler of Southern Tang. Because I mistakenly killed the soldiers of Song and Qi, together with the surrendered troops of an entire prefecture, I have come to this condition.

Whenever I hear the sound of a bell, my suffering temporarily ceases. When you return to the human world, please tell my successor to cast and strike a great hong bell so that my suffering may be relieved.’ When the man revived and returned to the human world, he related the whole matter to the Later Ruler. The Later Ruler then ordered a great hong bell to be cast and hung at Qingliang Monastery.

Upon it was inscribed: ‘Reverently dedicated so that our illustrious imperial ancestor, the High Emperor, may escape the dark paths and depart from the place of calamity and distress.’”

WOODEN BOARDS

The large board is struck for the two meals of rice and gruel. After three strokes of the wooden fish, the board is struck in three prolonged rounds, called the long board. During recitation of the Surangama Sutra or when giving a warning about firewood and fire, it is struck three times; when announcing the watches of the night, it is struck sequentially according to the particular watch.

The abbot’s quarters, Storehouse Office, head-seat’s quarters, and all the assembly’s quarters each have a small board. When the wake-up signal is given, this board is struck in one prolonged round; when an announcement is made to the assembly, it is struck three times. Each of the monks’ quarters has two kinds of board: one kept inside the quarters and one placed outside.

The board outside the quarters is struck three times each day when members of the assembly exchange greetings; when the assembly enters the Chan hall, sits in meditation, or attends consultation, it is struck three times in sequence; and when tea or water is served, it is struck in one prolonged round. The board inside the quarters is used when a newly arrived monk formally takes up residence. When the assembly returns to the quarters, it is struck three times; when cups are brought out for tea or water, it is struck twice; when the cups are cleared away, it is struck once; when the tea gathering concludes, it is struck three times; and when plain water is served, it is struck in one prolonged round.

WOODEN FISH

This wooden fish is used on the following occasions: for the two meals of rice and gruel, it is struck in two prolonged rounds; when waiting for the Sangha to assemble for communal labor, it is struck in one prolonged round; and when summoning the postulants who perform miscellaneous duties, it is struck in two rounds.

Tradition holds that fish remain wakeful throughout both night and day. Therefore, carving the form of a fish upon a wooden instrument and striking it serves to warn against drowsiness and indolence.

GANDHI

This gandhi is used on the following occasions: at the two meals of rice and gruel; when the lids of the bowls are opened in the Sangha hall; when food is served, the assembly is invited to eat, the Buddha’s name is recited, or a declaration is made to the assembly concerning donated goods, it is struck by the rector; when leaving the refectory, it is struck by the attendant. This gandhi is also used when an administrator relinquishes or assumes office. When the abbot assumes office and ascends the Dharma seat to preach, the senior representatives of neighboring monasteries strike it; this is called “announcing with the beater.”

One day, the Blessed One ascended the Dharma seat. When the great assembly had gathered and settled in their places, Bodhisattva Manjusri struck the gavel and proclaimed: “Carefully contemplate the essential Dharma of the Dharma King. The essential Dharma of the Dharma King is thus—true and real.” Thereupon, the Blessed One immediately descended from the Dharma seat.

CHIMES

The large chime is struck by the Hall Attendant when the abbot and the administrators offer incense in the main hall in the morning and evening; during the ceremony for auctioning robes, it is struck by the rector. When a practitioner has his head shaved to enter monastic life, it is struck while the acarya chants in Sanskrit. As for the small chime, the practitioner serving the Monks’ Hall Office ordinarily carries it with him and strikes it whenever the Sangha recites sutras, for it is an instrument used to signal the beginning and conclusion of ceremonies.

CYMBALS

When the rector bows and invites the abbot, and when the officers of the two divisions leave their places to offer incense before the Buddha hall, or when the Dharma wheel is turned and praises and invocations are recited in the scripture repository, cymbals are used and are handled by a practitioner. Cymbals are also struck when guiding the spirit of the deceased, when shaving the head of a practitioner entering monastic life, when the Sangha performs a circumambulation, and when welcoming a new abbot arriving to assume office at the Chan monastery.

VARIOUS KINDS OF DRUMS

The drum used when conducting Buddhist services

This drum is struck when the abbot ascends the seat to preach the Dharma, during an informal sermon, a general sermon, and private instruction in the abbot’s quarters. The manner of striking the drum is as follows: when the abbot ascends the hall, three rounds are struck. First, lightly tap the rim of the drum three times; then gradually strike more forcefully, making the tempo suitably fast or slow, the low and rising tones properly corresponding, and the sound harmonious, continuous, and unbroken, resounding and reverberating like spring thunder.

In the first round, the drumbeats are slow and prolonged. After a brief pause, strike the second round, with continuous beats, somewhat faster and without interruption. Next, strike the third round, with the sounds rolling into one another.

Then wait until the abbot has ascended the Dharma seat and settled himself before concluding by bringing the two drumsticks together and striking the final three beats. For an informal sermon, one round is struck; for a general sermon, five beats; and for private instruction in the abbot’s quarters, three beats. All are struck slowly.

The drum struck when drinking tea

This drum is struck by the attendant, in one long round.

The drum struck at mealtime

This drum is struck in three rounds when it is time to proceed to the refectory and on the observance day at the beginning of the month; it is struck somewhat briskly.

The drum struck to assemble the community for communal labor

One long round is struck.

The drum struck to mark the watches

Monasteries ordinarily strike three leisurely rounds of this drum in the early morning and evening. In addition, it may be struck at the watches as circumstances require, under the responsibility of the monastery superintendent.

The drum signaling bathing time

This drum is struck in four rounds to signal bathing time for the Sangha (see the full chapter on the bath master) and is struck by the bath master.

The Dharma instruments described above must be used in accordance with the regulations and ordinarily must not be used improperly. When a new abbot arrives to assume office at a monastery, all the Dharma instruments are sounded together.

The Suvarnaprabhasa Sutra states: “While sleeping at night, Bodhisattva Ruciraketu dreamed that he saw a golden drum, immense and beautiful in form, radiating light like the sun. Within that light, the bodhisattva saw the Buddhas of the ten directions seated upon lapis lazuli thrones in a grove of jeweled trees, teaching the Dharma to hundreds of thousands of attendants seated around them. A man resembling a brahmin held a drumstick and struck the drum, causing it to resound thunderously; its sound proclaimed a verse of repentance. After awakening from the dream, Bodhisattva Ruciraketu went to the Buddha and related to the Tathagata all that he had heard and seen in the dream, including the golden drum and the verse of repentance.”

The Surangama Sutra likewise recounts: “The Buddha said to Venerable Ananda: As you have heard here in the Jeta Grove, when the meal has been prepared, the drum is struck and the Sangha gathers; the bell is then rung, so that the sounds of bell and drum follow one another continuously. What do you think? Do those sounds enter both ears, or do both ears receive the sounds?”

The chapter on Dharma instruments ends here.

APPENDIX

The appendix to the Imperial Edition of Baizhang’s Pure Rules contains the following seven inscriptions and prefaces:

1. Inscription engraved on the stupa of the late Chan Master Huaihai of Mount Baizhang in Hongzhou, from the Tang dynasty (composed by Chen Xu)

2. Record of the Pavilion of the Teacher and Exemplar of All Under Heaven at Dazhi Shousheng Monastery on Mount Baizhang

3. Original preface to Baizhang’s Pure Rules (composed by Yang Yi)

4. Preface to the Pure Rules from the Chongning era

5. Preface to the Pure Rules from the Xianchun era;

6. Preface to the Pure Rules from the Zhida era;

7. Preface to the Imperial Edition of Baizhang’s Pure Rules

Because we found their contents somewhat similar, we have translated only four representative pieces: numbers 1, 2, 3, and 7.

INSCRIPTION ENGRAVED ON THE STUPA OF THE LATE CHAN MASTER HUAIHAI OF MOUNT BAIZHANG IN HONGZHOU, FROM THE TANG DYNASTY

COMPOSED BY CHEN XU, COURT GENTLEMAN FOR CEREMONIAL SERVICE AND PALACE CENSOR

CALLIGRAPHY BY HUANG WUYI, REGISTRAR AND ADJUTANT OF XINZHOU PREFECTURE, EXTRA-OFFICIAL OFFICIAL ACTING WITH EQUIVALENT RANK

The constellations revolve in their courses; the mountains rise steep and perilous like Vulture Peak. The foremost among the śramaṇas, Chan Master Huaihai, established his hermitage here, built his precious stupa here, and transmitted the great Dharma here as well. The disciples of the lineage feared that the precious stupa might be moved and that, with the passing of time, these events would remain unrecorded; they therefore asked a Confucian scholar to compose an inscription clearly recounting his life and deeds.

When the teaching of the Western Region (India) was transmitted to China, the Six Paramitas of Buddhism came to be regarded as equivalent to the Five Constant Virtues of our China: they transform evil and lead people toward goodness—different paths returning to the same destination. Yet the Chan school alone delivers beings from birth and death, and only those of great wisdom can attain its realization. From Kukkutapada Mountain—referring to Patriarch Mahakasyapa—down to Caoxi, Patriarch Huineng, the transmission has been recorded in full detail.

Caoxi transmitted it to Venerable Huairang at the Guanyin Terrace on Mount Heng. Huairang transmitted it to Venerable Daoyi in Jiangxi. After Daoyi entered parinirvana, he was posthumously honored with the title Chan Master Daji.

Daji transmitted it to the Great Master, Huaihai. Thus teacher and disciple transmitted it one to another through nine generations in the Eastern Land, China.

The Great Master’s family name was Wang. He was a native of Changle County in Fuzhou, whose ancestral home was Taiyuan. Around the Yongjia era, when warfare and disorder prevailed, the Master’s distant ancestor migrated to the region of Minyu. Through a great karmic affinity, the Great Master was born into the world during the latter period of the Semblance Dharma. When he entered his mother’s womb, foul and fishy odors disappeared; as he was about to be born, miraculous signs appeared; and while still a child, sacred qualities revealed themselves. Had he not cultivated the roots of merit and virtue in past lives, how could such auspicious signs have occurred?

The Master shaved his head and entered monastic life under Venerable Huizhao at Xishan, and received the full precepts from Vinaya Master Fachao at Mount Heng. Thinking of his future work for the Way, the Master sighed and said: “To cleanse the source of delusion, one must cross the ocean of Dharma; to determine the day of awakening, one must rely upon words of instruction.” Thereupon, the Master went to Lujiang, shut his door, and read the Tripitaka for several years without leaving his room.

The Master took Chan Master Daji, Daoyi, as his teacher and ultimately received the mind-seal. His words were simple, yet their meaning was profound; his countenance was gentle, yet his bearing was lucid and discerning. All who saw him conceived reverence. The Master always conducted himself humbly and skillfully declined fame. For this reason, the inscription for his late teacher withheld words of praise concerning him. The Master labored alongside the assembly, and therefore every disciple exerted himself wholeheartedly in his work. He forgot distinctions between enemies and kin and thus paid no heed to former grievances. He treated the worthy and the foolish alike and therefore guided many who came to study under him.

The Master often taught that the three bodies do not abide and that the myriad practices are all empty; that both wrong and right must be cast away, and that source and stream must alike run dry. He used this teaching as the standard for guiding people. What the Buddha taught in ancient times is precisely the present Dharma gate of sudden awakening.

Among Chan Master Daji’s disciples were many spiritual dragons and elephants. Some attained renown before the sovereign, entering and leaving the imperial palace; others taught and transformed an entire region, bringing stability to the nation. Only the Great Master delighted in the secluded life, dwelling amid cloud-wreathed peaks.

Though he concealed his name, his virtue was praised by all; though he lived in solitude, his community flourished ever more greatly. Those who had traveled everywhere investigating lecture halls and knocking at the doors of Chan masters, but whose attachments had not yet dissolved and who remained entangled in being and nonbeing, found these ailments brought to an end. Some journeyed a thousand li in search of a decisive word; as soon as the net of doubt was spread out, the blade of wisdom severed it forever.

Thus, throughout Qi, Lu, Yan, Dai, the capital region, Wu, Min, and Shu, all who heard of the Master’s reputation and influence hurried to seek him out. When they received his guidance, they were like the hungry and thirsty who immediately found peace and satisfaction. Truly, he was one whose profound understanding transcended all others of his age.

At first, the Master lived beside Daji’s stupa at Shimen, where he expounded the teaching anew and brought honor to his teacher. Later, when the monastic assembly gathered in great numbers, the Master considered the long-term flourishing of the Way and wished to establish a great monastery on Mount Baizhang. Yet the surrounding region was utterly deserted.

To build a monastery, he would have to await the arising of faith in a donor. The opportunity then arrived: a lay devotee named Gan Zhen, while traveling through the region, resolved to offer the hill belonging to his family to the Master, hoping to remain close to him and receive his guidance. Thereupon, hermitages were built one beside another, and donors brought offerings of every kind of food and drink.

The assembly became even larger than it had been at Shimen.

Seeing that this place possessed an auspicious spiritual character and that its scenery lay far from worldly bustle, the Master wished to entrust his remaining bones to it. On the seventeenth day of the first month in the ninth year of the Yuanhe era, the Master seated himself upon the Chan platform and entered parinirvana. He was sixty-six years old and had completed forty-seven rains retreats. On the twenty-second day of the fourth month of that same year, the assembly escorted his physical remains to the summit of the western peak and enshrined them there. This accorded with the Master’s final instruction that he be buried like a Brahmin of pure conduct, as described in the Vibhasa Treatise.

After the Master’s remains had been placed within the stupa, people saw white light rising from his pure chamber and heard the ringing of a khakkhara resounding through the sky. The mountain stream ran dry in the midst of spring, while pinewood blazed throughout the night. The unseen responses evoked by his wondrous virtue were manifest everywhere.

His disciple Fazheng and the other Dharma brothers always attended upon the Master with the utmost care. In due succession, they developed the lineage, never daring to forget his final instructions, and through the passing years they continued its unbroken transmission. His disciple Tansi, ever mindful of his teacher’s kindness, exerted himself in constructing halls and the precious stupa, adding earth and piling stones, devoting all his strength without regard for illness or pain. His disciples Shenxing and Fanyun collected the Master’s teachings and compiled them into a recorded sayings collection. Scholars today are able to conduct themselves without stumbling because they follow the Master’s regulations.

In former times, Vinaya Master Ling’ai of Minyue was a religious leader of his region, revered by scholars of all three teachings. He often brought the question, “Does Buddha-nature exist or not?” to challenge the Master. The Great Master wrote a reply explaining the matter clearly, which is still preserved today in his recorded sayings for later students.

I, Chen Xu, while serving in the Jiangxi prefectural government, had the good fortune to savor the Dharma flavor of the Master. Therefore, I dare not fail those who entrusted this task to me, and respectfully compose these verses:

Verse I: The World-Honored One established the teaching,

With both provisional and true doctrines.

Unless one suddenly awakens,

One still falls into error.

The Patriarchs, moved by compassion,

Then transmitted the secret.

As in the darkness of night,

The orb of the sun suddenly appears.

Verse II: This was the Great Being,

Who widely transmitted the orthodox lineage.

Though cultivating wondrous practices,

He did not cling to true emptiness.

Without relying upon skillful means,

Polishing the mirror would be labor in vain.

Serenely returning to the source,

He merged without obstruction with the myriad phenomena.

Verse III: Hundreds of thousands of people,

Were all cured of their fevered afflictions.

They each attained realization,

Yet I do not proclaim it.

Mind is originally unborn,

And form likewise displays cessation.

Though ashes remain in this realm,

In that other quarter, the moon appears.

Verse IV: The Dharma is transmitted among people,

The stupa is hidden amid the mountains.

Pines and cypresses stand in somber shade,

Yet the monastery and stupa remain.

The assembly of disciples is abundant,

Gloriously illuminating the lineage.

Only those who awaken,

Truly repay his kindness.

This stele was erected on the third day of the tenth month in the thirteenth year of the Yuanhe era.

Beside the inscription, the assembly also recorded five provisions that remain extant to this day and may serve as standards for admonishing later generations. After the Great Master’s cremation, before a new abbot had been invited, the Sangha assembled to deliberate on reforming the monastery and ultimately reached unanimous agreement on the following five provisions:

1. A senior monk must be invited to administer the stupa cloister, and a novice must be assigned to sweep and clean it.

2. Within the precincts of the monastery and stupa, no nunnery or funerary stupa for nuns may be built, nor may laypeople erect houses and reside there.

3. Those who leave home in their youth and those who live in dependence must rely upon a single abbot. Members of the Sangha may not build private hermitages.

4. Gardens and fields may not be reclaimed and made into private property.

5. The disciples dwelling on this mountain may not privately store money, grain, or rice, whether within the monastery or elsewhere.

If one wishes the current to be clear, one must purify its source, so that later generations may continue the inheritance, observe these provisions forever, and revere them with single-minded devotion.

On the day the inscription was established, the entire assembly signed their names together.

RECORD OF THE PAVILION OF THE EXEMPLAR AND TEACHER OF ALL UNDER HEAVEN AT GREAT WISDOM SHOU SHENG CHAN MONASTERY, MOUNT BAIZHANG

In the eighth generation after the Great Master Bodhidharma, there was a great bhiksu on Mount Baizhang whom the world called Chan Master Baizhang.

The Son of Heaven issued a decree stating that, because the Chan Master had previously been granted the posthumous title Great Wisdom, Awakening Illumination, he was now additionally granted the title Vast Tradition, Wondrous Practice. As for the monastery’s name, Shou Sheng, its inscribed plaque had already existed from earlier times. This mountain lies three hundred li from the prefectural seat.

Before the monastery was built, its streams and ravines were perilous, its peaks towered aloft, and the woodcutters’ paths were obstructed. At that time, there was the dhutanga practitioner Sima, who was skilled in geomancy concerning the terrain of palaces and dwellings. Seeing the lofty configuration of the mountain, with its undulating hills responding to one another from head to tail, he recognized it as a spiritually potent place and left this prophetic record: “This is the dwelling place of a Dharma King, one who shall be an exemplar and teacher of all under heaven.”

Later, Chan Master Huaihai took up residence there, indeed fulfilling the earlier prediction. Chan Master Dongyang Dehui, an eighteenth-generation descendant of Huaihai, inherited the work of his masters and patriarchs and dwelt on this mountain. He not only built a new Dharma hall but also erected a lofty pavilion in which to enshrine an image of the Patriarch.

The horizontal plaque hung upon the building read: “Pavilion of the Exemplar and Teacher of All Under Heaven.” The following is recorded herein: When Emperor Wenzong first ascended the throne, he quietly established a monastery at Jinling, naming it Longxiang Jiqing. He ordered Daxin, the monastery’s founding master, to administer the assembly and to use the Pure Rules established by the Patriarch as the standard governing the Sangha’s deportment and daily conduct.

However, because these Pure Rules had been composed long before and were no longer extant, later generations merely conjectured about them and arbitrarily added and removed material, resulting in certain contradictions for which no satisfactory reconciliation had been made. Dehui and Daxin had studied under the same master and together upheld the guiding principles of the patriarchal monastery. Fearing that newcomers would transmit doubtful teachings without knowing what was appropriate, thereby conflicting with what was heard and known in the various monasteries, Dehui resolved to make the arduous journey to the imperial capital in search of someone who could correct the errors.

At that time, Imperial Censor-in-Chief Sadi was serving as the law-enforcing official of the Central Censorate. Dehui therefore asked him to memorialize the matter to the emperor, and the emperor summoned Dehui for an audience. The emperor then ordered Dehui to compile what he had formerly heard and transmit it to Daxin, directing Daxin to select what the Patriarch had left behind, collate and establish the text, and compile it into the Pure Rules to serve as the standard for Chan monasteries.

The emperor also bestowed upon him the title Chan Master Ruxi, praising and encouraging him in the most glorious terms.

Bearing the imperial edict affixed with the emperor’s seal, Dehui returned to the monastery. By then the pavilion had been completed, but no record of its history had yet been written. He therefore went to Huang Jin and requested that Jin compose a preface: “May you kindly write a preface recording the reasons for constructing this pavilion, so that I may take it back and have it engraved as a commemorative record.”

Jin humbly reflected: The sages and worthies of antiquity acted in accordance with the times, now grasping and now releasing, responding with supple versatility in an endless cycle; thus, all affairs were transformed and proceeded without obstruction. When the Buddha established the teachings, he first instituted the precepts. The doctrines of the various schools, of both the Mahayana and the Lesser Vehicle, were fully set forth; the provisions for allowance and prohibition also served but a single purpose.

Yet the farther removed people became from the Sage, the Buddha, the more confined they became within specializations; as names and designations multiplied, the principle of the Way grew increasingly obscured. Therefore, Patriarch Bodhidharma dispensed with expedient means and directly pointed to the source of mind. The forms of the precepts were applied with great flexibility, without obstruction.

Yet as the teaching drew closer to worldly ways, the branches and details and the fantastic gained ascendancy, while the authentic was fragmented; pursuing superficial externalities gave rise to thoughts of falsehood and arrogance. Therefore, Patriarch Baizhang propagated standards and regulations, acting in accordance with the precepts. What accorded was preserved; while relying upon phenomenal forms, he put the underlying principle into practice.

Thus, the Buddha’s Way was clarified through Patriarch Bodhidharma, while the Buddha’s phenomenal forms and practices were perfected through Baizhang. The wondrous function of transformation and unhindered adaptation arises through human beings. Later, the lineage of Patriarch Bodhidharma divided into five schools, two of which issued from Patriarch Baizhang.

Although other Chan masters each established the essential tenets of this or that house and tradition, in governing their assemblies securely, none has ever been seen to dispense with Baizhang’s rules. Thus, to call the Master Baizhang “the Exemplar and Teacher of All Under Heaven” is indeed perfectly fitting and not in the least exaggerated. In this Middle Kingdom, sovereign and ministers alike honor and admire the Buddha-Dharma, causing Buddhism to shine with a brilliance unsurpassed at any other time.

Dehui has encountered an age blessed with a sagely sovereign. Relying upon the emperor’s protection of the Dharma, he has expounded the instructions of his predecessors and perpetuated the flourishing of the ancestral tradition, enabling the monastery and the realm alike to remain firm and enduring forever. Not only is he honored today by all under heaven as an exemplary teacher, but throughout all future ages everyone shall rely upon him.

I, Jin, respectfully record these few matters above. As for his diligence in following the daily schedule of sutra recitation and chanting and his construction of magnificent edifices, these need hardly be discussed. The pavilion is a building divided into five bays and stands 120 chi high.

With each renovation, one-third was added to its height, and after three renovations it attained its present complete and spacious form. Construction reached a stable stage in the sixth month, in the summer of the first year of the Zhishun era (1330), but the work was not completed until the tenth month, in winter. Dehui had an audience with His Majesty in the fifth month, in the summer of the third year of the Yuantong era, and in the second month, in the spring of the following year, the emperor issued an edict ordering the Master to take up the abbacy of this mountain.

Thus, Dehui formally took up residence on this mountain in the first year of the Zhiyuan era (1335).

Composed by Huang Jin, Gentleman for Court Service and Erudite of the Directorate of Education.

The regular-script calligraphy was written by Jiexisi, Academician Awaiting Imperial Command, Grand Master for Court Consultation, and concurrently Compilation Official of the Institute of National History.

Hanlin Lecturer in Attendance, Scholar, Grand Master of Court Service, Drafter of Proclamations, Co-compiler of the National History, and Supervisor of Affairs of the Classics Mat, Zhang Qiyan, wrote the seal-script inscription.

The former Grand Master of Glorious Prosperity and Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhao Shian, together with the Grand Master of Imperial Prosperity and Censor-in-Chief for the Circuit Administration of Jiangnan, Yishi Dong’a, erected the stone stele.

ORIGINAL PREFACE TO THE BAIZHANG PURE RULES (Composed by Yang Yi, Hanlin Academician and Founding Marquis)

Chan Master Baizhang Dazhi observed that, from the time the Chan school began with Bodhidharma at Mount Shaoshi down to the Sixth Patriarch Huineng at Caoxi, its followers mostly resided as guests in Vinaya monasteries. Although separate cloisters were assigned to them, there were as yet no established regulations for expounding the Dharma or serving as abbot. He therefore constantly kept this matter in mind and said: “The Way of the Buddhas and Patriarchs should be widely propagated, with teaching and transformation rooted in the source, so that it may not fade away in future generations. How could we simply practice in accordance with the Agama teachings? Some say that the Yogacara treatises and the Yingluo Sutra contain the Mahayana precepts; why, then, should we not rely upon them?”

The Master said: “Our school belongs neither to the Mahayana nor to the Hinayana, yet it is not different from the Mahayana or the Hinayana. Therefore, we should adapt and harmonize the two, establishing rules and prohibitions solely according to what is appropriate.” Thus he conceived the idea of establishing separate Chan monasteries.

Anyone possessing the eye of the Way and endowed with virtue worthy of reverence was called an Elder, just as in the Western Regions one lofty in the Way and senior in monastic years was called an acarya. Whoever served as the teacher and guide resided in the abbot’s quarters, like the chamber of Vimalakirti; it was not merely a private sleeping room. No Buddha hall was established; only a Dharma hall was built, signifying that the Buddha and the Patriarchs personally entrusted the teaching and that people of the present age must honor it.

As for the assembly place of the many students, regardless of their number or their rank, all entered the Sangha hall. They were assigned places according to seniority in monastic years, counted by summer retreats. Long connected platforms were installed, together with racks from which their implements of the Way were hung. When lying down, they rested their heads at the edge of the platform and slept in the auspicious posture on the right side, regarding sleep merely as a brief respite after prolonged meditation.

As for fully maintaining the four deportments, except when entering the Master’s room to ask questions, students were left to be diligent or indolent, correct or mistaken, without being constrained by fixed conventions. The entire monastery assembled in the morning to pay respects and gathered again in the evening. The Elder entered the Dharma hall and sat upon the high seat. The officers and disciples stood in ranks like geese in flight and listened attentively. Host and guest exchanged questions and answers, bringing the essential principles of the school to light and demonstrating that they dwelt in reliance upon the Dharma.

Gruel and meals were provided as appropriate and distributed equally at both mealtimes, frugality being observed to signify the joint operation of Dharma nourishment and material nourishment. The practice of universal labor—that is, communal work—was instituted, and those above and below alike were required to exert equal effort. Ten offices were established in the residential quarters, each with one leader overseeing the work of many, so that everyone might direct and supervise those under his charge.

If someone falsely assumed the name and secretly adopted the appearance of a monk, infiltrated the pure assembly, and caused noisy disorder, the rector investigated and identified him, deprived him of his eating place, struck his name from the Sangha register, and expelled him from the monastery, thereby honoring the assembly’s peaceful and pure cultivation. If someone committed an offense, the assembly was convened to deliberate publicly and issue a reprimand; he was then beaten with a staff or expelled and compelled to leave the monastery through a side gate as a sign of disgrace. Careful consideration shows that this regulation has four benefits:

1. It does not defile the pure assembly and gives rise to reverence and faith.

2. It does not destroy the monastic appearance and accords with the Buddha’s regulations.

3. It does not trouble government officials or public offices and avoids litigation.

4. It does not disclose matters to outsiders and safeguards the discipline of the school.

The great assembly dwells together; who can distinguish sages from ordinary beings? Moreover, even when the Tathagata appeared in the world, there was the group of six wicked bhiksus. How much more so now, in the semblance-Dharma and final age—how could there be no evil persons at all? Nevertheless, if whenever one sees a monk commit some minor fault, one unleashes the full thunder of the regulations and reviles him mercilessly, without realizing that this disparages the assembly, damages the Dharma, and causes immense harm, that is a grave matter indeed!

Now, if the Chan monasteries wish to remain relatively free of harmful affairs, they should rely upon the rules of Baizhang’s monastic communities and judge and deal with each matter accordingly. Admittedly, laws established to guard against wrongdoing are not intended for virtuous persons. Nevertheless, there should be rules even when no offense has occurred; there should not be offenses without instruction. How immense was Chan Master Dazhi’s contribution to safeguarding the Dharma! The independent practice of the Chan school began with that old master. The essential features of the Pure Rules illuminate students of later generations everywhere and keep them from forgetting the source. The procedures and established practices are all gathered clearly and completely in this book.

I, Yang Yi, had the undeserved privilege of reading its profound intent while editing and establishing the text of the Transmission of the Lamp. When that work was completed and submitted to His Majesty, I accordingly wrote this introductory preface. On an auspicious day of an auspicious month in the jiachen year, the first year of the Jingde era.

PREFACE TO THE IMPERIALLY REVISED BAIZHANG PURE RULES

During the Tianli and Zhishun eras (1328–1332), Emperor Wenzong constructed Dalongxiang Jiqing Monastery at Jinling. When the monastery was completed and monks from the ten directions came to reside there, an imperial decree ordered that Baizhang’s Pure Rules be put into practice.

In the seventh month of autumn, in the yihai year, the third year of the Yuantong era, the reigning emperor carried out the command of the preceding court and proclaimed: “In recent years, the Pure Rules of the monastic communities have occasionally been augmented or abridged and are no longer uniform. We therefore command Dehui, abbot of Dazhi Shousheng Chan Monastery on Mount Baizhang, to collect the various editions of this work. We further command Daxin, abbot of Dalongxiang Jiqing Monastery, to select learned sramanas to edit and correct it together, so that the Pure Rules may be made uniform and may serve as the daily standard in the monastic communities.”

Dehui and the others reverently received the command to carry out the imperial decree. When the book was nearing completion, the Master came and asked me, Xuan, to write a preface. I, Xuan, once heard the venerable masters teach: “Within heaven and earth, there is not a single affair that does not employ rites and music.

That dwelling and daily life are peaceful and orderly is due to rites. That all daily activities proceed joyfully is due to music.” One day, Master Cheng Mingdao happened to visit Dinglin Monastery. Upon unexpectedly witnessing the formal observances of the meal, he was moved and exclaimed in praise: “The rites and music of the Three Dynasties (Xia, Shang, and Zhou) are all present here.

Is this not achieved through the disciplinary power of the Pure Rules? It is precisely through thoroughly practicing the Pure Rules that this has been attained! By observing prescribed regulations, one naturally realizes their wondrous function.

In practicing these established rules, those who do not understand regard them as impediments to principle and phenomena, whereas those with insight say that all Dharma gates of peace and bliss converge here.” Yet, for this complicated book to become coherent, a preface is needed to harmonize its meanings, thereby giving it enduring and excellent value. Thus, the labor of revision will bring immense benefit to this work.

And the favor bestowed upon students by the two dynasties (Song and Yuan) has been immeasurably great. These Pure Rules were promulgated during the Song dynasty, and Yang Yi, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy, wrote a preface setting forth the entire sequence and all the sections fully and clearly; there is no need to repeat them here.

Written as a preface by Ouyang Xuan of Luling, Hanlin Academician-in-Attendance, Grand Master of the Center, Drafter of Imperial Proclamations, Associate Compiler of the National History, and Chancellor of the Directorate of Education, during the first ten days of the third month in the spring of the Bingzi year, the second year of the Zhiyuan era (1336).

End of fascicle 8 of the Imperially Revised Baizhang Pure Rules

GLOSSARY AND ANNOTATIONS

THE IMPERIALLY REVISED BAIZHANG PURE RULES

A

Amitabha (阿彌陀): A transliterated term derived from amita, an abbreviated form of the two Sanskrit names Amitābha and Amitāyus. Amitābha means “Infinite Light,” light

without measure; Amitāyus means “Infinite Life,” a lifespan without measure. This is the name of an important Buddha, the most widely venerated in the Mahayana (Skt: mahāyāna). Amitabha is the presiding Buddha of the Land of Ultimate Bliss (Skt: sukhāvatī) in the West. Amitabha Buddha is venerated in the Pure Land schools of China, Japan, Vietnam, and Tibet, and symbolizes compassion and wisdom.

Arhat (阿羅漢; Skt: Arhat, P: Arahant): One of the four fruits of the shravaka path and one of the ten epithets of the Tathagata Buddha. Also called a-lô-hán, a-la-ha, and a-lợi-kha, and abbreviated as La-hán. It is rendered according to meaning as Worthy One, Worthy of Offerings, True Worthy One, Slayer of Thieves, Unborn, Free from Birth, Beyond Training, and True Person. It refers to one who has completely eliminated the views of the three realms or the afflictions of thought (?), attained the wisdom of exhaustion, and become a noble one capable of receiving the offerings of the world. In fact, arhatship is the highest attainment in both the Mahayana and the Hinayana, but it is often mistakenly regarded as only the supreme attainment of the Hinayana.

Aniruddha (阿那律; Skt: Aniruddha, P: Anuruddha): Also called A-ni-lô-đà and A-na-luật. His name is rendered according to meaning as Unextinguished, As Wished, Unobstructed, Free from Greed, One Who Accorded with the Meaning of Benevolence, and One Who Did Not Dispute Existence or Nonexistence. He was one of the Buddha’s ten great disciples and a younger paternal cousin of the Buddha in the Shakya clan of Kapilavastu in ancient central India.

King Ajatashatru (阿闍世王): Ajatashatru (Skt: Ajatasatru, P: Ajatasattu) was the son of King Bimbisara of Magadha. His name is rendered according to meaning as King of Enmity Before Birth and King of Dharma’s Radiance. His mother was named Vaidehi, and he was therefore also called Ajatashatru, Son of Vaidehi. He murdered his father, ascended the throne, and waged campaigns throughout the region, laying the foundation for the unification of India.

Unwholesome karma (惡業) (p. 326): Buddhism holds that the actions of body, speech, and mind are “karma.” Through the wholesome or unwholesome power of karma, corresponding retribution arises. Unwholesome karma consists of erroneous actions that lead to adverse results.

Bad habits (惡習): Faults and harmful habits accumulated through long habituation.

Net of craving (愛網): The net of passion; a metaphor comparing sensual attachment to being caught in a net that binds a person so that escape is impossible.

Enshrining the bones (安骨) (p. 174): After cremation, the ashes and bones are collected and reverently placed in a stupa. This rite is called the “ceremony of enshrining the bones,” also known as “enshrinement.”

Rains retreat (安居; Skt: ṣika, varṣa; P: vassa): Rendered according to meaning as the rainy season. Also called the summer retreat, rains retreat, summer sitting, sitting through the summer, establishing the summer retreat, sitting for a monastic year, one summer, the ninety-day confinement, establishing the regulated retreat, and establishing the regulations. The rainy season in India lasts throughout the three summer months.

During these three months, monastics are not permitted to travel outside but must gather and remain peacefully in one place, devoting themselves to cultivation; this is called the rains retreat. During the period of heavy rains, going outside might lead them to tread upon insects and the tender shoots of plants on the ground, bringing ridicule from worldly people. They therefore remain peacefully in one place to cultivate and do not go outside.

Fascicle 4 of the Commentary on the Supplementary, Occasion-Appropriate Karmavacanas of the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya explains the meaning of “rains retreat” as follows: gathering body and mind into tranquility is “peaceful,” and remaining in one place is “dwelling.”

Peace and bliss (安樂) (p. 366): A healthy body and a joyful state of mind.

Peaceful meditation (安禪) (p. 367): The mental state in seated meditation in which there is neither thought nor perception.

The Yingluo Sutra (瓔珞經): A sutra elucidating the procedures for receiving the precepts, highly esteemed by the Faxiang and Tiantai schools.

Inviting with incense (揖香): Reverently joining the palms and bowing to invite someone to offer incense.

Inviting to tea (揖茶): Bowing in greeting and inviting someone to drink tea.

B

The three realms: The three worlds within the cycle of birth and death, where sentient beings are reborn among the six destinies (Skt: gati); they may be understood as the Buddhist cosmological universe. The three worlds comprise: 1. The desire realm (欲界; Skt, P: kāmaloka, kāmadhātu), where there is sexual desire and other forms of craving. 2.

The form realm (色界; Skt: rūpaloka, rūpadhātu): the beings here are male but have ended all sexual desire and eating and drinking, although pleasure remains. This is the world of celestial beings in the realms of meditative absorption (Skt: dhyāna). Practitioners who cultivate meditative concentration may be reborn in the form realm. 3.

The formless realm (無色界; arūpaloka, arūpadhātu): this world is constituted purely by consciousness and consists of the four attainments (arūpasamādhi). Practitioners who cultivate the four dhyanas and eight concentrations may be reborn in these four attainments.

Patidesaniya (波羅提提舍尼; Skt: patidesaniya): One category of the full precepts upheld by bhikshus and bhikshunis. It is abbreviated as Đề-xá-ni and rendered according to meaning as “acknowledgment before another” and “the Dharma of repenting

transgressions,” and so forth. When one violates this precept, one must approach a pure bhikshu, disclose the offense, and repent.

Pratimoksha (波羅提木叉; Skt: Pratimoksa, Pratimoksa; P: Pratimokkha, Pratimokkha): The precepts that guard against faults of body and speech and govern the seven constituent groups of the seven assemblies; they must be upheld in order to leave behind all afflictions and karma and attain liberation. Also called Bát-la-đề-mộc-xoa and rendered according to meaning as Conducive to Liberation, Liberation in Every Place, Individual Liberation, Separate Liberation, Supreme, and Unequaled Training. These precepts protect the faculties and foster wholesome dharmas. They are the gateway to all wholesome dharmas and are therefore called Pratimoksha.

Vārāṇasī (波羅奈; Skt: Vārāṇasī): An ancient Indian kingdom situated west of Magadha and north of Kośala. Its capital was also called Vārāṇasī, present-day Benares. It was the place where Śākyamuni Buddha taught the Dharma of awakening to his first five disciples.

Baling’s Three Turning Phrases (巴陵三轉語): A Chan gong’an, also called Baling’s Three Phrases, referring to three sayings that Chan Master Baling Haojian used to spur later students and help them turn from delusion and awaken to enlightenment: “A silver bowl filled with snow,” “Branches of coral propping up the moon,” and “A cold chicken climbs a tree; a cold duck descends into the water.” When Yunmen Wenyan heard these sayings, he was greatly delighted.

Pāli (波离; S., P. Upāli): An abbreviated form of Upāli, also transcribed as Wubali. Translated into Chinese as “Near Attendant” or “Close Adherent.” One of the Buddha’s ten great disciples, he was a native of Kapilavastu in India. Born into the Śūdra caste, he served as a barber in the royal palace. Upāli specialized in the Vinaya and observed it with the utmost rigor. He was praised as “foremost in upholding the Vinaya.” At the First Council, he recited the Vinaya Piṭaka.

Brāhmaṇa (婆羅門; S., P.: brāhmaṇa): A term denoting a caste or class of people in India. The brāhmaṇa caste comprised priests, philosophers, scholars, and religious leaders. The people of India held this class in great esteem. During the period when the Buddha taught the Dharma, it ranked second among the four castes—although from after the Buddha’s time until the present it has been the highest—and its members were therefore extremely arrogant. Many brāhmaṇas believed that they alone bore “white,” pure blood and that all other classes existed only to serve them. In the discourses of the Pāli canon, the Buddha never opposed the brāhmaṇa caste, but taught that merely being born

into a brāhmaṇa family or lineage did not naturally make one a brāhmaṇa. One “became” a brāhmaṇa through noble deeds and thoughts, which were the true criteria. Anyone who attained the foregoing qualities could be called a brāhmaṇa. This was a marvelous method employed by the Buddha: he transformed the meaning of “the brāhmaṇa caste” into the ethical designation brāhmaṇa—that is, a person fully endowed with virtue and transcending every social caste of that time (Collection of Discourses).

The Hundred Schools (百氏): The hundred schools, equivalent in meaning to the Hundred Schools of Thought or the various masters; that is, the entirety of the systems of political and philosophical thought and the doctrines of all philosophers belonging to different currents of thought throughout China.

Baizhang (百丈), in full Baizhang Huaihai (百丈懷海) (720–841): A monk of the Tang dynasty. He was a native of Changle County, Fuzhou, and his family name was Wang, though one account says it was Huang. From childhood he enjoyed visiting monasteries.

At the age of twenty, he followed Master Huizhao at Xishan and entered monastic life. He later received full ordination under Vinaya Master Fachao at Nanyue. Not long afterward, he went to Lujiang in Sichuan to study the Buddhist canon.

When he encountered Master Mazu Daoyi teaching the Dharma at Nankang, he wholeheartedly followed him and received Daoyi’s seal of approval. Because he, Master Zhizang of Xitang, and Puyuan of Nanquan all received the transmission of Chan, they were known at the time as the Three Great Masters. He later became abbot on Mount Baizhang in Xinwu, now Fengxin County, Jiangxi Province.

There he independently established a Chan monastery, formulated its pure regulations, led the assembly in cultivation, and practiced the integrated life of farming and Chan. The master once said (Taishō 48, 1119b), “A day without work is a day without food.” He passed into nirvana in the ninth year of the Yuanhe era, at the age of ninety-five. The emperor bestowed upon him the posthumous title “Chan Master Dazhi,” and his stūpa was named “Great Precious Victorious Wheel.” Foremost among his disciples were Xiyun of Huangbo and Lingyou of Guishan.

Later emperors of the Song and Yuan dynasties also bestowed upon him the posthumous titles “Chan Master Juezhao” and “Chan Master Hongzong Miaoxing.”

Striking the Gavel to Make the Announcement (白椎): A ritual performed during an inauguration of the Dharma hall. At the opening of the hall, a respected senior well versed in ritual strikes a wooden gavel once to signal that all commotion should cease and order be established, then formally invites the abbot to teach the Dharma. This is called “striking the gavel to make the announcement.” After the abbot concludes the Dharma teaching, the gavel is struck once more to signal that the teaching has been successfully and perfectly completed; this is called “concluding with the gavel.” The person charged with making the opening announcement and concluding with the gavel is also called the “gavel announcer.”

Chanted Music (唄樂) (S. 187): A musical ensemble that performs words in Sanskrit during rituals.

Tray Cover (柈袱): Also written 盤袱; a cloth used to cover the tray holding written notices or petitions.

Inventory Register (板帳) (S. 171): Also written 板賬. When the abbot becomes gravely ill, the monastery director prepares to assemble officeholders such as the administrators and section heads to move the sick person to the Eastern Hall, and records the patient’s personal possessions in an itemized register called the Inventory Register.

Half Meal (半齋): A light refreshment eaten between the morning gruel and the midday meal.

Pangpei (霶霈): Torrential rain pouring down in sheets; that is, a heavy, driving downpour.

Recompense Land (報地) (S. 165): That is, a recompense realm, a Pure Land adorned with myriad merits and virtues.

Repaying Thanks (報謝): Repaying kindness and expressing gratitude. In the context of this text, it means thanking everyone who escorted the abbot into the monastery.

Reward Body (報身) (S. 253): One of the three bodies of a Buddha; the Buddha-body attained through cultivation, in which the Buddha realizes complete awakening.

Eight Classes (八部): In full, the Eight Classes of Devas and Nāgas, or the assembly of eight classes, comprising devas, nāgas, yakṣas, asuras, garuḍas, gandharvas, kiṃnaras, and mahoragas. These are powerful divine beings who protect the Buddha-Dharma. Among the eight classes, devas and nāgas are foremost; hence they are called the Eight Classes of Devas and Nāgas.

Alms-Bowl Utensils (鉢具) (S. 342): Utensils used by the monastic assembly to hold food.

Eight Extremities (八極): The most remote places in the eight directions. The “Record of Emperor Ming” in the Book of the Later Han states: “He broadened the imperial Way and extended it throughout the Eight Extremities.” A commentary on the Huainanzi states: “Beyond the Nine Provinces are the Eight Borders; beyond the Eight Borders are the Eight Wastes; beyond the Eight Wastes are the Eight Extremities.”

Eight Wastes (八荒): The same meaning as the Eight Extremities (see the annotation for “Eight Extremities”). The “Discerning Things” chapter of the Shuoyuan records: “Within the Eight Wastes—the eight most distant regions—are the Four Seas; within the Four Seas are the Nine Provinces. The Son of Heaven dwells in the central province and governs the eight directions.”

Eight Difficulties (八難) (S. 315): Buddhism teaches that there are eight adverse conditions that prevent sentient beings from encountering a Buddha and hearing the Dharma: 1. Being born in hell; 2. Being born as a hungry ghost; 3. Being born as an animal; 4. Being born in Northern Uttarakuru; 5. Being born in a long-lived heavenly realm; 6. Being blind, deaf, mute, or unable to speak clearly; 7. Possessing worldly intelligence; 8. Being born before or after a Buddha—that is, being born during an interval between these two periods when the Buddha-Dharma is absent.

Prajñāpāramitā (船苦波羅密多): Also called prajñāpāramitā. Translated by meaning as “wisdom that has reached the other shore,” “perfection of wisdom,” “illumining perfection,” “unbounded perfection of universal wisdom,” or “wisdom pāramitā.” It is one of the six pāramitās or one of the ten pāramitās. It means perfectly illuminating the wisdom of ultimate reality, reaching the utmost limit of wisdom, and carrying beings from this shore of birth and death to the other shore of nirvana.

Venerable Prajnatara (般若多羅尊者; S: Prajnatara) was the twenty-seventh of the twenty-eight Indian patriarchs established by the Chan school. He was also called the Garlanded Youth. A native of eastern India and a member of the Brahmin caste, he lost his parents at an early age and often wandered through villages, his conduct resembling that of Bodhisattva Never Disparaging. At the age of twenty, he encountered the twenty-sixth patriarch, Punyamitra, received his entrustment, and became the twenty-seventh patriarch of Indian Chan. He later entrusted the Dharma to Bodhidharma, who became the twenty-eighth patriarch.

Prajnaparamita Sutra (般若經; S: Prajña), also called Pan-nhã or Ba-la-nhã, is translated by meaning as wisdom, knowledge, illumination, or discerning wisdom. It is the true wisdom manifested through cultivating the Noble Eightfold Path and the paramitas, by which all phenomena and principles are clearly perceived. The full title of the Prajnaparamita Sutra is the Mahaprajnaparamita Heart Sutra (S: Prajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya-sūtra). It principally expounds the teaching that all dharmas are empty through such teachings as the five skandhas, the twelve links of dependent origination, the Four Noble Truths, “form is emptiness,” and “emptiness is form.”

Prajna wisdom (般若智) (p. 331): Prajna is the transliteration of the Sanskrit Prajñā, one of the six paramitas that Buddhism teaches can carry one to the other shore. Translated by meaning as wisdom, it signifies the distinctive understanding taught in Buddhism. It is also called transcendent wisdom that reaches the other shore, nirvana.

Parinirvana (般涅槃), also called Bát nê-hoàn (S: Parinirvana), denotes the state of being extinguished or blown out. When the burning afflictions have been extinguished, one reaches the realm of awakening and wisdom is perfected; Buddhism therefore regards this state as its ultimate goal. “Nirvana is quiescence” is one of the Three Dharma Seals; hence the Buddha’s passing away is called parinirvana.

Eight fields of merit (八福田) (p. 266): There are several differing explanations. According to one, making offerings to the following eight recipients brings immeasurable merit, and they are therefore called the eight fields of merit: 1. the Buddha, 2. sages, 3. one’s preceptor (the person who confers the precepts upon one), 4. one’s acarya, 5. the Sangha, 6. one’s father, 7. one’s mother, and 8. the sick. Another explanation holds that the eight wholesome deeds are: digging wells along roads, repairing bridges, maintaining roads, being filial toward one’s parents, making offerings to sramanas, providing for the sick, rescuing those in distress, and establishing an altar for charitable relief rites. These are the eight fields of merit.

Bowl-seat (鉢位) (p. 130): the place where a member of the Sangha sits to eat in the Sangha Hall of a Chan monastery.

The sage Bhargava (跋伽仙), also called the sage Bhagava, Bạt Già Xà (S: Bhagava; P: Bhaggava), is translated by meaning as “the potter.” He was also called Vô Bất Đạt and was an ascetic sage who practiced austerities in the forest. When the Blessed One climbed over the city wall and fled by night, he came to this place to inquire about the Way from this sage. Regrettably, it is now unclear what the sage’s teachings were.

Uninterrupted cycle (不斷輪): the continuous recitation of sutras by the Sangha without interruption for even a moment during monastery ceremonies to pray for clear weather or rain. In this practice, one person continues after another, or one group follows another, reciting the mantra in succession throughout the entire day without interruption.

Bất thẩm (不審) (p. 66): When members of the Sangha meet and exchange greetings, a junior addressing a senior should say: “May I ask whether you have little illness and little distress, and whether your movements are light and comfortable?” When a senior expresses concern for a junior, the senior should say: “Are you healthy and at peace? Is it easy to obtain alms? Are there no wicked people where you have gone? When entering the water or coming ashore, have you avoided stepping on insects?” Later generations abbreviated this form of greeting as “Bất thẩm.”

Esoteric chapter (祕章): an esoteric mantra, a general designation for true-word dharanis. Dharanis are esoteric mantra passages found in the sutras; they are transliterated but not translated by meaning.

The other shore (彼岸) (p. 183): translated from the Sanskrit pāra. Buddhism regards the realm of birth and death as this shore, while penetrating the source of birth and death and advancing to the Buddha realms is regarded as the other shore.

A petal of incense (瓣香): utmost sincerity, reverence, admiration, and respect.

Functionary (辦事): a general term for the officers in a Chan monastery, including those responsible for the monks’ quarters, infirmary, guest reception, gardening, splitting firewood, carrying water, kitchen work, harvesting, and so forth. All are called functionaries.

Distribution (俵) (p. 84): that is, apportioning and distributing articles so that each person receives a share.

Jar (瓶): in this context, a large vessel containing tea, used to pour tea for a large assembly of monks.

Wielding the torch (秉巨): a rite performed before a deceased person’s remains are cremated. Someone holds a wooden torch painted red to resemble a burning torch, makes the gesture of setting the remains alight, and simultaneously delivers an exposition of Chan principles. This is called the Buddhist service of wielding the torch.

Wielding the whisk (秉拂) (p. 30): “whisk” refers to an implement for removing dust, namely a fly whisk. When teaching the Dharma, a Chan master commonly holds a “dust whisk” in hand. Senior officers in a Chan monastery, such as the head seat, eastern tripitaka curator, and secretary, are qualified to take the abbot’s place, wield the whisk, ascend the Dharma seat, and instruct the assembly. These monastic officers are therefore called “wielders of the whisk.”

Bodhi (菩提; S, P: bodhi) is translated by meaning as awakening, wisdom, knowledge, or the Way. In the broad sense, bodhi is the wisdom that cuts off worldly afflictions and realizes nirvana.

Bodhi tree (菩提樹; S: bodhi-druma, bodhi-taru, bodhi-vṛkṣa, or simply bodhi; P: bodhi-rukkha), also called the tree of awakening, tree of the Way, tree of the place of enlightenment, tree of contemplation, or Buddha tree, is the tree south of the city of Gaya in Magadha beneath which the Buddha sat and attained perfect awakening. The tree was originally called bát-đa (S: aśvattha), bối đa, a thuyết tha, or a bái đa, translated by meaning as “auspicious” or “originally auspicious.” Its scientific name is Ficus religiosa, and its fruit is called tất-bát-la (S: pippala).

Bodhisattva precepts (菩薩戒) (p. 342): the precepts of Mahayana bodhisattva monastics. According to the Brahma’s Net Sutra, their contents comprise ten major precepts and forty-eight minor precepts, which form the basis of the bodhisattva precepts.

Successor abbot (補處住持) (p. 214): when the previous abbot has passed away, a new abbot is nominated to take his place. Ministry envoy (部使者) (p. 139): During the Yuan dynasty, the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs or its Branch Bureaus administered Buddhism throughout the empire. The Ministry of Rites, under the Secretariat, was likewise responsible for Sangha affairs. “Ministry envoy” refers to an envoy dispatched by order of the Ministry of Rites, or to an envoy sent by the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs or one of its Branch Bureaus.

Supplementary provisions (陪貼) (p. 171): articles supplied to the Sangha in addition to meals of rice and vegetables.

Original intent (本懷): also called one’s longstanding aspiration or long-cherished purpose; it is the fundamental concern and thought held within one’s heart. For example, from the distant past until now, the fundamental resolve ever cherished by the Buddha and the bodhisattvas has been to liberate sentient beings from the ocean of suffering. Volume 1 of The Profound Meaning of the Lotus Sutra states: “If one establishes only the designation of the sudden and great teaching but does not establish the uniquely wondrous One Vehicle, then this is not the Blessed One’s original intent.”

Original and Trace (本迹): This refers to the two gates of Original and Trace, also called “the Original Ground and Manifest Traces,” established by Master Zhiyi of the Tiantai school. “Original” indicates the original ground in which enlightenment was attained long ago, while “Trace” indicates the manifested trace in which enlightenment was attained only recently; that is, they indicate the true entity and its reflected manifestation. The Original Gate concerns the Tathagata’s actual attainment of the Way in the inconceivably distant past and reveals the Buddha’s original ground. The Trace Gate concerns the Buddha’s recent manifestation. This is the division of the Lotus Sutra into two sections, each comprising fourteen chapters.

Jeweled Hall (宝殿): Also called the Great Hero Jeweled Hall, Great Hall, Great Buddha Hall, or Buddha Hall; that is, the main hall of a Chan monastery.

C

Kasaya (袈裟; Skt. kasaya, P. kasaya): Translated according to its meaning as “faded-colored,” “dyed-colored,” and so forth; it refers to the Dharma robe wrapped around the body of a monastic.

Kapilavastu (迦毗羅衛; Skt. kapilavastu; P. kapilavatthu): The city where the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama (Skt. siddhārtha gautama), grew up, at the foot of the Himalayas, in what is now Nepal. In ancient times, Kapilavastu was the capital of the Shakya clan (Skt. śākya). The Buddha was born nearby at Lumbini (Skt. lumbinī) and spent his youth in Kapilavastu.

The Longing of Soup and Wall (羹牆之思): “Soup” means soup served with rice, while “wall” means a partition wall. The Biography of Li Gu in the Book of the Later Han records: “Long ago, when Emperor Yao passed away, Emperor Shun so deeply revered and longed for Emperor Yao that, for three years, when seated he saw Emperor Yao’s image upon the wall, and when eating he saw Emperor Yao’s image in his bowl of soup.” Thus, “the longing of soup and wall” means ardent reverence and yearning.

Auspicious Day of the August Mandate (景命好日): An auspicious day of the August Mandate. The “August Mandate” is the day on which the emperor ascends the throne. It means a great mandate, signifying that the emperor obeys the great mandate of Heaven. From the Yuan dynasty onward, Chan monasteries were required to conduct rites of benediction and sutra chanting on the full-moon day of every month.

Majestic Array (景緯): Similar in meaning to a grand spectacle.

Gaohuang (高肓): “Gao” is the place beneath the heart, and “huang” is likewise. Gaohuang is a vital region of the human body. Thus, to say that an illness has entered the gaohuang means that it has become grave and death is imminent.

Incense Announcement (告香): A rite in which a student burns incense to request the master to deliver a general discourse or instruction on the principles of Chan. During the incense-announcement rite, all monastery officers and newly arrived practitioners stand in the positions indicated on a diagram called the incense-announcement chart.

Granting Leave (給假): To grant permission for a leave of absence.

Diligent Exhorter (勤策) (S. 327): A novice who has received the ten precepts and, aspiring to become a fully ordained monk, diligently strives and exhorts himself; hence he is called a Diligent Exhorter.

Former Diligent Officers (勤舊) (S. 41): Monks who formerly held offices such as administrator or attendant but have retired from their posts in the monastery. Because they once devoted themselves fully to serving the community, they are called “Diligent”; because they have now retired from office, they are called “Former.”

Kouchiluo Pond (拘絺羅池): A place-name.

Buddha Krakucchanda (拘留孫佛; Skt. Krakucchandha-buddha, P. Kakusandha-buddha): The fourth of the Seven Buddhas of the Past and the first of the thousand Buddhas of the present kalpa.

He is also called Buddha Kalakucchanda, Buddha Jieluokasunda, Buddha Kalakasunda, Buddha Juloupin, Buddha Kajiuliu, and Buddha Jiuliupin. His name is interpreted as “the one who retains,” “the eradicator of afflictions,” “the one who has ended all that must be ended,” and “the one who has attained perfect fulfillment.” Regarding relic sites associated with this Buddha, the Record of Faxian states that the settlement of Nabhiga, twelve yojanas southeast of the city of Shravasti, was the birthplace of Buddha Krakucchanda, and that stupas were also erected at the place where father and son met.

Furthermore, according to fascicle 6 of the Great Tang Records on the Western Regions, in the section on the Kingdom of Kapilavastu, King Ashoka erected a stone pillar before the stupa containing the relics of Buddha Krakucchanda.

Kushi (拘尸) (S. 187): An abbreviation of Kushinagara, the name of the city where Buddha Shakyamuni entered nirvana.

Perfect Enlightenment (正覺): Samyak-sambodhi in Sanskrit and Sammā-sambodhi in Pali, meaning true and correct enlightenment. It is also called correct awakening, equal enlightenment, equal and correct enlightenment, perfect and complete enlightenment, complete enlightenment, and exhaustive enlightenment. It is an abbreviation of anuttara-samyak-sambodhi, unsurpassed perfect enlightenment.

Right Practice (正業) (S. 331): Pure karma free from false and deviant conduct. The Pure Land school regards recollection of the Buddha as Right Practice.

Right Mindfulness (正念) (S. 366): To cast aside deluded thoughts and contemplate and realize only the true nature of the Buddha-Dharma is called Right Mindfulness.

Anvil Register (砧基): Refers to the anvil-register ledger, namely the records documenting the monastery’s fields, gardens, property, and assorted possessions.

Portrait Pavilion (真亭): A very small pavilion containing the memorial portrait of a deceased abbot. It is shaped like a miniature great pavilion and has thin silk curtains suspended from it. On the plaque at the front are written the two characters “Portrait Pavilion.” A memorial tablet is placed before the portrait, and in some places an entire eulogy is also inscribed. When the coffin is carried to the cremation site, the portrait pavilion is borne by two people in front of the coffin.

True Sovereign (真宰): Heaven is the sovereign ruler of the myriad things and is therefore called the True Sovereign. In this context, however, the term “True Sovereign” appears to refer to the monastery guardian deity.

True Permanence (真常): The true Dharma that eternally abides; that is, the realm of nirvana.

Zhenxie Qingliao (真歇清了) (1089–1151): A monk of the Caodong school during the Song dynasty and a Dharma successor of Chan Master Zichun of Danxia. A native of Anchang County in Sichuan Province, his family name was Yong. He was also called Ji’an.

At the age of eleven, he followed Master Qingjun at Shengguo Monastery and entered monastic life, initially studying the Lotus Sutra. At eighteen, he received full ordination and entered Daci Monastery in Chengdu, where he studied the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment and the Diamond Sutra. He subsequently ascended Mount Emei and Mount Wutai to pay homage to the bodhisattvas Samantabhadra and Manjushri.

He then went to Mount Danxia in Dengzhou, Henan Province, to visit Master Zichun, under whom he attained awakening and inherited the Dharma. Later, he served as attendant to Zuzhao at Changlu. In the third year of Xuanhe (1121), when Master Zuzhao fell ill, Zuzhao invited him to assume the position of chief seat.

In the fourth year of Xuanhe, he became abbot of Changlu. In the second year of Jianyan (1128), he ascended Mount Putuo to pay homage to the bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. In the fourth year of Jianyan, he became abbot of Xuefeng Monastery and greatly propagated the tradition of the Caodong school.

In the fifteenth year of Shaoxing (1145), he resided at Nengren Xingshengshou Chan Monastery, and in the twenty-first year at Chongxian Xianxiao Chan Cloister. In the tenth month of that year, he passed away at the age of sixty-three, having completed forty-five summer retreats. He was posthumously titled Chan Master Wukong.

He wrote one fascicle of Ancient Cases Appended to the Inscription on Faith in Mind and the Record of a Single Palm. His disciples compiled one fascicle of the Record Beyond the Kalpa of Venerable Liaowu of Changlu.

Zhendan (震旦): In ancient times, Indians called China Cīmisthna, which Buddhist scriptures translated as Zhendan. The Collection of Names and Meanings Translated from Sanskrit explains: “The east corresponds to Zhen, the place where the sun rises; therefore it is called Zhendan.”

Executive Office (執局): The administrative body directly led by the abbot to handle the affairs of the monastery.

Regulations of the Zhida Era (至大規) (S. 303): The name of a monastic code revised by Yihan, abbot of Donglin Monastery on Mount Lu, around the Zhida era of the Yuan dynasty (1308–1311 CE). Its full title is The Chan Monastery’s Essential Rules of Purity.

First Year of Zhiyuan (至元元年) (S. 56): Zhiyuan was the era name of Kublai Khan, Emperor Shizu of the Yuan dynasty. The first year of the Zhiyuan era was 1279 CE.

Single Sandal Reveals the Tradition (隻履顯宗): According to a legend accepted by Chinese Chan Buddhism, after the First Patriarch Bodhidharma entered final nirvana, he was buried at Mount Xiong’er. Two years later, however, the Wei envoy Song Yun encountered him at the Pamir Mountains, leisurely journeying westward with a staff over his shoulder from which a single sandal hung. When the envoy returned and reported this, the Wei emperor became suspicious and ordered the grave opened. Inside the coffin, only one sandal remained. Hence, Chan Buddhism subsequently used the expressions “returning westward with a single sandal” and “single sandal” to indicate Bodhidharma’s essential teaching.

Master Zhao (昭公) (S. 372): Chan Master Shanzhao of the Song dynasty. His family name was Yu, and he was a native of Taiyuan. He served as abbot of the Crown Prince Chan Monastery at Taiping Monastery in Fenzhou, present-day Fenyang, Shanxi. For thirty years he taught the Dharma tirelessly. He was a master of lofty realization and great virtue. Both monastics and laypeople revered and admired him, and, not daring to address him by name, called him Chan Master of Fenzhou. Later generations honored him as Master Zhao.

Zhaoti (招提; S. catur-diśa; P. catu-disa): Transliterated as Chádǒutíshè and also called Zhāndǒutíshè. It means “the four directions,” “the Sangha of the four directions,” or “quarters for the Sangha of the four directions.” It refers to guest quarters where members of the Sangha coming from the four directions—the zhaoti Sangha—may stay overnight. Thus, communal possessions of the Sangha, or articles that the entire assembly may use, are called “possessions of the zhaoti Sangha” or “possessions of the Sangha of the four directions.”

Trembling and perspiring (戰汗): literally, to be so frightened that one breaks into a sweat; in the context of the text, however, it is merely a courteous expression.

Discarded water (折水): This has two meanings: a. In a Chan monastery, after the monks have finished eating their rice or gruel, it refers to the water used to wash bowls, spoons, and chopsticks and then poured away. b. The complete term is “discarded-water bucket,” a bucket used in a Chan monastery to hold water from washing bowls and chopsticks; it is also called a “bowl-water disposal bucket.” “Discard” means to pour away; thus, when washing a bowl, its mouth must be tilted toward the bucket.

According to Zongshou’s What One Must Know When Joining the Assembly, hot water must not be used to wash bowls and spoons. While washing them, one must neither splash water onto the ground nor allow a bowl to strike the side of the bucket and make noise. Before washing one’s bowl, one must not remove the cloth covering the knees.

Seating tablet (照牌) (S. 80): A tablet clearly indicating the seating places of the monastic assembly, so that anyone understands them at a glance.

Illumined Hall (照堂) (S. 55): The place behind the Sangha Hall in a Chan monastery where the head seat directs and guides the monastic assembly. Because it stood directly behind the Sangha Hall and did not receive much light, it was specially constructed somewhat higher and more spacious and was called the Illumined Hall.

Right view (正知見): The view of the paramita, the view of a Buddha; it has the same meaning as wisdom.

Portrait Pavilion (真亭) (S. 174): A small pavilion in a Chan monastery for enshrining the portrait of a venerable master who has entered final nirvana. It is constructed with four pillars and four eaves. Four thin curtains hang on its four sides, and above the front eave hangs a horizontal plaque bearing the two characters “Portrait Pavilion.” Before the portrait is placed a memorial tablet inscribed with words of praise. When the deceased’s body is taken for cremation, this tablet is carried before the coffin.

True Sovereign (真宰) (S. 331): Heaven is called the True Sovereign because it rules over the myriad things. In the text, the term appears to indicate a power capable of governing all things in the world, but in fact it refers to the deities within the monastery.

True Permanence (真常) (S. 191): The true and eternally abiding Dharma, namely, the realm of nirvana; it also means death.

King Zhao of Zhou (周昭王): A son of King Kang, named Xia. While making a royal tour of the south, he reached the Han River, where his boat broke apart and he drowned. He reigned for fifty-one years and was given the posthumous title Zhao. The twenty-sixth year of King Zhao of Zhou was 563 BCE.

The Zhou calendar begins with the Zi month (周正建子): The Zhou calendar took the Zi month as its first month, whereas the Xia calendar took the Yin month as its first month. Therefore, the twelfth month of the Xia calendar was the second month of the following year in the Zhou calendar. Hence the statement that the Buddha attained enlightenment in the second month follows the Zhou calendar, which begins with Zi, whereas the twelfth month follows the Xia calendar, which begins with Yin; that is, the two designations refer to the same month.

Dinglin Monastery (定林寺) on Mount Zhong in Jiangsu Province. In the first year of the Yuanjia era of the Liu Song dynasty (424), Huilan founded Dinglin Monastery. Ten years later, Dharmamitra took up residence there. Because the monastery stood on low ground, it was moved to higher ground and rebuilt; this became known as Upper Dinglin Monastery, while the original monastery was called Lower Dinglin Monastery. From the time of its construction onward, many learned and virtuous eminent monks resided there. During the Liang dynasty, a Tripitaka master also stayed there…

Person in charge (主者): Refers to the abbot.

Funeral director (主喪) (S. 167): The person who presides over funeral affairs.

Person presiding over the funeral (主喪人): The person invited to preside over the funeral rites of a deceased abbot.

Host’s position (主位): If a building faces south, the eastern side—that is, the left-hand side—is the host’s position, while the western side—that is, the right-hand side—is the guest’s position. Thus, the positions are determined according to the direction in which one is seated.

Offering incense with prayers (祝香): In a Chan monastery, when ascending the Dharma hall to pray for the emperor’s longevity or celebrate the Buddha’s birth, the abbot must burn incense before teaching the Dharma to express sincere reverence and offer prayers. The text recited while offering incense with prayers is called the “incense-offering prayer.”

Entrustment (囑累): “Entrust” means to charge, commit, or transmit instructions to someone. “Burden” means to assume troublesome labor; together, the term means entrusting difficult work to another person to undertake. In Chan Buddhism, the transmission of the great Dharma of the Buddhas and patriarchs to disciples of later generations, charging them to preserve and uphold it, is called entrustment.

Praying for the Sovereign (祝聖) (S. 130): A monk in a monastery burns incense and prays for blessings for the emperors of the reigning dynasty. This practice was especially prevalent during the Yuan dynasty because Yuan-dynasty Chan monasteries held that the imperial court had bestowed immense favor upon Buddhism and that the monastic assembly should therefore devote itself wholeheartedly to repaying that kindness.

Bell (鐘): In this context, the word “bell” refers to the great bell.

Knowledge of All Modes (種智): An abbreviation of “knowledge of all modes” (一切種智), namely, the wisdom of a Buddha that knows every category of dharma. According to the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom, only a Buddha possesses knowledge of all modes, while shravakas and pratyekabuddhas possess only general knowledge of all things.

Special envoy (專使): A specially appointed messenger who carries the posthumous letter or kasaya of an abbot who is about to die or has just died to notify other monasteries.

Wheel-Turning King (轉輪王; Skt. cakravarti-rājan; P. rājā cakkavattī): Also called the Wheel-Turning Sage King, Wheel-Turning Sage Emperor, Wheel King, Flying Wheel-Turning Emperor, or Flying Emperor. The name indicates a king who turns the precious wheel, a type of war chariot. The king possesses the seven treasures—the wheel, elephant, horse, jewel, woman, householder, and military commander—and is endowed with the four virtues: longevity, freedom from illness, handsome appearance, and abundant treasure stores. He unifies the four continents surrounding Mount Sumeru, governs the world through the true Dharma, and brings prosperity to the land and peace and happiness to its people.

Various schools (諸部): Refers to all the doctrines of the different schools within Buddhism and the various canonical texts representing those doctrines.

Various mountains (諸山) (S. 25): Refers to monasteries other than one’s own monastery.

Realization (證): To attain the truth of Buddhism through the mind and wisdom.

Common domain (公界): A public boundary; by extension, a public place or communal area, and in a broader derived sense, property collectively owned by the community.

Public tribunal (公門): The official court of government functionaries, where legal disputes are adjudicated.

Collective karma (共業): the karmic causes shared by sentient beings, which can bring about the mountains, rivers, lands, rain, sunshine, and other things of the world for oneself and others to experience in common; this is the karma of the dependent recompense. By contrast, karmic causes that bring about what each individual personally experiences—the five faculties constituting the primary recompense—are called individual karma.

Appraising and auctioning (估唱) (S.159): the disposition among the Sangha of the belongings left by a monk who has passed away. First, the items are appraised, which is called “appraising the robes”; then the price of each item is announced so that members of the Sangha may purchase it, which is called “auctioning the robes.” Together, these two procedures are called appraising and auctioning.

Gautama (瞿曇; Skt., P: Gautama, Gotama) is a clan name within the kshatriya caste, descended from the seer Gautama. It is the original clan name of the Blessed One and is rendered according to its meaning as “supremely accomplished,” “mud and earth,” “dark ox,” or “destroyer of evil.” It is also separately called the Solar Clan and the Sugarcane Clan.

Head server (供頭): the practitioner serving as head server is responsible for replenishing rice and soup and serving tea and fruit to the assembly during meals in a Chan monastery.

Head-server practitioner (供頭行者): also called the practitioner who serves the meal. Abbreviated as head server or provisions server. This is the person specifically responsible for distributing rice, soup, tea, and fruit, as well as lighting lamps, arranging incense and flowers, and striking the bell in the Sangha Hall, Buddha Hall, and Patriarch Hall. The term “serving the meal” designates an office serving in the Dining Hall.

Offerings (供養): ordinarily, when a donor presents material goods as offerings and alms to help the Sangha practice and study with peace of mind, this is called making offerings. In the context of this work, the term “offerings” refers to incense and flowers, tea and fruit, rice and gruel, tea and medicinal beverages, and material goods arranged as offerings at the ancestral shrine honoring the forebears of the donor who founded the monastery in a Chan Buddhist institution.

Raising the lament (舉哀): during a memorial rite for a deceased master, there is a ritual in which, after reading the memorial text, the officiant wails three times, “Alas! Alas! Alas!” (“How sorrowful! How sorrowful! How sorrowful!”). This is called raising the lament.

Presenting and expounding (舉揚) (S. 26): “presenting” means to bring forth or raise up; “expounding” means to elucidate and propagate the Buddhist teachings. Together, the two terms refer to presenting a koan and vigorously elucidating it.

Presenting a case (舉話): bringing up an old account from the Chan tradition, usually a koan, to open a Dharma talk; also called presenting and expounding. “Presenting” means proposing or bringing forth, while “expounding” means elucidating the Buddhist teachings. Thus, presenting a case, or presenting and expounding, means bringing forth a koan.

Taking the prescribed seat (據坐): sitting in the place prescribed by ritual according to the particular ceremonial circumstances.

Nine abodes (九有) (S. 315): also called the Nine Dwelling Places, referring to the places within the three realms in which sentient beings delight in dwelling. They are: 1. Human beings and the six heavens of the desire realm; 2. The heaven of the first dhyana; 3. The heaven of the second dhyana; 4. The heaven of the third dhyana; 5. The Heaven of Non-Perception within the fourth dhyana; 6. The Heaven of the Sphere of Infinite Space; 7. The Heaven of the Sphere of Infinite Consciousness; 8. The Heaven of the Sphere of Nothingness; 9. The Heaven of the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-Perception.

Nine movements (九成): music divided into nine movements or nine completions, each completion being one piece; thus, it consists of nine musical pieces or nine performances of the music.

D

Base mercury (野汞): in metallurgy, all base mercury—that is, impurities, colloquially called “gold dross”—is removed to obtain pure gold.

Eminent and virtuous one (名德) (S. 25): a bhikshu of great renown and lofty virtue.

Eminent and virtuous chief seat (名德首座) (S. 284): an office held by a monk in a Chan monastery, for which a person of prestige and virtue is selected from among the chief seats.

Renowned worthy (名勝): synonymous with “eminent and virtuous one,” meaning an eminent monk of great renown and esteemed virtue.

Introducing to the seat (引座) (S. 26): in a Chan monastery, introducing another person to the audience when that person ascends the Dharma seat to preach, thereby guiding the person forward, is called introducing to the seat.

Introducing to the seat for presentation and exposition (引座舉揚): the abbot escorts the abbot of another monastery to the Dharma seat and introduces him to the audience so that he may preach the Dharma and expound Buddhist principles.

Inviting and guiding acharya (引請闍黎): during the ceremony for conferring the novice precepts in a Chan monastery, the inviting and guiding acharya is responsible for leading and instructing the novices.

Robe rack (椸架): a rack on which robes are hung.

Robe rack for hanging implements of the Way (椸架掛道具): a wooden rack on which members of the Sangha hang their implements of the Way.

Bequeathed teachings (遺教): the Dharma teachings left by the Buddha and the patriarchs for later generations, or specifically the teachings delivered by the Buddha as he was about to enter parinirvana. The Sutra of the Bequeathed Teaching, translated in one fascicle by Kumarajiva during the Later Qin dynasty, is also called “The Sutra of the Buddha’s Brief Teaching and Admonition at the Time of His Parinirvana,” “The Bequeathed Sutra,” “The Sutra of the Buddha’s Brief Admonition as He Approached Nirvana,” “The Sutra of the Brief Teaching and Admonition,” and “The Sutra of the Buddha’s Bequeathed Teaching.”

Distant descendant of the bequeathed teachings (遺教遠孫): “bequeathed teachings” refers to the Dharma teachings that the Buddha or a patriarch left for later generations; they are also called the bequeathed Dharma, bequeathed precepts, bequeathed instructions, final injunctions, or bequeathed dispensation. Buddhism is the teaching proclaimed by Buddha Shakyamuni and left for later generations; therefore, Buddhism is also called the bequeathed teaching of Shakyamuni Buddha. Thus, “distant descendant of the bequeathed teachings” is the abbot’s humble self-designation, by which he identifies himself as a distant descendant of the teachings left by the Buddha, or of Buddhism itself.

Moving the coffin (移龕): three days after the body has been placed in the coffin, the coffin is carried to the Dharma Hall. Continuing to chant sutras in the Dharma Hall is called the Dharma service for moving the coffin.

Bequeathed writings (遺墨): documents, official papers, and correspondence left by the late abbot.

Bequeathed tracks (遺軌): “tracks” means wheel ruts; thus, bequeathed tracks are the traces left by those of old.

Distracting conditions (異緣): activities performed without concentrated attention, while the mind continually wanders among irrelevant thoughts.

Foreigner (異人): implies a person from a foreign land. In ancient China, because of geographical separation and marked differences in appearance—such as dark skin and abundant facial hair—Indians were called people of foreign lands; this was later abbreviated to “foreigners.”

Jambu (閻浮): the full form is Jambudvipa, a transliteration of the Sanskrit jambu-dvipa. It is also called Jambuli, Jambudvipa, and so forth; that is, Southern Jambudvipa, the southern continent of Jambu, the earth on which we presently dwell.

Kneading clay (涎埴): means kneading and molding. The chapter “Human Nature Is Evil” in the Xunzi states: “Therefore, the potter kneads clay and fashions vessels from it,” meaning, “Thus the potter kneads and molds earth to make utensils.”

Hall for Prolonging Life (延壽堂): a building in a Chan monastery where sick monks receive treatment and recuperate. The term “Hall for Prolonging Life” expresses the aspiration to prolong the life of the physical body so that the wisdom-life of the Dharma body may continue. It is also called the Cloister for Prolonging Life, the Quarters for Prolonging Life, the Mutual Care Quarters, the Hall of Mindful Practice, the Hut or Pavilion for the Gravely Ill, the Nirvana Hall, or the Cloister or Hall of Impermanence. Among these, the name “Hall of Mindful Practice” conveys the meaning of remaining constantly mindful, contemplating the suffering inherent in conditioned activity, and thereby giving rise to compassionate wisdom.

Wondrous enlightenment (妙覺): one of the fifty-two stages of practice of a Mahayana bodhisattva, referring to the ultimate fruit of Buddhahood in which enlightenment and practice are perfected. It is therefore also a specific designation for the fruit of Buddhahood and is further called the stage of wondrous enlightenment. Upon attaining this wondrous enlightenment, all afflictions are completely severed, wisdom becomes perfect and wondrous, and the principle of nirvana is realized.

Yogacharabhumi Treatise (瑜伽論): the abbreviated title of the Yogacharabhumi-shastra, taught by Bodhisattva Maitreya and recollected and recorded by Asanga; it is the most important canonical work of the Faxiang school.

Traveling abroad (遊方): refers to monks wandering in the four directions; also called “traveling on foot” or “clouds and water.”

Bathhouse Master (浴主): The person who oversees the bathhouse. Also called the Bathhouse Supervisor or Bathhouse Steward. This is the office responsible for overseeing the bathhouse in a Chan monastery and is one of the six leading positions of the Western Office. When it is time to bathe, the Bathhouse Master must hang the “baths open” placard in front of the refectory and make arrangements within the bathhouse, inspecting the firewood, fire, charcoal, and so forth. Under his supervision is the Bathhouse Assistant, who helps him.

Bathhouse Assistant (浴頭) (p. 236): the attendant responsible for supplying hot water in the bathhouse of a Chan monastery.

Bathing the Buddha (浴佛): The ritual of bathing the Buddha, also called Lustrating the Buddha. To commemorate the Buddha’s birth, monasteries conduct a Dharma assembly at which sutras are chanted and an image of the Buddha is bathed. According to tradition, after the Buddha was born, the heavens poured down fragrant water to bathe him. Based on this tradition, on the eighth day of the fourth month monasteries hold an assembly for bathing the Buddha. Flowers and plants are used to make a floral pavilion, within which an image of the newborn Buddha is installed. Fragrant boiled water, fine tea, and five-colored water are poured from the head down to the feet of the newborn Buddha image to bathe it.

Verse for Bathing the Buddha (浴佛偈): The verse recited while bathing the Buddha. According to the Sutra on the Merit of Bathing the Buddha: “In the ritual of bathing the Buddha, when fragrant water is poured from the head of the Buddha image down to its feet, after the rector has proclaimed the invocation, he recites the Verse for Bathing the Buddha in a loud voice.” The original wording differs slightly from that in the Imperial Edition of the Baizhang Monastic Regulations.

Bathing the Holy One (浴聖): the ritual in Chan monasteries of bathing the image of the Holy Monk.

King Yu (育王) (p. 64): an abbreviated name for King Ashoka Monastery, now located in Ningbo, Zhejiang.

“May the sagely lifespan endure a thousand autumns” (睿算千秋): “sagely” means supremely wise and saintly. Thus, these four characters express the wish that the Crown Prince may be intelligent, wise, and live for a thousand years.

Vimalakirti Sutra (維摩經; Skt: Vimalakirti-nirdesa). Vimalakirti (Skt: Vimalakirti), transliterated as Ti-ma-la-cat-loi-de, Ti-ma-la-cat, or Duy-ma-cat, and translated as Stainless Renown, Pure Name, or Radiance That Eradicates Defilement, was a lay disciple of the Buddha and an elder of the city of Vaishali in Central India. Although a layman, he was thoroughly versed in the Buddha-Dharma. The Vimalakirti Sutra consists of three fascicles and fourteen chapters, translated by Kumarajiva during the Later Qin dynasty, with the aforementioned Vimalakirti as its principal teacher. Vimalakirti frequently declared himself ill, but said of his illness: “Because sentient beings are ill, I am ill.”

Rector (維那): The term is a compound formed from both Chinese and Sanskrit. The Chinese word wei means the headrope of a net and, by extension, to direct and administer—that is, to manage all affairs. Na is an abbreviation of the Sanskrit karma-dana, transliterated as ye-mo-tuo-na and translated by meaning as “assignment of duties” (授事), signifying that all miscellaneous tasks are entrusted to a person to carry out.

The Rector is also called the Chief Rector and was formerly called the Supervisor of the Assembly or Guardian of the Monastery. He is the monastic officer who administers all miscellaneous affairs of the monastic community.

Conference of the Rector and Administrators (維那知會): an abbreviation of “conference of the rector and administrators,” meaning that the rector and administrators meet to deliberate together.

Names of the Medicine Buddhas (藥師號): the seven epithets of the Medicine Buddhas, namely: 1- Tathagata Auspicious King of Excellent Renown. 2- Tathagata Sovereign King of the Majestic Sound of the Jewel Moon’s Wisdom. 3- Tathagata Accomplished in the Sublime Practices of Golden Jewel Radiance. 4- Tathagata Supremely Victorious and Auspicious, Free from Sorrow. 5- Tathagata Thunderous Voice of the Dharma Ocean. 6- Tathagata of the Dharma Ocean’s Wisdom, Playful Spiritual Powers. 7- Tathagata Medicine Master of Lapis Lazuli Radiance. Among these seven names, the first six are emanations of the Tathagata Medicine Master of Lapis Lazuli Radiance.

Medicinal Stone (藥石) (p. 42): also called medicinal food, this is a euphemism used in Chan monasteries for the evening gruel. According to the Buddhist Vinaya, eating after noon is prohibited. However, because some elderly or infirm monks became ill, the Vinaya compassionately allowed them an evening meal, regarding it as medicinal stone—medicine for treating illness. Later, even those who were not ill were permitted to eat an additional evening meal, and this meal was called “medicinal stone.”

Vast and boundless (洋洋): immense as the great ocean.

Yang virtue (陽德): yang energy, that is, the energy of the sun. The section “Offices of Spring: Grand Master of Ceremonies” in the Rites of Zhou states: “The plants produced by the earth are taken as yang virtue, and harmonious music is used as a safeguard.” In the context of this text on a solar eclipse, the expression “yang virtue” refers to the energy of the sun.

Yangqi Fanghui (楊岐方會): the founding patriarch of the Yangqi branch of the Linji school during the Song dynasty. He was a Dharma successor of Chan Master Shishuang Chuyuan and resided at Putong Chan Monastery on Mount Yangqi. He passed away in the first year of the Huangyou era at the age of fifty-four.

Yang Yi (楊億) (p. 62): a renowned scholar of the Northern Song dynasty, from Pucheng, Jianzhou (present-day Pucheng County, Fujian Province). He was born in 974 CE and died in 1020 CE. During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of the Song, he served as a Hanlin Academician and composed the Preface to the Ancient Monastic Regulations.

D

Accompanying monks (帶行僧行): monks whom the chief mourner brings from his home monastery to the monastery where the funeral is being held in order to attend upon him.

Accompanying administrator (帶行知事): an administrator whom the abbot brings with him whenever he leaves the monastery to travel elsewhere.

Great Compassion Dharani (大悲咒; Skt: Mahakarunikacitta dharani): also called the Great Divine Mantra of the Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara and the Vast, Perfect, Unimpeded Dharani of the Great Compassionate Heart. The Dharani of the Great Compassionate Heart is the great mantra that expresses the inwardly realized merit of the Thousand-Armed, Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The complete text of this mantra comprises eighty-four lines. Reciting it brings birth among the fifteen wholesome kinds of birth and prevents the fifteen evil kinds of death. Moreover, if this mantra is recited 108 times, all afflictions, karmic offenses, and obstructions—even the grave offenses of the five heinous acts—are eradicated, and body, speech, and mind are purified.

Dazhu (大珠): a Tang-dynasty monk named Huihai, a Dharma heir of Mazu Daoyi, who composed the Treatise on the Essential Gateway to Entering the Way through Sudden Awakening. Because Mazu Daoyi praised Huihai as a perfectly luminous jewel, he became known to later generations as Venerable Dazhu, “Great Pearl.”

Great Assembly (大眾) (p. 24): a translation of the Sanskrit Mahasamgha. In the sutras, it commonly refers to all sages and worthies other than the Buddha. In Chan monasteries, it commonly refers to the entire Sangha other than the abbot and the officers of the Eastern and Western Offices.

Great Night (大夜): the final night during which the coffin lies in state at the monastery before being taken for cremation the following morning.

Great Samadhi (大定; P: mahaggata-samadhi): in contrast to the lesser samadhi of the desire realm, the fundamental concentrations—the wholesome, conditioned roots of the form realm and formless realm—are called great samadhi. It also refers to one of the Buddha’s three great virtues: great samadhi, great wisdom, and great compassion. The Buddha’s lucid mind is called great samadhi.

Great Virtuous One (大德): originally a form of address for the Buddha in Buddhist sutras. Its meaning was later extended to refer to a monk of lofty practice and eminent virtue. In Vietnam, however, its meaning shifted to designate a monastic rank below that of Senior Venerable.

Daxin (大訴) (1284–1344): A Chan monk of the Dahui lineage of the Linji school who lived during the Yuan dynasty. A native of Jiangzhou, his family name was Chen and his style name was Xiaoyin. He left home at an early age at the Shuilu Cloister in his home commandery.

As he grew older, he became thoroughly versed in both Buddhist and non-Buddhist learning. At first, he consulted Yishan Liaowan at Kaixian Monastery on Mount Lu, but they were not in accord. Later, he studied under Huiji Yuanxi on Mount Baizhang and became his Dharma successor.

He subsequently paid a visit to Zhongfeng Mingben on Mount Tianmu. Thereafter, he served as abbot of such renowned monasteries as Jiangxin in Yongjia and Lingyin in Qiantang, among others. Those who came to study under him were exceedingly numerous, and his community flourished greatly for a time.

Emperor Wenzong invited him to the palace to inquire about the Way and bestowed upon him the title “Great Chan Master Guangzhi Quangwu.” Emperor Shundi treated him with great favor and asked him to revise the Baizhang Monastic Regulations. In the second year of Zhiyuan (1336), he was granted the title “Patriarch of the Buddhist Teaching” and placed in charge of five monasteries. In the fourth year of Zhiyuan, he passed away at the age of sixty-one.

His works include the Sihuai Recorded Sayings and the Pushi Collection; he also revised the Imperial Edition of the Baizhang Monastic Regulations in eight fascicles.

Chan Master Dahui (大惠禪師) (S. 63): This should properly be Chan Master Dahui (大慧禪師), whose name was Zonggao, style name Tanhui, and sobriquet Miaoxi. During the reigns of Emperors Gaozong and Xiaozong of the Southern Song dynasty, he was appointed by imperial decree as abbot of Jingshan Monastery in Hangzhou, where he instructed a great many disciples. After his passing into nirvana, he was granted the posthumous title Pujue, which was later changed to Dahui. His writings include thirty fascicles of recorded sayings, which were incorporated into the Chinese Buddhist Canon.

National script of the Great Yuan (大元國字): Refers to the national script of the Great Yuan dynasty, namely the Mongolian script. However, during its rule over China, the Yuan dynasty, like the Great Qing dynasty, primarily used Chinese characters.

Great Buddha Jeweled Hall (大佛宝殿): Also called the Great Hero Jeweled Hall; it is the hall enshrining a very large Buddha image, namely the main hall.

First year of Daguan (大觀元年): The first year of the Daguan era of Emperor Huizong of the Song dynasty (1107).

Three prostrations with the full unfolding (大展三拜): Also called “three prostrations with two unfoldings,” this is the ceremonial etiquette for paying respects to one’s master or a venerable elder in a Chan monastery. It is performed specifically as follows:

• First, one spreads out the sitting mat in preparation for prostrating. If the master stops one and excuses the ceremony, one folds the sitting mat, bows, and states one’s business: this is the first unfolding.
• One then again assumes the posture of spreading out the sitting mat for a second time. If stopped once more, one again assumes the posture of folding the mat and exchanges courteous inquiries about the weather and one another’s well-being: this is the second unfolding.
• Finally, holding the folded sitting mat in one’s hands, one lowers it toward the ground three times to express the intention of making three prostrations: this completes the two unfoldings and three prostrations.

Dachuan (大川): Chan Master Dachuan of Tanzhou (潭州大川禪師).

Udumbara flower (曇花; Skt: va-udumbara, P: udumbara): In full, the uḍumbara flower; also called the udumbara flower, udumbara blossom, and so forth. Its meaning is translated as “the flower that does not bloom” or “the flower that does not arise.” According to fascicle eight of Huizhou’s Meanings of Sounds, this is a sacred flower found neither in heaven nor on earth. It is an exceedingly wondrous flower that appears in response to an auspicious omen; only when a Tathagata descends to be born does this flower appear in response.

Dāna (檀那) (S. 56): That is, dānapati; it is also transliterated as Đà Na. “Rebuke the biased, strike down the lesser, praise the great, and commend the perfect” [彈偏擊(折)小歎大褒圓]: abbreviated as “rebuke the biased and strike down the lesser.” “Rebuke” means to denounce and reject. “Biased” refers to provisional teachings that incline toward one side, rather than the ultimate teaching of perfect interfusion.

“Strike down” means to break apart, while “lesser” refers to the teachings of the Lesser Vehicle or to shallow and narrow doctrines or ideas. “Praise” means to extol and commend. “Great” refers to the teachings of the Great Vehicle or to profound, comprehensive, perfectly interfused, and unbiased doctrines or ideas.

“Commend” means to offer praise. “Perfect” refers to perfect enlightenment. The Tiantai school divides the Buddha’s lifetime of teaching into five periods and eight teachings.

The five periods are the Avatamsaka period, Deer Park period, Vaipulya period, Prajnaparamita period, and Lotus–Nirvana period. The Tiantai school holds that the defining characteristic of the Vaipulya period is to “rebuke the biased, strike down the lesser, praise the great, and commend the perfect.” In general, this means rejecting the biased, shallow, and non-ultimate character of the three teachings—the Tripitaka, Shared, and Distinct teachings—while extolling the profound and wondrous meaning of the perfectly interfused Perfect Teaching.

Ritual platform (壇場): This has two meanings: a/ The platform established by Buddhists for performing ceremonies and expounding the Dharma. b/ The mandala of Esoteric Buddhism, with the same meaning as a place of practice (Skt: mandala). In the context of this Prayer text, “ritual platform” has the first meaning.

Dānapati (檀越) (S. 28): A semantic translation of the Sanskrit Danapati, also rendered as “donor” and transliterated as Đà-na-bát-để. It refers to lay devotees who donate material goods and food to monasteries or the Sangha and thereby cross beyond suffering.

Temporary lodging (旦過): An abbreviation of the term “temporary lodging quarters,” meaning the quarters that a Chan monastery provides for itinerant monks who stop only briefly to visit the monastery for a few days before departing, rather than residing there for a long time.

First and fifteenth days (旦望) (S. 23): According to the lunar calendar, the first day of each month is called the new-moon day, also called dan; the fifteenth day is called the full-moon day. Danwang thus refers to the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month and is also called “new moon and full moon.”

Trayastrimsa Heaven (忉利天; Skt: Trayastrimsa, P: Tavatimsa): Transliterated as Đa-la-dạ-đăng-lăng-xá and also called the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. In Buddhist cosmology, this heaven is the second of the six heavens of the Desire Realm. It is the heaven where Sakra dwells and is situated upon the summit of Mount Sumeru.

Purifying the disciples (淘汰第子): “Purifying” means to expel and cleanse. “Purifying the disciples” refers to using Great Vehicle thought to cleanse disciples of their attachments to the Dharma practices of the sravakas of the Lesser Vehicle, so that they may cultivate the Great Vehicle.

Prayer for the averting of calamities (禱禳): This has the same meaning as supplicatory prayer, namely making offerings and praying for heaven and the Buddhas to grant protection so that calamities and misfortunes may pass away.

Circuit and route (道,路): In the context of this text on the emperor’s birthday observance, the two terms “circuit” and “route” refer to two geographical administrative divisions whose rank and extent varied according to the period, roughly ordered as county–circuit–route. The Tang dynasty divided the realm into ten circuits and routes; the four directions of a large region were divided into the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern routes.

Daoyi (道一) (709–788): A renowned Chan monk of the Tang dynasty. His family name was Ma and his personal name was Daoyi; he was also called “Mazu Daoyi.” He was a native of Shifang County, Hanzhou, in what is now Sichuan Province, China. He left home under Venerable Tang in Zizhou and received the full precepts from Vinaya Master Yuan in Yuzhou.

He practiced Chan at the Dharma Transmission Cloister on Mount Heng, took Chan Master Huairang as his teacher, and attended him for ten years, receiving transmission of the mind-seal. He went to Mount Foji in Jianyang, Linchuan, and Mount Gonggong in Nankang to propagate the Chan Dharma. Around the Dali era (766–779), he resided at Kaiyuan Monastery in Zhongling, where students gathered from all directions, making it one of the greatest centers for the propagation of Chan in the country at that time.

He taught: “Apart from mind, there is no other Buddha; apart from Buddha, there is no other mind.” His posthumous title was Chan Master Daji.

Place of the Way (道場): This term encompasses many meanings; in the context of this text, it refers to the proper name of the main monastery.

Damo (達磨) (S. 17): the full name is Bodhidharma (Skt: Bodhidharma), translated by meaning as “Dharma of the Way.” The character Ma (磨) is also rendered as Ma (摩). He was a monk from Southern India (present-day South India) who arrived in Guangzhou by sea near the end of the Liu Song dynasty of the Southern Dynasties (another account says that it was during the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang). He later traveled to the Northern Wei, journeying through such places as Luoyang and Mount Song, where he propagated Chan teachings and advocated the methods of practice known as entering through principle and entering through practice.

He subsequently transmitted the robe and Dharma to Huike. Later generations of the Chan school honored him as the twenty-eighth patriarch of the Indian Chan lineage and, at the same time, the First Patriarch of the Chan school in China. An emperor of the Tang dynasty bestowed upon him the posthumous title Chan Master Perfect Enlightenment.

Special honoree’s seat (特為位): the person seated opposite the presiding monk at a ceremony, usually the abbot, is said to occupy the special honoree’s seat.

Tusita Heaven (兜率天): Tusita (Skt: Tusita; P: Tusita), called Dgah-ldan in Tibetan. It is also called Dushuatian, Dushutian, Doushuotuotian, Doushuoduotian, and so forth. Translated by meaning, it is called the Heaven of Contentment, the Heaven of Wondrous Contentment, the Heaven of Joyous Contentment, or the Heaven of Joy and Bliss. It is the fourth of the six heavens in the desire realm.

Section heads (頭首): the principal offices of the Western Rank in a Chan monastery, whose chief responsibility is to oversee the assembly. More specifically, the six leaders of the Western Rank are the chief seat, secretary, canon prefect, guest prefect, bath prefect, and treasury head; collectively, they are called the six section heads.

Di and jia ancestral sacrifices (禘祫祭): the di sacrifice and the jia sacrifice. There are three kinds of di sacrifice: the seasonal di, the yin di, and the great di. The seasonal di consists of sacrifices offered according to the four seasons of the year: the yue sacrifice in spring, the di sacrifice in summer, the chang sacrifice in autumn, and the zheng sacrifice in winter. The jia sacrifice is an offering made collectively to ancestors, whether closely or distantly related and whether of recent or remote generations.

Imperial Preceptor (帝師): literally, the emperor’s teacher; the title of the Yuan-dynasty official who governed all monks and nuns throughout the realm. In the first year of the Zhiyuan era under Emperor Shizu of the Yuan dynasty (1254), the eminent monk Phagpa of the Sakya school of Tibetan Buddhism (Tibetan: Sa-skya-pa) was appointed State Preceptor and placed in charge of the Bureau of General Regulation, later renamed the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs.

In the seventh year of the Zhiyuan era [another account says the first year of the Zhongtong era (1260)], he was elevated to the title of Imperial Preceptor and given authority over Tibet’s two great domains, secular government and religion. Thereafter, whoever held the office of Imperial Preceptor presided over the affairs of the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs, held a rank equivalent to the first official grade, and was granted a jade seal.

Because the Imperial Preceptor certified the emperor’s accession to the throne, he was said to stand even above the emperor. The office was abolished only near the end of the Zhiyuan era.

Sakra (帝釋): in full, Sakra, Lord of the Devas (Skt: Sakra Devanam-Indra). Phonetically transcribed as Shijia Tihuan Yintuoluo, and abbreviated as Shiti Huan Yin or Shijia Tibo. He is also called Celestial Sovereign Sakra, Lord of Heaven, Indra, Kausika, Jiapoji, and so forth. Originally a deity of Hinduism, he later entered Buddhism, cultivated the meritorious practice of generosity, and was reborn in the Trayastrimsa Heaven as lord of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.

Counteracting karma (敵業) (S. 367): the term di carries the meanings of opposing and eliminating. “Counteracting karma” means opposing or eliminating karmic obstructions.

Serving beverages (點湯) (S. 80): the Chan-monastery rite of offering beverages, such as rice water, an infusion of seven kinds of incense, and so forth.

Field robe (田衣) (S. 336): another name for the kasaya. The kasaya is cut into horizontal and vertical sections, neither excessive nor deficient, resembling plots of farmland; hence it is called a field robe.

Cook (典座): the office of the monk responsible for the assembly’s food and drink in a Chan monastery; one of the six administrators of the Eastern Rank. Although this office concerns the ordinary details of food and drink, it has been held in great esteem since ancient times, and a monk of lofty and pure virtue was often invited and appointed to undertake it. This is because the work itself is also a method of cultivation; if it is entrusted to someone who lacks the aspiration for the Way, the effort will merely be wasted and fruitless.

Your Highness (殿下): literally, “below the hall.” The crown prince resides in a palace hall; when addressing him, people call him “Your Highness,” humbly and respectfully implying that they dare speak only toward the area below the hall, at the foot of the hall, and do not dare address him directly. This honorific sense is also present in such expressions as “Your Majesty” and “Your Excellency.” In French, “Your Highness” is called Son Excellence. Samadhi (定) (S. 365): refers to meditative concentration. Through diligent cultivation, the mind is caused to abide in a particular state.

Joint cultivation of samadhi and wisdom (定慧兼修): also called the equal sustaining of samadhi and wisdom. It means that meditative concentration and wisdom must be applied equally and cultivated together in purity, without distinguishing either as more or less important or as coming before or after the other. This is because, in relation to one another, the intrinsic nature may be regarded as samadhi and its function as wisdom. The essence itself is the function, and wisdom does not depart from samadhi. The function itself is the essence, and samadhi does not depart from wisdom.

Dinglin Monastery (定林寺): a monastery built by Huijue at the beginning of the Yuanjia era of the Liu Song dynasty of the Southern Dynasties. In the second year of the Datong era of Liang (528), after Damo entered final nirvana, he was buried at Mount Xiong’er, and a stupa was built for him at this Dinglin Monastery.

Water of samadhi (定水) (S. 367): a metaphor for the tranquil mind in samadhi, like a limpid, settled surface of water without a single ripple.

Duanqiao (斷橋) (S. 244): Chan Master Miaolun of the Song dynasty, whose style name was Duanqiao and whose sobriquet was Songshan Zi. His family name was Xu, and he was a native of Huangyan in Zhejiang Province. He served as abbot of many renowned monasteries and entered final nirvana in the second year of the Jingding era (1261 CE).

General monastery supervisor (都監寺) (S. 250): also called the monastery supervisor, monastery steward, or chief administrator; one of the six administrators of the Eastern Rank in a Chan monastery. Before the office of general director was established, this official managed all affairs of the monastery. After the office of general director was instituted, this official served as the general director’s assistant.

General director (都寺): in full, general monastery supervisor; one of the six administrators of the Eastern Rank in a Chan monastery. The position ranks above the monastery supervisor and serves as the chief overseer of the monastery supervisors. It is also called the general manager or chief director.

Ordination certificate (度牒) (S. 253): a personal document of monastic registration issued by the government to lawfully ordained monks and nuns.

Mutual prostration (對觸礼): two people face one another, simultaneously spread their sitting cloths on the floor, and bow in greeting.

Eastern Hall (東堂) (S. 131): the quarters for those who formerly served as abbots and, after retiring from office, withdrew there to rest and recuperate. It is called the Eastern Hall, also known as the Eastern Hermitage.

Patriarch Yanzu of Dongshan (東山演祖) (S. 227): Chan Master Fayan of the Song dynasty, whose family name was Deng and who was a native of Mianzhou, in the region of present-day Mianyang, Sichuan. For a long period he propagated the Dharma at Dongshan in Qizhou, an ancestral seat of the Chan school located east of present-day Qichun, Hubei. The place flourished for a time, and people called him Patriarch Yanzu of Dongshan or Chan Master Wuzu.

Eastern Rank (東序): the rank positioned on the eastern side of the Buddha hall or Dharma hall. It refers to monks well versed in worldly affairs, namely the administrators and their offices. Those standing on the western side constitute the Western Rank, referring to persons accomplished in learning and endowed with virtue, namely the section heads and their offices. The six administrators standing in the Eastern Rank are the general director, monastery supervisor, assistant director, disciplinarian, cook, and work prefect; they are called the administrators of the Eastern Rank.

Youthful practitioner (童行): ordinarily refers to young novices in a Chan monastery who have not yet had their heads completely shaved and retain a tuft of hair. In the context of this text, however, the term refers generally to all practitioners in the Chan monastery, regardless of age.

Tongwen (同文; “same script”) literally means using the same system of writing; it refers to all the people of China who use the same Chinese script.

Accompanying Administrator (帶行知事) (p. 88): an administrator who accompanies the abbot when he goes out.

Private Quarters (單寮) (p. 31): a room occupied by one person in the Sangha residence. Retired chief officers and administrators, eminent monks of the Western Hall, and even the incumbent head seat may reside in private quarters. Therefore, “Private Quarters” is also used as a collective designation for head seats, eminent monks, and retired chief officers and administrators residing in such rooms.

Individual Seat (單位) (p. 349): one’s seat in the Chan Hall, marked with one’s name.

Dehui (德煇) was a Chan monk of the Linji school who lived during the Yuan dynasty and bore the sobriquet Dongyang. In the second year of the Tianli era (1329), during the reign of Emperor Mingzong, he was placed in charge of Baizhang Monastery. In the first year of the Zhishun era (1330), during the reign of Emperor Wenzong, he rebuilt the Dharma Hall.

In the first year of the Zhiyuan era (1335), he received an imperial command to recompile the Baizhang Pure Rules, and in the following year they were circulated throughout the monasteries of the country. The emperor bestowed upon him the title “Chan Master of Vast Wisdom.” The years of his birth and death and his native place are all unknown. The table of contents of fascicle four of the Zengtang Jilu Chuandeng Lu lists ten Dharma successors of Huiji Yuanxi, belonging to the fifth generation of the lineage of Dahui Zonggao.

Among them appears the name Chan Master Dongyang Dehui of Donglin, but his biography is not recorded.

Appropriate to the Capacity (當機) (p. 47): when teaching the Dharma, the Buddhas and patriarchs always closely relate their teaching to the capacities and characteristics of sentient beings so as to benefit them; this is called “appropriate to the capacity.” Later, the expression was used to mean teaching the Dharma before the assembly.

Incumbent (當代) (p. 100): means the person currently holding office.

Incumbent Abbot (當代住持): the abbot currently in office, the opposite of a retired abbot.

Hall Master (堂主), in full: Master of the Hall for Prolonging Life. This office oversees all affairs within the Hall for Prolonging Life, the infirmary and convalescent ward. The section “Master and Sanitation Officer of the Hall for Prolonging Life” in fascicle four of the Chanyuan Qinggui (Xuzangjing 111, lower p. 449) states: “When selecting a Hall Master, one must invite a person who is broad-minded, patient, diligent, fully endowed with aspiration for the Way, attentive in caring for and comforting sick monks, and thoroughly understands cause and effect.” Those who oversee other halls are also called Hall Masters, such as the Master of the Water-and-Land Hall and the Master of the Arhat Hall.

Here, however, “Hall Master” specifically refers to the Master of the Hall for Prolonging Life; thus, a general title is used as a proper title.

Reverend of the Hall Head (堂頭和尚): “Hall Head” is another name for the abbot’s quarters. Thus, “Reverend of the Hall Head” refers to the abbot.

Hall Office (堂司) (p. 24): the particular name for the disciplinarian’s quarters in a Chan monastery. Because the disciplinarian manages affairs within the Sangha Hall, his residence is called the Hall Office. For the same reason, “Hall Office” is also used to refer to the disciplinarian himself. The attendant who assists the disciplinarian in the Hall Office is called the Hall Office attendant.

Hall Office Attendant (堂司行者): the Hall Office is associated with one of the six administrators, also called the disciplinarian, who is responsible for directing the monastic assembly in the Sangha Hall. The disciplinarian’s quarters are called the Hall Office, and the service monk under the disciplinarian who manages miscellaneous duties is called the Hall Office attendant or hall attendant.

E Ế

The Day of Burying the Sandal (瘞履之辰): the day on which the sandal was buried. According to tradition, when Bodhidharma entered final nirvana, he was buried on Mount Xionger. However, while Song Yun was returning from an official mission and had reached the Pamir Mountains, he encountered Bodhidharma traveling westward, carrying a staff over his shoulder from which one sandal was hanging. Song Yun returned and reported this to the emperor. The emperor became suspicious and ordered the tomb opened; only one sandal was found remaining in the coffin. Thus, “the day of burying the sandal” refers to the day on which the First Patriarch Bodhidharma passed away.

G

House Rules (家法): in the context of this text, this refers to the tradition and rules established by the abbot and formed at a particular monastery.

Gāthā (伽陀; Sanskrit and Pali: gāthā) is one of the twelve divisions of scripture. It is also called gāthā or verse and is rendered according to its meaning as chanted verse, verse recitation, independently arising verse, or non-repetitive verse. It is the metrical, poetic form of Buddhist literature.

Garāma (伽藍) (p. 55): an abbreviated designation for the Garāma Deity, the deity who protects the garāma, or monastery. Buddhist scriptures state that there are eighteen kinds of deities who guard and protect monasteries. From the Yuan and Ming dynasties onward, however, most monasteries regarded Guan Yu, a general of the Han dynasty, as the Garāma Deity.

Awareness (覺) (p. 365): this has two meanings, awakening and vigilant discernment. Here it means vigilant discernment, namely, clearly recognizing wrongdoing.

Flower of Awakening (覺華): this refers to true awakening. Awakening is wisdom; because wisdom unfolds like a blossoming flower, wisdom is called the flower of awakening.

Sovereign of Awakening (覺皇): the sovereign who is awakened, namely, the Buddha. Awakened Spirit (覺灵): an honorific designation for the spirit of the deceased, implying that this spirit has awakened and is no longer deluded. Later, the meaning shifted to refer to a deceased reverend monk.

Awakening Oneself and Awakening Others (覺自覺他): also expressed as self-awakening and awakening others. This refers to the practice of a Mahayana bodhisattva who awakens himself and also helps others awaken. Only a Buddha, however, attains the state in which self-awakening, awakening others, and the practice of awakening are perfectly fulfilled.

Monastery Supervisor (監院): also called monastery inspector, master of the cloister, chief steward, or monastery master. This office leads the monastic assembly and supervises the affairs of the monastery. It is one of the six administrative offices of the Chan school and ranks below the general director.

Rivers and Lakes (江湖) (p. 91): there are two explanations: 1. Jiangxi and Hunan were regions in which the Chan school flourished greatly; therefore, Chan disciples in general were called “Rivers and Lakes.” 2. “Rivers and Lakes” refers to places where recluses dwell. Here it has the second meaning, referring to eminent monks residing in great monasteries on famous mountains who take no interest in worldly affairs; they are also called the Rivers-and-Lakes assembly.

Jiangxi (江西): the region corresponding to Jiangdong in the state of Chu.

Descent of the Deity (降神): synonymous with divine descent or advent, namely, a sage, deity, or Buddha descending into the world.

To Conduct (講): in the Imperial Edition of the Baizhang Pure Rules, this character has the special meaning of holding or conducting a ceremony, rather than expounding the scriptures.

A Special Transmission Outside the Teachings (敎外別傳) (p. 230): the Chan school transmits the Dharma without relying upon the written words of the scriptures. It points directly to the human mind so that disciples may directly realize the mind-seal of the Buddhas and patriarchs; it is therefore called “a special transmission outside the teachings.”

Boundary Limits (界至) (p. 276): the boundaries of land in the four directions, namely, the eastern, western, southern, and northern limits of a field.

Ordination Seniority (戒具): also called ordination age; it refers to the number of years since a monastic received full ordination and is commonly known as Dharma age. Monastics determine seniority according to Dharma age, not chronological age.

Ordination Age (戒臘): also called Dharma age, summer age, seated age, or Dharma years, and abbreviated as “age.” The term originally referred to the year-end sacrificial observance. In Buddhism, summer age is used to calculate the number of years since monks received full ordination. Because the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month each year marks the end of the summer rains retreat, it is regarded as the concluding day of the ordination year. From the sixteenth day onward, another year is added.

Precept Master (戒師): also called the precept reverend. This is a person thoroughly versed in the Vinaya who is invited to preside over a novice’s ordination ceremony and transmit the precepts to the novice.

H

Summer (夏) (p. 40): An abbreviation of the Summer Retreat, also called the Rains Retreat or the Rainy-Season Retreat. In ancient India, Buddhism prescribed that during the three months of the rainy season (approximately May through August), monks and nuns were not to go outside. Since going outside could easily harm plants, grasses, and tiny insects, they were required to remain in the monastery, receive offerings, and devote themselves to seated meditation and study. Chinese Buddhism inherited this tradition and prescribed the retreat period as extending from the sixteenth day of the fourth lunar month through the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month. The Summer Retreat is also briefly called the Summer Sitting or Sitting the Summer.

Lowering the bowls (下鉢) (p. 88): When it is time for the communal meal of the monks in a Chan monastery, the cloud-shaped sounding board in front of the kitchen is struck, or the practitioners are heard calling out loudly, whereupon all the monks lower in unison the bowl bags hanging above their sitting places.

Leaving the hall (下堂): After finishing a meal of rice or gruel, when the assembly of monks leaves the Sangha Hall, this is called “leaving the hall”; the converse is “entering the hall.”

Bell for leaving the hall (下堂鐘): After the monks have finished their meal of rice or gruel, the bell is struck three times for them to leave the Sangha Hall.

Lower side (下間) (p. 42): According to the regulations of Chan monasteries, upon entering the meditation hall, the area to one’s left is called the Lower Side. The opposite position is called the Upper Side.

Appended words (下語) (p. 41): Words used by a teacher to instruct disciples. A statement or presentation of one’s understanding following a koan or verse is also called “appended words.”

The Xianchun Regulations (咸淳規) (p. 295): The Chan monastic regulations revised by the bhikshu Weimian of Houhu around the Xianchun era (1265–1274 CE) of the Southern Song dynasty.

Practitioners’ hall (行堂): The residence of practitioners, also called the practitioners’ quarters, practitioners’ dormitory, practitioners’ room, or hall for selecting monks, signifying that practitioners were selected there to receive ordination and become monks.

Practitioner (行者) (p. 24): A person who performs service in a Buddhist monastery but has not yet shaved his head and gone forth. It also denotes an itinerant monk newly arrived at a monastery whose name has been registered so that he may remain there long-term.

Serving additional food (行益) (p. 233): Serving the meal and adding more food; that is, serving and replenishing food at each place for the assembly to partake of the meal.

Carrying out communal labor (行普請): The monks of the entire monastery collectively performing manual labor. It later came to mean simply assembling the monks, but this meaning was not commonly used.

Attendant accompanying on a journey (行侍者): This probably refers to an attendant who accompanies and serves a venerable master while traveling.

Distributing food (行食) (p. 88): Xing means “to distribute,” and shi means “food.” When a practitioner distributes individual portions of food to the assembly of monks, this is called distributing food.

Branch Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs (行宣政院) (p. 295): During the Yuan dynasty, the agency that administered Buddhism throughout the empire and directed military affairs in Tibetan ethnic regions was called the Bureau of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs. Its subordinate agencies established in the provinces were called Branch Bureaus of Buddhist and Tibetan Affairs.

The minutest tip (豪芒): Also written 毫芒 and synonymous with 毫末, it denotes something extremely minute. The “Biography of Guo Yu” in the Book of the Later Han records: “In the interval of needle and stone, the slightest deviation occurs.” Hao mang is commonly understood as the tip of a hair.

Practitioner who announces the meal (喝食行者) (p. 66): Briefly called the meal announcer. When it is time for the assembly to take gruel or partake of the meal, the postulants, in order, announce the names of those attending the meal while standing and waiting on the southern side of the Refectory.

Black rice (黑飯) [1155a02]: Also called dark rice or tong rice, meaning rice that is black. The rice is cooked with the leaves of the southern heavenly bamboo and therefore turns black. This plant is the sovereign of herbs; eating it refreshes the vital spirit and increases longevity. This rice is prepared as an offering during the Buddha-bathing ceremony on the Buddha’s birthday.

Ganges (恒河; Skt: Gaṅgā): Also called Hengjiahé, Hengqiehé, and so forth; the name implies “coming from heaven.” It is one of the three great rivers of India and has its source in Tibet.

Rear platform (後板): In the Sangha Hall, on both sides of the shrine containing the image of the Holy Monk, there are two rows of entrance-and-exit platforms. Because, upon entering the Sangha Hall, the area on one’s left is entered afterward, the platform at the left edge is called the rear platform; the term is also used to refer to the rear section of the hall.

Rear Hall (後堂) (p. 47): An abbreviation of “Head Seat of the Rear Hall.” Chan monasteries divide the Sangha Hall into the Front Hall and the Rear Hall. The person assigned to oversee the Rear Hall is called the Head Seat of the Rear Hall.

Avatamsaka Sutra (華嚴經): Its full title is the Great and Vast Buddha Avatamsaka Sutra (Skt: Buddhāvataṃsaka-mahāvaipulya-sūtra). It is also called the Sutra of the Miscellaneous Flowers and is one of the essential scriptures of Mahayana Buddhism, setting forth the principle of the dependent origination of the Dharma realm and the unobstructed interpenetration of all phenomena.

Harmonious consultation (和會) (p. 40): This means exchanging views and harmonizing them, weighing what should be applied and what should not be applied.

Harmony (和合) (p. 314): When three or more monks live together, observe the precepts together, and practice together, this is called harmony.

Ocean of harmony (和合海) (p. 332): The assembly of monks is united in harmony, like seawater having only the single taste of salt; and because the assembly is numerous, like the vast and deep ocean, it is called the ocean of harmony.

Vandana (和南): A phonetic rendering of the Sanskrit vandana, also transcribed as 婆南, 伴談, or 槃談. Translated according to its meaning, it signifies bowing the head and paying reverence. It is expressed by joining the palms together to show utmost respect when meeting someone.

Upadhyaya (和尚; Skt: upādhyāya; P: upajjhāya), phonetically rendered in Sino-Vietnamese as Ưu-ba-đà-la: A venerable teacher who personally guides shramaneras or bhikshus; hence, he is also called a personal preceptor or one who gives rise to strength. During the early period of Buddhism in India, a distinction was made between the two teachers of a person newly admitted into the Sangha: the upadhyaya and the acharya (or instructor; Skt: ācārya; P: ācariya). The upadhyaya teaches disciples how to uphold the precepts and perform rituals, while the instructor explains the Dharma and the meaning of the scriptures.

Conditions for teaching (化緣) (p. 190): The causes and conditions for teaching beings while one remains in the world; that is, one’s lifespan.

Modes of teaching (化儀): The methods and forms by which the Buddha teaches and guides sentient beings. The scriptural content by which sentient beings are taught and guided is called the teaching Dharma. Modes of teaching are like medicinal substances, while the teaching Dharma is like the medicinal efficacy. Only when the two complement one another can they effectively cure illness.

Phantom city and treasure place (化城宝所): These are terms from the Lotus Sutra. “Phantom city,” in Sanskrit ṛddhi-nagara, refers to a city produced through transformation and serves as a metaphor for the nirvana of the Two Vehicles. The “treasure place,” by contrast, signifies a place of precious treasures and serves as a metaphor for ultimate nirvana, abiding in true realization.

Fire board (火板) (p. 88): The wooden sounding board hung above the stove in the commissary. When the rice is cooked, the rice steward strikes it three times, whereupon the fire attendant extinguishes the fire; hence it is called the fire board.

Fire attendant (火客) (p. 185): Also called the fire assistant or fire steward, the person responsible for tending the fires in a Chan monastery.

Huairang (懷讓) (677–744): A Chan monk of the Tang dynasty, surnamed Du, from Ankang in Jinzhou (in present-day Shaanxi Province), China. He inherited the Dharma from the Sixth Patriarch Huineng and was one of his accomplished disciples. The Master resided at Prajna Monastery on Mount Heng, where he propagated Huineng’s teaching. Employing an exceptionally lofty and rigorous mode of instruction, he founded the Nanyue lineage; therefore, people called him “Nanyue Huairang.” His posthumous title was “Chan Master Dahui.” Work: Recorded Sayings of Chan Master Nanyue Dahui.

Huangbo (黃檗) (p. 222): namely Chan Master Xiyun of Mount Huangbo during the Tang dynasty. The Chan master was a native of Min (present-day Fujian). In his youth, at Mount Huangbo in his native region (now in Fuqing County), he attained the Dharma under Chan Master Baizhang Huaihai.

Yellow Path (黄道): the Treatise on Astronomy in the Book of Han states: “The sun has a central path. That central path is the Yellow Path, also called the Path of Light.” In modern science it is called the ecliptic, namely the path along which the earth revolves around the sun in 365¼ days. According to ancient astrologers, a Yellow Path day was an extremely auspicious day, also called “an auspicious hour of the Yellow Path.” According to the Scripture of Divine Pivots, “Azure Dragon, Bright Hall, Golden Coffer, Celestial Virtue, Jade Hall, and Controller of Destiny” are the six spirits of the Yellow Path.

Venerable Huanglong Nan (黃龍南公) (p. 227): Chan Master Huinan of the Song dynasty, surnamed Zhang, a native of Xinzhou (present-day Shangrao, Jiangxi Province). Because he served for a long time as abbot of Chong’en Monastery on Mount Huanglong, he was known to the world as Venerable Huanglong Nan.

The Crown Prince’s Thousand-Autumn Auspicious Festival (皇太子千秋令節): a celebration of the Crown Prince’s birthday, praying that he may live for a thousand years. Beneath August Heaven, yet above the one man…

Imperial Preceptor of the Great Yuan (皇天之下一人之上 … 大元帝師): “August Heaven” refers to heaven, while “the one man” refers to the Emperor. Since, during the Yuan dynasty, the Imperial Preceptor was the emperor’s teacher, he was described as being above all people, foremost in the realm, and beneath only the Supreme Deity. This was an honorific title of National Preceptor Phagpa.

Vast Exemplar (弘範) (p. 62): to serve as a standard for the world.

Hongzhi (宏智) (p. 250): a Chan monk of the Southern Song dynasty, surnamed Li and styled Zhengjue, a native of Xizhou (present-day Xi County, Shanxi Province). He served as abbot of Tiantong Monastery in Mingzhou and was additionally styled Hongzhi.

Mount Yungai in Hunan (湖南雲蓋山): located in Shanhua County, Changsha, Hunan, south of Dongting Lake. Chan Master Fanghui, patriarch of the Yangqi school, once resided on this Mount Yungai.

Hu Kneeling (胡跪) (p. 314): the kneeling posture of monks from the Western Regions, known in ancient times as Hu, in which the right knee touches the ground while the left knee is raised upright. When fatigued, the positions of the two legs may be exchanged; hence it is called Hu Kneeling.

Interchanging Uses (互用) (p. 84): namely, the offense of interchanging uses, in which property belonging to the Three Jewels is used indiscriminately. The Buddhist Vinaya has extremely strict rules concerning the use of monastery property. For example, property designated as an offering for a Buddha image may instead be offered to the Sangha or used to make Dharma implements; or property designated for making an image of Shakyamuni Buddha may be diverted to make an image of Amitabha Buddha, and so forth. Such acts contravene the Vinaya and are regarded as committing the offense of Interchanging Uses.

Dedication of Merit (回向) (p. 91): dedicating the merit of one’s practice toward an intended aim. Wishing to bestow the merit of one’s practice upon others is called dedicating it to sentient beings; wishing to use the merit of one’s practice so that both oneself and others attain Buddhahood is called Dedication to the Buddha Way.

Red Ferment (紅糟): In ancient times, when the Buddha attained enlightenment, a cowherd girl offered him cow’s milk. The dish now called “red ferment” is made in imitation of that ancient milk dish. Red ferment is also called “warm ferment.” Daozhong said: “Fruit is mixed with grains and cooked into porridge; because the white color of the rice is altered (into red), it is called ‘red,’ and because many kinds are mixed together, it is called ‘ferment.’”

Mount Xiong’er (熊耳山): “Bear’s Ear Mountain,” located in Henan. It received this name because its two peaks rise side by side like a bear’s two ears. It is the burial place of the First Patriarch, Bodhidharma.

Death Anniversary (諱日): the commemorative day or death anniversary of one who has passed away.

Empty Arrogance (虛亢): kang means arrogance; empty arrogance means groundless conceit and hollow pretentiousness.

Fragrance-Reaching (香至): the name of a kingdom in Southern India whose king was the father of Patriarch Bodhidharma.

Incense Pavilion (香亭): a small pavilion used to hold a large incense burner. Its form is a miniature replica of an actual pavilion, but the two characters “Incense Pavilion” are inscribed on its plaque. In the funeral processions of venerable elders, the Incense Pavilion is always placed before the Portrait Pavilion, the small pavilion containing the portrait of the deceased.

Fellow Provincial (鄉人) (p. 92): a person from the same native region as the abbot.

Xianglin (香林) (p. 240): Master Chengyuan, a Chan monk of the Song dynasty, surnamed Shangguan, a native of Mianzhu (present-day Mianzhu, Sichuan), and a disciple of Yunmen Wenyan. Late in life, he resided at Xianglin Monastery on Mount Qingcheng in Chengdu; he therefore took the monastery’s name as his appellation.

Having Regulations Without Transgressions (有格無犯): having disciplinary regulations to prevent violations of the precepts.

Auspicious Right-Side Reclining (右脇吉祥): also called reclining on the right side, the lion’s reclining posture on the right side, or the lion’s reclining posture. One lies on one’s side with the right ribs resting against the bed, the two legs crossed, the right arm serving as a pillow, and the left arm extended straight. This is the prescribed reclining posture for a bhikshu; reclining on the left side, on the back, or face down is prohibited.

Sentient Beings (有情) (p. 331): all living beings, namely, sentient beings.

K

Forming Affinities with the Assembly (結衆緣) (p. 244): Buddhism has many causes and conditions and, from many aspects and by many different methods, broadly forms wholesome affinities with the assembly, thereby seizing the opportune conditions for attaining the result one day.

Concluding the Seat (結座) (p. 30): when a Chan master ascends the hall to preach the Dharma, he concludes the final portion with a Buddhist allusion or a verse; this is called concluding the seat. Ke Lou Zi

(可漏子) (p. 81): abbreviated as Ke Lou, meaning to seal tightly against openings. Ke Lou refers to an eggshell and is used metaphorically for placing a letter inside a tube, like a larva enclosing itself within a shell, very safely and securely. From among various forms, the Baizhang Pure Rules devised a Ke Lou Zi format, which later generations used for funerary invocations and memorial petitions. In general, it is equivalent to the modern envelope.

Guest-Attendant (客頭) (p. 41): an assistant to the guest prefect.

Guest-Attendant Practitioner (客頭行者): a person responsible for miscellaneous duties in a Chan monastery who has not yet shaved his head to become a monk and is under the direction and command of the guest prefect’s quarters.

Guest Office (客司) (p. 233): the place in a monastery where guests are received, also called the Guest Prefect’s Quarters.

Guest Room (客位): a room where guests newly arrived at the monastery may rest temporarily.

Opening the Dharma Hall (開堂) (p. 42): the ceremony in which a newly appointed elder of the lineage serving as abbot ascends the Dharma seat and preaches for the first time. Venerable Kaifu Ning

(開福寧和尚) (p. 168): Chan Master Daoning of Kaifu Monastery, surnamed Wang, a native of Xixi (now in She County, Anhui Province). During the Daguan era of the Song dynasty (1107–1110 CE), he served as abbot of Kaifu Monastery in Tanzhou. He passed away in the third year of the Zhenghe era, 1113 CE, at the age of sixty-one.

Opening the Abbot’s Chamber (開室): the day on which the abbot opens the door of his chamber so that students may enter to inquire about the Way and the Dharma.

Opening and Revealing (開示): “opening” implies opening up: dispelling the ignorance of sentient beings, opening the Tathagata-garbha, and seeing the principle of true reality. “Revealing” implies making manifest: once the obstructions of delusion have been dispelled, knowledge and vision become manifest, and the myriad virtues within the Dharma realm are clearly revealed. Put simply, opening and revealing means teaching the true Dharma.

Commencing (啟散): synonymous with “initiating the observance.” It means beginning the proceedings.

Shrine (龕): ordinarily means a shrine for worship, but in the context of this text it refers to the coffin in which the abbot’s body is encoffined.

Excessive yang (亢陽): severe drought and excessively scorching heat are called excessive yang.

Congratulations and condolences (慶吊) (p. 256): offering congratulations and attending a funeral to express condolences.

Rejoicing in good fortune (慶幸): rejoicing because there is something worthy of joy; a fortunate and joyful event.

Qingxi (慶喜) (p. 240): another translated name of Ananda, one of the ten great disciples of Shakyamuni Buddha.

Coughing and speaking (謦欬): qing means a light cough, while kai means a forceful cough; generally, it refers to speech, conversation, and laughter.

Determinate thought (剋念): ke means “certain” (必) and “appointed” (期). Because a cause is certain to produce its result, it is called ke. Determinate thought means that a karmic result will certainly arise.

Driving away locusts (遣蝗): huang is an abbreviated name for feihuang, a kind of hard-winged insect, generally referring to grasshoppers and locusts. Its scientific name is Pachytylus cinerascens. Its body is about five centimeters long, ash-gray mixed with brown or green; it has wings and long, powerful hind legs, and lays eggs once a year in hard ground. Locusts multiply in enormous numbers and travel in swarms that darken the sky. Wherever they descend, vegetation and crops are stripped to bare stalks, causing immense damage to the harvest. “Driving away locusts” means expelling grasshoppers and locusts.

Storehouse chief (庫頭): also called assistant prior, bursar, or treasurer. This office oversees income and expenditure in a Chan monastery and is one of the six administrators of the eastern offices. Although the rank is low, its duties are extremely important, for it is responsible for daily expenditures such as rice, money, and so forth.

Storehouse hall (庫堂): also called the storehouse office, the place that manages the receipt and disbursement of money and grain in a monastery. It may also refer to the storehouse master, or collectively to the three offices of prior, supervisor, and assistant prior. In some cases, the prior alone is called the storehouse officer.

Storehouse office (庫司) (p. 31): the workplace of the prior in a Chan monastery. Because the prior is also called the storehouse chief, his workplace is called the storehouse office.

Suffering and emptiness (苦空): the first two of the four characteristics of the truth of suffering pertaining to conditioned karmic recompense: suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self. Conditioned karmic recompense possesses all the qualities of the three sufferings and the eight sufferings and is therefore called suffering. Men and women alike arise and cease through causes and conditions, yet possess no fixed, unchanging reality; therefore this is called emptiness.

Wheel of suffering (苦輪) (p. 315): also called the ocean of the wheel of suffering, referring to the painful result of birth and death revolving without cease.

Lifting the coffin (起龕) (p. 174): when the coffin is borne to the entrance of the monastery, this is called “lifting the coffin.” Incense is then burned and sutras are chanted before the coffin; this is called performing the ceremony of lifting the coffin.

Guifeng’s Ritual for Cultivation and Realization (圭峰修證儀) (p. 366): Chan Master Zongmi was the fifth patriarch of the Huayan school and resided at Guifeng on Mount Zhongnan in Chang’an; he was therefore called Chan Master Guifeng. His writings discussing the rites of cultivating and realizing the Buddha-Dharma are called “Guifeng’s Ritual for Cultivation and Realization.”

Jetavana Monastery (祇桓精舍): the Jetavana monastery in Anathapindika’s park and Prince Jeta’s grove.

Striking the clod (擊壤): wood is carved into two pieces shaped like a pair of wooden sandals. One piece is placed on the ground, and a person stands thirty or forty paces away, holding the other piece and throwing it so as to strike the first. This is called “striking the clod.”

Qianzhu (乾竺): that is, Tianzhu, present-day India.

Acting rector (見職維那): the rector who has been appointed to assume direct responsibility for some duty in addition to the office of rector. In this context, it means the rector serving as director of funeral affairs.

Establishing the era (建元): when an emperor has just ascended the throne but has not yet selected an era name, this is called establishing the era or founding an era. Ordinarily, an era name is selected within that same year, which is then called the first year of the era. There are also instances in which, because of mourning observances, the following year is designated the first year, as in the case of Emperor Tu Duc of the Nguyen dynasty. Here it is not called “the first year of the Zhiyuan era,” but “the establishment of the era,” intending to say that immediately upon ascending the throne, Emperor Shizu appointed Phagpa as Imperial Preceptor.

Kaundinya (橋陳如; Skt: Kaundinya, P: Kondanna): one of the five bhikshus whom the Buddha brought to liberation during his first teaching at the Deer Park, and thus the Buddha’s first disciple. He is also called Ajnata Kaundinya, Ajnata Kaulin, Kaundina, Ajnata Kaulin, or Kulin; translated according to meaning, his names include First to Know, One Who Has Known, One Who Understands the Teaching, One Who Understands the Original Limit, and One Who Knows the Original Limit.

Vajra Buddha of Infinite Life (金剛無量壽佛): Amitabha Buddha. Amitayus means “Infinite Life,” while Amitabha means “Infinite Light.” Vajra is the hardest, firmest, and most enduring mineral; therefore, the phrase “Vajra Buddha of Infinite Life” is used to wish the emperor longevity, expressing the prayer that his lifespan may remain firm and endure for ten thousand years.

Jinling (金陵): an ancient place-name and the capital of the Liang dynasty, corresponding today to the area of Nanjing City and Jiangning County.

Sutra of Golden Light (金光明經) (four fascicles), translated by Dharmakshema under the Northern Liang, vol. 16, p. 335, no. 663. 金光明經 (四卷) (北涼 曇無讖譯)

The present emperor (今上皇帝): abbreviated as “His Present Majesty,” a term used to designate the currently reigning emperor.

Sutra register (經單): an index listing the various scriptures that must be recited during the ceremony for the imperial birthday.

Scripture repository (經藏) (p. 230): a general designation for the scriptures; it also refers to the repository where scriptures are stored, including the three collections of sutra, vinaya, and treatise. It is also called the scripture hall, canon hall, or revolving canon repository.

Mount Jingshan (徑山) (p. 146): a renowned Buddhist mountain situated northwest of Yuhang County in Zhejiang Province. In this text, it refers to Jingshan Monastery, built on Mount Jingshan. During the Song dynasty, the Chan tradition flourished greatly at this monastery.

Venerable elder (耆舊): qi denotes one advanced in years, while jiu means old or long-standing. Thus, a venerable elder is one of high Dharma seniority and the standing of a senior monk.

Prayer (祈禱): praying to the Buddha and bodhisattvas for unseen assistance, deliverance from calamities and adversity, and an increase in blessings. It is also called supplication, prayerful recollection, invocation, or heartfelt aspiration. In fact, from the Buddhist perspective, the practice is not one of petitioning; nevertheless, vows made in accordance with fundamental vows, together with the merit of building stupas, chanting sutras, and dedicating merit, are all connected with seeking the protective blessing of the Buddha’s power. Hence there arose teachings concerning merit and the dispelling of calamities.

Rare merchandise (奇貨): the full original expression is “rare merchandise worth hoarding.” It refers to goods stockpiled by speculators, who buy them when they are being sold cheaply and wait until their price has multiplied before selling them, thereby gaining great profit.

Mount Gridhrakuta (耆闍崛山; Skt: Grdhrakuta, P: Gijjha-Kuta): translated according to meaning as Vulture Peak, Vulture’s Head, or Sacred Mountain. It is located east of Rajagriha, the capital of Magadha, and is a celebrated place where the Buddha taught the Dharma. Regarding its name, one account says that the mountain peak is shaped like a vulture, while another says that many vultures inhabit the mountain.

L

Luoyang (洛陽): so named because it lies on the yang, or northern, bank of the Luo River. It was an important region where the Zhou, Han, Cao Wei, Jin, Northern Wei, Sui, Tang, Liang, Later Tang, and Song dynasties successively established their capitals, and it was continually contested by armies. In the context of this text, it refers to the capital of the Northern Wei dynasty.

Senior stalwart (老郎): a person stronger than others, honored by them as a senior brother or leader.

Śūraṅgama Mantra (楞嚴咒): Also called the Buddha-Crown Mantra, it is the mantra set forth in the Śūraṅgama Sutra, consisting of 427 lines. The final eight lines are called the heart phrases. It is also called the Great Buddha-Crown, Myriad Practices Śūraṅgama Mantra.

Śūraṅgama leader (楞嚴頭): The person who intones and leads the chanting of the Śūraṅgama Mantra.

Śūraṅgama Sutra (楞嚴經) (S. 366): The title of a Buddhist sutra, whose full titles include “Sutra of the Great Buddha-Crown, the Tathagata’s Secret Cause of Cultivation and Realization of the Complete Meaning, and the Bodhisattvas’ Myriad Practices of Śūraṅgama,” “Great Buddha-Crown Śūraṅgama Sutra,” and “Sutra of the Great Nālandā Bodhimaṇḍa of Central India.” It comprises ten fascicles and was translated by Paramiti during the Tang dynasty.

This sutra expounds the truth that “the sense faculties and their objects share a single source, and bondage and liberation are nondual,” while also explaining the practice of samādhi and the stages of the bodhisattva path. The Śūraṅgama Sutra is a foundational scripture of meditative practice, revealing methods of meditation, perfect penetration through the faculty of hearing, and the demonic states associated with the five skandhas.

Laṅkāvatāra Sutra (楞伽經; Skt: Laṅkāvatāra-sūtra): Its full title is Laṅkāvatāra Ratna Sutra, translated by Guṇabhadra during the Liu Song dynasty (443). Laṅkā is the name of a mountain, and avatāra means “to enter”; thus, the title indicates that this is the sutra preached by the Buddha upon entering Mount Laṅkā. This sutra teaches that all the myriad phenomena of the world are created by mind alone. The objects apprehended by our cognition exist within the mind, not in an external realm.

Woodlands and gardens (林園): Mountains, forests, fields, and gardens; it also refers to a flower garden.

Light from the neighboring wall (鄰壁之光): Kuang Heng of the Han dynasty loved reading, but because his family was poor and he had no money to buy oil for a lamp at night, he secretly bored a hole through the wall and read by the lamplight shining through from the neighboring house. In this context, the author employs this allusion to say that his monastery always relied upon assistance from neighboring monasteries. Neighboring peaks (鄰峰): Nearby mountains; that is, the other monasteries in the surrounding region, because monasteries in former times were commonly built on mountains.

Appointed Sangha instructor (立僧) (S. 253): An abbreviation of “appointed chief seat of the Sangha.” The appointed chief seat’s responsibility was to expound the Dharma so that the monastic community might thoroughly understand the Buddhadharma. The person selected, however, was not necessarily the chief seat, a senior officer, or a renowned and virtuous elder; rather, an accomplished and widely learned monk from the Western Hall was chosen to assume this important responsibility.

Auspicious day (令辰): A favorable day.

Dormitory supervisor (寮主) (S. 58): The person responsible for duties in a dormitory, also called the dormitory duty officer. This was one of the attendants’ offices, assisting the dormitory administrator and safeguarding the monastic community’s robes and belongings in the dormitory. Ordinarily, the monks residing in the dormitory took turns assuming this responsibility. The monastic community. Ordinarily, the monks residing in the dormitory took turns assuming this responsibility.

Dormitory administrator (寮元): Also called the seat administrator, hall administrator, dormitory chief seat, or first seat. This was the office charged with overseeing the dormitories in a Chan monastery and was one of the six senior officers. Its responsibilities included supervising scriptures and books, material goods, tea and water, firewood and charcoal, sweeping and cleaning, and requesting necessary supplies for the dormitories.

Beneath this office were the dormitory elder, dormitory assistant, deputy dormitory officer, dormitory observer, and others who assisted the dormitory administrator. Because the dormitory administrator understood all the affairs of the monastery, he managed every matter, such as overseeing the monks in the dormitory as they studied and recited scriptures, admonishing violations of the regulations, settling internal disputes, and instructing newcomers in the monastery’s rules.

In short, he had to handle all affairs.

Dormitory elder (寮長) (S. 262): An assistant to the dormitory administrator, called the “mat supervisor” by later generations. The dormitory administrator was also called the seat administrator or dormitory chief seat and was responsible for overseeing the affairs of the communal dormitory. This office was ordinarily held by someone who had long resided in the monastery and understood all its rules and procedures.

Lingyin Monastery (靈隱寺) (S. 152): A renowned Buddhist monastery situated at the foot of Mount Lingyin in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, also called Yunlin Monastery. Construction began at the outset of the Xianhe era of the Eastern Jin dynasty (326 CE), and it was renovated many times over successive dynasties. During the Wuyue kingdom in the Five Dynasties period, the monastery’s Chan tradition reached its zenith, and it was then the largest monastery in southeastern China.

Lingshu (靈樹) (S. 223): Chan Master Rumin of Lingshu Chan Monastery in Shaozhou during the Tang dynasty. A native of Min, he was admired by the Southern Han ruler of the Liu clan and was bestowed the title Great Master Zhisheng.

Vulture Peak (靈鷲山; S. Gṛdhrakūṭa, P. Gijjha-kūṭa): Phonetically rendered in Chinese as Qisheku and abbreviated as Sacred Mountain, Vulture Peak, or Sacred Peak. It is a mountain northeast of the city of Rājagṛha in the kingdom of Magadha in central India. Because the mountain resembles the head of a vulture and many vultures also inhabited it, it was named Vulture Peak. The Tathagata preached Mahayana sutras such as the Lotus Sutra there; consequently, this mountain became a sacred Buddhist site.

The dragon’s virtue hidden in the depths (龍德淵潜): A dragon endowed with virtue remains concealed, awaiting the opportunity to soar into the clouds. This refers to a prince before he has been appointed crown prince, while awaiting the day of his accession to the throne.

Dragon-elephant (龍象) (S. 140): (Skt: Nāga), translated as “dragon” and also as “elephant,” hence the compound “dragon-elephant.” It refers to an arhat who practices with heroic vigor and possesses immense spiritual power. More broadly, it is a respectful form of address for a virtuous and highly influential monk.

Forge and bellows (爐鞴) (S. 284): A smithy furnace and the leather bag used to blow air into the furnace.

Furnace supervisor (爐頭): The office responsible for heating the monks’ hall in a Chan monastery. Before the release from evening instruction, the furnace supervisor had to prepare the braziers so that the monks could warm themselves

after the release from evening instruction, adding or reducing firewood as circumstances required. Open ground (路地): An open space outdoors.

Deer Park (鹿苑): The full name is Deer Wilds Park (Skt: Mṛgadāva), the place where the Blessed One first taught the Dharma after attaining awakening. It is present-day Sarnath (Skt: Sārnātha), a name derived from Sāranganātha and associated with deer. It is also translated as Deer Wilds Garden, Deer Wilds, Deer Park, Seers’ Park, or Garden of the Sages.

Thunderous abuse and ridicule (雷例譏誚): To revile someone fiercely, like thunder.

Revolving scripture repository (輪藏): A scripture stand in the sutra library mounted on wheels so that it could easily be moved from place to place. Later, the term came to refer generally to the Buddhist canon.

Vinaya monastery (律寺): A monastery devoted specifically to following the precepts and strictly observing the Vinaya. Only after the Song dynasty were Buddhist monasteries in China divided into Vinaya monasteries, doctrinal monasteries, and Chan monasteries.

Six paths (六道): The six paths are the path of hell beings (narakagati), the path of hungry ghosts (preta-narakagati), the path of animals (tiryagyonigati), the path of asuras (asuragati), the human path (manussa-gati), and the heavenly path (devagati). According to their karma, sentient beings continually undergo birth and death, revolving through these realms.

Six perfections (六度): The six pāramitās of generosity, observance of the precepts, patience, diligence, meditation, and wisdom. The Sutra of Wholesome Precepts states: “The practice of generosity can bring about wealth and nobility.”

Six Harmonies and Reverence (六和敬; Skt: śaḍsāramyadharma): Six principles of harmony, unity, mutual respect, and affection that practitioners of the Buddha-Dharma should observe in order to attain awakening. The Six Harmonies and Reverence comprise: 1. Harmony in bodily action (身業同): sharing harmonious and respectful bodily conduct, such as making prostrations and performing wholesome deeds; 2. Harmony in verbal action (口業同): speaking wholesome words together; 3. Harmony in mental action (意業同): sharing the same aspiration; 4. Equal sharing (同施): sharing material possessions with one another; 5. Harmony in precepts (同戒): diligently observing the same precepts; 6. Harmony in views (同見): sharing the same understanding.

Six Calamities (六沴): The six kinds of disharmonious qi are called the Six Calamities. The “Treatise on the Five Phases” in the Book of Han states: “When the various forms of qi injure one another, this is called calamity.” According to ancient belief, whenever the Six Calamities occurred, a solar eclipse would arise in response. The Biography of Kong Guang in the Book of Han records: “When the Six Calamities interact, the portent is extremely grave.”

Six Repositories (六府): The places containing the resources of transformation—metal, wood, water, fire, earth, and grain—are called the Six Repositories. The “Counsels of the Great Yu” chapter in the Book of Documents states: “The Emperor said: ‘… Heaven brought the earth to completion; the Six Repositories and the Three Affairs were all fully established.’”

The Faction of the Group of Six (六羣之黨): Refers to six unruly bhikshus who formed cliques and factions. They are also called the Six Bhikshus or the Group of Six. During the Buddha’s lifetime, there were six bhikshus who did not observe the disciplinary regulations and committed many wrongful deeds.

Six Destinies (六趣) (p. 195): Buddhism teaches that, according to the wholesome and unwholesome actions of sentient beings in past lives, they undergo rebirth within five paths: hell beings, hungry ghosts, animals, humans, and heavenly beings. These are called the “Five Destinies.” Some sutras add another category, the asuras, meaning “the deformed” or “non-heavenly beings”; taken together, these are the “Six Destinies.”

Six Fasting Days (六齋日): The six days for observing the fast, also called the Six Fasts, referring to six days each month on which the pure precepts are observed: the eighth, fourteenth, and fifteenth days of the waxing moon, and the twenty-third, twenty-ninth, and thirtieth days of the waning moon. On these six days each month, the Sangha must assemble in one place to perform the posadha and recite the precepts. On these six days, male and female laypeople observe the Eight Precepts for one day and one night.

Cooling Curtain (凉簾): A curtain used to provide shade and coolness.

Liang Putong (梁普通): The Putong era name of Emperor Wu of Liang during the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, beginning in 520. Thus, the eighth year of Liang Putong was 527.

Two Unfoldings and Three Prostrations (兩展三禮) (p. 71): The ceremonial etiquette for paying respects to one’s master or to senior venerables in a Chan monastery. The specific procedure is as follows: First, one spreads out the sitting cloth and kneels upon it to prostrate. If the master prevents this, one folds the sitting cloth in half, bows, and presents the matter at hand. This is the first unfolding. One then makes another gesture of spreading out the sitting cloth but is again prevented; while folding the sitting cloth, one expresses one’s feelings. This is the second unfolding. Finally, holding the sitting cloth in one’s hands, one strikes it against the ground three times. This completes the rite of Two Unfoldings and Three Prostrations.

Two Divisions (兩序) (p. 19): After Huaihai reformed the regulations of the Chan school, the Two Divisions became the collective designation for monastics holding offices in a Chan monastery. They were also called the “Two Ranks,” modeled after the civil and military ranks of officials at the imperial court. Under the abbot, two divisions were established: the Eastern Division and the Western Division.

The Western Division administered religious affairs, and its offices were filled by those accomplished in both virtue through observing the precepts and in learning. They were called the Chief Officers and comprised six positions: Chief Seat, Secretary, Canon Librarian, Guest Prefect, Bath Prefect, and Hall Prefect. The Eastern Division oversaw matters of daily communal life, and its offices were filled by those well versed in practical affairs.

They were called the Administrators and comprised six positions: General Administrator, Monastery Supervisor, Assistant Administrator, Rector, Cook, and Work Leader.

M

Demonic Obstruction (魔障; Skt: Mara): Transliteration: Ma-la; meaning an evil demon. It refers to obstacles caused by evil demons.

Lady Maya (摩耶夫人): Maya (Skt., P: Mahamaya), also called Maha-Maya, is transliterated and interpreted as Great Illusion, Great Art, or Wondrous One. She was the birth mother of the Blessed One and the queen consort of King Suddhodana, ruler of Kapilavastu. According to the custom of that time, she was to return to her maternal home to await childbirth. Midway on the journey, she stopped to rest in Lumbini Grove, within her father’s city of Devadaha, and there gave birth to the Blessed One. Seven days later, she passed away and was reborn in the Trayastrimsa Heaven.

Mill Supervisor (磨頭): Also called Master of the Mill. The office responsible for overseeing the rice-hulling house in a Chan monastery.

Mahaprajapati (摩訶波闍波提; Skt: Mahaprajapati, P: Mahapajapati): Abbreviated as Prajapati and translated by meaning as Great Love of the Way, Great Victorious Spiritual Ruler, Great Lord of Beings, and so forth. Also called Lady Pajapati, she was the younger sister of Lady Maya and a daughter of King Suppabuddha of ancient Devadaha in India. She was the maternal aunt of the Blessed One and raised him in her elder sister’s stead after his mother passed away seven days after giving birth to the Buddha.

Mahaprajnaparamita (摩訶般若波羅蜜) (p. 332): A transliteration of the Sanskrit Mahaprajnaparamita, translated by meaning as “great wisdom that reaches the other shore.” It is one of the Six Perfections.

Mahasattva (摩訶薩) (p. 332): An abbreviation of Mahasattva. Maha means “great,” while sattva means “mind” or “sentient being.” Together, the term means “great-minded one” or “great being,” a general designation for a bodhisattva.

Mahasamghika (摩訶僧祇): Refers to the Mahasamghika Vinaya (Skt: mahasan ghavinya), translated by meaning as the Vinaya of the Great Assembly. It is the Vinaya Pitaka transmitted by the Mahasamghika school of Buddhism. Its contents are divided into the disciplinary rules for bhikshus in the first thirty-five fascicles and the disciplinary rules for bhikshunis in the final five fascicles.

Magadha (摩竭陀; Skt., P: magadha): A kingdom in northern India during the lifetime of Shakyamuni Buddha. Its successive capitals were Rajagriha (Skt: rājagṛha) and Pataliputra (Skt: pāṭaliputra). The kings of Magadha included Bimbisara (Skt., P: bimbisāra), his son Ajatashatru (Skt: ajātaśatru), and later King Ashoka (Skt: aśoka). Magadha is regarded as the birthplace of Buddhism. After the Third Council, the teachings spread from there to other regions of India. Under King Ashoka, Magadha reached its greatest territorial extent.

Aranya of the Kingdom of Magadha (摩竭提國阿蘭若; Skt: aranya, P: aranna): Also called A-lian-nhã, A-lian-nhứ, A-lan-na, or A-lan-noa, and commonly abbreviated as Lan-nhã. Translated by meaning as a wild mountain forest, it denotes a secluded and tranquil place suitable for monastic cultivation. Its meaning was later broadened to refer generally to a monastery.

Demonic Affair (魔事) (p. 367): An affair caused by an evil demon.

Ashvajit (馬勝; S. Aśvajit, P. Assaji): Also called Mã Sư or A-thuyết-thị. A disciple of the Buddha, he was one of the first five bhikshus converted by the Buddha at Deer Park. His bearing was dignified and upright, and everyone delighted in beholding him.

Mazu (馬祖): The full name is Mazu Daoyi (709–788), a monastic of the Tang dynasty and a Dharma successor of Nanyue Huairang. His Dharma lineage flourished greatly. He advocated that “the ordinary mind is the Way” and “this very mind is Buddha.” He had thirty-nine principal disciples, the best known among them being Baizhang Huaihai, Nanquan Puyuan, Dazhu Huihai, and Damei Fachang.

Disrespecting the Dharma (慢法) (p. 84): To be arrogant and discourteous and to show no respect for the Buddha-Dharma.

Mật Am (密菴): refers to Chan Master Hàm Kiệt of the Song dynasty. His surname was Đặng, his sobriquet was Mật Am, and he was a native of Phước Châu. Miễn đinh do (免丁由): Monastics who were exempted from the corvée labor ordinarily required of commoners had to pay money to an official. After receiving the money, the official issued a certificate (receipt) as proof, called a miễn đinh do.

Minh bản tam hạ (鳴板三下): striking the wooden board three times. Bản (板) is also written 版 or 鈑. A board is hung at a designated place in a monastery and struck to announce the time, or struck as a signal during Dharma assemblies.

It is usually made of wood, and verses such as “the matter of birth and death is great” are inscribed on its face, chiefly consisting of lines such as: “We respectfully inform the great assembly: the matter of birth and death is great; impermanence advances swiftly; take care not to be heedless.” A very small number are made of bronze. According to their shape, there are cloud-shaped boards and fish-shaped boards. In Chan monasteries, there are large and small boards.

The distinct term “long board” is not the name of a type of board but refers to the manner of striking a prolonged series. The board hung at the commissary office is somewhat larger than those in the halls and quarters and is therefore called the large board, while a board hung outside the residential quarters is called the outer board. According to where they are hung, there are the abbot’s-quarters board, quarters board, chief-seat board, illumination-hall board, and so forth.

Minh cổ nhất thông (鳴皷一通): striking one roll on the drum. Minh cổ nhất hạ means striking the drum once.

Minh quyền (冥權) (S.165): the skillful expedients of the Buddhas and bodhisattvas for delivering beings in the realm of darkness. Mông đường (蒙堂) (S. 31): In Chan monasteries, the place where those who have retired from offices belonging to the Two Rows quietly recuperate is called the Mông Hall. Hence, monastic officers who have retired from office are also called Mông đường.

Mục Châu (睦州) (S. 222): refers to Chan Master Đạo Minh of the Tang dynasty. His surname was Trần. After going forth, he attained realization under Chan Master Hoàng Bá Hi Vận. Because he was a native of Mục Châu—now the region comprising the three counties of Đồng Lư, Kiến Đức, and Thuần An in Chiết Giang Province—and also propagated the Dharma in Mục Châu for a long time, people called him Mục Châu.

Mục tử (目子) (S. 25): arranging and presenting related headings as a list or outline.

Mục Vương (穆王): refers to King Mục of Zhou, the son of King Chiêu of Zhou, whose personal name was Mãn. After ascending the throne, he rode westward in a chariot drawn by eight powerful horses on a military expedition. Delighting in the journey, he forgot to return, and most of the feudal lords paid court to the state of Từ. Alarmed, the king hastened back and ordered Sở to destroy Từ. After returning from his conquest of the Khuyển Nhung, he undertook no further campaigns. He reigned for fifty-five years.

Muội nhân quả (昧因果): being blind to cause and effect; that is, denying cause and effect and having no fear of the law of karma.

N

Nam Đường (南唐): One of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties period. The founding ancestor of Southern Tang was Lý Thăng (formerly Từ Tri Cáo). The state was named Tề and was later renamed Đường. Historians call it Southern Tang. It lasted for three generations under three kings, a total of thirty-nine years, from 973 to 975.

Nam Thiệm Bộ châu (南贍部洲): one of the four great continents described in Buddhist scriptures, also called Southern Jambudvipa. Thiệm Bộ is the name of a precious tree found only on this continent, hence the name Thiệm Bộ Continent.

Nam Thiên Trúc (南天竺): Thiên Trúc was an ancient name for India, which was also called Thiên Đốc, Thiên Độc, and Thân Độc. The “Account of the Western Regions” in the Book of the Later Han states: “The kingdom of Thiên Trúc, also called Thân Độc, lies several thousand li southeast of the kingdom of Nguyệt Chi. Popular tradition holds that Thiên Trúc is precisely the kingdom of Nguyệt Chi.” Thus, Nam Thiên Trúc means Southern India.

Nam Tuyền (南泉): refers to the renowned Chan Master Nam Tuyền Phổ Nguyện, one of the thirty-nine great disciples of Mã Tổ Đạo Nhất.

Nan đề (難提): another designation for the Sanskrit stupa, translated by meaning as “square tomb,” and carrying the connotation of extinguishing evil.

Nê-hoàn (泥洹) (S. 321): another transliteration of nirvana.

Nghĩa học (義學): the discipline that clings to names and characteristics, theories, and exegetical meanings. Also called interpretive learning, it is the scholarship of the Abhidharma-kosa and Yogacara, analyzing the categories and numerical classifications of dharmic characteristics, specifying in detail the stages of cause and effect in cultivation, and explaining written passages and phrases. It is a form of learning criticized by the Chan school.

Nghiêu (kiêu) ly (澆漓): shallow and ungrateful people who forget the Buddha’s kindness.

Ngoại đạo (外道) (S. 320): people who have not received the teachings of Buddhism and who practice erroneous doctrines; specifically, there are many different kinds.

Ngoại hộ (外護) (S.108): people who provide material support to a monastery so that its Sangha can cultivate in peace. Whether monastic or lay, they are all called external protectors of the monastery.

Ngũ kỷ (五紀): each kỷ is twelve years; thus, five kỷ equal sixty years, or one sexagenary cycle.

Ngũ quả (五果) (S. 326): In analyzing causal relationships, Buddhism commonly holds that various kinds of causes produce five different kinds of results.

Ngũ sắc (五色): the five primary colors—red, yellow, white, blue, and black. In reality, nature has seven colors: violet, indigo, green, blue, yellow, orange, and red. The five colors commonly symbolize auspiciousness or the numinous manifestation of nobility, such as the Buddha’s five-colored radiance, the five-colored clouds ridden by immortals, and precious birds with five-colored plumage.

Ngũ sơn (五山) (S. 354): During the Southern Song dynasty, Chan monasteries modeled themselves after five renowned mountains in India and designated five celebrated mountains of Chinese Chan Buddhism: 1. Hưng Thánh Vạn Thọ Monastery on Kính Sơn in Hàng Châu Province. 2. Mậu Phong Quảng Lợi on A Dục Vương Mountain in Ninh Ba. 3. Thiên Đồng Cảnh Đức Monastery on Thái Bạch Mountain in Ninh Ba. 4. Cảnh Đức Linh Ẩn Monastery on Bắc Sơn in Hàng Châu Province. 5. Tịnh Từ Báo Ân Quang Hiếu Monastery on Nam Sơn in Hàng Châu Province. These five mountains all belonged to the Linji school.

Ngũ tề (五齊): a method of preparing wine divided into five degrees intermediate between clear and turbid. At each sacrificial ceremony, the proportions of clear and turbid wine were blended as appropriate and presented as an offering.

Ngũ tham (五參): the five days of consultation, comprising the three days for visiting the abbot—the tenth, twentieth, and twenty-fifth—together with the two days when the abbot ascends the hall, the first day and the full-moon day.

Ngũ tham thượng đường (五參上堂) (S. 25): In Chan monasteries, on five days of each month—the tenth, twentieth, twenty-fifth, the first day, and the full-moon day—the entire assembly must visit the abbot to hear Dharma sermons and instructions. Since there are exactly five days for consultation, this is called the Five Consultations. Whenever the abbot ascends the hall on a Five Consultations day, it is called “ascending the hall for the Five Consultations.”

Ngũ thiên thất tụ (五篇七聚) (S. 62): a general designation for the Buddhist Vinaya arranged by category. After the full precepts of monks and nuns were divided into eight groups and seven groups, they were further divided into the Five Sections: parajika, sanghavasesa, payattika, pratidesaniya, and duskrta. The Five Sections and the precepts outside them were further summarized into seven categories, called the Seven Groups: parajika, sanghavasesa, sthulatyaya, patayantika, pratidesaniya, wrongful action, and wrongful speech.

Ngũ thông (五通) (S. 314): the five supernormal powers: 1. The divine eye: the ability to see all things; 2. The divine ear: the ability to hear all sounds; 3. Knowledge of others’ minds: the ability to know all the thoughts in everyone’s mind; 4. Knowledge of past lives: knowing the events of one’s own past lives; 5. The power of mastery at will: also called the power of miraculous manifestations, meaning complete freedom and ease, even passing through rock walls without obstruction.

Beings of the Five Turbidities (五濁衆生): the five turbidities (Skt: pañca kaṣāyāḥ), also called the five defilements, are the five kinds of impurity that arise during a declining kalpa and must be endured by sentient beings: the turbidity of the kalpa, the turbidity of views, the turbidity of afflictions, the turbidity of sentient beings, and the turbidity of lifespan.

The tenth year of Taihe under Emperor Xiaoming of Wei (魏孝明帝太和十年): Taihe was the era name of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei dynasty, also known as the Later Wei or Yuan Wei. The era name of Emperor Xiaoming of Wei, who succeeded Emperor Xiaowen, was Zhengguang.

Yuanhe (元和): the era name of Emperor Xianzong of Tang, beginning in 806. The ninth year of the Yuanhe era of the Tang dynasty was 814.

The third year of Yuantong (統三年): Yuantong was an era name of Emperor Shun of Yuan. In fact, the Yuantong era lasted only two years, from 1333 to 1334. The reference here to the third year of Yuantong is probably an error.

Power of vows (願力): the efficacious power of an original vow, also called the power of the original vow, the karmic power of the great vow, or the power of former vows. In the Pure Land school, it commonly refers to the power of Amitabha Buddha’s vows.

Master Guo of Yue’an (月菴果公) (S.168): Chan Master Shanguo Yue’an, whose family name was Yu, was a native of Xinzhou, now part of Shangrao County in Jiangxi Province. He participated in Dharma assemblies led by the Venerable Funing and received Dharma transmission. Around the Xuanhe era, he was honored by the Song emperor and given the new title Daowu. He instructed the assembly with strict clarity, lived simply, was revered by all, and became renowned throughout the land. Around the Shaoxing era, he traveled to Fujian Province and remained at Mount Huangbo there for ten years. He later returned to Dagui in Hunan Province. He passed away in the twenty-second year of Shaoxing (1152 CE) at the age of seventy-four.

Monthly first day (月旦): the first day of each lunar month.

Monthly full moon (月望): the fifteenth day of each lunar month.

Alms solicitor for streets and villages (街坊化主): an office in a Chan monastery responsible for visiting villages and urban neighborhoods to encourage devotees to offer material donations to the Three Jewels.

Common witnessing (眼同): a colloquial expression from the Yuan dynasty, referring to something seen by many people who can bear witness to it.

Standing like geese (雁立): standing in a long line, like a flock of geese flying in formation across the sky.

Cause and condition (因緣): in this context, another designation for a Chan koan, rather than cause and condition in the sense of the Sanskrit hetu-pratyaya. Laborers (人力): workers who perform manual service in a Chan monastery.

Courtesy gifts (人事): this term has two meanings: a. Gifts presented when people visit one another. b. Dharma heirs or Dharma relatives visiting the abbot. In the context of this text, it refers to gifts.

Eyes of humans and devas (人天眼目): “humans and devas” refers to divine beings in the heavenly realms and to human beings, thus meaning everyone. To be the eyes of humans and devas figuratively means to be regarded by everyone with reverence as an exemplary standard.

Sutra of the Humane King’s Mahaprajnaparamita (仁王摩訶船苦波羅密經): also called the Humane Kings Prajnaparamita Sutra for the Protection of the Nation or the Humane Kings Sutra. It recounts the Buddha’s teaching to great kings concerning the preservation of the fruit of Buddhahood, the practices of the ten bhumis, and the causes and conditions for protecting the nation. It teaches that upholding this sutra dispels calamities and brings merit and blessings. Together with the Lotus Sutra and the Golden Light Sutra, it is regarded as one of the three sutras for the protection of the nation.

Entering parinirvana (入般湼槃): also called entering cessation; that is, passing away.

Placement in the coffin (入龕) (S.174): commonly called encoffining. The deceased is bathed and placed in the coffin, after which the ceremony of placement in the coffin is conducted.

Entering the chamber (入室) (S.42): in the Chan tradition, when a disciple repeatedly enters the master’s chamber to receive instruction and inquire about the Way, this is called entering the chamber. It can also refer to a disciple personally receiving the profound essential teaching from the master.

Entering the chamber to request instruction (入室請益): a disciple enters the abbot’s chamber to inquire about the Dharma.

Entering the monastery (入院): the first entry of a newly appointed abbot into the monastery where he has been ordered to assume office.

The arising of the single yang (一阳生): the winter solstice, occurring around the eleventh lunar month.

One sesame seed and one grain of rice (一麻一米): when the World-Honored One first renounced the household life to seek the Way, he practiced austerities and ate only one sesame seed and one grain of rice each day. Fascicle 34 of the Treatise on the Great Perfection of Wisdom records: “While Shakyamuni Buddha was in the forest at Uruvilva, he ate only one sesame seed and one grain of rice each day. The adherents of other paths said, ‘Although our seers also practice austerities, they could not endure such hardship for six long years.’”

Day after day throughout the month (一月日逐日): all the successive days of the month.

One Suchness (一如) (S.365): what Buddhism calls truth, true suchness, or One Suchness is neither dual nor different, without distinction or discrimination.

Yishan (一山): the sobriquet of the Yuan-dynasty Chan monk Liaowan.

One center (一中): this term has four meanings: a. One refectory and one seating place. This is a Chan expression used when serving tea, meaning to go and pour tea for everyone. b. The seat at the very center. Because the principal seat is placed precisely in the center, it is called the “one center.” It refers to the chief seat’s place; inviting another person to sit there expresses reverence for that person. c. Eating one meal at midday. d. The Way of the One Middle, in the Tiantai sense: when one is the Middle, all is the Middle; there is neither Emptiness nor Provisional Existence that is not the Middle, because all is contemplated as the Middle. Daily application (日用): the rules governing daily conduct and the principles underlying affairs.

Beneath the sun (日下): literally, “where the sun descends,” and where the sun descends is Luoyang. Most people regard this as an enigmatic prophecy uttered by Patriarch Prajnatara to indicate the capital Luoyang (洛陽).

Solar eclipse (日蝕): “eclipse” (蝕) means being eaten; according to ancient belief, the sun was eaten or bitten by the moon. This is a natural astronomical phenomenon occurring when the earth, moon, and sun align and the moon obscures the sun. In ancient times, however, it was believed to be an ill omen foretelling numerous calamities, and rituals and prayers therefore had to be performed.

The two indeterminate rules (二不定): “indeterminate” (Skt: aniyata), also called an indeterminate rule. The two indeterminate rules (dve aniyatā) form part of the complete precepts upheld by bhikshus. They concern cases in which it has not yet been determined which precept was violated, and comprise the indeterminate rule concerning a concealed place and the indeterminate rule concerning an exposed place.

The twenty-third (二十三): the twenty-third day of each lunar month, one of the three auspicious days—the third, thirteenth, and twenty-third.

The two periods (二時) (S.165): the two periods of morning and evening.

Defilement (染) (S.320): stained, impure, and unclean; it refers to deluded thoughts and attachments, as well as the objects to which one is attached.

Nairanjana River (尼蓮河): Also called the Ni-lien-ch'an River (Skt: Nairanjana; P: Neranjara); translated by meaning as the River of Non-Attachment. It is a tributary of the Ganges. According to the Sutra of Cause and Effect in the Past and Present, after renouncing the household life, the Blessed One practiced austerities on the banks of the Nairanjana River for six years.

Thereafter, he abandoned the practice of austerities, bathed in this river, and accepted and drank an offering of milk porridge from a cowherd girl. We would also like to correct here an inadvertent error made by many translators: they misread the character mi (糜), meaning porridge cooked until soft, as mi (麋), meaning deer. Consequently, they mistakenly rendered milk porridge offered by a cowherd girl as deer’s milk offered by a deer-herding girl.

In fact, according to the sutra cited above, she was a cowherd girl!

Nissaggiya (尼薩耆): The full term is nissaggiya-pacittiya. Nissaggiya means “forfeiture and downfall,” indicating that one must relinquish the material object and confess the offense entailing downfall.

Holding Up the Flower (拈華): In full, “holding up the flower and smiling.” This refers to the Buddha raising a lotus flower before the assembly. Venerable Kasyapa thereby attained realization and broke into a slight smile. It denotes the authentic transmission of the Dharma in the Chan tradition.

Offering Incense (拈香): To present or burn incense. Here we shall briefly explain matters related to incense. Burning incense is also called presenting incense, holding incense, recollecting incense, announcing with incense, placing incense, or invoking over incense.

Nevertheless, the term “offering incense” is the one most commonly used on such occasions as the opening of the Dharma hall, prayers for the emperor’s longevity, Dharma assemblies, and so forth. Moreover, when a monastic assumes an office and must burn incense before his teacher to report that he has become a Dharma heir, this is called “incense of faith.” When the teacher burns incense in return for the incense presented by the disciple, it is called “returning incense” or “reciprocating incense.” When one burns incense on another’s behalf to pay reverence to someone, it is called “proxy incense.” Distributing incense to the assembly during a meal, or burning incense before the venerable elders while making the rounds of the hall,

is called “giving incense” (here “giving” means bestowing).

Burning incense while paying respects at a monastery is called “presenting incense.” A container for incense is called an incense caddy, incense case,

incense box, or incense chest. A vessel in which incense is burned is called an incense burner, fumigation burner, or fire burner. An incense burner with two handles is called a handled incense burner or hand censer. Incense is also used as a metaphor for the Buddha’s virtues, as in the incense of morality, the incense of samadhi, the incense of wisdom, the incense of liberation, and the incense of the knowledge and vision of liberation.

Recollection (念) (S. 365): Refers to remembering and mindfulness.

Years and Rains-Retreat Seniority (年臘) (S. 81): “Years” means one’s age, while “rains-retreat seniority” means the number of years since ordination. Thus, the term means one’s age and ordination seniority.

New Year’s Morning (年朝): The first day of the year.

Nirvana Platform (湼槃臺): A platform made of firewood upon which the coffin of the deceased is placed for cremation.

Gate of Nirvana (涅槃門) (S. 331): The gateway into the realm of nirvana. Buddhist scriptures call the realm of nirvana the dwelling place of noble ones.

Warm Curtain (暖簾): A curtain whose surface is covered with cotton or cloth to keep out drafts is called a warm curtain.

O

Hollowed Goblet (漥樽): A type of cup used for drinking water or wine.

P

Brahma-danda (梵檀; Skt, P: brahma-danda): Translated by meaning as silent expulsion, a disciplinary procedure, Brahma’s disciplinary procedure, or discipline for insubordination. It is a disciplinary measure imposed upon a bhiksu or bhiksuni who has violated the precepts: other monastics are forbidden to converse with the offender. It is one of the nine disciplinary measures and one of the six forms of expulsion applied to persons guilty of minor offenses. Properly, the term should be written 梵壇. It means silent expulsion and indicates that, for a minor offense, the offender is merely prohibited from being spoken to by others.

Brahma Heaven (梵天; Skt: Brahma): Transliterated as Po-lo-ho-ma and translated by meaning as purity or freedom from desire. Originally a great deity created by Brahmanism and Hinduism, Brahma was later adopted into Buddhist mythology. The term King Brahma, however, generally refers to the Great Brahma King, named Sikhin or Lord of the World, who originally had five heads and four arms.

Committing a Grave Offense (犯重) (S. 63): To commit a grave offense against the precepts. The precepts of the Lesser Vehicle contain four kinds of grave offenses, while the Mahayana precepts contain ten.

Aspiring Admiration (攀慕): Literally, phan means that one of low stature reaches upward toward what is high, while mo means to admire and revere. This is a humble expression, meaning that one of lowly status, unworthy of aspiring to the Buddha, nevertheless ventures to do so.

Dharma Sound (法音): The Buddha’s wondrous words of Dharma are called the Dharma sound.

Dharma Nephew (法姪): A nephew in the Dharma. Buddhism adopted the secular lineage system: those who study under the same teacher are called elder and younger Dharma brothers, while the disciples of one’s Dharma brothers are called Dharma nephews.

Dharma Hall (法堂): The hall in a monastery where the Great Dharma is expounded. It is situated behind the Mahavira Treasure Hall and before the abbot’s quarters. It corresponds to a lecture hall and implicitly symbolizes the Chan school’s tenet of a special transmission outside the teachings.

Dharma Instruction (法教) (S. 330): Instruction given in accordance with the Dharma teachings.

Dharma-dhatu (法界; Skt: dharma-dhatu; P: dhamma-dhatu): Transliterated as Dharma-dhatu. It refers to all things that serve as objects apprehended by consciousness. In an extended sense, it denotes all conditioned and unconditioned dharmas—that is, all phenomena (être).

Lotus Sutra (法華經) (S. 367): The full title is the Sutra of the Lotus Flower of the Wondrous Dharma. Its principal doctrine explains that the Three Vehicles are merely expedient means, while the One Vehicle alone is true; ultimately, all return to the Pure Land. It proclaims the spirit of engaging with the world in order to liberate beings and is one of the foundational scriptures of the Tiantai school. The Universal Gate chapter of the Lotus Sutra primarily extols the universal manifestations of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and is central to the distinctive devotion that venerates the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara.

Dharma Words (法語): The proclamation of the true Dharma. Originally, the term referred only to the teachings of the Blessed One. Later, the Chan school used it for the pivotal sayings through which the patriarchs instructed practitioners during ceremonies, chiefly the ascending-the-hall and opening-the-hall ceremonies.

Dharma Kin (法眷) (S. 80): Those who practice and study together in a Chan monastery are regarded as kin within the Buddhadharma and are therefore called Dharma kin.

Dharma Seat (法座): The seat upon which the Buddha sits when teaching the Dharma. The elevated seat upon which Chan masters sit while giving Dharma teachings is likewise called a Dharma seat, or a Mount Sumeru seat. The term was later broadened to become synonymous with Dharma assembly and Dharma gathering.

Dharma Banner (法幢) (S. 284): Because the sublime Dharma is lofty like a banner fluttering high above, it is called the Dharma banner.

Fayun (法雲) (S. 365): A Chan monk of the late Jin dynasty, from Linhai, Zhejiang, whose family name was Liu. He initially entered monastic life at Hongtong, Shanxi, studied under Master Guanghua, and investigated Chan teachings at Shaoshan. Later, he served as abbot of the Chongsheng Guanyin Cloister in Nanyang and built Bao’en Monastery at Lingshan.

Dharma Flavor (法味) (S. 366): When the mind attains peace and joy through a thorough understanding of the Buddha’s wondrous teachings, the savor of this wondrous Dharma is called the Dharma flavor. Dharma King (法王): King of the Dharma. Originally, this was an honorific title for the Blessed One as sovereign of the Dharma. During the Yuan dynasty, however, because the Imperial Preceptor governed Buddhism throughout the empire, the term was also used to refer to the Imperial Preceptor.