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HOLMES WELCH
element of the many-sided popular religion. I shall be talking about the small percentage who were consciously Buddhist.
The first stage of the Buddhist career was that of a lay devotee, the chü-shih ±. He was someone who was interested in Buddhism, studied it, and perhaps joined a devotees' club, that is, a chu-shih lin ½±✯. There were many such clubs in China, particularly in the large cities. He might attend lectures there once a week, at which an eminent monk would come to talk about the sutras. He might learn from the monk to chant the basic liturgy and to handle the liturgical instruments, the gong, clapper, and so on. He might even learn to expound the sutras himself, although an ordained monk was always supposed to be present to attest to what he said.
The second stage of the Buddhist career was taking the Refuges, kuei-i. The layman went to a monk and repeated the formula: "I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha (i.e., the congregation of monks); and I acknowledge herewith that such and such a monk is my master." Afterwards he would get a certificate of this master-disciple relationship. One could take the Refuges over and over again, that is, one could have several masters.
11
The third stage was to take the Five Vows, shou wu-chieh 1. This was normally done only once, perhaps at a small temple, but more probably at a big monastery in conjunction with an ordination of monks. Sometimes laymen would participate in the very first part of the ordination ceremony, which included the Five Vows, and then they would watch the ordinands go through the rest of it. Taking the Five Vows meant that a Buddhist was probably quite serious about his religion. Specifically it only committed him not to kill, not to steal, not to lie, not to drink wine, and not to indulge in illicit sexual intercourse. But many a layman who had taken the vows would recite a sutra every morning before breakfast in his household shrine, perhaps the Heart Sutra. On the first and fifteenth of the lunar month he would probably abstain from eating meat and he would also fast during the whole of the sixth month. But he was still a layman and likely to remain one.
The fourth step was to enter the novitiate. This was termed "leaving home" ch'u chia. It solemnized the layman's
38
HOLMES WELCH
element of the many-sided popular religion. I shall be talking about the small percentage who were consciously Buddhist.
The first stage of the Buddhist career was that of a lay devotee, the chü-shih ±. He was someone who was interested in Buddhism, studied it, and perhaps joined a devotees' club, that is, a chu-shih lin 1⁄2±✯. There were many such clubs in China, particularly in the large cities. He might attend lectures there once a week, at which an eminent monk would come to talk about the sutras. He might learn from the monk to chant the basic liturgy and to handle the liturgical instruments, the gong, clapper, and so on. He might even learn to expound the sutras himself, although an ordained monk was always supposed to be present to attest to what he said.
The second stage of the Buddhist career was taking the Refuges, kuei-i. The layman went to a monk and repeated the formula: "I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the dharma, I take refuge in the Sangha (i.e., the congregation of monks); and I acknowledge herewith that such and such a monk is my master. Afterwards he would get a certificate of this master-disciple relationship. One could take the Refuges over and over again, that is, one could have several masters.
11
The third stage was to take the Five Vows, shou wu-chieh 1. This was normally done only once, perhaps at a small temple, but more probably at a big monastery in conjunction with an ordination of monks. Sometimes laymen would participate in the very first part of the ordination ceremony, which included the Five Vows, and then they would watch the ordinands go through the rest of it. Taking the Five Vows meant that a Buddhist was probably quite serious about his religion. Specifically it only committed him not to kill, not to steal, not to lie, not to drink wine, and not to indulge in illicit sexual intercourse. But many a layman who had taken the vows would recite a sutra every morning before breakfast in his household shrine, perhaps the Heart Sutra. On the first and fifteenth of the lunar month he would probably abstain from eating meat and he would also fast during the whole of the sixth month. But he was still a layman and likely to remain one.
The fourth step was to enter the novitiate. This was termed "leaving home" ch'u chia. It solemnized the layman's
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