[
    {
        "id": 204422,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1962",
        "page_number": 54,
        "title": "RAS-1962",
        "content_text": "# THE BUDDHIST CAREER\n\n45\n\nAt the top of the hierarchy was the abbot, fang-chang 方丈. He was chosen in such a variety of ways that I shall only mention two. The first was called selecting the worthy, hsüan-hsien 選賢. It meant that at the end of the old abbot's three-year term (there was a limit of three terms) the head monks of the monastery and the elders of the neighbouring monasteries would consult with one another to decide who would make a worthy successor. It was not easy because someone had to be found who was qualified both as an administrator and as a teacher, and the trouble was that, even when found, he might be unwilling to serve. Very few monks wanted the responsibility of running a big monastery. What they wanted was hsiu-hsing, to practise religious exercises. So if they heard that they were about to be named abbot, they would silently depart by night. As a last resort those charged with finding a new abbot might get half a dozen candidates to draw lots in front of Buddha's image. This way Buddha himself made the selection and there was no escape for the reluctant.\n\n3\n\nA simpler and far more widespread method than the \"selection of the worthy\" was for the abbot himself to decide which of his disciples should succeed him and then to train him for his future responsibilities. In some famous monasteries this would always be one of his dharma disciples fa-t'u 法徒, not a \"tonsure disciple, t'i-tu ti-tzu 剃度弟子\" and, of course, not a Refuges disciple, kuei-i ti-tzu 歸依弟子. A dharma disciple was a younger monk to whom, in theory, the master had handed on his understanding of the dharma in a direct “imprinting of mind on mind, hsin hsin hsiang yin 心心相印.” In testimony thereof the master gave him a dharma certificate fa-chüan 法券 which stated that he, the master of such-and-such a generation, had received the dharma from so-and-so of the previous generation, who received it from so-and-so of the generation before, all the way back through forty or fifty generations to patriarchs like Nagarjuna or Bodhidharma, the founders of the T'ien-t'ai and Zen sects. The dharma certificate was the highest document conferred in the monastic career. It established formally that a monk belonged to a given sect, though there was nothing to prevent him from...\n\n* i.e., not a monk whose head he had shaved and whom he had trained before ordination,",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 214605,
        "series_id": 26,
        "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine",
        "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊",
        "series_use_hku_proxy": false,
        "document_key": "RAS-1999",
        "page_number": 20,
        "title": "RAS-1999",
        "content_text": "As a democratic society we have this year again asked members to nominate other members to serve on the Council. No nominations have been received. Consequently, all serving members offer themselves for re-election.\n\nNone of our Councillors have unlimited time and the work they put in for the RASHKB, for most of them has to be done after a full day's work. Nevertheless, the amount of work some Councillors do for the Branch is considerable. A big 'thank you' to all members of Council for their efforts over the past year. It would be impossible to run the RASHKB without them.\n\nAcknowledgements\n\nI have already thanked Council and committee members for their significant contributions during the year 1999/2000. I have also thanked speakers, leaders of groups and institutions who have assisted us. I must also thank anyone who has helped with the undertaking of projects. Again I must not forget Mrs Sarah Parnell our energetic Assistant Secretary. It is always difficult to remember everyone one should thank on an occasion like this but if I have overlooked anyone then I crave your forgiveness.\n\nConclusions\n\nIt should be mentioned in concluding that our members are generally pleasant, affable people. They do not complain when the odd thing does not run as smoothly as it should. This we all know, with the best will in the world and no matter how well a function has been organised, is inevitable on the odd occasion. But when there are problems, we would do well to remember that, especially for the more elderly among us, adrenaline is a wonderful cure for Alzheimer's. We should also ponder the words of Dharma Master Cheng Yen, a Zen Buddhist, who is supposed to have said:\n\nIt is through our troubles that we achieve wisdom. Only this kind of trouble is meaningful.\n\nxix",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1999.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/s178b887x",
        "rank": 0
    }
]