A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
With the current wording, Step B of the Action Sequence makes no mention of an action requiring gold before one can bow a gold producing holding. This means that no matter the action one could bow a holding and add gold to the pool. Is this intentional?
Under the current wording it appears that you can announce the action on an unbowed Contemplative Shrine, bow it to add 3g to the pool during the Pay Costs step and then discard a card to straighten the holding, keeping the 3g. Is this correct?
With the current wording, Step B of the Action Sequence makes no mention of an action requiring gold before one can bow a gold producing holding. This means that no matter the action one could bow a holding and add gold to the pool. Is this intentional?
Under the current wording it appears that you can announce the action on an unbowed Contemplative Shrine, bow it to add 3g to the pool during the Pay Costs step and then discard a card to straighten the holding, keeping the 3g. Is this correct?
That is correct. You may bow holdings to produce gold during the Pay Costs step of any action, not just actions with a gold cost.
You may not, however, pay gold - neither from that newly produced gold, nor from your pool - on an action without a gold cost, nor pay more gold than the cost of the action.