勅修百丈清規 8.37

8.37

mobilization of all members for a task of labor. The drum signal for night

watches is three equal beats in the early evening, the number increasing

according to the number of the hour. Timekeeping is the responsibility of

the administrative official. The drum signal for bathing is communicated by

four different rounds, reflecting the different groups of bathers, and each

round gradually culminates in accordance with the number of practitioners

who have already bathed. The bath hall official is in charge of this matter.

(For details, see chapter VI, part II, section 6.) The foregoing methods of

drumming must be maintained consistently regarding the forms and occa-

sions. One should never let these [viable] methods of communication lapse.

At the time when a new abbot inaugurates his appointment at the temple, all

the instruments should be played together.

It is said in the Sutra of Golden Splendor that Bodhisattva Ruciraketu

(Xinxiangpusa) dreamed of a golden drum during the night. Its form was ele-

gant and great, and it emitted brightness in all directions like the sun. Within

this illumination, he saw all the Buddhas of the ten directions, on seats of

lapis lazuli under a tree bearing numerous jewels, surrounded by hundreds of

thousands of disciples listening to their preaching. A man who looked like a

brahman struck the drum with a piece of aspen wood and uttered in a loud

voice some verses that conveyed the meaning of repentance. When Bodhi-

sattva Ruciraketu awakened from the dream, he went to the Tathāgata and

told of the golden drum and the verses of repentance of which he had dreamed.

Also, in the Śūraṃgama-sūtra, the Buddha is said to have asked Ānanda,

“Ānanda, moreover, do you hear in this Jetavana Monastery the sound of the

drum that conveys the time of meals, and the sound of the bells that call the

monks to assemble? As the drums and bells resound from one preceding

moment to another subsequent moment in continuity, what do you understand [with these sounds]? Do the sounds come to your ears, or do your ears go to the origin of the sounds?”

End of Chapter IX: The Monastic Sound Instruments