勅修百丈清規 8.40

8.40

The Suvarṇaprabhāsa Sūtra says: 'Bodhisattva Ruciraketu at night dreamed of a golden drum, its shape grand and large, its brightness universally shining, like the light of the sun. In the light he was able to see the Buddhas of the ten directions beneath various jeweled trees seated on lapis lazuli thrones, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of retinues as they expounded the Dharma. There was a person resembling a brāhmaṇa, who struck the drum with a mallet, producing a great sound. The sound expounded verses of confession. When Bodhisattva Ruciraketu awakened from the dream, he went to where the Buddha was, and with the golden drum and verses of confession seen in his dream, he related them to the Tathāgata.' Also, the Śūraṅgama Sūtra says: 'Ānanda, listen further: in this Jeta Grove, when the meal is ready the drum is struck, and when the assembly gathers the bell is struck. The sounds of the bell and drum succeed one another. What do you think? Do these sounds come to the ear, or does the ear go to the place of the sound?'