法苑珠林 64.79

64.79

唐范陽盧元禮。貞觀末為泗州漣水縣尉。曾因重病悶絕。經一日而蘇。云有人引至府舍。見一官人過無侍衛。元禮遂至此官人座上。據床而坐。官人目侍者。令一手提頭一手捉脚。擲元禮於階下。良久乃起。行至一別院。更進向南入一大堂中。見竈數十百口。其竈上有氣。矗然如雲霧直上。沸聲喧雜有同數千萬人。元禮仰視。見似籠盛人懸之此氣之上。云是蒸罪人處。元禮遂發願大語云。代一切眾生受罪。遂解衣赤體自投於釜中。因即昏然不覺有痛。須臾有一沙門。挽元禮出云。知汝至心乃送其歸。忽如睡覺。遂斷酒肉。經三四歲後卒於洛（右此出冥報拾遺）。

Lu Yuanli of Fanyang under the Tang served as the County Defender of Lianshui in Sizhou in the late Zhenguan era. Once, due to a severe illness, he fell into a faint; after a day he revived, saying that someone had led him to an official mansion. He saw an official passing by without any attendants. Yuanli then went to this official's seat and sat down upon the couch. The official signaled his attendants with his eyes, ordering them to seize his head with one hand and grasp his feet with the other, throwing Yuanli down below the steps. Only after a long while did he get up. He walked to another courtyard, and proceeding further south, entered a great hall. There he saw tens to a hundred cauldrons. Above the cauldrons was a vapor, towering straight up like clouds and mist. The boiling sound was loud and confused, like that of tens of millions of people. Yuanli looked up and saw what looked like cages holding people suspended above this vapor; he was told this was the place where sinners were steamed. Yuanli then made a vow and spoke in a loud voice: 'I will suffer punishment on behalf of all sentient beings!' Thereupon he stripped off his clothes, exposed his body, and threw himself into the cauldron. He immediately fell unconscious and felt no pain. In a moment, there was a śramaṇa who pulled Yuanli out, saying: 'Knowing your sincere mind, I shall send you back.' Suddenly, he felt as if waking from sleep. Thereupon he abstained from wine and meat. Three or four years later, he passed away in Luoyang (the above is taken from the Mingbao shiyi).