法苑珠林 32.92

32.92

Shi Zhixing of the Dazhuangyan Temple in the capital under the Tang was secularly surnamed Song, a native of Mingzhou. Humble and restrained, he brought his tasks to completion, and his conduct was resolute and bright. Relying on Vinaya Master Shou, he chanted the sūtras and upheld the vinaya, mourning in his heart and mouth without ceasing day and night. In the second month of winter in the fifth year of the Daye reign (609 CE), it was his turn to serve as the karmadāna (weina). He struck the bell according to the proper times, and the monastic assembly was undisturbed. There was a monk in the same temple named Sanguo, who had an elder brother. The brother had accompanied Emperor Yang on his southern progress to Jiangdu and died on the way. At first there was no report of his death. He communicated in a dream to his wife, saying: "When my journey reached Pengcheng, I unfortunately died of illness. Because I did not uphold the fasts and precepts, I have now fallen into hell, fully experiencing the five sufferings, whose bitterness cannot be described. Who knew my suffering? Fortunately, on the first day of this month, through the monk Zhixing of Zhuangyan Temple striking the bell, its reverberation shook hell, and all those suffering together were liberated simultaneously. Now reborn in a place of joy, I think to repay his kindness. You should prepare ten bolts of silk and offer them to him early, also conveying my sentiment and sending polite regards with earnest sincerity." She awoke from sleep with a start, wondering at the cause of the dream. When she spoke of it with others, initially no one believed it. Soon she had the dream again, and various shamans and spirit-mediums all gave the same account as before. Ten days later, the report of his death suddenly arrived, matching the dream precisely. Sanguo then presented the silk to him, but Zhixing declared that he had no merit himself and distributed it all to the great assembly. The temple abbot, Chan Master Gong, and the venerable elders of the whole temple all asked Zhixing: "By what cause did the striking of the bell induce such a sympathetic resonance?" Zhixing said: "I have no other special technique. I saw in the *Fu fazang zhuan* that King Kaniṣka suffered torment, which was stopped by the striking of a bell, as well as the verse on striking the bell in the *Ekottarika-āgama*. In reverent compliance with this precedent, I exert my efforts to practice it. In the severe winter, when ascending the tower, the wind cuts through flesh and skin. The monks are given lambskin sleeves to hold the bell mallet, but I urge my own mind and strike the mallet with bare hands; though my palms are injured and torn, I do not consider it bitter. Furthermore, at the start of striking the bell, I first generate a good vow: 'May all the worthy and holy ones together enter the bodhimanda and together receive the Dharma-food.' After that, I strike three times. When about to strike the long roll, as before I pay reverence: 'May all beings in the evil destinies who hear this bell sound simultaneously leave suffering behind and swiftly attain liberation.' Since I constantly revere and cultivate such vows and practices, could it be anything other than thoroughgoing sincerity being able to resonate afar?" The assembly admired his words and increasingly verified that they were not erroneous. In the third month of the sixth year of the Zhenguan reign (632 CE), he contracted a brief illness and knew of his next life. Giving up his attachments to his bodily provisions, he summoned his teachers and friends, and took leave over a meal. Soon after, he passed away at Zhuangyan Temple, at the age of forty-five. (These two verifications are from the Tang *Gaoseng zhuan*.)