法苑珠林 64.79

64.79

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).