釋氏要覽 3.334

3.334

唐高僧傳云。京大莊嚴寺釋智興次當打鐘。寺僧有兄隨煬帝駕幸楊州。在道死。一夕託夢與妻子曰。吾達彭城病亡。以今月初。蒙禪定寺僧智興打鐘聲振。地府受苦者皆解脫。吾亦預此。汝可將絹十疋奉興。陳吾意也。其妻依言送之。興不受乃均施。寺主恭禪師問。其何法而有此驗。（興答）吾見付法傳。罽賓吒王受苦。聞鐘業輪息。乃依增一阿含鳴鐘法故（今詳此文。凡為人聲鐘。此為拔苦。必須依法處心扣之）。

The Tang Biographies of Eminent Monks states: "At the Great Zhuangyan Monastery in the capital, it was the turn of the monk Zhixing to strike the bell. A monk of the monastery had an elder brother who accompanied Emperor Yang's imperial cortege to Yangzhou and died on the road. One night he appeared in a dream to his wife and children, saying: 'I reached Pengcheng, fell ill, and died. At the beginning of this month, thanks to the monk Zhixing of Zhanding Monastery striking the bell, whose sound reverberated, those suffering torment in the netherworld were all liberated, and I too shared in this. You may take ten bolts of silk to present to Zhixing and convey my sentiments.' His wife sent them as told. Zhixing did not accept them, but distributed them in equal charity. The monastery prior, Chan Master Gong, asked him: 'By what method did you achieve such verification?' (Zhixing replied:) 'I saw in the Fu fazang zhuan that when King Kanika (Kaniṣka?) of Kaśmīra suffered torment, upon hearing the bell the wheel of karma ceased. I therefore followed the bell-ringing method of the Ekottarika-āgama.' (Examining this passage now: whenever one sounds the bell on behalf of people to eradicate suffering, one must strike it strictly according to the Dharma and with focused intention.)"