The Merit of the Bell
廟裡的鐘，除了放在大雄寶殿東側鐘樓，還常在殿堂之中，可以見到鐘。撞鐘的作用和擊鼓一樣，可以用來報時。
晨鐘暮鼓，除了報時之外，撞鐘還有警醒之意，提醒世人斷除煩惱、增長正念。
佛教儀式，僧、尼臨終之時，常有打鐘鳴磬的做法。《俱舍論》說：為臨終令生，善念中死，打鐘嗚磬，引生善心故。」
佛祖統記也說，又戒維那曰：「人命將終，聞鐘磬聲，增其正念，惟長惟久，氣盡為期。」
每逢農曆新年，姑蘇寒山寺，夜半鐘聲為108次，據說新年開始聽了108次鐘聲後，可以斷除人間108種煩惱。
打鐘的聲響，還有解脫地獄苦難的作用。古代，誌公借梁武帝道眼，種種苦惱。
梁武帝問：「何以止之？」
誌公回答：「唯聞鐘磬，其苦暫息。」
於是梁武帝詔天下寺院，設鐘擊鼓。
從唐高僧傳中，也可看到這樣的描述：有一亡者托夢給其妻曰：不幸病死，生於地獄，幸蒙禪定寺僧智興鳴鐘，震醒地獄，同受苦者，一時解脫。」
大眾：福田心耕，今法輪禪寺即將鑄一「大悲神咒」之鐘，福田難遇逢，有此一勝緣會，誠摯邀請諸位大眾們，發心護持，讓此「大悲神咒」之大鐘，能順利完成，普利人天，功德無量。
資料來源：心靈甘露(三)，隆門圓通法師著。英文翻譯：張惠平。
The Merit of the Bell
The bell in a temple can be put either in the eastern side of the main hall or in the hall. Hitting the bell and beating the drum have the same function—telling the time. Besides, the sound of the bell also alerts people to sever afflictions and increase right thoughts.
It is a Buddhist ritual to hit the bell or strike the chime stone when a monk or nun passes away. Abhidharma-kośa-bhāṣya/śāstra states that one’s good thoughts may cease after passing away, so the bell is hit and the chime stone is struck to guide him to give rise to a kind heart.
In the Biography of the Buddha, Karma-dāna Yo Jieh says, ”If a person who is about to die hears the sound of the bell and the chime stone, his right thoughts will increase and will last for a long time until he breathes his last breath.”
Every lunar New Year’s Day, at the Han Shan Temple of Gu Su, the bell is hit 108 times at midnight. It is said that when you hear the sound of the bell 108 times at the beginning of a year, the 108 kinds of afflictions of yours will be removed.
The sound of the bell also can liberate the sufferings in the Hell. In ancient times, Ji Gong lent his penetrating eyes to Emperor Liang so that the emperor could see all kinds of sufferings in the Hell. Emperor Liang asked, “How do we stop all these?” Ji Gong replied, “Only the sound of the bell can cease the sufferings temporarily.” Hence, Emperor Liang ordered that bells and drums be installed in all temples.
The Biography of Outstanding Monks in the Tang Dynasty also has a similar description: A deceased man told his wife in her sleep, “I died of illness and went to the Hell. But fortunately Monk Ji Hsing of the Zen Ding Temple hit the bell that shook the Hell and liberated all that suffered together here.”
Everyone: the field of blessings should be cultivated from the mind. Now the Dharma Wheel Monastery is going to cast a bell of Great Compassion Mysterious Mantra. This is a magnificent opportunity for us to cultivate blessings, and let us form an aspiration to support this and make it possible to benefit humans and heavenly beings and to attain boundless merits.
Source: Sweet Dew for the Soul (Vol. III), Written by Master Shih Longmen Yuantong. Translated by Huei Ping Chang.