CHAPTER 15VISIT TO THE THIRD GATE MEETING WITH THE KING OF THE PALACE Buddha
Tse Kong who manifested on October 9th, 1976. Leap year of the Dragon
(1976)
YT:
I’m coming, Master. Shall we go? TK:
We have arrived. Get down. YT:
Ahead, I see a placard hung up high in front of a storeyed house
just like an advertizing board before a store. On the board, I see a red
bulletin. Many people, civilians and servicemen are reading it. Let’s
go and see what it is about. TK:
I know what it is about. Go and see if you want to. YT:
Why were those people frightened at my approach and they seemed
to move away? TK:
Because they knew you were a profane man coming from the living
world and you brought with you the Celestial Edict. They moved away for
fear of jostling you. What did you read on that red bulletin? YT:
It was an order of God that read as follows: “By proxy of the
Celestial Emperor, the Pontiff of the Kingdom of Darkness prescribes the
following: This day, I, Celestial Emperor, from My Kingdom in the
Ethereal Heights, administrator of 3000 worlds, exercise my power of
life and death over the nine regions of darkness and the six ways of
transmigration. I recall the time when original souls began to incarnate
on the earth. In prehistoric times, man was so simple and ingenious,
endowed with a mild and sincere nature. He lived and returned to the
heavens after his death. Hell, in those times, was nonexistent. During
the middle Ages, man became more cruel, his celestial heart was day by
day soiled by the impurities of the earth. Natural law was upset,
unsound amusements multiplied and thence hell was created. With the
exception of the people who know to preserve humanity, fidelity,
civility, rationality and loyalty, the rest of the people are wallowing
in the six ways of existence, namely, the world of deities, world of
human beings, world of combatant devils, world of hungry devils, world
of hell, and world of brute. Now we are in a phase where human beings
are extremely depraved. Their hearts are obsessed by passions. They
commit many atrocities. Villainy, guile and lust increase. The natural
original essence of their souls gifted by heaven and earth has
degenerated, and they attract to themselves disasters and unending woe.
I, Supreme God, am merciful. I can’t look helplessly at the human race
sinking in perdition. I have had an authentic religious way disseminated
in an effort to minimize catastrophes, and to salvage the honest men.
The Temple of the Sages in Tai Chu, dependent on the administration of
the Heavenly Southern Sector, received my order to propagate the
religious faith, on one hand, by inheriting and perpetuating the
morality of Confucius-Mencius, on the other hand, by embracing orthodox
Buddhism for the sake of redressing virtues and religious culture for
the salvation of human beings. So far, this temple has acquired
magnificent results. My goal is to help human beings recognize the
realities in hell, so I ordered the Temple of the Sages to edit a rare
book entitled “Voyages to Hell”. To enable it to accomplish this
divine mission, I commanded the living Buddha Tse Kong to lead
saintscribe Yang Ts’ien’s soul to hell, visiting its ten palaces,
and depicting the horrors he will have seen and heard. While traveling
to hell for his discovery of truth, Yang Ts’ien will also contribute
to the elimination of men’s superstition. During all the time they are
dedicated to their divine task, the living Buddha Tse Kong and Yang
Ts’ien must be warmly welcomed by the civilian and military officials
of the ten gates, and provided every type of necessary information for
the preparation of the precious book. This edict must be obeyed to the
letter by every division of hell. Any infringement upon it is subject to
severe punishment. This day, I give my order. The 15th of August, year
of the Dragon. YT:
It is thus an order of the Celestial Emperor to the gates of
hell. TK:
Nothing truer. For a book of the caliber of “Voyages to
Hell”, a single order of God to the living world is inadequate. Hell,
too, must be aware of it. Let’s hurry to meet the King of Third
Palace. YT:
Is the Third Palace far from here? On the road, I see only sinful
souls and guards coming and going. No gate in sight. TK:
Not very far. To save time, come quickly on the dais. YT:
I am up, Master. Let’s be going. TK:
Here we are. Get down, son. The Third Palace is right there. Go
present your greetings to the King of the Palace and his retinue of
civilian and military dignitaries. YT:
My respects to His Majesty and to the dignitaries of the Third
Palace. We have come here in search of information for our book and hope
to be honored with your assistance. The
King:
Be on your feet, Mr. Yang Ts’ien. Please, don’t act
ceremonial. I have often heard of your Temple, which is wholly devoted
to the propagation of holy laws. It has converted
a large number of bad elements, and guided many honest people in the
religious way. My admiration for your temple has always been great.
Well, gentlemen, if you care to come in for a little rest and some talk. YT:
I am really touched by your compliments, Sir. From the time our
temple came into existence, all disciples have combined their efforts,
representing God in the role of educators and have done their best to
accomplish this divine mission. We are still far from deserving
compliments. TK:
Don’t be so ceremonious, Yang Ts’ien. Let’s come in for
some rest. The
King:
Won’t you take a seat? These tables and chairs of wood are
certainly not comparable to the soft easy chairs in the terrestrial
world. Serve some tea, General. YT:
I am really thankful, sir. This room is furnished with antique
pieces of furniture. They look very simple. On the walls are hung
pictures drawn in Chinese ink. I see many religious books, too. The
King:
Right. In their moments of leisure, the dignitaries of my palace
used to come here for day-long discussions. They were virtuous,
regenerated personalities in their life who were designated to serve in
hell. They are free to do what they want. To come down to hell does not
necessarily mean to be forced to suffer pain and misfortune. Hell is
similar to a jail on earth. The transgressors are the only ones to
undergo punishment. The personnel under my power are identical to those
of the living world. They work as freely as possible. The man whose
heart was not wicked and who performed charitable deeds in his life has
his soul welcomed in hell with all the honors that are due to him. I
suggest living men are aware of that. If they ventured to do dishonest
acts that deviated from religious laws, they would be chained by the
demons, mercilessly flogged by the guards, and forced to carry pillories
on their heads. TK:
We don’t have much time left, Yang Ts’ien. We should think of
going home. I am grateful, Sir, for your instructions, and we hope to
have the honor of seeing you again. The
King:
The pleasure is mine. TK:
Now, let’s return to the Temple. YT:
We are constantly in haste. We can’t do much with fragments of
time, Master. |
CONTENTS |
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