CHAPTER 44VISIT TO THE EVISCERATING PRISON Buddha
Tse Kong who manifested on November 29th, 1977. Year of the Snake
Buddha
Tse Kong: Taking a trip to hell by one’s soul is neither a
mythical nor a legendary tale. From early ages until the present,
several dead and buried men have resurrected to life. They assuredly
acted as witnesses for what they had seen and heard in hell and could
relate the facts with ease and accuracy. Their testimonials were
conformable to the scriptures in canonical books. However, the reading
of their accounts always left many human beings skeptical, saying that
they did not see the facts with their own eyes. They referred to all
such things as hallucinations. How could we impose veracity on those
incredulous people? All we can say is this: we can’t see the inner
organs of our bodies, but they are always there, and they function
constantly. If one day, we fall sick and something inside of us
disfunctions, how painful it will be. Then, we may need x-ray
examination and a surgical operation to get well. If we can’t see our
viscera, should we say they don’t exist? Normally, hell is invisible
to human eyes, but it does exist. There are some individuals who can
experience hell during their lifetime. Others only perceive it during
the moment of agony. I say all this, to show that many things are
imperceptible, but they exist around us and within us. The air, the
breath, the thoughts, the feelings that preserve our lives, are far
from perceptible to our sight. We know them only through sensations. In
fact, it is these very abstract substances that constitute the basic
elements of maintaining our life. If we are deprived of air, we cease
breathing, thinking and feeling and in a few moments we leave this
world. Is it necessary to argue on whether they are palpable or
mysterious? If humans find a new chemical substance, an ore, or a
formula today, and are proud of their discoveries, the fact doesn’t
prove that these things were only born yesterday. No, they have existed
for millenniums and only now are they disclosed by men. Yang
Ts’ien:
You are perfectly right, Master. It is regrettable that most
humans refuse to understand this state of things. They are comparable to
a blind man denying the existence of what he can’t see. Men are being
surrounded in a world of forms and colors, and they propose to walk a
thousand leagues with a mere stick in hand. It is proven that our
physical eyes are blinded by thousands of obstacles, and only the 3rd
eye of clairvoyance can enable us to see through all things.
Unfortunately, our third eye is closed and we are like a blind man who
succumb to crazy passions which lead us to successive unhappy cycle of
reincarnations. TK:
Well said, son. Men are warned of the consequences of their
violation of the law, just as they are aware of the well in front of
them, but they don’t bother to open their eyes and prevent their fall.
A blind man is even wiser than them, because with a stick, he can grope
his way. Once fallen into the whirlpool of hell, no one can expect to
get out early, not after infinite score of reincarnations. Your clothes
are dirty and wet. It’s not decent to present yourself in front of the
King of the Palace. YT:
That’s the dirt from the medium’s table which soils my
clothes. Please, excuse me, Master. TK:
It’s all right for this time. I guess you know what a profane
man should do when presenting himself to the palace. He should wear neat
and clean clothes in order to be well-treated. Well, come up anyway. YT:
I am up, Sir. Shall we go? TK:
Here we are. Get down, Yang Ts’ien, and go salute the Mandarin. YT:
At your request, Master. My respects to His Excellency the
Governor and to the Generals. The
Mandarin: Welcome,
Honorable Buddha Tse Kong and Mr. Yang Ts’ien. We received Mr. Yang
Ts’ien’s letter asking for the admittance to visit hell. This is of
great merit. You are invited to come inside for observation. YT:
We thank you for your warm welcome, Excellency. The infernal
guards are escorting the sinners at the entrance of the prison. Already,
I hear howlings. TK:
Let’s hurry to follow them in. YT:
Well, I am now viewing the spectacle of the prisoners. Their
bodies streaming with blood, the souls are attached firmly to stakes.
The guards and demons are ripping open their bellies with cutlasses and
extracting their bowels and stomachs. A pack of black dogs, nearby, are
wrangling and devouring their prey. Since the sinners’ bowels and
stomaches are still joined with their hearts, the jerky tearings of the
dogs cause them inexpressible suffering, and they fall unconscious. The
spectacle is abhorrent. Please, Excellence, what sins did they commit to
suffer that way? The
Mandarin: When
in life, these souls were mandarins accepting bribes, rotten government
employees, or people with beast-like hearts. If you want to know better,
I shall have some souls come for your interrogation. YT:
I would appreciate it, Excellency. I need to get accurate
testimonials so I can make the living people believe. The
Mandarin: Give the
reasons that brings you here. The
soul: I was a high
official. I took advantage of my high position to confiscate the
properties and estates of other people. I didn’t hesitate to resort to
the most vulgar means to appropriate other people’s possessions. I
didn’t expect that after my death, I would be led to the Mirror
Revelator of Past Crimes which unmasked my true self. I was
thunderstruck when watching all my misdeeds appeared in the magic
mirror: greed, extortion of property and money. I had to pass through
the judgment of several palaces before I was transferred to the 7th
Palace, where the King of the “High Mountain” condemned me to the
disemboweling torment. Everyday my bowels and stomach are torn out and
tossed to the black dogs. My suffering is unimaginable. The
Mandarin: While
occupying a position as high as yours, your duty is to care for the
citizens, their interests and their welfare. Yet, you failed to fulfill
that duty. Reversely, you tried to seize as much property as you could.
Your stomach is full of filth. I advise the mandarins and officials to
accomplish their duty towards the people and remain faithful to their
country. They will acquire great merit. If their personal interest gets
the best of them, they will be condemned to hell. YT:
Now, elderly woman, what made you come here? The
soul: I feel
remorseful when thinking of my sins, but I know that it’s rather late
now. When I was 48 years old, as my business went bankrupt, I became a
banker. In a moment my conscience failed me, I misappropriated the
shareholders’s money and fled. At the age of 54, I died of sickness
and the King of Hell condemned me to this prison. The Mandarin: By embezzling the shareholders’ money, you had engulfed it in your entrails. Now, I give you a hand by taking out your guts to pay off your debts. After your wrong is purged in here, you will have to reincarnate in the terrestrial world to repay your debts. YT:
Can you tell me, old man, how long are you condemned here? The
soul: For 3
years. Before, I was a farmer. I grew vegetables for a living. When I
was middle aged, my beds of greens were ruined by insects and I had to
spray insecticides to exterminate them. Profiting from a sudden rise of
prices on the market, I sold the vegetables which had just been sprayed
with insecticides. And now, I am condemned to this prison because of
this blunder. The
Mandarin: For
the sake of your individual interests, you sold the greens that were
freshly sprayed with insecticide. It means that you sold poison, because
it takes 15 days before the toxic- impregnated vegetables can be eaten
without danger. Otherwise, the poisonous ingredients will be absorbed
little by little into men’s organism and cause liver disease or
cancer. You had therefore created great danger for the consumers of
vegetables. Many of them were poisoned. That’s the reason you are
condemned to this prison. YT:
Old woman, why are you condemned here? The
soul: O,
my God! I am so unhappy in this prison. Save me, I pray you! TK:
O yes, I pity you. But look, why didn’t you have pity on other
people when you were living? Tell me the motive of your crimes. The
soul: I had a
foster daughter whom I didn’t like and I treated her badly since her
childhood. When she reached the age of puberty, she grew unusually
pretty and her beauty induced me to sell her to a brothel for a handsome
amount of money. It goes without saying I sold her by force and against
her will. The
Mandarin: You
were a fiendish woman. You made use of your foster daughter for
lucrative purpose while destroying morality and social customs. You were
inhuman and your cruelty deserves the punishments of this prison. TK:
Our time is limited, Yang Ts’ien. I want to go home. YT:
Please, Master, I have a further question to ask you before we
leave: while enduring torture, some souls are seen fainting and their
bodies are all lacerated: how can the guards restore them to life the
next day, safe and sound, before the torment is renewed? TK:
Have you ever had a nightmare in which someone sprang upon you
and tried to kill you? If you have, you felt extremely pained and
frightened at the moment he stabbed his dagger. Then you startled up.
You felt cold sweat trickling on your temples, and rejoiced at finding
yourself uninjured. The following night, you have the same nightmare.
The same wakeup with a start, with no trace of a scratch. Well, that’s
exactly what happens to the swooning souls. The demons revive them with
resuscitative water, and they come back to life, unscathed, and feeling
no pain. The torments, thus applied, are purposely meant to impose on
the sinners a sensation of terror while they endure the punishment. The
redoubtable punishment of hell tends to awaken the sinners’
conscience. It is for this reason death is usually compared to a
long-lasting nightmare. The man leaving the world is comparable to a man
in deep sleep having a painful dream. Take another example: in your
dream, you picked up an ingot of gold. You were wild with delight. You
woke up. Nothing was left, your hands were empty. All this proves that
dreams are not realities, and it is the sleeper who has erroneous
impressions. The adepts of the religious way who fail to grasp the truth
and persist in believing in the forms, names, colors and outlooks of
things will finally fall into the nightmare of illusions. YT:
I am fairly taught now. Dear Master, I am ready for the return
trip. Shall we go to say farewell to the Governor and Generals. The
Mandarin: Generals,
stand on ceremony to greet the guests. |
CONTENTS |
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