CHAPTER 47VISIT TO THE PRISON OF TONGUE-CARVING AND MOUTH-GASHING Buddha
Tse Kong who manifested on February 3rd, 1978. Year of the Horse
Buddha
Tse Kong: After reading the above quatrain, some people would
probably accuse me of idleness. My words come from the common people,
and I don’t have any other way to say it. Being active is nice, but we
must know when to refrain and not to be like a man who keeps climbing a
ladder and finally falls down to the ground and gets crushed. Humans
must realize that man’s life is brief. We can enjoy our riches and
properties only for a score of years. None of us can live forever. One
fine morning, our limbs cease moving, every affair come to a standstill.
Our descendants will invite us to move elsewhere. “The wavelets of the
Long River pursue each other interminably while human beings cede one
after another; newcomers replacing the deceased”. If we fail to be
aware of this fact, then it will be too late. Time goes by, and our
bodies will decompose into dust. Let’s go to hell, Yang Ts’ien. Come
on to the lotus dais. Yang
Ts’ien: At your
request, Sir. From that nearby temple, we hear resounding prayers, and
the dreary music of the requiem must accompany some deceased’s soul to
Nirvana. TK:
Right. The sounds of prayers exhort the living to wake up, and
the dead to realize their departure forever... Let’s go now.... Here
we are. The
Mandarin: I acclaim your visit to my prison,
Venerable Buddha Tse Kong and Mr. Yang Ts’ien. This prison, named
“Tongue-Carving and Mouth-Gashing” is placed under the control of
the 7th Palace. I know you are executing God’s order for the
preparation of a book on hell. Your merits are admirable. YT:
Thank you to say so. But by myself, I shall never be able to
accomplish my mission. My trips to hell are made possible by the
guidance of my Venerated Master, and also by the precious assistance of
the Governors of Prisons. I feel deeply grateful for their favors.
Tonight, I hope that you will provide me further information. The
Mandarin: Of
course, our door is widely opened to welcome you and we are ready to
render you service. Please step in for ample observation. YT:
Thank you. We are now at the door. Two ranges of guards are
rendering the honors. From inside the prison, wailings are echoing
tragically. The demon-guards are driving iron-hooks into the mouths of
the souls, jacking up their jaws, hooking the tips of the tongues and
pulling them out. The souls howl with pain. After that, with a sharp
cutlass they carve their tongues bluntly. Fresh blood flows abundantly
over the sinners’ chests. That’s not all. The guards pierce the
soul’s cheeks with stilettos and shoot a wire through which is
fastened to a stake: the souls moan wildly for a little while, then fall
unconscious. How tragic and dreadful a torment! The
Mandarin: The
tongue communicates with the heart. With the tongue cut off, the heart
suffers terribly. The sufferer of such torment distorts his limbs and
even excretes feces and urine. YT:
Hell must study very carefully on the way to reform the sinners.
It must diagnose the patient first before giving him the prescription.
How subtle it is! I wonder what these souls have done to be given this
punishment? The
Mandarin: These
sinners have committed the karma of the mouth. I’ll order some sinful
souls to narrate there past crimes, so you can record their stories in
your book. YT:
Thank you very much, Excellency. The
Mandarin: Here they are. Please ask questions, Mr. Yang
Ts’ien. YT:
My woman, can you tell me why you are here? The
soul: It’s all because of my uncontrolled mouth.
Other than that, I didn’t commit any other sin. TK:
Your mouth and your tongue had killed many people. Now do you
pretend to have no responsibility? If you refuse to confess, your sin
will be worse. The
soul: You are right. I really must declare
everything. In my life, I did hate everyone. Many times, I sowed discord
to separate people, or used my tongue to harm others, and created
disharmony in the family so that siblings were separated and children
were abandoned by their parents. Apart from that, I committed nothing
else. The
Mandarin: You
had been nicknamed the “long-tongued babbler”. As a woman, you
didn’t try to keep a virtuous mouth. On the contrary, you spoke at
random to destroy the familial unison of other people. You gave yourself
up to alcohol, quids of betel, and opium. Your speech was inconsiderate,
you shouted at people, sometimes whispered in their ears. All of your
words were fallacious and dishonest. Your venomous tongue has to be cut
off, which reduces you to muteness and prevents your mouth from uttering
any word. You must regenerate yourself and cultivate the “the mouth of
virtue”. TK:
The human tongue is a sharp blade. Hell has so far cut off many
women’s tongues, just because they are vulgar and gossipy, causing a
lot of catastrophes. The woman with an evil temper and gruff speech that
endangers other people should contain and correct herself, if she
doesn’t want to be reformed by the buffalo-headed and horse-faced
demons. I hope that the women in the terrestrial world will try to
soften their tones and avoid creating discord with their associates. YT:
I ask this gentleman the reason you were led to this prison. The
soul: I had an
irritable temper when in life. Every time, I felt thwarted or had to
deal with some tactless, vexing remark, I didn’t hesitate to insult
the person rudely. I spared no one, even the aging people. Apart from
this defect, I committed no other sin. The King of Hell accused me of
using my unruly mouth and dangerous tongue to insult people, and of
committing an unforgivable sin. So, I deserve to be in this Prison of
Tongue-Carving and Mouth-Gashing. The torment is painful beyond
expression. I hope that living men take my case for a lesson and will
not say bad things about other people. They will be condemned to hell
and suffer my pain if they don’t change right now. The
Mandarin: A
proverb goes like this, “a wicked heart is imperceptible to human
eyes, but a wicked mouth is heard by human ears”. A vicious mouth can
offend the people very easily. It can arouse divergent opinions that
jeopardize good relationships among men. Thence, this saying “a wound
caused by a cutlass can heal and scar quickly whereas a vexing word is
never forgotten”. While insulting foolishly, the offender ignores the
presence of anyone around him. If he can’t control his mean words, he
risks to behave incorrectly. If the person is capable of committing
grave sins, then it is because he neglects the Five Precepts on
relationships between leader and subject, father and son, husband and
wife, brothers and sisters, and among friends. For those who wish to
regenerate, their speech should be even more moderate. They should never
speak inconsiderately, because their good deeds and merits will become
meaningless. After their death, they will have their place in hell where
the torment of tongue-carving and mouth-gashing will be reserved for
them. YT:
Now, I ask this Buddhist monk. Have you been here for reciting
prayers? The
soul: Buddha
Amitabha! Prayers of woe, O, prayers of woe! I remember the time I
adored the sublime Buddhist dharma. I was later baptized and converted
to a monk. I carefully studied the holy books, and acquired some
knowledge of Buddhism. I also wrote a few books and went up to the
pulpit to preach Buddhism. I sowed discrimination between religions, and
thought that Sakya Muni alone was the Supreme, whereas the genii, saints
and other entities were inferior gods. To me, they were heaven’s
phantoms, or heterodox beings, not belonging to the orthodox Buddhist
dharma. So, it was useless to pay them respect. Many people listened to
my teachings and I was proud of myself. I underestimated the Immortals
and slandered other religions. When reading the scriptures textually, I
misinterpreted them sometimes. After I died, my soul was unable to free
itself. Dear Buddha, I pray you to save me. TK:
You are an unworthy
disciple. Buddha doesn’t accept disciples like you. Buddhist dharma
bears a liberal character. Because of the degree of evolution and
missions, the genii and saints are called different names. Master, genii
and Immortals are the highly evolved beings who have cultivated
themselves to spiritual perfection, and they all have the same vocation
of rescuing mankind. They are enlightened and liberated beings, just as
Buddha who had alluded to the image of the Kingdom of Happiness. In this
period of spiritual decadence, many people talk about spiritualism. They
even form their own circle of disciples, but misinterpret religious
books, and sow dissension among people. They inculcate a blind faith in
their disciples who in turn, disparage the other religions. They are
human beings, but filled with discrimination and prejudice. Now, monk,
you have stirred up the clouds of red dust, and the tides of separatism.
Your sins are unforgivable. The priests and religious masters are
advised to aim for the cultivation of souls and bodies. They should
never create false opinions by preaching their religious doctrine and
discrediting other religious sects. Those who publish insinuating books
should repent in time or burn their books and toss away their pens. They
should clean their mouth and begin to say correct words. Otherwise, they
will be sent to the Prison of Tongue-Carving and Mouth-Gashing to taste
the bitter flavor deserved by evil mouths and tongues. It’s quite
late, Yang Ts’ien. Be ready to go back. The
Mandarin: Excuse
me for any negligence Generals, stand on ceremony to greet the guest. YT:
My deep thanks to His Excellency and to the Generals. May we say
goodbye to you. Venerable Master, I am ready. |
CONTENTS |
|