CHAPTER 49VISIT TO THE PRISON WITH CRUSHING-WHEELS Buddha Tse Kong who manifested on March 1st, 1978. Year of the Horse
Buddha
Tse Kong: As stipulated by the Celestial Edict, we must
complete the book “Voyages to Hell” by mid-autumn of this year. This
term is going to expire and I begin to feel anxious. If we don’t visit
hell more frequently in order to grasp the situation, young Yang
Ts’ien will be deprived of any means to accede to hell: the doors of
hell will be closed for good, after the term fixed by the Edict draws to
an end. Yang
Ts’ien: The trips
to hell are far from pleasant. But I am really afraid that the book
can’t be completed before the due date. We will be in trouble if we
don’t finish it on time. I must be more active, now. TK:
The one who pays off his debts, feels relieved. Such is my case.
I must fulfill my responsibility in regard to human beings before I can
have some leisure time. Men don’t understand about my mission of
salvation. If I don’t fulfill my task of rescuing mankind, then my
title of a living Buddha will have no meaning. YT:
I wonder why? TK:
Well, because the Buddhas should never forsake the living
creatures. If they abandon them, then they will no longer be Buddhas.
The title of a Buddha is just a name. So are the names of living
creatures. Therefore, we should not be trapped by exoteric forms. Time
is getting late. Let’s prepare ourselves for the trip. Come quickly on
the lotus dais. YT:
I’m ready, Master. TK:
Here we arrive. Get down, son. YT:
Which prison do we visit, tonight? TK:
See that fire coloring a whole corner of the sky? It’s the fire
of the Big Prison With Blazing Heat. YT:
It’s a prison worthy of its name. Its expanding waves of heat
give me the impression of being roasted. What if we go elsewhere? TK:
Agreed. We have already visited the Blazing Heat Prison,
haven’t we? This one is similar to it, except that this fire is much
more violent. Let’s go to another prison. YT:
Yes. I see the infernal guards coming back and forth, escorting
sinful souls. While on the way, they continue to insult the souls. Over
there, it appears to be an execution ground. Tell me, Master, why do the
guards of hell change their forms so often? Sometimes they wear
buffaloes’ heads and horses’ faces. Sometimes they recover their
human forms. TK:
These soldiers of hell are called by several surnames: “the
impermanent black-and-white (they are now black, now white) then, “the
bastards” (born from unknown fathers, and from mixture of races) and
also “the redoubtables”. Every time they meet the sinful souls, they
show off a livid green face with pointed yellow fans to frighten and
menace them. At their sight, the sinful souls get distracted and tremble
like an aspen leaf, as if they are chased by the devil. On the contrary,
if the honest souls confront them and say that they are not scared of
the devils, then the infernal guards will let them go freely. You may
indeed say, “whoever has tranquil conscience fears nothing, even if
his door is knocked upon late at night”. In the world of the living,
the guilty men turn pale at the sight of policemen. They may even
urinate in their trousers as if they confront the devil. While policemen
have manacles and pistols, the infernal guards have cutlasses and
spears. Honest citizens feel reassured when seeing police, sensing they
are fully protected by the latter. Wrongdoers, on the other hand, flee
the policemen just as with the demons. Therefore, virtuous souls don’t
flurry before the infernal guards, whereas wicked souls are frightened
to death and shiver at their sight. Here, we come to the prison with
crushing wheels. Let’s come in. The
General:
What audacity to have brought a profane man here who is neither a
genius nor a saint. Stop there! TK:
I am Tse Kong with the order of the Celestial Emperor; I take
this profane man to visit hell on a mission. Go to the Mandarin Governor
and inform him of our visit. The
General: So,
is that the old monk, the living Buddha Tse Kong? Will you wait a
moment? I’ll let the Governor know about your arrival. YT:
Why are they unaware of our coming? TK:
My decision to visit this prison was spontaneous. Therefore, the
General did not know about our arrival. The
General: Please
apologize for my carelessness. The Governor and his staff will come
soon. The
Mandarin: Welcome
to Buddha Tse Kong and Mr. Yang Ts’ien. I wasn’t forwarned of your
visit, so we fail to welcome you properly. Just come in, please. YT:
We thank you greatly, Excellency. I see the horrible spectacle of
sinful souls being mashed to paste by the wheels of a cart. The
Mandarin: Our
prison is called “Crushing Wheels”. After being purged by the first
seven palaces, many sinful souls are sent here to be punished on account
of their remaining sins. YT:
This cart, with sharply rugged and unequal wheels, is drawn by
four mules. The sinful soul is laid on the ground. As soon as the mules
receive the swish of a whip, they dash forward. The sinful soul can only
utter a scream of terror before his body is reduced to paste. On my God!
the pain is certainly atrocious! TK:
Look at that heap of bone and flesh! When a gust of wind blows
past, the souls recover back the form of their bodies, and then the
punishment is renewed. YT:
What crimes had they committed? The
Mandarin: They were adulterers, impious sons, and
assassins. After being punished by the first seven palaces, they are
transferred here to endure the Crushing-Wheel. These adulterers,
undutiful sons, and murderers have no more human dignity. They are all
sent to our prison for reformation. To accomplish this, their flesh must
be crushed to paste. TK: We understand the goal of your prison now. I hope that human beings will repent soon if committing errors. If they have committed the above sins, they must quickly regenerate themselves to avoid the punishment of the Crushing-Wheel. Time is over, Yang Ts’ien. Let’s go back to the temple... |
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