CHAPTER 10VISIT TO THE 2ND PALACE - INTERVIEW WITH THE KING VISIT TO THE CONFERENCE HALL Buddha Tse Kong who manifested on the 26th of the second 8th month. Leap year of the Dragon (1976)
Buddha
Tse Kong: Our trips to hell to get facts for the book
have fatigued the deities and men. However, for the sake of salvaging
mankind, we do not count our pain. We could say that: “Every work of
benevolence is done with joy”. I am greatly impressed at the sight of
the adopts practicing contemplative meditation every night until late
hours. The Three Councils of heaven, hell, and virtuous men insure
salvation for the whole universe: heaven provides blessings for the
stars and the Milky Way. In the middle, the Sages and the Virtuous
assist mankind. The netherworld helps salvage the souls and demons in
hell. At this time, turmoil is reigning over the human world and the
kingdom of heaven as well. The Saint Door opens widely, the genuine Tao
is being propagated. Those predestined to the Tao are converted and
allowed to pursue their regeneration. The non-predestined, on the other
hand, continue to make fun of the Buddhas and move further from
paradise. Casting my eyes upon the earth, I see Buddhist temples and
centers for the practice of meditation mushrooming everywhere. The
spirit of Tao is prevailing over every household. This is an epoch when
religious culture is reborn, and the ancient doctrines respected and
applied. A spectacle of favorable omen is offering itself. The
demon-souls in hell are waiting for these moments to redeem their sins.
Tonight, I take Yang Ts’ien for a tour to hell, so he can understand
the situation and relate it to mankind. Get prepared, Yang. Yang
Ts’ien: I
am, Master. TK:
We’re going to visit the 2nd Gate. Cheer up, son. YT:
Yes, Sir. And please, don’t hestitate to scold me soundly,
should I allow myself to be foolish. TK:
I don’t go that far. Well, let’s go, son.... Here we are.
Let’s get down. YT:
What is that place over there? I see big crowd of souls hurrying,
with the buffalo-headed and horse-faced demons escorting others. TK:
This is the 2nd Gate. Let’s hurry! We’re going to meet the
King of the Palace. YT:
In the middle of that group which is coming, I see a man of tall
stature and strong body. He is dressed in a garment of ancient times
similar to the ceremony- gown that people on earth used to wear for the
cult of genii. He has a majestic and imposing gait, and from his entire
body emanates a resplendent aureole. Generals and guards are walking by
his sides. TK:
He is Ming Wang, the King of the 2nd Palace. Be on your knees,
and pay him your respect. YT:
I am honored to be here before His Majesty and the Mandarins of
the Royal Court. Ming
Wang: Dispense
with the ceremonials. Stand up, please. You are most welcome, Buddha Tse
Kong and Mr. Yang Ts’ien of the Temple of the Sages who take the time
to call on me. This palace received the Celestial Edict quite early. And
we know your Temple sent you here in order to write a book on hell. By
the way, we just received a letter from Buddha Tse Kong, informing us of
your visit. We were therefore ready to welcome you. Please, come in this
way. TK:
We are grateful for your warm welcome. Yang Ts’ien, let’s
follow His Majesty into the palace. The
King: Here
it is. I’m going to explain the activities of the ten gates of hell.
They are the official centers of punishments. As a rule, the souls of
the dead, after being carefully judged by the 1st Palace as to their
merits and their sins, are handed over to the 2nd Palace. As for those
wicked and knavish souls who have participated in all types of vice from
their earthly days, hell only tries, for the moment, to correct the
causes of their vice, knowing perfectly that they will never improve.
When they come to our palace, we collate the register of their
curriculum-vitae in hell with their committed sins. Thus, everything is
clear, no doubt whatsoever. Since the situation in the human world has
changed, hell must also modernize itself by increasing the number of
cells. You may say: “Manners change with the times”. Many items of
hell’s penal code have to be revised and amended to meet the needs of
modern times, particularly to punish the guilty more efficiently. TK:
Phenomena change in heaven, formations change on earth, and the
human world also changes after nature. Heaven and hell reflect
everything instantaneously. The least gesture of man, a tree, an herb,
all things reflect themselves in the sky, the way they do in a mirror.
Hell too, receives the reflection from that mirror with matchless purity
and accuracy. Don’t ever think that demons and genii are eliminated by
the progress of science. The profane people, leaning upon the visible,
pretend to exclude the invisible. But they soon realize that the
invisible is master of visible. It is the immortals and buddhas of the
invisible divine world who direct, whereas humans on earth are all
activated by an extraneous force. YT:
So, that’s it. Every mortal thinks of hell as an imperceptible,
therefore, nonexistent domain. In reality, hell appears neatly before my
eyes. It is as marvelous as it is formidable. I suddenly find myself in
a world completely different from mine. The
King: I
am terribly busy. I don’t think I can entertain you any longer. I
count on you, General. Will you have Mr. Yang Ts’ien inspect the
prison? The
General: With
pleasure, Sir. YT:
Among those souls before the gate, some carry a pillory on their
heads, and their hands are chained. They look like criminals on earth.
How pitiful for them! Over there, the King of the Palace who is
presiding over a hearing, is banging his fist on the table and howling,
just like husbandman shouting at his stubborn ox. The
General:
Time is short. Please, don’t delay, Mr. Yang Ts’ien. Come
with me. TK:
Don’t scrutinize things too closely, Yang. YT:
At this gate, a big crowd is gathering. Not a single chirping of
a bird is heard. What are they doing there? The
General: The Bodhisattva
of the Underworld, Pontiff of the Kingdom of Darkness, has had a
conference established in every palace, because by this time, the Three
Tribunes are dealing with universal salvation. In principle, those
sinful souls who still have some good nature left, and prove their good
conduct while in detention, are permitted to come, in turn, to the
conference hall to listen to Immortals’ and Buddhas’ preaching. They
must therefore be very careful and attentive. They walk quietly and dare
not make noise. There, you see them coming in, one after another. YT:
Hell also takes care of the salvation of demon-souls by teaching
them from holy books and preaching the methods of spiritual perfection.
We can compare it to the terrestrial world where temples are found
everywhere. They are dedicated to the cult of saints, and their seances
of spiritualism are a means to distribute the saint doctrine. Many
people lead a religious life in their homes. At present, the Immortals
and Buddhas are really merciful, so much so that they spare no pain to
come down as far as the dusty living world and the world of the dead, to
provide salvation for living creatures, and for demon-souls as well. TK:
Let’s follow this group of demon-souls into the conference
hall. YT:
Above the big door, I see a panel with this inscription:
“Conference Hall No.1 of the Palace”. Before entering the hall,
every demon-soul has to pass to the next room resembling a workshop,
named “Sentry house”. Here, the demon-souls signal their arrival to
the authorities of hell. Once this formality is done, they can enter the
hall. The
General: This is the
residence of the guard-officer. He is responsible for checking the
entries and exits of the demon-souls. The souls without a permit to
attend the conference are refused entry to the hall. Now, I’m going to
announce you as visitors for the purpose of writing a book. Please, wait
here. I’ve just announced you and registered your names. Follow me
into the hall, and sit on the “honor mat” while waiting for the
immortals and Buddha. TK:
And now, here is the “Chariot of the Way” carrying
Bodhisattva Kuan Yin, the Saint-Mother of Southern Seas. Yang Ts’ien,
bow and salute the Bodhisattva. YT:
Yes, Sir. Kuan Yin, the Supreme Goddess, has come to the pulpit
and is preparing to preach. In the conference hall with benches of the
same style as the pupils’, there are about two thousand attendees.
They all seem jolly. Kuan Yin, the Supreme Goddess, is seen sitting on
her dais of lotus, clad in a white silk robe, with a twig of willow in
hand that she dips in an urn of holy water and mimics the gesture of
sprinkling it over the audience. Gracious Master, what does her gesture
mean? TK:
That’s the “religious shower” that impregnates every
creature. It is called “asperges of holy water”. The ones who are
predestined to the Way of Deliverance will be liberated naturally from
the vicious cycle of transmigration. This is the mercy of God. He
practices no discrimination whatsoever among the Four Categories of
Creatures and the Six Ways of Transmigration. It suffices that a mortal
comes back to the good path, mends his faults and restores his body and
soul, and he will be salvaged by the “Arc of Mercy”. Such is also
the deepest aspiration of Kuan Yin. Now, no more questions, will you?
Listen to the sermon of Kuan Yin on “The Way that saves us from
misfortunes”. Kuan
Yin:
I am really delighted to notice the presence of living Buddha Tse
Kong and of Mr. Yang Ts’ien of the Temple of the Sages. Mr. Yang
Ts’ien, after hearing my sermon and upon your return to the
terrestrial world, I hope you will exert all effort to educate the
people by giving them good advice for self-perfection. Your Temple is
attempting to educate humans. Its adept has consecrated all their spirit
and vigor to the construction of the Arc of Mercy for the salvation of
human creatures. Such a spirit is really admirable. In the future, they
will certainly reach the place of saints and sages. I expect they will
do their best to accomplish their noble mission. TK:
Bow quickly and thank her for her infinitely merciful advice! YT:
I thank you, Mother Kuan Yin, for all you have just taught me. As
soon as I get back to the Temple, I will transmit your teachings to my
brethren, and we shall show ourselves worthy of your confidence. Kuan
Yin:
Now, I begin my sermon: Since the times of nothingness until the
present, man was born in the world, and died. Then, he was reborn and
died again. In spite of his body’s disintegration, his soul remains
immortal. You are now in hell, but you still do not know that your body
is but illusory. Only knowledge acquired by clairvoyance is true. Love
and passion are difficult to eliminate. Humans nurture grief and anger.
After that, they grieve endlessly. They must therefore conceive the
world as a dream and an illusion. The bonds that tie the members of the
same family are also the consequences of the law of causality. As for
the law of retribution and sanction, it governs a cyle of good and evil.
You should not forget yourselves by ignoring that law. If prejudices and
bad actions persist in your spirit, if negative feelings remain in your
hearts, you will be dragged into the infernal cycle of transmigration.
We are now living in a decadent phase of religious morality. Human
hearts have become deceitful and wicked. The tree of clairvoyance has
become stunted; new born babies prove themselves more clever than
before, but they are more apt to learn misdeeds and guiles as well. I do
not want to divulge the secrets of God, but I have to say that the flame
of the oil-lamp, exposed to winds, cannot exist much longer. Gradually
contaminated by vices, man loses his pure nature. In spite of his marked
intelligence, his clairvoyance is tarnished, and he does disservice to
the Celestial Cause. Subversive and inhuman acts multiply day after day.
Anarchy reigns over the world, moral laws are disregarded. You
demon-souls, who have fallen in the deep sepulchral pit of death, your
carnal body is lost, and the wicked karma is pursuing you. Try to
understand that the shadow follows the man wherever he goes. Do not
pretend that an image cannot be seen where there is no light. Every
thought, every move, is reflected by psychic faculties, and produces its
consequences to which the bad karma firmly ties you. Now, though sinking
in the world of darkness, you still can preserve a minimum of your
conscience which is not yet darkened. You must repent of your past
misdeeds. I advise you to understand the Truth and endure the
mortification of strenuous punishment, so that your past crimes can be
eliminated. Suffer the pains stoically, and shake off all ill will. I
shall come again to bring you my blessings. My sermon ends. TK:
(to Yang Ts’ien) Present her your farewell wishes, Yang. YT:
As you say. May I humbly thank you for your teachings of gold and
jade. All of the demon-souls are also bowing to salute Kuan Yin, and a
great number of them, excessively moved by the sermon, have shed bitter
tears. TK:
The Supreme Goddess has given precious words to the demon-souls
in order to advise and console them. Doubtlessly, she opens her
“bodhi” heart, in the hope that all creatures will convert to the
Way and attain enlightenment. If any of these still regret their profane
life and hesitate to change, they will come down to hell and endure a
wicked karma. It will then be extremely difficult to improve again.
Well, time is short. Yang Ts’ien, let’s go home! The
General: Please
forgive us for any shortcomings. YT:
I am a profane among you. Why use such a word as “forgive”.
You humble yourself, General. (adressing Tse Kong) One more question,
Master. Has every palace established its conference hall? And finally,
how much time will the sinful souls have to acquit their sins and obtain
their freedom? TK: Well, the services of conferences established by the palaces of hell is a lower level. It is destined to probe the hearts and character of sinful souls, and see how deeply their regeneration reaches. Later on, there will be higher-level services for their betterment. Now, no more questions. It’s growing late. The dais is waiting. (to the General) - I appreciate very much your welcome, General. Here we are back to the Temple. Alight, and enter your body, son. |
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