Voyages to Hell

translated by

Nguyen Khang & Bui H.Huu

CHAPTER 29

THIRD VISIT TO THE PRISON WITH VENOMOUS WASPS

Buddha Tse Kong who manifested on April 3rd, 1977. Year of the Snake 

Filled with compassion, deities bestow on mankind
The dharma of cultivating merits and enlightenment
They teach man about the harbor of illusions
And how to prevent disaster from overspreading

 Buddha Tse Kong     It is out of compassion that the deities manifest themselves through the intercession of mediums, for the purpose of teaching men the right way. However, several profiteers have taken advantage of these opportunities, to work for the sake of their personal interests. All these false mediums, deceitful priests, and imposter-deities are more criminal than anybody else. Also those fortune-tellers who boast their “iron mouths”, pretending to say things as solid as iron, are only blood-suckers of their fellow-beings. Their mouths are muzzles of wild beasts. As tricky disciples, they disgrace the renown of their master, the great fortune-teller Kouei Kou. After their death, they have to endure heavy punishment in hell before being incarnated in the form of ravens that flutter in the deserted mountains of Kouei Kou, and caw noisily with their iron beaks. Time for departure, Yang Ts’ien. Don’t dilly-dally. 

Yang Ts’ien:     I don’t, Master. What’s a day! Do you think it’s a bit cooler on the way to hell? 

TK:      Not a shadow of doubt. The air is pretty cold in the world of the dead. Your hair will bristle up, I assure you. But, we must go. Come up on the dais, will you? 

YT:      Yes, Master. Here I am... 

TK:      We arrive! 

The Mandarin:     It’s nice to see you again, gentlemen. 

TK:      In the world of humans, dishonest people borrowing the deities’ names are legion. They dishonor the deities somehow or other. We have to visit this prison several times to collect adequate information for our book. 

The Mandarin:      Do you mind stepping into the reception-hall for relaxing and having tea with us? 

TK:      We’re really sorry, Excellency. We don’t have time for relaxation tonight. 

The Mandarin:     Just follow me into the prison, then. 

YT:      Look! A multitude of bees are clinging to the sinners’ bodies just as they do to a beehive. It’s not for producing honey but for stinging. 

TK:      While in life, these souls were fond of niceties and delicious dishes. Now, they have the opportunity to taste the venomous darts of these bees. 

YT:      They groan, get distracted and seek vainly to dodge the bees. 

TK:      In fact, the “road to paradise” has paths but no one cares to return. Hell has no door but everyone enters. 

The Mandarin:      At the present time, there are a lot of wrong doers in temples and pagodas. They misuse the names of deities and exploit the people’s faith in order to make money. All this wrong practice jeopardizes the reputation of religion, and public opinion is practically indignant. I am really shocked at finding the number of sinners increasing in this prison. I will have some of them come to tell you about their misdeeds. 

YT:      Thank you very much for your assistance, Excellency. 

The Mandarin:       Please, don’t mention it. It’s our duty. (to the souls just coming). Tell us what you did in your life. 

First soul:      I lived in a temple in Tai Chu where I performed my work as a medium, conveying the spirit of Generalissimo Tchong Dan. In the early days, many cases of grave sickness, which had been declared incurable by the doctors and physicians, were miraculously cured in séances of spiritism when the spirit of Generalissimo Tchong Dan manifested through my intermediary. Believers and patients came in larger and larger numbers to my temple. Later, it happened that the generalissimo’s spirit did not manifest in the mediumistic sessions, but I feigned his apparition and deceived the audience. I mimicked the gestures and speech of Generalissimo in an exact manner so the manifestation appeared to be genuine. It goes without saying, I created misfortune for the patients whose sickness increased instead of lessening. I also used their superstition to extort their money, threatening them with all types of stories. I told some people that calamities would fall upon them, and others, that demons were obsessing them, and they must lead worship and donate generous offerings to the deities in order to be protected. I urged them to pay handsome amounts of money, of which I enjoyed the surplus. In this manner, I led an easy life, bought a storied house, and lived in luxury and happiness. After that, came the punishment. Death happened unexpectedly. The infernal guards led me to the 4th Palace. There, the King reprimanded me furiously, “You are a medium. You should have preserved your spirit as carefully as possible to accomplish your task as an intermediary for the deities. For heaven’s sake! You did just the reverse! You cheated the unsuspecting people and misused their confidence: this is an immoral act, do you realize it? The benefits you provided for the sick were trifling compared to the guiles and tricks you did to others. I condemn you to the prison with venomous wasps. Everyday, the stings of the wasps make me suffer extremely, as if my flesh is cut to pieces. The sorrow pierces me to my heart. I make an appeal to the living mediums to never follow my example. They should be honest and sincere in their service to the people and should not misuse their role for making money. 

TK:      According to religious traditions, the role of the medium consists of providing assistance to those that the physicians fail to cure. With the occult power of the deities transmitted through the mediums, the latter have the duty to save humans by the will of God, the merciful. Whoever takes advantage of his role as a medium to make money acts against God’s will. As mediums, they will commit no crimes if they accomplish their task normally, letting the people offer what they can from their pockets. The mediums, however, have no right to make demands. The laws of the living world, as well as those of hell, forbid the mediums to go beyond their role by selling medicines which they pretend to be “divine or miracle pills”. This act will make of them “pirate-genii”. 

The Mandarin:      It’s the turn of the next soul to relate the wrongs to Mr. Yang Ts’ien. 

The second soul:      I was a fortune-teller in my lifetime. I had made profound study of this science. Shifting from place to place, I made a living by telling fortunes for my clients. Usually, I installed a stall in the market where I entertained them. I told them the possible events in their future, depicted their character and revealed their ambitions and passions. One time, I was short of money when a young man came to consult me. He had the outlook of a wealthy man in elegant clothing. I then used my grandiloquence to cheat him, predicting a period of time that might be eventful for his destiny. He might be victim of robbers and his prospect was quite dark. I assured him that I possessed a sort of talisman, which could change his ill star. The young fellow believed me on the spot and fell into my trap. I charged him 5,000 dollars for the fees of a ritual ceremony that would chase away the damaging spirits. Since then, I reiterated my “marvelous deal” with many other persons and made a lot of money. At last, death cut me off and the King of Hell, in a fury, accused me of being a fortune-teller and a swindler without conscience. He condemned me to 12 years in the prison with “venomous wasps”. Three years have gone by, and the remaining days are long for me to suffer. Instead of procuring their honey for me, the bees attack me day and night. My body is swollen all over, painful and itching. Remorse is haunting me, but it is much too late. 

TK:      In your lifetime, you uttered honeyed and flowery words to boast of possessing occult power. You were a venomous wasp who harmed rather than helped the people. Now you have to bear the consequences of your bad acts. I advise the fortune tellers and soothsayers to adopt the religious path and teach the truth to humans in order to free them from infatuation. They should show them how to get rid of their problems, and their merits would be immense. Contrarily, if they misuse their knowledge of occult things by telling lies and taking other people’s money, hell will provide them a long stay. Time is pressing let’s go home. 

YT:      Excellency, can you tell me whether all of the pirat-mediums are detained here? 

The Mandarin:      Not all of them. Some other mediums went so far as to bewitch the women and then abandon them after satisfying their sexual desires. They are highly distinguished guests detained in other prisons. 

YT:      Our visit has been long. We say goodbye to you, and once more, we express our thanks to His Excellency and to the generals for their kindness.

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CONTENTS

Forward
Introduction
Preface
Summary
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Celestial Edict
Postface

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