Voyages to Hell

translated by

Nguyen Khang & Bui H.Huu

CHAPTER 42

VISIT TO THE 7TH PALACE. INTERVIEW WITH THE KING OF HIGH MOUNTAIN VISIT TO PRISON BLAZING HEAT

Buddha Tse Kong who manifested on November 16th, 1977. Year of the Snake 

Morality has been written down to teach mankind
A current masterpiece is realized by order divine
Man’s affinity was sown, ripened, now mellows
Truth is harmoniously revealed to humans on time.

Buddha Tse Kong:     Formerly, in the eastern regions of China, the Yu Li King was well known as a precious scripture, a literary, religious book which served as a warning for mankind. The author of the book was a priest named Tan Che Tsouen Chi. Obeying the order of God, he took many trips to hell by soul travel. He had, with his own eyes, seen the sinful souls condemned to torture by the King of Hell. Upon his return from each trip, he narrated faithfully in his book what he had seen in hell, and his accounts were widely known in different countries. A great number of persons were awakened after reading the book, and converted themselves to the right path. Books were printed and given away free. Those who could understand it clearly, would experience the truth. The punishment in hell has recently been modified and renovated to cope with new circumstances and the changes in modern human society. Recently, the Celestial Emperor particularly designated Yang T’sien, a disciple of the Temple of the Sages in Taiwan- which is placed under the aegis of the Immortals in the Celestial Southern Sector - to visit hell for collecting new proof. With the projection of soul travel and mediumnistic means to relay the images and sounds from hell to the earth, the book of “the Voyages to Hell” will succeed in replacing the old “Yu-Li-King”. This book will be a masterpiece as is the Great Wall of China. The people who print and distribute the books widely and gratuitously will receive blessings and spiritual merits. This book will not only reveal the secret of hell’s structure but will also disclose the mysteries of spiritual perfection. Those who apply themselves to reading it again and again will awaken from illusions and place themselves on the path of regeneration and enlightenment. Those who give copies free to their fellow-beings will have their desires granted, and their sins forgiven. It is indeed a Gospel helping men to repent and to correct themselves. Yang Ts’ien, let’s come up to the dais and take a trip to hell. 

Yang Ts’ien:     I am seated, Master. 

TK:      Here we arrive. Get down. 

YT:      Where are we? 

TK:      Just look ahead! That’s the 7th Palace. The King of the High Mountain is coming. Let’s go pay him our tributes. 

The King:    My respects to Venerable Buddha Tse Kong and Mr. Yang Ts’ien of the Temple of the Sages. Please, come in. 

YT:      Thank you, Sir. We are greatly honored by the solemn reception of His Majesty and His Court. I see before the Palace some infernal guards escorting sinful souls. I presume His Majesty must have interrupted his hearing session because of our arrival. 

The King:     We are honored with your visit. General, please bring us some fine tea. 

The General attending:    At your orders, Sir. 

YT:      We are deeply touched by your warm welcome. 

The King:    Please don’t mention it. Right at this moment, man’s morality is in fast decline: however, it is a great comfort to see a revival of spiritualism in Taiwan. The Immortals and Buddhas have taught and advised mankind to avoid falling into the whirlwind of misfortunes. Their assistance is really great. Even God Himself directs you to write a book on hell, which is an unprecedented break. It took you a long time to come visit this Palace! 

TK:      We thank you deeply for your instruction. It is for the common goal that we have come here tonight. We sollicit your assistance and hope to receive precious, and detailed information on the sublime, orthodox Tao. 

The King:    Perfect. Now, I’ll tell you about the situation of dead men in our Palace. The close relatives of the deceased have the custom of celebrating a mass of requiem of 49 days after a death. This is the reason for 49 days: On the 7th day, the soul of the deceased comes to the First Palace, on the 14th to the Second Palace, on the 21st day to the Third Palace, and so on until the 49th day, he comes to the Seventh Palace, which is this one. The living people estimate that the soul remains at each palace for seven days. But they fail to know that most of the souls have committed too many sins in their life, and they don’t merely need 49 days to reach the 7th Palace, but will have to pass by the 8th, 9th and 10th Palace before reincarnation into another existence. If man exercises virtues and accumulates meritorious deeds, he will be guided in his death by the Gracious Genius of Happiness and Virtue. Every ritual cult will not be necessary for him because he is a free soul. Therefore, man should remember this: Elaborate ceremonies which are presided over by the best priest, will not be sufficient to deliver the sinful souls from the prisons of hell. 

YT:      Please, Sir, why don’t people take 56, 63, or 70 days instead of 49 days? 

The King:    The palaces, from the 1st to the 7th, are the main ones. The 8th, 9th and 10th palaces are intended to punish the grave sinners who haven’t been purged enough in the first seven palaces. Heavily condemned souls have passed by the first seven palaces in 49 days, but they still have to go through the last three palaces to pay for their other sins. The living men, out of filial piety celebrate ritual mass to pray for their parents’ liberation. However, it will be more practical if the latter’s souls know how to perform good deeds during their lifetime. 

TK:      In Confucianism, the souls, after death or prior to their time of reincarnation, is called “demons or demonical souls”. In Buddhism, those souls are called “infernal bodies or souls”. In order to save a soul from this place of misfortune, the souls’ descendants must devote themselves to do good actions. This is the only way to move the heart the King in Hell and obtain amnesty from him. If they act contrarily to the laws of morality, they certainly obtain no grace for the soul, despite solemn rites and having most competent priests. I advise humans to fulfill their duty of filial piety towards their parents while the latter are still alive, because “an ear of rice being offered when alive is more valuable than a bottle of wine offered when dead”. The descendants should reform themselves, and should print canonical books to distribute free to people. This good action is easy to perform, and will touch the heart of God and the authorities of hell, at the same time showing the gratitude of the children toward their parents. It is the only means to save one’s ascendants from the ocean of sorrows. This piece of advice should be followed with all their hearts and might. 

YT:      Dear Master, your teachings are very direct and useful to mankind. If the descendants prove to be impious and irrespectful towards their parent while the latter are alive, it is ridiculous for them to play the grateful and the considerate child after their parents are dead. “The tree prefers to remain still but the winds keep blowing. The child wants to pay his filial piety, but his parents are no longer alive.” goes the saying. Now, dear Master, I have another question to ask. The demons still preserve their human forms while they are in hell. How could they do so, since their bodies were disintegrated after their death? 

TK:      These are only illusory bodies, false bodies, or corporal images. In other words, bodies in hell are called metamorphosed bodies. Since our time is limited, may you tell us quickly about your functions in this palace. 

The King:    Our gate governs the Prison of “Blazing Heat” together with 16 smaller prisons. The souls who are led here are judged with impartiality. I invite you to tour the prison for better observation. 

YT:      Just fine. We thank you greatly, Sir. 

The King:    All my retinue will follow me with our visitors to the Blazing Heat Prison. 

Mandarins and Generals:    At your request, Sir. Honorable visitors, will you follow His Majesty. 

YT:      We follow the King to a gloomy path. How dismal hell is! No one would like to visit this place. Only the spiritual emissaries come to fulfill their mission. 

TK:      Well, you seem to be highly affected by the spectacles of hell, Yang Ts’ien. Here, partiality is absent. Even if you have close friends, you can’t count on their assistance. All things depend on the good or bad actions people do during their life. “The wicked attract wicked demons, the virtuous attract gracious geniuses” says a proverb. This is why I advise humans to associate with good people and propagate faith in order to avoid condemnation to hell. 

YT:      I begin to feel a suffocating heat. Over there, before us, is a blazing fire. I only see an incandescent mass. Above the door of the prison, I read an inscription “Big Blazing-Heat Prison”. The walls are built of bricks. 

TK:      These refractory bricks tolerate a high intensity of heat. They grow harder as the fire becomes hotter. 

The Mandarin-Governor of the prison:     My reverences to His Majesty the King. 

The King:     Here are Venerable Buddha Tse Kong and his disciple Yang Ts’ien of the Temple of the Sages in the terrestrial world. I bring them here to observe your prison. Muster your men to render them honors. 

The Mandarin:     At your request, Sir! 

The King:     Ahead of us, is the “Big Blazing-Heat”. 

YT:      What terrific heat! I see a big flagstone the size of a camp-bed placed on two trestles. Under it is a red blazing fire. The sinners are forced to walk on the heated flagstone. They fall to the ground, writhing and screaming in pain. Other new coming souls are terrified by the spectacle. They cry, the wail just as they do at the death of their parents. With stiff legs, they can’t step forward, and the infernal guards have to push them. No sooner have they set their feet on the flagstone than they seem electrified and fall down. The more they roll their bodies with pain, the more they are burnt by the fire. What sins have they committed, Sir? 

The King:     Our prison bears the name of “Blazing Heat”. It is a place for detaining the souls who are desirous of fame and riches, who ruin other people for the sake of individual interests, who flatter and condescend to the desires of the fair sex while scorning or showing indifference toward their own sex, who take advantage of other people’s ill-luck to harm them, or possess an irritable temper, or frequently curse the deities, speculate on goods, or plot with others through corruption, and play the opportunist and the sycophant. Despise the wretched and the miserable, they commit unfair acts through partiality, prejudices or intransigence. Those who are against morality and virtue are detained here. The torment we apply here is quite simple: the sinners have to walk along a 300 mile long alley paved with highly heated bricks, in order to purge their sins. It would take them three to five years to cover the alley. The torment corresponds to the gravity of their sins. When going through the alley, the slighter condemned sinners are burned less violently than the graver condemned souls. The heat automatically increase or diminishes according to the gravity or slightness of their sins. While inside the prison, the souls suffer atrociously, because the air in it is burning and stifling. Those who are condemned to the 16th prison utilize another alley by the side of the prison. The heat in the 16th prison is more terrible than in this one, which only serves to frighten the slightly condemned souls without putting them into danger. 

TK:      It’s growing late. With your permission, we shall ask to come again. 

The King:      It’s late, indeed. I don’t want to retain you any longer. Muster your men, Generals! 

YT:      I say goodbye to you, Sir. And thank you for your welcome.

Back ] Next ]

Home

 

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

www.voyagestohell.com