Journeys To The Underworld - Journey No. 29

4th Moon 3rd Day (20th May 1977)

Third Tour of the Prison of Poisonous Bees

Jigong: Deities, through the services of mediums and planchette writing, aim at helping and sympathising with the troubles of human beings; but some mediums outwardly say that they want to cultivate morality by helping people but actually they have some ulterior motive to get money. They do not cultivate morality at all - their misdeeds are regarded as very grave sins. There are some physiognomists who praise themselves by advertising the correctness of their interpretations and, like "iron mouths" - (wolves which bite and yet no bleeding), they fleece their customers of hard earned money thus spoiling the good reputation of the ancient physiognomist "Gui Gu Xian Shi". When such people die, their souls will be severely punished in Hades after which they will be reborn as birds in lonely valleys chirping away all day through. Today we will tour Hades again. Yang Sheng, get ready and get up on the lotus flower platform.

Yang Sheng: Yes, Sir. The weather here is rather warm, I wonder if in Hades it will be cooler and more pleasant.

Jigong: In Hades the weather is so cold that even the hair on your head will stand up. Step on the lotus flower platform quickly and don't waste anymore time.

Yang Sheng: Yes, yes, Master, we can now start......

Jigong: We have arrived, you can get down.

Officer: We extend to both of you a warm welcome for visiting us again.

Yang Sheng: We are here again to continue seeing what goes in this Prison of Poisonous Bees.

Jigong: There are many bad characters on Earth who spoil the good name of Saints and Deities; so that is why we come to this Prison again to obtain more stories of sinful souls for our Book.

Officer: Please follow me inside to have some rest first.

Yang Sheng: As we do not have much time, I think it is not necessary for us to rest.

Officer: If that is so, then I would invite Jigong and Yang Sheng to enter the Prison.

Yang Sheng: This Prison is so full of Bees but instead of producing honey they inject poison into the bodies of sinful souls.

Jigong: That is what it should be. When on Earth these souls had so many sweet things, they now have to taste some bitterness in Hades.

Yang Sheng: These sinful souls after being stung, run about the whole place trying to escape but there is no place to go to.

Jigong: People generally say," There are roads leading to Paradise, but they don't want to take these roads; rather, they prefer to rush towards the Prison gates."

Officer: Nowadays there are many abbots of temples who make use of the good name of Deities to get money and to entice innocent and ignorant women. Society disapproves of such practices because the name of the Deities are spoilt by such behaviour. That is why the number of souls in this Prison is always on the increase. I am much moanful to see this situation. I will summon a few of the souls so that they can tell you the extent of their decadent morality when they were alive.

Yang Sheng: Thank you, Officer for assisting us.

Officer: I am duty bound to help you. Therefore there is no need to stand on ceremony. I have already asked the General to bring forward a couple of souls. Here, you two, this is Sheng Xian Tang's Yang Sheng who is accompanying Jigong to Hades to get firsthand information for their Book; both of you will have to tell Yang Sheng truthfully why you are here.

1st Soul: When I was alive, I was a medium of Zhong Tan Yuan Shuai Temple of Taichung, Taiwan. At first the Deities borrowed my body as a medium and I was very successful in curing a lot of cases which the doctors or physicians could not tackle. These successes were mainly due to the effectiveness of the Deity Zhong Tan Yuan Shuai. At last, seeing that there were so many believers and devotees, even when Zhong Tan Yuan Shuai did not enter my body, I pretended to enter into a trance thereby bluffing the devotees who came to seek help, telling them that the devil had been disturbing them and had to be appeased. The devotees were told to buy much joss paper to burn, and to pay a few thousand dollars to the medium who would act and pray for them. Actually, the Deities did not come, neither did they ask for such things, but because the Deities did not come, I demanded such things instead. I made a lot of money in this way; with the ill gotten money, I bought some big houses. When I died, my soul was brought by the soldiers of Hades to the Fourth Tribunal where Wu Guan Wang scolded me,"You were the medium of Zhong Tan Yuan Shuai and being a medium, you should have regarded it your duty to help those who came to the temple for spiritual help. Instead, you used the good name of the Deity to get money from the poor devotees. That being so, the good work you had done as a medium was over-shadowed by your greed for money - that is why you are here". When I was a medium, I was not afraid of the slashes and wounds inflicted by the sacred sword but now the stings of the Bees cause me great pain and suffering. My repentance is too late now. I hope the existing living medium will not deceive the Deities and devotees, like the bad example I had made.

Jigong: By selecting mediums to go into a trance, the Deities want to help human beings and this is the tradition of Taoism. The fact that the Deities through mediums can cure illnesses which doctors cannot cure, is due to the magnanimity of the Deities in Heaven. Those mediums who make money through bluffing the people are going against the wishes of Heaven. Using one's life to become a medium is very meritorious and it is quite in order if the devotees choose to give donations out of their own free will but, to use the good offices and name of Deities to get money from believers is very unpardonable. According to the laws of the Earth, this is too bad, but in the eyes of the laws of Hades, it is even much worse.

Officer: 2nd Soul, it is now your turn to tell your sinful story to Yang Sheng.

2nd Soul: When I was alive, I practiced physiognomy and I was an adept in issuing amulets. In the evenings, I set up stall in the roadside to cater for the wants of customers. Once when business was not too good, a young man came up and asked me to "read his face". I saw an opportunity to make easy money and got very free with my tongue, telling him that from the look of his face, his fate was rather gloomy and to counteract, he had to spend money to get rid of the bad fate and I was able to assist by drawing an amulet for him for the purpose. This young man had absolute faith in my powers and after preparing the amulet, I demanded $1,500 for my services. Henceforth, I used this ruse to get money from trusting customers when an opportunity presented itself. When I died, Wu Guan Wang scolded me and said that although I had the ability to "read faces", I had no morality and used my skill to get money from trusting people; he sentenced me to this Prison for 12 years. I am already here 3 years and have many more years of suffering to go through. My body being stung by the Bees, is swollen and painful. I now repent but it is already too late.

Jigong: When you were on Earth, you were very smart and also had the gift of the gab; was like the Bees which hurt more people but never did any good for them. Therefore, being sent to this Prison is good retribution. I wish to warn all physiognomists to walk the correct path and avoid the wrong path. Instead of looking at and studying the faces of the customers, those who look at the customers' pockets will eventually have to be sent to this Prison to be punished. As time is running short, we will now have to return.

Yang Sheng: Can I ask Officer if it is a fact that those who damage the good name of Deities, when they die, their souls will have to be sent to this Prison?

Officer: It depends. Those who purposely entice, and some other special cases are sent to other Prisons. This Prison caters for one particular type of sin.

Yang Sheng: It is now time to return and so I must thank Officer and General for assisting us. We will have to say goodbye.

Officer: All of you, escort Jigong and Yang Sheng out.

Jigong: Thank you, Officer, we are leaving. Yang Sheng, get ready to board the lotus flower platform quickly.

Yang Sheng: I am safely seated, dear Master, we can start......

Jigong: We have arrived at Sheng Xian Tang. Yang Sheng, get down. Soul, return to your body.