Journeys To The Underworld - Journey No. 32
5th Moon 16th Day (2nd July, 1977)
Touring the Fifth Tribunal Again
Visiting the Gouging Heart Prison
Jigong: In Chinese culture, morality is the outcome of the consummation of the vigours of Heaven and Earth, and the longer the history of the culture, the newer is the result; this evolution has been in existence for a very long time past and will not stop even for more than 10,000 years to come. Unfortunately, the Chinese of today crave for the materialistic world and despise their own Chinese culture in preference for Western culture and civilization, thereby creating among themselves and society unfortunate cases of lawlessness like low morality, robbery and gangsterism, drug addiction and so forth. These types of people always run down their own Chinese culture and claim that Western culture is much better thus putting to shame their own original ancestry started by Emperor Huang Di (The Yellow Emperor). Especially scientists today claim that science has progressed to such an extent that they are more clever than Nature. They are not aware that they are like a tiny millet in a vast ocean. They claim to be able to destroy the art of Nature which, unknown to them, will ultimately bring destruction and calamity to the whole World. If people escape from Nature, their life will be unnatural and so, I would like enlightened people to consider if this is in fact true. Today we will tour Hades again. Yang Sheng quickly get up on the lotus flower platform.
Yang Sheng: Yes, Sir. I am safely seated. We can now start......
Jigong: We have arrived; quickly get down.
Sen Luo Wang: Welcome to you, Jigong and Yang Sheng for visiting our Tribunal again. The journey must have been quite bothersome.
Jigong: Oh no, the journey was quite O.K. I am afraid we have come to disturb you again today. May I request Sen Luo Wang to show us the works of your Prison?
Sen Luo Wang: I had already stated earlier that I intend to show you the Gouging Heart Prison, so therefore follow me.
Yang Sheng: Thank you, Sen Luo Wang, for undertaking to sponsor us. In front of us are the 16 small Gouging Heart Prisons and I can hear cries of great grief. I think this is some sort of bloody execution ground.
Sen Luo Wang: The hearts of these souls have become so evil that we have no alternative but to gouge out these evil hearts and try and cure or cleanse them.
Yang Sheng: The Prison Officer has come and so I will go and pay respects to him.
Officer: My humble respects of Sen Luo Wang, Jigong and Yang Sheng for coming here. We have received information that Taichung Sheng Xian Tang's Yang Sheng and Western Heaven's Jigong will be coming to our Prison today. In case I fail to entertain you sufficiently well, I hope you will kindly overlook any shortcomings.
Yang Sheng: Officer, no need to offer excuses. Today I follow my dear Master to your Prison so that I can write a book on what I observe here.
Sen Luo Wang: Order the Generals to quickly open the gate.
General: Yes, Sir...... The gate is open, please enter.
Yang Sheng: Ayoh! I cannot bear to hear the sorrowful screaming of the souls. The devil imps are splitting open the chests of the souls and gouging out the hearts, exactly like in the animal slaughter house where they cut open the stomach of pigs and extract the hearts and intestines. The souls are strapped to pillars and the bare chests are slit open and the souls emit a shrill cry and faint right away. What sins have they committed when alive?
Officer: I will sprinkle the soul recalling water to revive a few souls.
Yang Sheng: Oh! It's so wonderful and mysterious. As soon as the soul recalling water is sprinkled, the souls immediately revive and the chest wounds close up, return to normal and in good condition.
Officer: I will summon a few souls so that they can tell their own stories to you.
Sen Luo Wang: Here, sinful souls, listen carefully.. Jigong and human being Yang Sheng of Taichung Sheng Xian Tang have come here following the receipt of Heavenly Order to investigate the circumstances of your presence in this Prison. When you were alive on Earth, what sins did you commit? Say truthfully and don't tell lies, so that they can report in the Book, for human beings to read and to learn therefrom. Don't disobey my order.
One Soul: O.K, O.K, but I would request your Highness to mitigate the punishment inflicted on me. Can you do it?
Sen Luo Wang: You tell your story first and I will decide later.
One Soul: Very well then. When I was alive, I was quite a learned man, having read a lot of books. When I went to University, I was interested in current events and was much influenced by Western civilization and culture. In the University, there was a professor who was a Christian; he persuaded me to become a Christian and to study English language very hard so that at a future date I could go to the West. I was very much impressed and so became a Christian. Whenever I could spare the time, I often went to the Church to listen to preaching and to pick up more English language through the preacher's speaking. In the congregation were many young people who wore western dresses. I soon mixed with many youngsters and learned many Western ideas and habits. There was much socializing and activity which I liked very much, which led me to be baptised. I despised my parents who continued to worship idols, were old fashioned and were behind time. They prayed to wooden figures and were superstitious. During the summer vacation, I returned to my native village, bent on converting my parents and family to Christianity. I told them to stop worshipping to wooden figures but they would not listen to me. I got very angry and taking hold of the ancestral tablets, threw them to the ground. My parents were much taken aback and took hold of the chair and hit me. I then ran away from home. After graduation I followed my Christian preacher to preach Christianity from place to place. One day, I met with an accident and subsequently died. My Christian God did not bring me to Heaven; instead two evil spirits brought my soul to the Fifth Tribunal where Sen Luo Wang sentenced me to this Prison. I beg Sen Luo Wang to forgive me for my sins.
Sen Luo Wang: It is not an offence to believe in any religion and to be converted; but in your case, you forsook your old religion for a new and what was even worse, you threw away your ancestral tablets which action is totally unpardonable. In addition, when you went preaching, did you think about "drinking the water and giving a thought to the fountain which supplied the water"? Your preacher told you not to worship wooden figures but you never understood the truth. The wooden cross, the bible and the preacher are all like wooden figures; why did you worship them? People say "clear off wooden figures" - this means that you should look through the mask of humanity and must not be greedy for the pleasures of the flesh but must aim at the filling of empty spiritual life with worthwhile undertakings and actions. "Clearing off wooden figures" also means respect spiritual faith for eternal life. You misunderstood the true meaning and thereby destroyed the ancestral tablets thus destroying the morality of your ancestors. I ask you; where did your body come from and what was your surname? All these were given by your ancestors. Heaven is "Great God" and ancestors are "Small God". You forgot your origin and cheated your ancestors thereby going against your Maker's heart, that's why God did not bring you to Heaven and therefore you were dropped into this Prison. Now, because you were truthful in your story, I am prepared to reduce your sentence by two months. When you have finished your term of penalty, I will send you to be reborn as one of the six stages of rebirth.
Jigong: Belief in any religion is to cultivate the heart and self-culture and it is the ignorant people who always reject other people's religions and say that theirs is the only and best religion. The Law of Heaven is fixed; if you say that other religions are not good and your own religion is the best, it shows that you have two hearts or selfish motives thus destroying universal love and mercy. In this way belief in your own religion is not spiritual success. If such a person is a spiritual success then God is unfair because there will be friction and entanglement in Heaven which will turn it into a battlefield. How then can we say that there is extreme joy and serenity in Paradise? We are running short of time; we have to leave but we will come again soon.
Sen Luo Wang: All Generals, line up and say goodbye to our guests.
Yang Sheng: As we have little time to spare, we will have to return. I thank Sen Luo Wang, Officers and Generals for your assistance. We must leave now.
Jigong: Quickly get up on the lotus flower platform.
Yang Sheng: I'm securely seated, dear Master, we can start......
Jigong: We have arrived at Sheng Xian Tang. Yang Sheng get down. Soul, return to your body.