Journeys To The Underworld - Journey No. 57

5th Moon 26th Day (1st July 1978)

Touring the Tenth Tribunal 

Visiting Meng Po Ting

Jigong: When we stand, we must stand upright. The body must not bend in any direction. the same applies to human beings; be straightforward, you must not cheat others and you must not set one person against another. You must be helpful to others and must not be lazy so that an example can be shown for others to emulate. Yang Sheng, do you think what I have said is correct?

Yang Sheng: Very true, dear Master, very true. You've spoken well. To be a man, one must stand firm and have fixed principles. Otherwise how he succeed in ascetic pursuits?

Jigong: If when standing, you are not steady, so likewise when sitting or sleeping, you cannot sit or sleep steadily too. Those who want to be ascetic practitioners must have a steady and stout heart, must not show any sign of a wavering heart anytime. Yang Sheng, prepare to get up on the lotus flower platform. Today, we will visit the Tenth Tribunal to continue our observations.

Yang Sheng: I'm safely seated. We can now start......

Jigong: We've arrived. Yang Sheng, get down.

Yang Sheng: I observe that Zhuan Lun Wang is already waiting for us. I'll go and pay respects.

Zhuan Lun Wang: That's alright. Please don't stand on ceremony. I extend a very warm welcome to both of you here today. Last time we introduced you to the various functions and duties of the Eight Departments of Zhuan Jie Suo. Today, we will show you workings of the "Six Paths of Metempsychosis". As time is rather limited, we must not delay.

Yang Sheng: Thank you very much for sending so many Officers and Generals to accompany us...... We have arrived at Zhuan Jie Suo. There are so many people gathered here, Eastern people, Western people, and all sorts of people all here. Are they all getting ready to be reborn?

Zhuan Lun Wang: When a person dies, his soul must pass through all Tribunals here to be judged for their past deeds / misdeeds when living on Earth. That is why Hell is like an International Court of Justice. Irrespective of what colour, all souls to be reborn must have evidence that they can be reborn, exactly like those human beings who wish to leave one country for another must have a valid passport.

Yang Sheng: Now we have reached the Eighth Department, known as "Rebirth Department"...... Wow! There are so many souls, all waiting, exactly the scene at a railway station waiting for the train to arrive.

Jigong: Ha, ha. All these chaps are going to Zhuan Lun Tai which means Transmigration Station. This is very much like human beings waiting at a railway station for the train to arrive. When the train is ready to depart, passengers board the carriages and the wheels of the train start; each passenger holds a ticket to go to his destination. Now the souls at this Transmigration Station will be brought to their various rebirth destinations. 

Zhuan Lun Wang: What Jigong has just said is true. All human beings after death, must pass through all the Ten Tribunals of Hell so that their souls can be judged and judgement passed and sentences served after which they will be allowed to be reborn, based upon their past actions on Earth.

Yang Sheng: There are so many souls in front of us, all appear to be drinking tea to cool their system. The weather here is rather warm and I myself feel thirsty. I would like also to drink a cup of this tea.

Zhuan Lun Wang: Oh dear! Under no circumstances must you go and drink the tea! That place is called 'Meng Po Ting'. All souls due to be reborn must go there and drink the tea which is called 'Ou Wang Tang'. If you drink this tea and your soul returns to Earth, you will be a 'muddled' person.

Yang Sheng: Wow! So dangerous.

Jigong: This is no laughing matter.

Yang Sheng: Yes, this tea drinking place has three characters written at the entrance 'Meng Po Ting'. Can Zhuan Lun Wang kindly explain fully to us the functions of this place?

Zhuan Lun Wang: Very well. This place Meng Po Ting is under the charge of deity Meng Po duly authorised by Yu Di (Jade Emperor). Any soul who is due to be reborn, must first come to this place to drink the tea Ou Wang Wang. If he does not drink this Ou Wang Tang and is reborn, he will be able to remember the happenings of his previous life and association with other people still living and can cause trouble and embarrassment to others thereby upsetting the peace. This tea Ou Wang Tang tastes sweet, sour, acrid, bitter and saltish, which after being drunk, makes a soul forget north, south, east, west and becomes muddled, making him walk aimlessly towards Zhuan Lun Tai.

Jigong: This Ou Wang Tang is infatuated soup which makes one's mind confused. THere is also such a kind of soup on Earth.

Yang Sheng: I've never heard of such a soup.

Jigong: As in the case of drinking liquor, an addict coming under its influence cannot differentiate between north, south, east and west, so likewise, a soul after drinking this soup is not truly himself, losing his own wits and wandering aimlessly towards Metempsychosis Station. If such a situation does not exist, which soul in its right senses will go willingly to this Metempsychosis Station to be reborn? Drunkards are usually bold, not fearing water or fire, and dare to jump into a deep ocean. After drinking this soul, a soul becomes unable to control himself, proceeds straight to the Metempsychosis Station and only after the effects of the soup are over will he then realise that he is in another World on awakening.

Yang Sheng: Knowing the secret effect of this Ou Wang Tang, no soul will want to drink it.

Zhuan Lun Wang: There are many things here which you don't know. After a sinful soul has passed through the various punishments meted out at the various Tribunals, he feels his throat is dry and becomes thirsty and when this Tenth Tribunal is reached, he thinks it is journey's end and Earth is very near. Outside this pavilion Meng Po Ting, there is hot vapour which makes every sinful soul thirsty thus the urge to quench their thirst. Some souls are not satisfied to drink just one cup of this soup, asking for more! Yet there are some cunning sinful souls who come here refusing to enter the pavilion because they happen to know the effects of drinking this soup. But under the ground an iron hook contraption has the effect of gripping the feet to prevent movement. At the same time, a female attendant nearby forces these cunning souls to drink this soup.

Yang Sheng: After drinking this soup, the effect makes the one reborn forget his past life but nowadays, children seem to be more smart and enlightened than children of past generations. Does this mean that the present day soup is of poorer quality, thus less effective?

Zhuan Lun Wang: There are many mysteries here which you are not aware of. Human beings have gone through thousands of cycles of metempsychosis and have drunk countless times this soup. After having drunk this soup so many times prior to rebirth, the effects tend to be less apparent thereby making present day children seem smarter than children of long ago, but this kind of smartness is not really smartness. This is not a good sign because this will tend to make the present generation bold and fearless, daring to go against the laws of the country. What is there to be proud of?

Yang Sheng: Oh, I begin to understand.

Jigong: Time is up. We'll have to visit this place again to learn more of the Six Paths of Metempsychosis.

Yang Sheng: Thank you, Zhuan Lun Wang, for imparting to me so much abstruse doctrines. These doctrines are useful to educate all human beings. It is indeed very valuable. I must now say goodbye.

Zhuan Lun Wang: Now that you must leave, I'm not going to detain you any longer but I hope you'll visit us again.

Jigong: Yang Sheng, step on the lotus flower platform and prepare to return.

Yang Sheng: I'm safely seated, dear Master. We can now start......

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