- Touring “Cheng Huang
Miao” –
- City Temple of Hades
- How Souls of the Dead
are brought there
-
- JiGong:
Today at 12 noon, Huang Wenda, the husband of Lai
Sheng Kuan, passed away. This brings me to remark
that human life-span is rather short. Human beings
are prone to discuss in detail, however small it may
be; so why bother about life? When the beating of
the heart stops, everything is brought to an end,
then where would the money and children and worldly
property be after one is dead and gone? The dead
man’s body will still be in the house for a couple
of days after which it will be sent to the
countryside for burial and so, what is now left of
the man?
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- Yang Sheng:
Dear Master, you have just said that Mr Huang has
died, where then has he gone after death?
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- JiGong:
The months and years are long but the roads to Hades
are much longer. This will be the place where human
beings after death will go to. The purpose of our
Book, “Diyu Youji,” is to inform human beings what
they will get when in Hades after death.
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- Yang Sheng:
Very good! It is quite a big problem. Human beings
know that after death, they will go to Hades but
what awaits them there, they do not know. Therefore,
dear Master will you please speak out so that people
will know better.
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- JiGong:
Alright. Quickly get up on the lotus flower platform
and I’ll bring you there so that you can see for
yourself.
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- Yang Sheng:
I’m safely seated; we can start now….
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- JiGong:
We have arrived, get down.
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- Yang Sheng:
I seem to remember that we have already been here
before.
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- JiGong:
You are right. You see the body of Mr Huang is lying
on the bed in his house. In front of the bed are
some members of Sheng Xian Tang saying prayers and
they are now about to finish their prayers. The
family of Mr Huang is much grieved and the
expression of emotion is clearly shown in their
faces.
-
- Yang Sheng:
We can only see the body but not his spiritual soul.
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- JiGong:
Quickly get up on the lotus flower platform again
and I’ll bring you to “Cheng Huang Miao” (City
Temple) to let you have a clearer view.
-
- Yang Sheng:
I’m safely seated; please start…
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- JiGong:
We have arrived.
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- Yang Sheng:
There are so many souls in Cheng Huang Miao – much
movement of soldiers of Hades, and Horses, which is
never seen on Earth.
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- JiGong:
Let us go inside and pay our respects to Cheng Huang
(God of the City).
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- Cheng Huang:
Welcome JiGong and Yang Sheng. If you want any
assistance, it is my pleasure.
-
- JiGong:
It is because the husband of Sheng Xian Tang’s
Vice-Chairman has just died and also in connection
with the writing of the Book, “Diyu Youji” by Sheng
Xian Tang to let human beings know more about what
they should expect to get after death, that we are
here today to seek your assistance.
-
- Cheng Huang:
Welcome, welcome; please be seated. I will ask
General to serve you tea.
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- General:
Yes, Sir….May I invite both of you to drink tea?
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- Yang Sheng:
Thank you very much. Can I ask Cheng Huang what kind
of work you do here?
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- Cheng Huang:
What I do here most human beings do not know. The
work we do here is very much what the Police on
Earth do. Fu De Zheng Shen
Miao is like a branch of Police Station and
comes under the jurisdiction of Cheng Huang. When
the life-span of a human being is about to finish,
the soldiers of Hades will bring the warrant for his
arrest to his Office. A representative from this
Office will accompany the soldier to
Fu De
Zheng Shen Miao and
a representative from this
Miao will follow both of them to Earth to
bring the dead person’s soul to Hades.
-
- Yang Sheng:
I still have some more questions to ask Cheng Huang.
By what means does the soldier of Hades bring a good
man here and how does he bring a sinful man here?
-
- Cheng Huang:
Sometimes an
Ox-head-horse-faced General is sent and
sometimes Hei Bai Wu Chang
is sent; when the soldier arrives at the home
of a person whose life-span is about to end, he taps
the man’s shoulder and he immediately dies and he
leads the soul to Hades. If a person is sinful, the
hands of the soul are tied up in chains and dragged
to Hades, very much like the Police on Earth
dragging a prisoner. On arrival, the soldier leads
him to the Office of Cheng Huang to report. His
earthly name is cancelled from the register here and
then his name is inserted in the Ghost Register.
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- Yang Sheng:
Is a good person or an ascetic practitioner given
any preferential treatment?
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- Cheng Huang:
Definitely yes! If the life-span of a human being
who has done a lot of good deeds, thus gaining
merits, is up, the soldier of Hades reports to my
Office and Fu Shen (God of
Happiness) is sent down to Earth to bring his
soul here; however, in case of a very pious ascetic
practitioner, his patron
Saint (the one that
he prays to for guidance) is sent to bring
his soul here. In the case of those very pious
ascetic practitioner who do not have patron Saints,
some have to undergo the standard reporting
procedure of Hades for good souls, while for others,
they have to go to Jiu
Yang Guan to be tested and if found
satisfactory, will be sent to Heaven.
-
- Yang Sheng:
Is there any different procedure for bringing the
souls of persons who embrace the various types of
religions?
-
- Cheng Huang:
Although different people have different beliefs
about other religions, the worship of Truth is the
same. If such a person aspires to go to Heaven after
death, he when alive; must lead or follow the
“Middle Path,” always doing righteous and good
deeds, not leaning towards the right side or the
left side, or doing things according to his own
whims and fancies. Otherwise there is little
likelihood of his going to Heaven, irrespective of
what religion he embraces.
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- JiGong:
What Cheng Huang has just said is very true. Of
unprincipled ascetic practitioners, there are four
types who: a) hold fast to
their own personal beliefs b) tend towards rivalry
among themselves c) indulge in gossip d) self praise
- These sort of ascetic practitioners tend to lose
their temper quickly, and aspire to leadership. When
they die, their souls will be sent to Hades to
suffer and then to undergo further training.
-
- Yang Sheng:
May I ask Cheng Huang where has Mr Huang’s soul now
gone to?
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- Cheng Huang:
I can bring you inside to have a look…
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- Yang Sheng:
Oh! Mr Huang is sitting inside a room, like a class
room and there are 5 or 6 souls. He is sitting on a
chair and nodding his head in my direction, Can I
talk to him?
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- Cheng Huang:
Yes, you can.
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- Yang Sheng:
Mr Huang, how are you?
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- Huang’s soul:
Thank you, I’m O.K. Ah…..(crying)
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- Yang Sheng:
Mr Huang is still crying and cannot speak.
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- JiGong:
Wenda (Mr Huang), do not feel so sad at departing
from your family. Your children are grown up; your
wife is so capable, and your children are also
filial. Therefore, you can set your mind at rest.
-
- Yang Sheng:
Mr Huang cried more and louder.
-
- JiGong:
Be more realistic. Human beings are like visitors –
they come and go from place to place. Therefore do
not think too much of your family.
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- Huang’s Soul:
Thank you very much for your kind advice. I hope you
will kindly guide and instruct my children and
grandchildren to do good deeds and take up ascetic
practice, to go to Sheng Xian Tang more often and
give assistance. Now that I have departed from
Earth, the treatment I receive from Fu Shen and
Cheng Huang is due solely to the meritorious deeds
of my wife. I do not think there is anything to feel
sorry about but my heart is grieved…
-
- Yang Sheng:
Mr Huang, don’t worry unduly. JiGong has spoken to
console you. You had already walked the roads of
Earth and now you have to traverse the roads of
Sacred Doctrine. There is no need to worry.
-
- Huang’s Soul:
I regret very much that I did not devote much of my
time in the affairs of Sheng Xian Tang. Ah…(crying).
Thank you and the members of Sheng Xian Tang for
your kind assistance when I was alive.
-
- JiGong:
As we do not have much time to spare, please do not
talk too long. Let us return to the Office for a
short rest.
-
- Cheng Huang:
I invite both of you to come to the Office….Sit
down. Yang Sheng, have you any more questions to
ask?
-
- Yang Sheng:
Many people have asked me what happens after death
and I don’t know. May I ask Cheng Huang to kindly
enlighten me on this matter?
-
- Cheng Huang:
Don’t stand on ceremony; you can ask any question
you like. With JiGong with us, he too, can help to
clear any doubts.
-
- Yang Sheng:
What takes place when a person dies and his soul
departs from his earthly body?
-
- Cheng Huang:
When a person is due to die, there is always an omen
which generally comes in the form of sickness. Why
sickness? It is because of age, which is like an old
tree about to fall down. Firstly, the roots and
leaves decay and then when a strong gust of wind
blows, the tree topples down. Let us trace the
various sequences – immediately a baby is born, a
Record Book is made out and also a tree, an
Individual Personality Tree, is planted in Hades;
what a person does or how he conducts himself during
his lifetime on Earth, every item of his behaviour
is endorsed in his Record Book. If there is any sign
of change in his tree’s growth, it is an indication
that the life of the person concerned is coming to
an end. Then an Officer of Hades quickly refers to
his Birth and Death Record Book. If his time to die
has come, Wu Chang is instructed to go down to Earth
with an Order to bring the person’s soul to Hades.
When his soul arrives, his Individual Personality
Tree falls down. This is called Death. A person’s
soul will stay in his body only during his whole
lifetime. It is like grafting a tree; the person
grows older and the tree grows bigger. When the soul
is about to leave the body, it is like the branch of
a tree snapping but the bark of the tree still
remaining attached to the tree, very much like the
skin of a tortoise shell peeling off – very painful.
You will observe that there is material change in a
person’s look when he is dead; some dead person will
gnash his teeth in anger, his face will look fierce,
not like what he used to look when he is alive; this
indicates that when he was about to die, he was
fearful, angry, and so he gnashed his teeth. This is
an indication that either, it was a retribution in
this life for the sins of a previous existence or
unnatural death. If a dead person’s face looks
peaceful and cheerful, like sleeping, this shows
that his soul is tranquil and fearless, his journey
to Hades is uneventful – such is an indication that
the dead person has morality and not sinful.
-
- JiGong:
When a person’s breath stops, it does not usually
mean that he is dead. Take for example, a torchlight
which does not emit light when the switch is on – it
does not usually mean that the battery is run down.
There may still be some juice left in the battery
but not powerful enough to light the bulb up.
Therefore, when a person’s breathing stops it may be
that he is a state of shock. At this time his soul
has not yet completely left his earthly body. We can
say that although he is said to be dead, yet his
heart is not dead and still has consciousness left,
just that the mouth cannot express. At this time,
the children and close relatives of the deceased
should go to the ears and console him by speaking in
low tones (whisper) “Set
your mind at rest, we have
arranged everything. There
is no need to
worry.” This assurance will tend to make the
deceased’s soul have a care-free journey to Hades.
If he is of the Buddhist faith, the children, etc
can chant “Amitabha”
if he is a Taoist, the chant will be
“Tai Yi Jiu Ku Tian Zun.”
Such prayers or chanting will have the effect of
making the Fairies in Heaven help the dead person’s
soul have no fear on his journey to Hades. Because
at this time the soul is like one groping in the
dark and the soul’s heart is in a haze. With such
chanting, the Fairies in Heaven will help to make
the soul’s heart steadier on the journey. When a
person dies, his family should take vegetarian
dishes, wear plain and simple clothes, must not
drink liquor, entertain, enjoy or make merry,
because such unbecoming actions will influence the
Cheng Huang of the place the soul is going to. This
Cheng Huang will be able to report favourably to
Bian Cheng Wang who can mitigate the sins which the
dead person had committed when he was alive. By
mourning in this way, the children, etc, by their
self-restraint, will help to lessen what sins the
dead had committed when he was alive and also they
can repay their gratitude. It is now time for us to
return.
-
- Yang Sheng:
Wait a moment please. I don’t know where is the next
place Mr Huang Wenda’s soul will go?
-
- Cheng Huang:
We have received a letter of recommendation from Wen
Heng Sheng Di of Sheng Xian Tang. However, this soul
must first come to Hades and then his previous
actions, behaviour and sins on Earth will be judged.
-
- JiGong:
Yang Sheng, do not ask any more questions regarding
this matter; we will know what happens, later on.
Prepare to return.
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- Cheng Huang:
All Generals, line up and bid goodbye.
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- Yang Sheng:
Thank you very much, Cheng Huang. Dear Master, we
can start…
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- JiGong:
We have arrived at Sheng Xian Tang. Yang Sheng, get
down. Soul, return to your body.
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- End of Journey No
41
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