Chapter 26
Jehovih said to Chine: Now I will stir up the nations. Through you I will show them the glory and dominion of My kingdoms.
For you shall walk without feet; write without hands; hear without ears; see without eyes; and you shall rise in the air like a bird; by your own will, go wherever you choose.
And you shall bring down the thundercloud, and at the sound of your voice the rains shall fall.
And you shall say: Go away, you clouds; and the sun will shine in their place.
And you shall come to some who are hungry, and your voice shall rise up to Me, and I will send down from heaven the food of heaven (haoma); and your people shall eat of it and be appeased.
And you shall stretch up your hand over the dead that are ready for the furnace, and they shall come to life again and be made whole.
For these are the testimonies that you are My servant, and have kept My commandments.
In which you shall say to them: Behold me; I am only a man! Why do you fall down (prostrate) before the Gods and worship them? For I charge, O all you people, that you shall not worship me nor call me anything but a man striving to do the will of my Father, the Creator.
For whoever becomes one with Him; to such a person many miracles are possible; although, I declare to you, they are not miracles in fact; but possibilities granted by Jehovih to the upright, who serve Him in act and truth.
Jehovih said to Chine: And when you have shown these things to many, know, then, your time on the earth is finished. For I will cast you in a trance, and the people shall bewail, saying: Alas, he is dead! And they shall cover you and cast your body into the furnace as is done with the dead; and the fire shall blaze and consume your body before them. But you shall have previously bid them watch by the furnace, for you shall gather together the elements of your burnt body and restore them, and again inhabit it and go about, preaching before men.
Therefore get ready; declaring these prophecies beforehand, so that they may be testified to by men, and so be recorded in the libraries of the kings and queens.
Chine conveyed to the congregations of Faithists, the true Zarathustrians, what Ormazd (Jehovih) had said, and many of them wept bitterly.
In years prior to this, when Chine had traveled and preached by the voice of Jehovih, he visited the kings, princes and rich men in many regions; and while he was thus speaking, rebuking them for their governments and for their possessions, they took no part against him. But afterward, when he was gone, the kings, queens and nobles said: Chine has preached a dangerous doctrine; for he said: You shall have no king but the Creator, Who is King over all. Will this not set our slaves against us? And if the people go into communities of their own, ignoring the king, where will the king find his revenue?
And there were priests of Dyaus and of other Gods, and speakers in temples (oracles) where the Gods wrote on sand tables. Besides these there were countless seers and prophets. And the kings, being on the alert, investigated the matter, inquiring of the spirits as to whether the doctrines of Chine were true.
And some of the spirits said: There is no All Person. Behold, we have visited the stars and the sun, and looked far and near, and we did not see any Creator, or All Person. There is no Great Spirit, except Te-in, who was a onetime mortal, but has risen to all power in heaven and earth.
And other spirits said: There is nothing in heaven that you do not have on earth. How shall we find Ormazd? Do not waste your time with Chine and his doctrines; he will overthrow your kingdoms. Eat, drink and satiate your desires; for these are the sum and substance of all things in heaven and earth.
Te-zee, king of A’shong, the capital city of the Province of Aen-Na-Po’e, who was also a great philosopher, had previously heard Chine preach, and was greatly interested. Sometime after this a magician, Loo Sin, visited Te-zee, who told the magician about the wonders of Chine. The magician listened to the king’s story, and the king asked the magician whether he could himself, in addition to his sleight-of-hand, manifest wisdom in words, like Chine, and if so, how could it be attained?
Loo Sin, the magician, answered: Te-zee, O king, you do not know how you have embarrassed me, your servant. For when we are young, and finding we have the natural powers for a magician, we go before an adept to be taught all the mysteries of the order; and here we take a most binding oath never to reveal by hint, word, mark, or written character, anything that will reveal any of our signs and mysteries, binding ourselves under great penalties, which I cannot name to you.
Know then, O king, I can answer all your questions, and am desirous to serve you, but what shall I do?
The king said: I, being king, absolve you from your oath. The magician said: Compared to my power, though I only beg from door to door, your power, O king, is only as chaff before the wind. In my subtle realms are the keys of all dominions. Not only do I and my craft rule over mortals, but over the spirits of the dead. My oath, then, is too great for you to absolve, for I cannot even absolve it myself!
Te-zee, the king, said: Since, then, you cannot do all things, and, especially, absolve an oath, you are not sufficient for me to deal with. Loo Sin, being desirous of earning something, said: As for that, O king, I tell you I cannot reveal all, for the virtue of my art depends much on its secrets and mystery. Nevertheless, as I am very poor, I might reveal an index to you, by which, if you would apply yourself diligently, you could attain the remainder.
So the king commanded him to perform before him, agreeing to award him according to the decree of the fates (spirits). And Loo Sin at once went to work, performing wonderful feats, such as causing the tables, seats and desks, to move about and to roll over; and he caused voices to speak in unseen places. He also changed rods into serpents, and caused birds to sit on the king’s shoulder; and he changed water into wine, and also brought fish and laid them on the floor at the king’s feet.
The king said to him: All these things I have witnessed from my youth up. Show me now, while you remain here, how you can see into my neighbor’s house?
The magician said: Yes, O king; but for that feat it is necessary to enter the state of the holy ghost (trance), and the price is expensive!
The king said: I will pay you; therefore enter into the state of the holy ghost.
Loo Sin turned up his eyes and gave a shudder, as one dying, and having stretched himself on the floor, bade the king to question him.
The king said: Here is chalk; mark on the floor the character that is on the top of my tablet, on the left of the throne! Almost immediately the magician marked correctly. And now again the king tried him as to his power to see without his eyes, and in far-off places; and, having proved him in many ways, the king said: Can you also show the spirits of the dead?
Loo Sin said: In truth I can, O king. But that requires me to enter the sublime state of creation, and is even yet more expensive!
The king said: Have I not said I will pay you? Get moving, then. Enter the sublime state of creation at once!
Loo Sin then went into a dark corner and laid himself down on the floor, and then swallowed his tongue, and was motionless and stiff, like one that is quite dead. Presently a light like a thin smoke rose up from the body and stood a little aside, and a voice spoke out of the light, saying:
Who are you that calls up the spirits of the dead? Beware! He whose body lies stiff and cold beside me, is one of the heirs of the immortal Gods! What do you ask, man of earth?
The king said: Who are you? The voice answered: I am Joss, Te-in! Ruler of heaven and earth! The Great Spirit personified! Creator of all things!
The king in satire said: You are welcome, O Te-in! I am one of the most blest of mortals, because you have made my place a holy place.
The spirit then assumed mortal shape and stood before the king, even while the magician’s body lay on the floor in sight also. The spirit said: What question troubles you, O king? Speak, and I will answer you, for I am all Wisdom and Truth personified.
The king said: Why have you not appeared to me before this? Why have I been left in the dark as to your real existence? Answer me this? For it is the foundation on which I desire to rest many questions.
The spirit said: My son, Te-zee, I have been with you since your youth, watching over you, for you shall become the greatest king in all the world. Yes, there are great works for you to do. And if you desire to extend your kingdom, or to gain great battles, I will show you the way, yes? Or if you desire another woman to wife, I will find her for you, yes?
The king said: You are a great heavenly ruler, I fully believe, but you did not answer my question. Moreover, you question me about my kingdom and about another woman to wife, and these things are not what I desire of you. And as for the matter of women, I do not yet have one wife; consequently I do not desire another.
The spirit said: Who do you say I am? The king replied: I am at a loss to know if you are a fool or a devil; and I say that I have either seen one like you, or else you, through many magicians. But, alas, there all knowledge ends.
The spirit said: You said you would pay what the fates decreed. Hear me then, O king; you shall give to Loo Sin four pieces of gold. And after that I will explain all things to you.
The king then cast the four pieces of gold to Loo Sin, and demanded the knowledge as promised. The spirit then said: And on your oath you will not reveal?
The king said: I solemnly swear to reveal nothing of what you teach Me. The spirit said: Know, then, O king, I am Loo Sin, the magician! By long training, the magician attains to go out of his own body in spirit, and to appear in any form or shape desired. Will you try me? The king said: Show me the spirit of king Ha Gow-tsee.
The spirit walked back to the body of Loo Sin, and presently returned before the king, looking like the spirit of Ha Gow-tsee. The king said: It is like the king! The spirit answered: Here then, O man, is the end of philosophy. Behold, I am Loo Sin also. Some men are one spirit, some two, some three, and some four, to one corporeal body. And yet there is only one person in fact.
The king asked: What becomes of the spirit when the corporeal part is dead? The spirit answered: One of two things is possible to every man: His spirit will either dissolve into non-existence, and be scattered and void like the air of heaven, like the heat of a fire that is burnt out; or else it will reincarnate itself in the body of a child before it is born, and so, live over again.
All people came into the world this way. A child that is stillborn is one in whose body no spirit reincarnated itself. There are no new creations. The same people live now on the earth that always lived on it; nor will there be any others. They go out of one body when it is old and worn out; and then enter a young one and live over again and again, forever. Nor is there anything more or less for any man, woman or child in all the world.
The king asked: What, then, is the highest, best thing for a mortal man to do during life?
The spirit said: To eat and drink, and sleep and rest, and enjoy begetting numerous offspring.
The king asked: How long would a spirit live if it did not reincarnate itself? The spirit said: If the mortal body is burnt to ashes, then that is the time; if the body is buried, and rots, and returns to earth, then that is the time; if the body is embalmed, and keeps well, the spirit goes back into the embalmed body and remains till that body is moldered into dust. When the body is moldered into dust, or burnt to ashes, then the spirit is set free, and ready to either reincarnate itself or to dissolve and disappear forever.
The king asked: As it is with you, is it the same with all magicians? The spirit said: You have only given four pieces of gold; if you would have more, the price is expensive. The king said: I have told you I would pay whatever the fates decreed; therefore, proceed. The spirit said: It is even so with all magicians. The king asked: Show me now that you can preach like Chine?
The spirit said: You shall ask me questions, and I will preach on them. ||
The king asked many questions, and the spirit spoke on them. Finally the king said: That is sufficient; I will pay you; go your way. As for your preaching and your doctrines, they are nothing. || Now I will send and find another magician; for out of a counsel with many I shall arrive at the truth.