Chapter 27
Te-zee, the king, sent for another magician, Wan-jho, who came and was commanded to exhibit his powers; but he also demanded a high price; which the king agreed to pay, and Wan-jho exhibited. First he caused a rose to come within a glass bottle while it was shut; then he created a small serpent out of a rod, and caused birds to come and sing to the king; then changed vinegar into water; then wrote on a stone tablet without touching the tablet, and even while the tablet lay under the king’s foot.
Now after he had exhibited many more similar feats, he demanded his money, saying: The angels are gone; I can do no more. The king said: And do you not have power to fetch them back?
Wan-jho said: How much would you give? The king answered: Three pieces of gold. And Wan-jho said: Ah, in that case, behold, they have come again! What do you wish? The king commanded him to show the spirits of the dead, so he could converse with them.
Wan-jho went into the same place where Loo Sin had exhibited, and, lying down, cast himself into the death trance. Presently an angel, robed in white, appeared, and came and stood before the king, saying: Most mighty king, what do you ask? Behold me, I am the Goddess, Oe-tu Heng, come from my throne in high heaven. And if you are desirous of conquest in war, or to attain great riches, or more wives, most beautiful, then by my most potent will, I will give to you.
The king said: I am blest, O Goddess, because you have come to see me. But alas, none of the things you have mentioned suits me. I desire nothing regarding this world. Give me light concerning the place in heaven where king See Quan dwells?
The spirit said: Was he your friend or your enemy? The king answered: He was my deadly enemy. The spirit said: I asked you if he was your friend or your enemy, because I saw one See Quan in hell, writhing in great agony. And yet I saw another See Quan in paradise. So, then, I will go and fetch him who is in hell.
The spirit passed over to the corner, and presently returned, saying: O, O, O, O, O! Horrors! Demons! Hell! and such like, pretending to be in torments, as if it were See Quan in torments.
After this the king called for many different spirits, whether they had ever been, or whether fictitious, and they came all the same. Finally Te-zee, the king, said: Bring me now the wisest God in heaven, for I would question him. So, the spirit went again toward the corner, and then approached, saying: Man of earth! Because you have called me I have come. Do you know that when I come, I decree four gold pieces to Wan-jho, my prophet?
The king said: Most just, God! I will pay him. Tell me now where man comes from, and what is his destiny?
The spirit said: First, then, the air above the earth is full of elementary spirits; the largest are as large as a man’s fist, and the smallest not larger than the smallest living insect on the earth. Their size denotes their intelligence; the largest being designed for human beings. These fill all the air of the earth, and all the space in the firmament above the earth; they have existed from everlasting to everlasting, for they were without beginning.
Now while a child is yet within the womb, one of these elementaries enters into the child, and in that instant there is the beginning of the man. And all things that live on the earth are produced like this.
The king asked: Before the time when man begins, while these elementaries are floating about, do they know anything? The spirit said: Many of them have great wisdom and cunning, but are also great liars, thieves and rascals. Do you know Loo Sin, the magician? The king answered: Yes. And then the spirit said: Well, Loo Sin is obsessed by the elementaries, and they are all great liars, pretending to be spirits of the dead! As for myself, I am a most virtuous Goddess, from the highest heavenly spheres. I tell you, O king, these elementaries are the curse of the world; they are anxious to be born into life, so they may obtain souls, and they inspire mortals to paternity and maternity so that they may have an opportunity for incarnation.
The king said: You have answered well, O Goddess. I will pay according to your decree. And with that, the spirit departed. King Te-zee sent for another magician, Hi Gowh, of the rank of priest, and having bargained with him as to his price for exhibiting, commanded him to proceed.
Hi Gowh then exhibited in the same fashion as the others, doing great wonders. And the king also commanded him to show the spirits of the dead. Hi Gowh complained about the price; but being assured by the king that his demands would be paid, the magician went into the same corner and cast himself in the holy ghost (trance); and, presently, a spirit appeared, saying: Greeting to you, O king! Whether you desire conquest, riches, or more women, name your desire, and I will give abundantly. For, I am the spirit of the great Zarathustra.
The king said: Great Zarathustra, you are most welcome. But, alas, none of the things you have named are what I desire. Tell me, O Zarathustra, what is the origin and destiny of man?
The spirit said: First, then, O king, in days long past, the sun turned round so swiftly it threw off its outer rim, and the rim broke into a million pieces, flying every way, and these pieces are the stars and the earth and the moon.
And for millions of years the earth was only a stone, melting hot; but it cooled off in time; and the outer stones on the earth were oxidized, and this made moss; then the moss died; but the spirit of the moss reincarnated itself, and this made grass; and the grass died; but the spirit of the grass lived and reincarnated itself, and thus made the trees.
Then the trees died; but the spirit lived, and it reincarnated and became animals; and they died, but their spirits lived and reincarnated and became man. After that the spirit no longer reincarnates itself, but floats upward into peace, and rests for a long time, when it finally merges back into the sun and is extinct, like a lamp burnt out.
The king asked: How, then, is it with yourself? The spirit replied: I was the original Sun God, who came away from the sun to take charge of this world. It is in my keeping. The king asked: Who, then, is the All First that still stays with the sun?
The spirit answered: Because you ask many questions, O king, you shall pay more money. The king assured the spirit that the money, to any amount, would be paid; so the spirit said: Ahura-Ormazd was the original of all; but when the sun threw off its surface Ahura-Ormazd was thrown into pieces, one piece going to every star, except the earth, and I came here of my own accord, because it was larger and better than any other world.
The king dismissed the spirit and the priest, and sent for another, a magician also of the rank of priest, Gwan Le. And Gwan Le, being assured that his price would be paid, proceeded to exhibit also. And he performed feats like the others. Then the king commanded Gwan Le to call the spirits of the dead.
The priest apologized about the expense of the death trance (holy ghost power), but being further assured that his demands would be paid, he went into the corner and cast himself into the swoon, becoming stiff and cold.
Presently an angel appeared, saying: Behold me, O king, I am Brahma. And if you desire conquest in war, or greater riches, or more women, I will grant your wish. I can tell you about hidden treasures, and rich mines, and desirable women. Also I can tell you how your armies can overcome your enemies with great slaughter.
The king said: I am delighted, O Brahma. But I desire nothing of which you have mentioned. Tell me about the origin and destiny of man?
The spirit said: Know then, O king, all things alive have two parts, the corporeal and the spiritual; all dead things are but one, which is the spirit. You, O king, were first a stone, a very large stone; then when it moldered into dust your soul went into silver, a very large piece; but when the silver rusted away, your soul went into gold; and when the gold was worn away, your soul began to run into vegetable life; and after that it ran into animal life, then into a low order of man, then into the high order of man, as you now are. Thus man came up from the beginning, reincarnating himself over and over, higher and higher and higher. And when he is perfected in spirit as you are, he no longer returns to reincarnate himself. The king asked: What does the spirit do after leaving this world? The spirit replied: You shall then meet your sexual partner, your soul wife; and shall do nothing ever after but have sexual indulgence, peopling the spirit realms with delightful spiritual offspring.
The king said: It is well; you have a wonderful doctrine. And with that, the spirit departed, and the priest also. And the king sent for still another priest, Tseeing, a Brahmin prophet. And the king asked him: What do you see for your king?
The priest said: By the rites of my order I cannot disclose any of the secrets of heaven or earth until you have paid the price of indulgence, which is two pieces of gold. So the king paid him. Tseeing said: And if you desire riches, or success in war, or new wives, speak, and I will grant to you according to the price. The king said: Alas, Tseeing, I desire none of these indulgences; tell me the origin and destiny of man, for I would learn why I am, and the object and end?
Tseeing said: The first of all was Brahma, which was round like an egg. Then Brahma broke open, and the shell was in two halves, and one half was the sky and the other half was the earth. Then Brahma incarnated himself in the earth; but he did not come up as one only, as he expected, but he came up in ten million and one million parts, and every part was a living thing, a tree, or a plant, or a fish, or a bird, or a beast, or a man. And this is all there is or was or ever shall be.
But Brahma looked over the world and he saw that some men were good and some evil. And he said: I will separate the good from the evil. And so that justice would be done he called all the nations and tribes of men before him. And when they had come, he said to them:
Whoever delights in the earth, it shall be his forever. And though he does die, his spirit shall have power to reincarnate itself in another unborn child, and so live over again, and so on, forever. And he shall have great indulgence in the earth, in eating and drinking, and with women, and in all manner of delights, for they shall be his forever.
But whoever delights in spirit shall be blest in spirit. He shall not, after death, reincarnate himself and live over again, but shall dwell forever in heaven and have heavenly delights. But since heavenly delights are different from earthly delights, then as a mortal the spiritual chooser shall not live like earth-people.
But he shall live secluded, and shall torment his flesh with fastings and with castigations. Neither shall he marry nor live with woman, nor beget children, nor have any indulgence on the earth whatsoever, except merely to live; for the earth is not his, nor is he of the earth. And the more he tortures the flesh, the higher his bliss shall be in heaven.
Now, when Brahma had stated the two propositions to the children of the earth, he further added: Choose now which you will; for after you have chosen, behold, there is the end. For you who choose the earth shall be of the earth, even to all succeeding generations. But whoever chooses heaven, to him and his heirs it shall be final, and forever.
And so mortals made their choice, and lo and behold, nearly all of them chose the earth. But in thousands of years and millions of years afterward, Brahma repented of his former decree, for he saw the earth became too full of people, and they were sinful beyond bounds. And Brahma sent a flood of waters and destroyed a trillion times ten millions of them. And he sent Zarathustra into the world to give new judgment.
Zarathustra opened the door of heaven anew, saying: Whoever after this chooses Brahma, and will torture his flesh, and hate the earth, and live away from the world, him I will save from the earth and from hell also, for I am very efficient and influential with the Creator.
Such, then, O king, is the origin and destiny of man. Some are born for the earth forever, and some are born for heaven. Nevertheless, the way is open to all, to choose that which they will, earth or heaven.