Excerpt from Master Lu’s Q&A (270), 4 December 2018
On 20 November 2018, I received Guan Ping Bodhisattva’s instructions to let me visit the Tongue-Cutting Hell and watch a trial at the Hall of the King of Hell. Not long after, my consciousness entered into a deep slumber, and when I felt I became lighter, I found myself in front of a black and ancient-looking gate. One of the guards told me to follow them, and we entered into hell.
The Tongue-Carving Hell: Those who have committed abusive speech, fabricated rumours, and sowed discord, and those who slandered and defamed practitioners (of any religions) will be punished here.
I walked down the stairs near the gate and reached the bottom of this Hell. This Hell is huge, and when you look up you will find the Hell is surrounded by walls built with massive bricks. The wall was around six storeys high. There were many offenders, both male and female, who were kneeling on the ground wailing and crying. You could see that many people commit deeds of verbal misconduct in Human Realm. I paid my respect to the enforcement officers who were in charge of this Hell. In front of me, I saw two female offenders who had their mouths pried open forcibly and their tongue violently grasped by the hand of enforcement officers. Holding a sharp knife, the officers then used it to carve on the offenders’ tongues a line at a time. The fresh blood instantly flowed down the offenders’ chin. The offenders watched this scene with their eyes wide open, filled with fear, and desperately wanted to retreat but only to be caught and sent back by enforcement officers. The officers were not concerned about the bleeding and just continued to carve lines on the offenders’ tongues. After the two offenders had their tongue carved a dozen times, they were escorted to see the King of Hell. The enforcement officers signalled me to follow them to the Hall of the King of Hell.
The landscape inside the Hell Realm was very complex, if I weren’t guided by the enforcement officer, I would’ve got lost. After walking on a narrow and winding path in the Underworld for some time, we finally arrived at the Hall of the King of Hell.
The King of Hell ordered the offenders to kneel. I stood beside the King, watching the trial. The King scolded them, “Both of you were practitioners of Guan Yin Citta Dharma Door, and you understood that one must not commit deeds of verbal misconduct. Why did you use sophistry and prejudiced views to badmouth the Dharma Door in front of your relatives? I checked your records: A few months ago, you quit practising this Buddhist practice. But recently you encountered difficulties and returned to Guan Yin Citta for help, beseeching for Guan Yin Bodhisattva’s succour. Now that you have returned, you still don’t reform your ways. You should know that there are Dharma protectors everywhere, and they will record every word and action that you Buddhists say and do in the Human Realm.”
“You have been blessed and protected by the Buddha; you should be making more effort to observe the Buddhist precepts and understand their rules. Why do you still hold onto your ignorance and bad habits? Regardless of what reason or excuses you have, even if it was other fellow practitioners at fault, you shouldn’t go speaking irresponsibly about Guan Yin Citta. If your fellow practitioner were truly in the wrong, the Dharma protectors would naturally give them a lesson according to the law. Do you think that the Heavens will tolerate them? But your negative karma has been formed; I have no choice but to punish you according to the law.
“Now I order your souls may return to your bodies in the human world. Don’t create any more negative karma; look out for yourself. After you two go back to the human world, your tongue will ache and hurt for some days. Serious offenders will develop cold sores around the mouth.”
If practitioners of Buddhism commit offences, the Dharma-protecting Bodhisattvas will directly trigger their negative karma so that it becomes present-life karmic retribution.
The King of Hell told me that, regardless of whether a person is alive or dead, if they made offences, their soul will be dragged to the Underworld to be punished. Their souls would be deemed as an ‘offender’.