Book of the Arc of Bon Chapters 27 and 28
Chapter 27
1. 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 whilst
it was shut; then a small serpent he created out of a rod, and caused birds to come
and sing to the king; then changed vinegar into water; then writing on a stone
tablet without touching the tablet, and even whilst the tablet lay under the king’s foot.
2. Now after he had exhibited many more feats of like character, he demanded his money,
saying: The angels are gone; I can do no more. The king said: And hast thou not power to
fetch them back?
3. Wan-jho said: How much wouldst thou give? The king answered: Three pieces of gold.
And Wan-jho said: Ah, in that case, behold, they are come again! What wouldst thou?
The king commanded him to show the spirits of the dead, so he might converse with
them.
4. Wan-jho went into the same place where Loo’Sin had exhibited, and, laying down, cast
himself in the death trance. Presently an angel, robed in white, appeared, and came and
stood before the king, saying: Most mighty king, what wouldst thou? Behold me, I am the
Goddess, Oe-tu Hent, come from my throne in high heaven. And be thou desirous of
conquest in war, or to attain great riches, or more wives, most beautiful, then will I by my
most potent will give unto thee.
5. The king said: I am blest, O Goddess, because thou hast come to see me. But alas, none
of the things thou hast mentioned suiteth me. I desire nothing as regardeth this world.
Give me light as to the place in heaven where dwelleth king See Quan?
6. The spirit said: Were he thy friend or thine enemy? The king answered: He was my
deadly enemy. The spirit said: Because I asked thee, is he thy friend or thine enemy? for 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 that is in hell.
7. 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.
8. 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 thou hast called me I
have come. Know thou when I come, and I decree four gold pieces to Wan-jho my
prophet.
9. The king said: Most just, God! I will pay him. Tell me now whence cometh man, and
what is his destiny?
10. 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 no larger than the smallest living
insect on the earth. Their size denoteth 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.
11. Now whilst a child is yet within the womb, one of these elementaries entereth in the
child, and straightway there is the beginning of the man. And in like manner are all things
produced which live on the earth.
12. The king asked: Before such time when man beginneth, whilst these elementaries are
floating about, do they know anything? The spirit said: Many of them have great wisdom
and cunning, and are withal great liars and thieves and rascals. Knowest thou one Loo
Sin, a magician? The king answered, Yea. And then the spirit said: Well, Loo Sin is
obsessed by the elmentaries, 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 thee, O king, these elementaries are the curse of the world; they are anxious to be
born into life, so they may have souls, and they inspire mortals to paternity and maternity
that they may have an opportunity for incarnation.
13. The king said: Thou hast answered well, O Goddess. I will pay according to thy
decree. And thereupon 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.
14. Hi Gowh then exhibited after the same fashion as the others, doing great wonders.
And him also did the king command 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 thee, O king! Whether thou desirest
conquest, or riches, or more women, name thou to me, and I will give abundantly. Know
thou I am the spirit of the great Zarathustra.
15. The king said: Great Zarathustra, thou art most welcome. But, alas, none of the things
thou has named are what I desire. Tell me, O Zarathustra, what is the origin and destiny
of man?
16. 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.
17. 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 re-incarnated itself, and this made grass; and the grass
died; but the spirit of the grass lived and re-incarnated itself, and thus made the trees.
18. Then the trees died, but the spirit lived, and it re-incarnated and became animals;
and they died, but their spirits lived and re-incarnated and became man. After that the
spirit no longer re-incarnateth itself, but floateth upward into peace, and resteth for a
long time, when it finally mergeth back into the sun and is extinct, like a lamp burnt out.
19. The king asked: How, then, is it with thyself? The spirit replied: I was the original
Sun God, that 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 stayeth with the sun?
20. The spirit answered: Because thou asketh many questions, O king, thou shalt pay
more money. The king assured the spirit that the money, to any amount, would be paid:
whereupon 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, save
the earth, and I came here of my own accord, because it was larger and better than any
other world.
21. 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 even like the others. Then the king
commanded Gwan Le to call the spirits of the dead.
22. 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, stiff and cold.
23. Presently an angel appeared, saying: Behold me, O king, I am Brahma. And if
thou desire conquest in war, or greater riches, or more women, I will grant unto thee. I
can tell thee of hidden treasures, and of rich mines, and of women greatly to be desired.
Also I can tell thee how thy armies can overcome thy enemies with great slaughter.
24. The king said: I am delighted, O Brahma. But I desire nothing of which thou hast
mentioned. Tell me of the origin and destiny of man.
25. 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. Thou, O king, wert first a
stone, a very large stone; then when it moldered into dust thy soul went into silver, a very
large piece; but when the silver rusted away, thy soul went into gold; and when the gold
was worn away, thy soul began to run into animal life, then into a low order of man,
then into the high order of man, as thou now art. Thus came man up from the beginning,
re-incarnating himself over and over, higher and higher and higher. And when he is
perfected in spirit as thou art, he never more returneth to re-incarnate himself. The
king asked: What doth the spirit after leaving this world? The spirit replied: Thou
shalt then meet thy sexual partner, thy soul-wife; and shall do nothing ever after but
have sexual indulgence, peopling the spirit realms with delightful spiritual offspring.
26. The king said: It is well; thou hast a wonderful doctrine. Thereupon the spirit
departed, and the priest also. And the king sent for still another priest, Tseeing, A
Brahman prophet. And the king asked him: What seest thou for thy king?
27. The priest said: By the rites of my order I cannot disclose any of the secrets of heaven
or earth until thou hast paid the price of indulgence, which is two pieces of gold. So the
king paid him. Tseeing said: And thou desire riches, or success in war, or new wives,
speak thou and I will grant unto thee 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.
28. 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 came not up as one
only, as he expected, but he came up in ten millions 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.
29. 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 that justice might be done
he called all the nations and tribes of men before him. And when they were come he said
unto them:
30. Whoever delighteth in the earth, it shall be his forever. And though he die, his spirit
shall have power to re-incarnate itself into 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.
31. But whosoever delighteth 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 not after the manner of earthly delights,
then shall the spiritual chooser not live like earth-people.
32. But he shall live secluded, and shall torment his flesh with fastings and with
castigations. Neither shall he marry or live with woman, nor beget children, nor have any
indulgence on the earth whatever, save merely to live, for the earth is not his, nor is he of
the earth. And the more he tortureth the flesh, the higher shall be his bliss in heaven.
33. Now, when Brahma had stated the two propositions unto the children of the earth, he
further added: Choose ye now which ye will, for after ye have chosen, behold, there is the
end. For ye that choose the earth shall be of the earth, even unto all succeeding
generations. But whoso chooseth heaven, to him and his heirs it shall be final, and
forever.
34. Thereupon mortals made 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 become too full of people, and they were sinful beyond
bounds. And Brahma sent a flood of waters and destroyed ten thousand million times ten
millions of them. And he sent Zarathustra into the world to give new judgment.
35. Zarathustra opened the door of heaven anew, saying: Whoever after this chooseth
Brahma, and will torture his flesh, and hate the earth, and live away from the world, him
will I save from the earth and from hell also, for I am very efficient and influential with
the Creator.
36. 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 unto all, to choose
which they will, earth or heaven.
Chapter 28
1. Te-zee pursued his researches for a long while, and with many prophets, magicians,
seers and priests. Afterward he said:
2. All is vanity; all is falsehood. No man hath answered me aright, as to the origin and
destiny of man. Even the angels, or whatsoever they are, can only inform me of the things
on earth; they only see as man seeth. And it may be true that these angels are nothing
more than Loo Sin said, i.e. the spirit of the magician only. Because his body entereth this
trance it seemeth reasonable.
3. Now, therefore, I will put a stop to these magicians and priests; they are of no good
under the sun. So Te-zee issued a decree covering his own province, commanding
magicians and priests to quit the province, under penalty of death. And they thus departed
out of his dominions.
4. Now it so happened that in five other great provinces, the kings did precisely the same,
and about the same time. And these were the provinces, to wit: Shan Ji, under king Lung
Wan; Gah, under king Loa Kee; Sa-bin-Sowh, under king Ah-ka Ung; Gow Goo, under
king Te See-Yong; and these provinces comprised the chief part of Jaffeth. And all these
kings issued edicts after the same manner. So that the magicians and seers and priests
were obliged to abandon their callings or go beyond these provinces, where dwelt
barbarians.
5. Jehovih commanded Chine to go before king Te-zee, and when he had come, the king
said unto him: Some years since I heard thee, and thou wert profound. I am delighted thou
hast come before me again, that I may question thee.
6. Chine said: When thou heardest me before, the Great Spirit spake through me. Now I
am well learned, and He commandeth me to speak of my own knowledge.
7. First, then, I am a man as thou art; yet every man hath a different work. Thou art king
of this province, and I am told, moreover, thou art good and wise. I hope thou art.
Otherwise my words will not please thee. As for myself, I was sent into the world to mark
out this land and name it Chine-ya (Chine-land), and to establish anew those that accept
the Great Spirit. For Chine’ya and her people shall remain a different country and
different people from all the world.
8. Know then, O king, I come not in vain-boasting that I, Chine, am much or can do
much; on the contrary, I say unto thee, I am one of the weakest of men; and yet I have
more power than any other man in the world. And yet, mark thee, of myself is there
nothing whereof to boast. For I am but as a tool in the hands of Jehovih (Ormazd), and
not I myself do anything, but He through me.
9. I look upon thee and see thou hast been questioning magicians and priests, and that
thou art unsatisfied. Know then, O king, this is thine error, in not magnifying thy
judgment.
10. Thou hast worked with magicians who are under the power of angels of the first
resurrection, and even angels below them.
11. All such angels teach on their own individual understanding; as wandering
individuals they go about. And their miracles are of the same order, merely individual
miracles.
12. He, Whom I teach, worketh miracles, not in a small corner but in the affairs
of kingdoms and nations; not through magicians only, but through kings and queens,
and even through common people. Thou thyself art an instrument of His hand.
13. Behold, in the same time thou issuest thy decree against magicians and asceticism,
even in that same time five other great kings do the same thing! This is a miracle
indeed! No man can counterfeit His miracles. Neither flatter thyself that such
matters occur by accident. They do not occur by accident; but by Jehovih. For His
angels in the second resurrection are organized, and work in mighty armies.
14. Te-zee said: Thou art great, Chine; or else thy sudden philosophy turneth my brain!
Go on! How shall we know, first, that there are angels who are really the spirits of the
dead? Second, how shall we distinguish betwixt the first and second resurrections?
15. Chine said: Only by seeing and hearing with the natural eyes and ears, and with the
spiritual eyes and ears, can any man attain to know anything either on earth or in heaven.
When these senses are pure and clear, then a man knoweth that the spirits of the dead do
live. For I declare, O king, of a truth, that the spirit of my body hath emerged from my
body on many occasions, sometimes going subjectively and sometimes objectively.
Neither is this a special creation to me only; but it is that which thousands and tens of
thousands can attain to by discipline.
16. Touching the first and second resurrections, know thou, O king, spirits that dispose
individual things, or earthly things; or propose riches or personal gain, or marriage,
descanting to this man or that man as to what is good for him as an individual; spirits
giving great names, professing to be this or that great person long since dead; all such are
deceivers and have not advanced beyond the first resurrection. They deny the I AM, the
GREAT SPIRIT, the ALL PERSON. Their highest heaven is re-engraftment on mortals, and the
reveling in lust. They flatter thee, telling thee thou wert this or that great man in a former
re-incarnation. They labor thee to make profit to their own magician; they are without
truth or virtue, and of little wisdom.
17. The second resurrection cometh not to an individual as an individual; it cometh as an
army, but not to an individual, but to a kingdom, a nation, a community. For as such
angels belong to organized communities in heaven, so doth that organization work with
virtuous organizations of mortals.
18. This is wisdom, O king; to get away from the individual self; to become one with an
organization, to work with the Great Spirit for the resurrection of men. For as thou
makest thyself one with many to this end, so laboreth the Father with thee and them. As
thou keepest thyself as an individual self, so do individual angels come to thee as
individuals.
19. Individual answereth to individual; the first resurrection to the first; the second to the
second. Moreover, the All Person is over all, and worketh each in its own order, unto a
great purpose.
20. Think not, O king, I am making a new doctrine; I am but declaring that which was
also proclaimed to the ancients. And as many as came forward and had faith were called
Jehovih’s chosen people, because, forsooth, they chose Him.
21. Judge thou, then, whoso denieth the All Person is not of His order; neither hath such
an one the light of the Father in him. But he who hath attained to understand that all
things are but one harmonious whole, hath also attained to know what is meant by the
term, All Person, for He is All; and, consequently, Ever Present, filling all, extending
everywhere.
22. In contradistinction from Him, two philosophies have run parallel, which are darkness
and evil. One saith the All is not a person, being void, and less than even the parts
thereof; the other saith the only All High is the great angel I worship, who is as a man,
and separate from all things.
23. These comprise the foundation of all the doctrines in the world, or that have ever been
or ever will be. The latter is idolatry, which is evil; the second, unbelief, which is
darkness; and the first is faith, truth, love, wisdom and peace.
24. Under these three heads are all men classified by Jehovih and His angels. And they
may be likened to three men looking across a field; one seeth a light and knoweth he
seeth it; another hopeth he seeth it, but he only seeth a white leaf; but the third seeth
nothing at all.
25. As a witness, therefore, the latter is worthless; the second is a circumstantial witness;
but the first is positive, and standeth the highest and firmest of all. He knoweth
his Heavenly Father. He seeth Him in the flowers; in the clouds, and in the sunshine;
in the fruits and herbs; and in the beasts of the field, and in every creeping thing; and
in the stars and moon and earth and sun. In sickness, in health, in sorrow and in rejoicing;
verily he findeth Jehovih in all things; he knoweth Jehovih’s eye and ear are forever
upon him; and he walketh upright in fear, but in truth and faith and pride and rejoicing!
26. Te-zee, the king, asked: Tell me, O Chine, what is the origin and destiny of man?
27. Chine said: The Ever Present quickeneth him into life in his mother’s womb; and he is
then and there a new creation, his spirit from the Spirit Jehovih, and his body from the
earth; a dual being the Father createth him.
28. His destination is everlasting resurrection; in which matter, man can have delightful
labor as he riseth upward forever and ever.
29. The king asked: If Jehovih is all the time creating, will not the firmament become too
full of angels?
30. Chine said: A thousand men read a book, and yet that book is no fuller of ideas than
at first. The corporeal man is not divisible, and, so, filleth a place. Thought, which may be
likened unto the soul, is the opposite of this. Ten thousand men may love thy flowergarden, yet thy garden is no fuller because of their love. Exalted souls in the upper
heavens are without bulk and substance; and even so are the regions they inhabit, as
compared to corporeal things.
31. The king said: I would that I were as thou art! For which matter, if thou wilt use thy
wand and make me even half as wise, I will give away all my kingdom!
32. Chine said: Thou canst not bargain for Faith, or purchase it, as a coat or as
sandals. And yet until Faith is attained there is no resurrection. No bird ever flew from
its nest, without first having faith it could fly. And when thou hast Faith thou wilt cast
away thy kingdom and choose heavenly treasures instead. Until thou hast attained
Faith thou wilt retain thy kingdom. This is a judgment unto the rich man in the same way.
33. Riches and a king’s kingdom may be likened to balls of gold tied to a man’s feet in
deep water; he cannot rise until he cutteth himself loose, and casteth away that which
bindeth him. So, also, are men bound in spirit, and until they put their own hands to the
matter there is no resurrection for them.