Deguchi, Onisaburo. Reikai Monogatari (The Story of the Spirit World) Vol. 40 Chapter 13
Testing Fruits
Air is filled with fragrance of flowers
Butterflies hover around and birds sing.
The field is covered by the flower carpet
The picturesque view of heaven is right in front of them.
Both the sun and the moon shine in the sky
Where cobalt blue cloud trails just to add spice to them.
The light shines all around in seven colors.
And the climate is mild and pleasant.
Kul and Lehb march around as their feet carry them.
Yet their feet get tired and they get hungry.
They are exhausted and finally collapse beside the road;
And wonder if one could feel hungry in heaven as well,
If this is what the teaching says
There is suffering during a happy time and happiness during a hard time,
If even God cannot obtain pure happiness and pleasure,
And if this is a truth of the world.
They pray from bottom of their heart, Lord, please lead us as you wish
Not give us much suffering, and protect us in comfort.
They lie on their back, shedding tears of regret.
There, a beauty dressed in five-colored thin silk suddenly appears right before their eyes. She holds two unknown fruits in her hands and talks to them in a soft and noble voice.
The goddess: You are Kul and Lehb, aren’t you? You have already walked 40,000 kilometers (25,000 miles) since you have swum across the Sanzu River. So I suspect you are hungry. My name is Ikumusubi-hime no mikoto from Tusita[1], and I am here on behalf of Lord Tsukiteru-hiko to serve these fruits to you. Please help yourself to these fruits.
Lehb: My pleasure, madam. (He makes a bow to the goddess) Although heaven blesses us with lots of flowers, there seems to be no fruits here. We are starving and cannot walk any more.
So we are sitting and resting here. Now, we appreciate the saying “Heaven never kills people”.
Kul: I have no words to thank you. I am pleased to take it. (He opens his arms and put his body forward)
Goddess: These are from Tusita. You cannot break them into a half. One of them is called Taru musubi, and the other is called Tamatsume musubi. Both of them are similar in size, color, and smell. But Taru musubi contains tasty and sweet juice, and makes your internal organs healthy. Once you eat this, you have no need to eat for the next 5 years to 10 years. On the other hand, Tamatsume musubi is hard like a stone, and it tastes bad and bitter. However, it is edible, and you can keep your hunger off anyway. So please take whichever you would like to have.
Lehb: Thank you, madam. Then, I will have Tamatsume musubi. Please give him Taru musubi.
Kul: No! Madam, I will have Tamatsume musubi. So please give him Taru musubi.
Goddess: Seems like both of you like this hard and bitter fruit.
Lehb: Well, I don’t really like it but sweetness is just a taste. Once you finish eating, it doesn’t make any difference in the stomach. Besides, we appreciate the principle “Do unto others as you have them do unto you”. So how can I give him the bitter one?
Kul: Well, in fact, I think the same way as he does.
Goddess: Well, well. How hypocritical you are! I understand you got a good attitude from the God’s principle. But it is not enough. The real good intentions must come out of your heart naturally. If you think you have done a really good thing by restraining your own desire and give others a sweet one, it wouldn’t be called good intentions. With that mind-set, you may be doing so in the hope of getting into heaven in return. Why don’t you honestly tell me what your heart desires? You are still putting on a façade.
Lehb: Ah…you got me. So I guess you can see through what’s on my mind like using X ray. Yes, it is true that I still have a hypocritical mentality. Thank you for enlightening me.
Kul: Actually, I have the same mentality as he has.
Goddess: Then, which one do you take now?
Lehb: (He replies with scratching his head) well…I cannot decide which. As your saying, I cannot break it to a half. So I would rather have neither of them.
Goddess: Do you remember the saying “If you don’t take what heaven offers, it would bring harm to you”?
Lehb: Yes, I do. But…
Goddess: Then, why don’t you take the fruit?
Lehb: Ammm…I don’t know. I really don’t know what to do.
Goddess: Then, what do you think, Kul?
Kul: Well, to be honest, I will have tasty Taru musubi. I am sorry for Kul but I have a duty to maintain my body and soul which are given by God. And now, I am starving. So I will take Taru musubi that my heart desires.
Goddess: Then, do I give Tamatsume musubi to Lehb that you don’t want to have? Are you happy with that?
Kul: I am getting confused. This is beyond human knowledge. I think it is better to leave this decision to God. I will have whichever you give. I wouldn’t request which.
Goddess: Now, you deserve a journey to heaven. Human-creating ethics and morality don’t always give you a solution, do they? It is the best to leave it to God’s will. Now, I will give you this Taru musubi.
Kul: Thank you. I appreciate it. (He rushes to the fruit and starts eating) Oh, it tastes so good. What a delicious fruit!
Kul quickly finishes up the fruit while he is praising how delicious the fruit is. The goddess throws Tamatsume musubi to the ground, and it comes out 5-colored flame. From the flame, a lot of beautiful goddesses appear, and they fry up to higher heaven. Seeing this glorious scene, both Kul and Lehb spontaneously put their hands together to pray. The goddess takes out another Taru musubi from her pocket and says to Lehb,
Goddess: To be fair, now I will give you another Taru-musubi on behalf of God. (She puts the fruit on Lehb’s hands)
Lehb: Thank you, madam.
Lehb also finishes up the fruit quickly while he sheds tears of joy. Now, the goddesses who were born from Tamatsume-musubi come back to where Kul and lehb stand. The clothes they wear look even more beautiful than the previous ones. They gather around the goddess (Ikumusubi-hime) to guide her to a vehicle. When she gets in the vehicle, they start going up a rainbow-colored road with their beautiful clothes swinging in the wind, and while they go up, there is a beautiful and clear melody ringing in the sky. Since Kul and Lehb are again impressed by the scene, they just look at each other.
Lehb: Kul, I really feel good now. Heaven gave us the fruits when we were almost dying, and brought us back to life. I think this is what “God helps us when we are on the edge” means. But I am just wondering how we would have been if we had eaten Tamatsume musubi. Because a million of goddesses were born from that fruit, it must have tasted great too. But heaven didn’t give it to us. So it’s no use arguing about it. You know, sometimes, God is mean, don’t you think? I have never thought goddesses came out of that hard and bitter fruit that she told us. Maybe this is some kind of a lesson.
Kul: Yeah. Maybe the lesson is you cannot indulge yourself even in heaven. You have to make an effort or take some tough tasks in order to go to Tusita. Just indulging in debauchery doesn’t bring you real happiness and glory. I think we should do something for good causes here. A pleasure of the moment is boring.
Lehb: I agree.
They start walking, and then, they hear people screaming in agony down from the road on their right-hand side. The road is about 40 to 50 meters below. (130-164 feet) When they look down at the road, they see carriages, cars, and people coming and going all along the road. This seems be just the same as life on earth. However, what they see in the cars is demons that have horns on their heads or female demons whose corners of their lip reach to the ears. They throw back their shoulders, smoke cigarettes, and behave in a bossy manner. Poor and honest people are getting run over by those vehicles, getting their flesh cut off, getting their blood squeezed out of their bodies, or suffering from taking on heavy burdens. Those scenes look just horrible.
Then again, they hear another scream down on the road. This time, they see an army of General Lunch from Brahminism. They surround Ougon-hime and Kiyoteru-hime with bows and swords in their hands, and are about to kill those female leaders of Ananai. Ougon-hime and Kiyoteru-hime, a mother and daughter, pray God for help. Then a large group of wolves appear out of nowhere, and they fiercely attack the army of the General. A fierce and bloodt battle is going on between them. This sight that they see is what is actually happening in hell. While Kul and Lehb look at the horrible sight, the goddess Ikumusubi-hime appears again.
Goddess: Did you see something down there? Or should I say did you just sit back and watch what happened there?
Lehb: Yes, I saw various horrible and tragic sights. But we are saved in heaven, and have no choice but to just watch what was happening down there. To think about this, people cannot do bad things on earth. Now we, as humans, can do nothing about it but just leaving it in God’s hands.
Goddess: Then what do you think of this tragedy, Kul?
Kul: Well, it is very sad and painful to see them suffer.
Goddess: Great Lord Kuniharutachi started Ananai in order to save those suffering souls. If you have any sympathy for those poor souls, you cannot ignore this, can you? I would like to know what you are going to do about this.
Kul: Well, I don’t think I can do anything but just leave it to God’s will. We can do little about changing this situation no matter how hard we try…
Goddess: So I guess you are addicted to “to God’s will” as much as followers of Ananai in the 20th century. You don’t even try to do what you should do, take an easy way out, sit back and just watch people suffer, and say “it is beyond human capability” or “I have no choice but to leave it to God’s will”. This is a very irresponsible, fence-sitting, and ignorant attitude. How can you save the world with that attitude? You are allowed to get into the entrance of heaven by the grace of God. However, if you have that selfish mind, you will drop into the very bottom of hell immediately. What is happening to others today is what is going to happen to you tomorrow. Why do you think you can stay here forever? Why don’t you let your conscience be your guide? What makes you think that you have a right to argue Brahminism or Ananai with that mindset? I would never wish to see a cruel people like you. Take care and have a nice day. Oh, and watch out for your feet.
As soon as she says this, she disappears.
(Recorded by Takateru Kitamura on Nov. 3, 1922)
[1]. In Buddhism cosmology, it is the third highest heaven among the six deva worlds. It is also believed that Maitreya lives there.