I said: “Thank you for all your hard work, Grandfather Earth God! I, Ayù, only now learn that you quietly watch over and aid us from behind the scenes. I am truly grateful! Farewell, Grandfather Earth God!”
I pressed my palms together.
14 / A Lie Can Be Weighty or Trivial — A Visit to the Cold Ice, Tongue-Pulling and Body-Shattering Hell
Grateful for the empowerment of the Buddha, I departed riding a white lotus flower.
“Amitabha! I, Ayù, press my palms and pay homage to you, Magistrate. Today my question is: what karmic retribution in hell awaits living humans who commit false speech? When I was little, my grandma told me that those who tell lies would fall into hell and be beaten by ghosts and so forth. Today I beg the Magistrate to take me to see it for myself.”
The Magistrate: “False speech is a long‑drawn subject. Today I shall give you a general explanation. False speech exerts far‑reaching influence. A single false utterance may cost one life, or even the lives of countless beings. False speech accompanies greed, anger and ignorance. Living humans who engage in false speech will draw forth karmic retribution in the hell realm.
“When people judge false speech, what matters most is the mental motivation of the person who speaks falsely. At the very moment the falsehood is uttered, one must observe which of the three poisons — greed, hatred and ignorance — dominates their thought. Some are driven purely by one of the three poisons: for instance, only greed with no other defiling elements; some only anger; some only ignorance. Others are motivated by two, or even all three poisons together.
“Broadly speaking, false speech falls into two categories: genuine false speech and expedient false speech. Genuine false speech draws forth hellish karmic retribution of varying degrees. Naturally, the gravity of such retribution is determined by the harm the false speech inflicts upon others. As for expedient false speech, it does not bring hell‑retribution; certain instances of it even generate meritorious virtue.
“What is expedient false speech? It refers to untrue words spoken solely to save and deliver living beings, without the slightest trace of self‑seeking motive. Untrue utterances made entirely for the salvation of living beings are called expedient false speech. There is another type close to expedient false speech, one commonly employed by mortals. For example, someone asks you, ‘Ayù, have you eaten?’ Merely to spare the other person the trouble of preparing food and avoid feeling indebted to them, you falsely claim you have already dined. This is expedient false speech. This kind of speech still contains a self‑serving inclination. Any false speech tainted with self‑interest thought cannot be classified as pure expedient false speech. Those who have uttered expedient false speech may offer sincere repentance to purify their karma before the end of their life. Repentance for such utterances is indispensable, for expedient false speech serves as the precursor to genuine false speech. If one habitually speaks expedient false speech, one’s innate spiritual nature will be defiled, and over time, one will form the habit of uttering genuine false speech.
“Those who need to repent for expedient false speech may report before the Buddha when, where and for what reason they spoke expedient falsehoods, and now sincerely repent for them. If one cannot recall the specific false speech one has spoken, one may genuinely resolve to reform past misdeeds and vow never to repeat them. Bear this in mind: though the nether laws show no mercy when punishing the treacherous and evil, heaven always looks with compassion upon living beings who sincerely repent. It will surely leave them a way forward, allowing them to gradually walk toward light and recover the innate radiance they possessed when first descending into the human world. After sincere repentance, such people may further beseech the empowering grace of the Buddhas to eradicate their karmic obstacles. From then on, they should recite the Buddha’s name with resolve and seek rebirth in a Buddhaland or pure land. For those without Buddha statues at home, they can confess and state their karmic transgressions facing the sky. What matters is genuine repentance; the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas are everywhere. Beside every person stand the Black and White Impermanences, recording everyone’s daily good and evil deeds.