“A substance called earth nourishment grew upon the land at that time, shaped like fresh, richly fragrant fruit. It bore similarities to the fruits of heavenly realms and captured the attention of the celestial beings. No humans yet inhabited Earth. The celestials observed the Five Precepts and would not commit theft, for this earth nourishment belonged to no individual — it belonged to the land itself. The celestials began to taste it. Finding it delectable, they partook abundantly.
“After feasting on the earth nourishment, the radiance of their innate spiritual nature dimmed from consuming Earth’s coarse substances. Their bodies grew heavy, and they lost the unobstructed spiritual power of flight. Hence they could no longer return to Abhasvara Heaven. Forced to settle, they took up farming, multiplied and built lives, becoming the ancestors of humankind.
“The earth nourishment belonged to the land. By consuming substances borne of the earth, the celestials forged an inseparable karmic bond with it. Their feet were bound to the ground, and flight became impossible. Though stripped of the power to fly back to the heavens, they still retained other spiritual abilities, only lacking the gift of aerial travel.
“Celestial beings ascend to the heaven realms by observing the Five Precepts and practicing the Ten Good Deeds. The celestial beings who came to dwell on Earth at that time still upheld their commitment to the precepts, trusted karmic causality, and remained kind and pure. All lived in harmony amid peace, committing no evil karma or transgressions. Yet this state did not endure. As the descendants of these celestial beings dwelt longer on Earth, their innate spiritual radiance gradually diminished further. The polluted Earth also lost its original clear mountains, pure waters and fresh air. Even so, human morality and conduct in that era were far superior to those of people today. As humanity continued to multiply, the radiance of people’s innate spiritual nature waned steadily, and their blessing rewards declined. People began abandoning the precepts and slowly grew selfish. Minor disasters and illnesses followed one after another. Hells also gradually manifested alongside the evil karma created by humans.
“In ancient times, hells were small, and few people fell into them. Even those who descended to hell received punishment for only several years. After serving their sentence, some were reborn in the human world and turned over a new leaf. As ages passed, ever more people sank into hell. Up to the present day, the number of people falling into hell has surged, filling every hell to capacity. Moreover, anyone who descends to hell nowadays is generally sentenced to a hundred years or more of torment; no one merely receives a few years’ punishment as before. This arises from mankind’s improper thoughts and deeds, and a grave lack of understanding regarding karmic retribution.”
The Magistrate continued: “As I just said, the celestial beings from Abhasvara Heaven descended to Earth. After eating the terrestrial essence, they lost their spiritual penetrations and could no longer fly back to the heaven realm. The Buddha stated in the Shurangama Sutra: ‘Just as humans who eat grains of the earth cannot lift their feet off the ground.’ This shows that we must constantly watch our deeds and thoughts. A single unawakened thought can make you be turned by illusory external phenomena. Those celestial beings of Abhasvara Heaven, who possessed unconstrained spiritual penetrations, beheld the newly formed beautiful Earth (form). They flew here to wander. Drawn by the fresh, moist, fruit-like terrestrial essence that exuded manifold natural fragrances (smell), they tasted it (taste) and absorbed its substance (touch). The moment the desire to eat arose within their minds, it became a deluded thought obscuring their pure mind-nature (a mental object). This deluded thought triggered a series of outward actions.
“Though the celestial beings did not break the precept against theft, consuming the terrestrial essence forged an inextricable karmic bond with the earth, which would take time to repay. Many events would unfold throughout this period of repayment. If they failed to sustain constant right thoughts, the quality of their existence would continue to decline, and they would plant manifold painful hellish evil karmas.
“Originally, the celestial beings of Abhasvara Heaven existed as light, endowed with unhindered spiritual penetrations of flight and transformation. They possessed no heavy flesh-and-blood mortal bodies; this heavenly blessing reward was attained through their diligent cultivation and observance of pure precepts in past lifetimes. Yet merely from producing one thought to taste the terrestrial essence, the radiance of their life’s spiritual nature dimmed. As their delusions and attachments multiplied, the power of their spiritual penetration gradually faded away.
“The descendants of those celestial beings, the earliest humans, could recall all past-life grievances, affections and entanglements, which disrupted their mortal lives. After drinking Meng Po’s soup, they would forget all people and events of their former lifetimes. Thus they would drift along with karmic currents and gain new opportunities to temper their minds.
“Meng Po’s soup embodies the five flavors of human existence: sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty. These five tastes also symbolize the fate awaiting beings reborn into the human world, where joy and suffering of every kind are experienced. Every cup of Meng Po’s soup looks identical, yet the proportions of its ingredients differ, even though the base components remain the same. For instance, beings destined for favorable lives with abundant blessings, noble birth, wealth, esteem and sound health are given soup with a strong sweet flavor. Those with meagre blessings taste intense bitterness and sourness, while those with ordinary blessings receive a mixture of all five flavors, which also quenches thirst as they drink. Due to differing karmic forces, every being experiences the soup differently. Goddess Meng Po was once a human being. She did not fall into hell, but was dispatched by the Heavenly Emperor to serve in the netherworld.