“There are two categories of those of supreme goodness. The first are those greatly kind and compassionate Buddhas and Bodhisattvas who are sagely beings coming to this world by their original vows to save and deliver living beings. These Buddhas and Bodhisattvas come and go freely, unbound by fixed karma. Sometimes, to guide more destined living beings, such sages intentionally manifest various sufferings to teach through personal example. Yet these afflictions can never shackle their minds; only ordinary beings get deluded by worldly realms of the five desires and afflictions. The second category of those of supreme goodness are ordinary mortals endowed with a mind of great kindness and compassion, who are continuously accumulating immense blessing rewards and hidden virtues. Such people of supreme goodness can also break the chains of fate and ascend directly. On the contrary, those of extreme evil will sink straight down into the hell realm burdened by heavy negative karma. For this reason, we ought to consume food with a sense of remorse and humility. Food merely nourishes our physical body, a tool enabling us to cultivate Dao and elevate our life level. Do not attach excessive importance to food. If we do, we will become enslaved by delicacies and be driven by food. Nor should we waste food or squander grains, for such conduct creates negative karma that leads to retribution in the hells.
“In the netherworld, there used to be a small Hunger Hell. Those who fell into this hell to endure punishment were wealthy landowners, rich merchants, or the wives of affluent people from the mortal world. Blessed with good blessing rewards, they casually wasted grains and food. After death, they fell into the Hunger Hell to suffer punishment. Also condemned here were wealthy people who refused to give alms to beggars and the poor; upon death, they too fell into the Hunger Hell. This hell made condemned souls endure extreme hunger to let them understand the value of grains, and purge their greed and stinginess. In the past, sentences here were relatively short, starting at three years and lasting at most fifty years. Moreover, not many souls were sent here, mostly elderly wealthy people.
“Currently, to the south of the netherworld lies the Region of Spiritual Hells. Within this area stands a great hell named “Hell of Abundant Harvest of the Five Grains”. The majority of souls here are young people. These sinners wasted all kinds of food during their lifetime, and the accumulated leftovers they discarded could pile up like endless mountains. In ancient times, those who wasted food were sentenced by the Nether Laws to suffer hunger after death. Nowadays, those who squander food will fall into the Hell of Abundant Harvest of the Five Grains once their lives end. Every scrap of food wasted in the human world is recorded by the attendant deities. After death, these wasters arrive at the Hell of Abundant Harvest of the Five Grains and are forced to consume all the food they discarded in life, piece by piece. Many young people in the human world keep buying large quantities of food and throw away whatever they cannot finish. Yet the Nether Laws impose this punishment upon condemned souls to teach them: do not purchase food if you cannot finish it and will waste it. Once you obtain food, you are already drawing upon your destined blessing rewards, so you must finish it. Follow me, Ayù. I will take you to visit this place now.”
We could already smell sour stenches, rotting food, vomit, and hear retching and coughing. Then we beheld the large characters “Hell of Abundant Harvest of the Five Grains”. This hell was immense! True to its name, food stretched endlessly as far as the eye could see, piled like mountains and valleys, a terrifying sight. There were countless meals, biscuits and other provisions in bags and packages, an endless variety too numerous to recount. Barrels of water and beverages were also everywhere.
The Magistrate explained that each condemned soul had a personal zone filled with all the food they had wasted while alive; no mistakes were made. Many young souls were there. The Magistrate said that besides wasting food, they had also committed offenses such as sexual misconduct.
We went over to speak to a young female soul. The mound of food in her zone was terrifying, and it would take untold ages for her to finish it all. She had somewhat delicate features, yet she struggled violently, retching constantly.
“Amitabha! How do you feel? Could you tell me why you have come to this place?”
“It is unbearable agony! Every single second is excruciating suffering. I can barely stop vomiting! Who are you? Please, rescue me from here!”
“Will you tell me the reason you were condemned to this hell?”
“I will! I will! When I was alive, I loved buying all kinds of delicacies. Yet I did not eat much, fearing weight gain would ruin my figure and appearance. Still, I bought my favourite food every day. I would never eat leftover food, only fresh items. Whenever new food products appeared, I had to purchase them. Whatever I could not finish, I threw away. All this waste accumulated, and now I must consume every bit of it as punishment. It was truly miserable! There was also all this water — I left taps running constantly while brushing my teeth and washing.” The female soul burst into bitter weeping. Anyone could see that no one could muster any appetite facing this sour, rotten, mouldy food crawling with maggots.