CHAPTER XXVIII.
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 flower-garden, 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.
CHAPTER XXIX.
1. Te-zee, the king, said unto Chine: Because thou hast given me this great light, it seemeth to me I should issue a decree commanding all my people to accept thy doctrines.
2. Chine replied: O man! How short thou art in understanding our Father! Violence is His enemy. Such a decree would be no better than a decree establishing any other heavenly ruler. It would thwart itself. He cometh not with sword and spear, like the idol-Gods; He cometh with education, the chief book of which is the example of good works, and of peace and liberty to all.
3. Te-zee said: Thou reasonest well. Hear me, then, thou greatest of men; command me even as if I were the meanest of servants, and I will obey thee.
4. Chine said: O king, thou tormentest me with my own inability to make thee understand! Thou shalt not make thyself servant to any man, but to Ormazd, the Great Spirit.
5. The king said: Then I will put away my kingdom. But Chine said: Consider first if thou can best serve Him by doing this way or that way, and then follow thy highest light, and thou shalt not err.
6. The king asked: How, sayest thou, shall I put aside my kingdom and my riches and do as thou dost?
7. Chine said: Thou shalt be thine own judge. If I judge for thee, and thou follow my judgment, then am I bound to thee. Suffer me to have my liberty also.
8. Te-zee said: If the Great Spirit would give me thy wisdom, then would I serve Him. How long, sayest thou, a man shall serve Him in order to reach great wisdom?
9. Chine said: Suppose a man had several pieces of glass; some clear, some clouded with smoke and grease; how long, sayest thou, would it require to make them all clear alike? For such is the self in man; it cloudeth his soul; and when he hath put self away, then is his soul clear, and that is wisdom, for then he beholdeth the Father through his own soul; yea, and heareth Him also. And until he doeth this, he believeth not in His Person or Presence, no matter how much he professeth.
10. The king kept Chine many days, and questioned him with great wisdom and delight. One day Chine said to him: Jehovih saith to me: Go thou quickly unto the five other provinces of Chine'ya, and explain to the kings thereof Who I am. Chine added: Therefore, O Te-zee, I must leave thee, but after many days I will return to thee and exhibit to thee the testimony of immortal life.
11. The king provided camels and servants, and sent Chine on his way. And, after Chine was gone, Te-zee said to himself: Although I can not decree Chine's doctrines, I see no reason why I can not decree the extinction of Te-in and other idol-Gods. And thereupon he did as he thought best, prohibiting the priests from doing sacrifice to Joss (God), or Ho-Joss (Lord God), or Te-in, or Po, or any other ruler in heaven, save and except the Great Spirit.
CHAPTER XXX.
1. In course of time Chine completed his labor with the six kings of Jaffeth, and returned to Te-zee, to die.
2. At this time there had been established in different places more than a thousand families (communities) of Faithists, either through Chine or his followers, the chief rab'bahs. And when Chine returned before the king, Te-zee, there came from every quarter of the world men and women to meet him and learn wisdom.
3. And all that were in any way sick or lame or blind or deaf he cured by pronouncing the word E-O-Ih over them. And persons who were obsessed with evil spirits he healed by permitting them to touch his staff. And many that were dead he brought to life; for he showed before men power to accomplish anything whatsoever. Yea, he rose up in the air and walked therein and thereon over the heads of the multitude.
4. And whilst he was up in the air he said unto the multitude: I will now come down amongst you and die, as all men do die. And ye shall suffer my body to lie five days, that the eyes may be sunken and black, showing that I am dead, of a truth.
5. And on the sixth day ye shall cast the body into the furnace and burn it to ashes. And the ashes ye shall take into the field and scatter this way and that, that no more of me is seen or known on the earth.
6. And on the seventh day, which shall be a holy day unto you, behold, ye shall witness in the field of my ashes a whirlwind, and the whirlwind shall gather up the ashes of my body; and my soul shall inhabit it and make it whole, as ye now see me, and I will break the whirlwind and descend down to the earth and abide with you yet other seven days, and then ye shall behold a ship descend from heaven in an exceeding great light, and I will enter therein, and ascend to the second heavens.
7. Neither shall any man or woman nor child say: Behold, Chine was a God. Nor shall ye build an image of me, nor monument, nor in any way do more unto me or my memory than to the meanest of mortals. For I say unto you, I am but a man who hath put away earth possessions, desires and aspirations.
8. And whatsoever ye see me do, or know of me having done, the same is possible unto all men and women created alive on the earth.
9. Remembering that all things are possible with Jehovih (Ormazd); and to Him only is due all honor and glory forever.
10. So Chine died, and was burnt to ashes on the sixth day, under the superintendence of king Te-zee, and the ashes were scattered in the field as commanded.
11. And on the seventh day, whilst the multitude surrounded all the place, a whirlwind came and gathered up the ashes in a small degree; and the ashes were illumed, and the soul of Chine went therein, and he burst the whirlwind and came down even at the king's feet.
12. And Chine said: Knowest thou who I am? And the king answered, saying: Of a truth thou art Chine. And because this hath come to pass I decree that this, thy native land, shall henceforth forever be called Chine'ya! And I will send unto other kings also, and they will decree the same thing.
13. Chine said: Even so, do thou. And since the Father hath allotted me seven days to remain with His chosen and with thee, O king, apprize thou, whom I will name to thee, to come and see me. And thereupon Chine told the king whom he desired to come.
14. And Chine walked about on the earth, even the same as before death, nor could any man tell by looking at him that he had passed through death. Nor were his clothes different, although they were made out of the ashes in the whirlwind.
15. On the last day that he was to remain, he called Te-zee and the persons he had selected, and thus spake unto them, saying:
