All the Gates of Hell by Richard Parks Read Free Book Online

and you go anyway."
    "Well, I thought of following your example and exploring the homeless option, but frankly I like hot baths too much."
    Teacher crossed his arms. "You're not looking at the big picture, Jin. This body of yours is a temporary inconvenience; frankly, the sooner you shed it, the better."
    "I thought you'd say something like that. Teacher, did it ever occur to you that maybe you aren't looking at the big picture?"
    Jin told him about the dream. "Whether The Guan Yin Who Was really came to me or not is debatable; maybe it was no more than a dream. Yet, as I recall, all you've done since you found me is complain about how irresponsible and inconsiderate it was for Guan Yin to incarnate without warning. Are those qualities you normally associate with Guan Yin?"
    Teacher actually looked startled. "Well...no."
    "So maybe you should consider the possibility that her warning to me was real and that she had a very good reason for incarnating as a mortal with no memory of her divine nature. I don't know what that reason is, but I do know she did not do it on a whim. Now, then -- until we know what that reason is, does it really make sense to talk so casually about this 'temporary inconvenience' that is my life?"
    Teacher looked impressed. "That's actually a good point. I need to think about this."
    "You do that. Right now answer a question: if I free someone from Medias, what happens to them?"
    "Same as any other hell -- they go back on the wheel of life and death. They're reborn. Just not here. 'Where' depends on what lesson they've yet to learn."
    "Suppose there are no more lessons?"
    "Then they become Enlightened and escape the Wheel of Life and Death and move on to Transcendence. If they choose to remain behind, they become Bodhisattvas , like yourself."
    "They just disappear from Medias? Poof? Gone?"
    Teacher shrugged. "Pretty much."
    "If Medias is a Hell, is there any place where people live that isn't a Hell?"
    He sighed. "You do realize how ridiculous it is for the King of the First Hell to lecture Guan Yin on the nature of the cosmos?"
    "Not as ridiculous as keeping Guan Yin ignorant," Jin replied affably.
    "Fine, then -- there are six known states of being outside transcendence: humans, animals, ghosts, gods, jealous gods, and hell-beings. All six are trapped in Samsara , the cycle of Death and Rebirth. Even the demons, even the gods. The place where a god dwells is called a heaven, but it's really just another kind of hell. Humans are special only because they have the potential for self awareness and go through the cycle very frequently and thus, at least potentially, advance faster. It's tough for a ghost or a god to achieve enlightenment and even harder for a demon. Yet enlightenment does happen."
    Jin didn't say anything for a while. She finally sighed. "Teacher, I'm late for work."
    "Fulfill your materialist obligations if you must -- or can -- but don't forget what I told you about your Third Eye. Those whispers you've been hearing before now were just the beginning. You're going to start seeing things too as your Third Eye begins to open and you learn to control it. So try not to panic and assume your demon form every time you see something scary. Tends to frighten the natives."
    "I'll do my best," Jin said. She turned to leave, then hesitated. "What did you mean, 'can'? Teacher?"
    He was gone, of course. For someone claiming to both mortal and an old guy, he moves damn quick .
    Joyce was already in the office by the time Jin got there. "Look, I'm sorry I'm late -- "
    "What are you talking about? You're not late."
    Jin glanced at the wall clock then and realized that Joyce was right. She had arrived on time almost to the minute. "Ummm, ok. You're early." Jin thought her assumption of lateness quite reasonable. Joyce was a punctual sort whom one expected to arrive at 8:00AM on the dot, so it followed that if Jin arrived after Joyce, then Jin was late. Only she wasn't.
    Joyce just shrugged. "Got a tough