Among mankind, I categorize all people into three types. The first type is the unbelievers, who are those without religious beliefs. They are called unbelievers. The overwhelming majority of unbelievers only believe in money, they only pursue their own interests, they are materialistic, and they only believe in the material world, not the cycle of life and death, or any sayings about deities and ghosts. I categorize them as the unbelievers, and they are the first type. The second type is the various people of faith apart from the unbelievers. Among mankind, I divide these people of faith into several major types: The first are Jewish, the second are Catholic, the third are Christian, the fourth are Muslim, and the fifth are Buddhist—there are five types. These are the various types of people of faith. The third type are those who believe in God, which relates to you. This kind of believers are those who follow God today. These people are divided into two types: God’s chosen people and service-doers. Right! These main types have been clearly differentiated. So now, in your minds you are able to clearly differentiate the types and rankings of humans. The first are the unbelievers—I’ve said what the unbelievers are. Many unbelievers only believe in the Old Man in the Sky; they believe that the wind, rain, and thunder are all controlled by this Old Man in the Sky, whom they rely on for the planting of crops and the harvest—yet at the mention of the belief in God they become unwilling. Can this be called belief in God? Such people are included in the unbelievers. Those who don’t believe in God and only believe in the Old Man in the Sky are all unbelievers; all those who don’t believe in God, or follow God, are unbelievers. The second type are those who belong to the five major religions and who believe in a vague God. The third type are those who believe in the practical God who has become flesh during the last days—those who follow God today. And why have I divided all humans into these types? (Because they have a different destination and end.) That’s one aspect. Because, when these different races and types of people return to the spiritual world, they will each have a different place to go, they will be subject to different laws of the cycle of life and death, and this is the reason why I have categorized humans into these major types.

The Cycle of Life and Death of the Unbelievers

Let us begin with the cycle of life and death of the unbelievers. After a person dies, they are taken away by a bailiff from the spiritual world. And what of them is taken away? Not their flesh, but their soul. When their soul is taken away, they arrive at a place that is an agency of the spiritual world, one which specially receives the souls of people who have just died. (Note: The first place they go after anyone dies is strange to the soul.) When they are taken to this place, an official carries out the first checks, confirming their name, address, age, and what they did with their life. Everything they did in their life is recorded in a book and verified for accuracy. After it has all been checked, the person’s behavior and actions throughout their life are used to determine whether they will be punished or continue being reincarnated as a person, which is the first stage. Is this first stage frightening? It’s not too frightening, because the only thing that has happened is the person has arrived at a dark and unfamiliar place. That’s not too scary.

In the second stage, if this person has done many bad things throughout their life, if they have committed many wicked deeds, then they will be taken to a place of punishment to be punished. That will be the place they will be taken to, a place expressly for the punishment of people. The specifics of how they are punished depend on the sins they committed, and on how many wicked things they did before they died—which is the first situation that happens in the second stage. Because of the things they did and the evil they committed before they died, when they are reincarnated following their punishment—when they are once more born into the material world—some people will continue to be human, and some will become animals. Which is to say, after a person returns to the spiritual world, they are punished because of the evil they have committed; moreover, because of the wicked things they have done, in their next reincarnation they do not become human, but an animal. The scope of animals that they might become includes cows, horses, pigs, and dogs. Some people might become a bird in the sky, or a duck or goose…. After they have been reincarnated as an animal, when they die they return to the spiritual world, and, as before, based on their behavior before they die the spiritual world will decide whether or not they are reincarnated as a person. Most people commit too much evil, their sins are too grievous, and so when they are reincarnated they become an animal seven to twelve times. Seven to twelve times—isn’t that frightful? What’s frightening to you? A person becoming an animal, that’s frightening. And for a person, what’s most painful about becoming an animal? Having no language, having only simple thoughts, only being able to do the things that animals do and eat the things that animals eat, having the simple mindset and body language of an animal, not being able to walk upright, not being able to communicate with humans, and none of the behavior and activities of humans bearing any relation to animals. Which is to say, among all things, being an animal makes you the lowest of all living things, and is much more painful than being a human. This is one aspect of the spiritual world’s punishment of those who have done much evil and committed great sins. When it comes to the severity of the punishment, this is decided by the kind of animal that they become. For example, is being a pig better than being a dog? Does a pig live better or worse than a dog? Worse, surely. If people become a cow or a horse, will they live better or worse than a pig? (Better.) It looks as if, given a choice, you have taste. Will it be more comfortable if someone becomes a cat? It will be a lot more comfortable than becoming a horse or cow. If you had a choice between animals, you’d choose becoming a cat, and that’s more comfortable, because you could laze away most of your time in sleep. Becoming a cow or horse is more laborious, and so if people are reincarnated as a cow or horse, they have to work hard—which seems like a harsh punishment. Becoming a dog is a little better than a cow or horse, because a dog has a closer relationship with its master. What’s more, today, a lot of people keep a dog and after three or five years it has learned to understand a lot of what they say! Because a dog can understand many of its master’s words, it has a good understanding of its master, and it can adapt to its master’s mood and requirements, therefore the master treats the dog better, and the dog eats better and drinks better, and when it is in pain it is looked after more—so does the dog not enjoy a happy life? Thus, being a dog is better than a cow or horse. In this, the severity of a person’s punishment determines how many times they are reincarnated as an animal, and as which type of animal they are reincarnated. You understand, yes?

Because they committed so many sins while they were alive, some people will be punished by being reincarnated as an animal seven to twelve times. Having been punished for enough number of times, when they return to the spiritual world they are taken somewhere else. The various souls in this place have already been punished, and are of the type who are preparing to be reincarnated as human. This place categorizes each soul into a type according to what kind of family they will be born into, what kind of role they will play once they have been reincarnated, and so on. For example, some people will become singers when they come to this world, and so they are placed among the singers; some will become businesspeople when they come to this world, and so they are placed among the businesspeople; and if someone is to become a scientific researcher when they become human, then they are placed among the scientific researchers. After they are classified, each is sent out according to a different time and appointed date, just like how people send e-mails today. In this will be completed one cycle of life and death, and it’s very dramatic. From the day that a person arrives at the spiritual world up until when their punishment ends, they may be reincarnated as an animal many times, and then they prepare to be reincarnated as a human; this is a complete process.

And will those who have finished being punished, and will no longer be reincarnated as animals, be quickly sent to the material world to become human? Or how long will it be before they can come among man? What is the frequency with which these people become human? There are temporal restrictions to this. Everything that happens in the spiritual world is subject to the appropriate temporal restrictions and rules—which, if I explain with numbers, you’ll understand. For those who are reincarnated within a short period of time, when they die their rebirth as a human will be prepared. The shortest time is three days. For some people, it is three months, for some it is three years, for some it is thirty years, for some it is three hundred years, for some it is even three thousand years, and so on. So what can be said about these temporal rules, and what are their specifics? A soul’s arrival in the material world, the world of man, is based on need: It is according to the role that this soul is to play in this world. When people are reincarnated as an ordinary person, most of them are reincarnated very soon, because the world of man has a pressing need for such ordinary people, and so three days later they are sent out again to a family that is completely different to the one they were in before they died. But there are some who must play a special role in this world. “Special” means that there isn’t a great demand for these people in the world of man; not many people are needed to play such a role, and so it may be three hundred years before they are reincarnated. Which is to say, this soul will only come once every three hundred years, or even once every three thousand years. And why is it so? Because for three hundred years or three thousand years, such a role is not required in the world of man, and so they are kept somewhere in the spiritual world. Take Confucius, for example. He had a profound impact on traditional Chinese culture. You all probably know him; his arrival had a deep effect on the culture, knowledge, tradition, and thinking of the people of that time. But a person such as this is not needed in every era, and so he had to remain in the spiritual world, waiting there for three hundred or three thousand years before being reincarnated. Because the world of man was not in need of someone like this, he had to wait idly, for there were very few roles such as his, there was little for him to do, and so he had to be kept somewhere in the spiritual world for most of the time, idle, and be sent out when the world of man had need of him. Such are the spiritual realm’s temporal rules for the frequency with which most people are reincarnated. Whether they are someone ordinary or special, the spiritual world has appropriate rules and correct practices for the processing of people’s reincarnation, and these rules and practices come from God, they are sent down from God, and not decided or controlled by any bailiff or being in the spiritual world.

—The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique X