A Simple Life and the Path to Deliverance

This is a record of an interview with Lin Shenghua, who sought spiritual deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his life in Taiwan. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa, on April 24, 2021.

Lin Shenghua speaks:

"Gratitude! Gratitude! Gratitude to the great compassion of Namo Amituofo! Gratitude to the great compassion of Practitioner Su! On behalf of sixty prison guards, I kneel in gratitude to Namo Amituofo and to the great compassion of Practitioner Su!

Oh my! I am truly so happy; I do not even know how to express my current state of mind. I am truly overjoyed. I never even dreamed that I would have the opportunity to come to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Or rather, I could never have dreamed of a place as beautiful as the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss! To think that I am standing here in the West right now—it is so beautiful! It is a landscape never before seen on Earth. I believe that everyone who arrives in the West will be just as surprised and full of praise as I am, because it is truly too beautiful!"

A Humble Beginning in Taiwan

"Now, I would like to introduce myself. Hello everyone! My name is Lin Shenghua. Ever since I was a child, the neighbours always liked to call me 'Ah-Sheng'. Hearing me speak Taiwanese, you should know that I am Taiwanese! I am from the same hometown as all of you!

Seeing everyone here learning the Buddha’s teachings makes me very happy. You are all the pride of Taiwan. Especially Practitioner Su—I truly admire and praise him. I give Practitioner Su a 'thumbs up'! To think that we Taiwanese have someone who can cultivate to such a high level; it is truly remarkable! Seeing so many spirits being saved by Practitioner Su moves me deeply. This is truly the blessing of us Taiwanese!

I was born in the south of Taiwan. Ever since our ancestors crossed from the mainland to cultivate this land, generation after generation were farmers. There was not a single generation that was not. This is what we call 'passing it down through the generations'. At that time, our ancestors were allocated a large piece of land, which was passed down from generation to generation and never sold. It was only later, when the government wanted to build houses, that we were forced to sell it, but we did receive a fair amount of money in return. Many Taiwanese are very humble; even if they have money, they do not like to show it off. We still lived like ordinary people, without any particular luxury, and we did not wear expensive clothes. Just like our family—even though we had a lot of ancestral property, our lives remained simple and frugal. Every day, just like everyone else, we left early and returned late, working desperately hard."

The Spirit of a Farming Village

"I started helping out in the fields when I was five years old. Whenever the busy season arrived, every household in the village was incredibly busy. Some families had many sons and enough manpower to help with the work, but some families might have only had one or two sons, with the rest being daughters, so cultivating such a large piece of land was a bit more difficult. However, it did not matter. We were a village of mutual aid and mutual love. When the harvest season arrived for each family, everyone helped each other. It was as if today my family was harvesting, and many neighbours would come to our fields to help; tomorrow, when their family harvested, everyone would go to their house to help. By doing this, no one had to worry about a shortage of manpower, creating a friendly village environment.

When I was seven, I once asked my father: 'Father, will my job when I grow up be to farm the land at home?' My father replied: 'Of course it is farming! Otherwise, who is going to farm such a large piece of land? Do you want to just let it grow weeds?' When my father answered this way, I knew my future would be to live the same life as my father. Our village was very simple. Everyone lived in this village from youth to old age. At that time, not many people went to the north to work, so the able-bodied men had not yet migrated away and were still farming in their hometown.

We farmers rely on the heavens for our livelihood. If the climate was stable that year—if it rained when it should rain, was hot when it should be hot, and cold when it should be cold—that year would surely be a bumper harvest, and the fruits and vegetables grown would be very beautiful. But if too many typhoons came at once, or if the plum rain season lasted too long and brought too much rainfall, or if there was too little rain, or if it was too cold or too hot, then the harvest that year might not be satisfactory, and we could only shrug our shoulders and accept our fate."

Family Bonds and Responsibilities

"Our family did not just have me as a son, but my father liked to ask me to do things the most because I was the most obedient of the seven children in the family. I was the third eldest. There were six boys and one girl in the family. My younger sister was the youngest, and every brother doted on her. The neighbours all said she was very lucky, born with six brothers to dote on her like a little princess. I also doted on my sister. She was very well-behaved. Although she had us brothers as her backing since she was young, she acted as if she did not need us at all. She could do everything herself and could help with anything, just like a little boy. She would even do the work in the fields. My sister's capability was known to everyone in the village. Every mother was competing to have my sister marry into their family. I remember when my sister was only about ten years old, people were already coming to discuss marriage. Fortunately, my mother declined them; otherwise, my little sister would have had to suffer at such a young age. How could we brothers bear that? However, my sister got married at sixteen. At that age, in our time, it was about time to get married. When she married, my mother gave her an expensive sewing machine and a high-quality cypress wood dressing table as a dowry. Not long after she married, she was pregnant. Seeing how hard my sister worked, I asked her: 'Are you used to it?' She always smiled and replied: 'Life is just like this!' Indeed, life is really just like that. Everyone in the village lived this way. When everyone reached the appropriate age for marriage, they started looking for a partner in the village. Some were introduced by matchmakers, and some met each other. In our era, we did not spend a lot of time dating or being in a relationship like modern people. We would choose a target, go out to eat a few times, meet each other's parents, and get married shortly after. After marriage, the busyness began. Especially after the children were born, it was truly overwhelming. There was work in the fields to attend to, and children to look after at home. Sometimes it was really too much, so we would let the children play by themselves at home or in the fields."

Love and the Role of Village Head

"I got married. At seventeen, I married the daughter of the grocery store owner. We all called the owner 'Uncle Ah-Guang'. There was only that one grocery store in the village, and everyone would go there to buy things—cigarettes, alcohol, snacks, and daily necessities like firewood, rice, oil, and salt. It was a small grocery store, piled with all kinds of things. Only the owner knew where his things were placed; we just had to speak up when we entered.

That day, Uncle Ah-Guang went out, and his daughter was minding the store for him. It just so happened that I went to buy something that day, and I fell in love with his daughter, Fengjiao, at first sight. We did not talk about anything, just a few simple words, but our eyes were full of shy affection for each other, wanting to look but not daring to. After that, I often made excuses to go to the grocery store to buy things. I would often ask my mother: 'Is there anything you need to buy? I will run the errand for you!' During that time, my mother felt it was strange. When did I become so diligent? Usually, my mother went to buy things herself, but it became me doing all the buying. Every time I had a chance to go to the grocery store, I would peek outside first. If I did not see Fengjiao sitting inside, I would choose to go the next day so as not to waste a chance to see her.

My affair with Fengjiao was soon discovered by Uncle Ah-Guang. That day, I was chatting with Fengjiao in the store when I was caught red-handed by Uncle Ah-Guang. I had no choice but to admit that I liked Fengjiao, and Fengjiao also lowered her head and said she liked me. Less than two months later, my father and mother went to the grocery store to propose, and soon I was married to Fengjiao. Life entered the next stage.

After marriage, Fengjiao and I had two sons and three daughters. Fengjiao was busy taking care of the children every day, and I went to work in the fields every day. My father was getting older, so he handed over the work in the fields to me. My other brothers would also help, but they had their own jobs, unlike me, who devoted my whole heart to farming and had more time.

My children were all very well-behaved and simple. If there was work in the fields to help with, they would follow Fengjiao to help. Sometimes when I saw that the neighbouring fields were too busy, I would tell my children to go and help them. I hoped to cultivate the habit of liking to help others from a young age, so that the path of life could be wider and larger, and life would be smoother.

At the age of forty-three, the villagers wanted me to run for village head. I actually did not like to be in the limelight, but the villagers really wanted me to come out and help. If everyone recognised my ability to get things done, then I was very willing to come out and serve the villagers. That time, I was elected with a high number of votes. Almost everyone voted for me; I was the recognised village head."

Promoting Character Education

"After becoming the village head, life became even busier. I did not want to be just a nominal village head. Since I held this position, I had to do my duty and work seriously. I was very familiar with every household in the village, and I would even personally visit every household every six months, especially before the holidays, which was a good time to give them some small gifts. The purpose of my visits was to know how everyone was living. Many households would take this opportunity to tell me privately what problems they were encountering. If I could help, I would do my best to assist, wanting everyone to have a better life.

I attached great importance to the character education of children. This was a place that was easily overlooked in our time. Everyone grew up in the fields, and no parent knew to pay attention to the character of their children, including myself. It was later, in the process of educating my children, that I had the opportunity to meet a teacher who was very good at teaching children. From his sharing, I learned that character education for children is so important. It must be taught from a young age so that they do not grow up crooked or distorted; by then, it would be too late to adjust.

I started to promote this to every parent in the village, hoping that they would start to value the issue of child upbringing. Of course, in a situation where no one had any awareness, it was a very difficult thing to promote such a concept, especially in the countryside. Every child grew up in the mud. Parents were happy as long as the children came back to eat; no parent would notice the issue of upbringing. But I still tried my best to do it. If I could successfully guide one parent, I could help all the children in their family.

In the village head's office, I set up a teaching space. Although it was a bit crude, we could still barely hold classes inside. I invited a very excellent teacher to give free lectures in the village. As long as the parents were willing, they could bring their children. The first ones brought were the children whose parents did not have time to take care of them. They were usually left at home to play by themselves. With this opportunity, the parents brought the children here for classes. With someone to help take care of them, they were more at ease. These children who had no parents to take care of them since they were young tended to have more personality and their own thoughts and opinions. These were the students the teacher needed to pay special attention to, adjusting many of their concepts and helping them grow better."

Serving the Elderly and Reflecting on Life

"In addition to valuing children's education, I also cared about the elderly in the village. We farmers are actually mostly very healthy, but when we get old, we still have problems like joint degeneration and slow movement, which makes it impossible for the elderly to farm like before, and they spend most of their time at home. I organised a neighbourhood care group in the village to visit every household to care for the elderly at specific times each week. For some elderly people living alone without children to take care of them, I would specially deliver meals to them so that the elderly would not have to worry about their three meals. I paid for all these expenses out of my own pocket because my ideas were not necessarily accepted at the time, so I had to pay for these things myself. I did it very happily. Seeing that children and the elderly could receive proper education and care, and that many families in financial distress could have their economic situation relieved through my best efforts, allowing everyone to live a stable life, was truly a very good thing.

After a few years, when my term as village head ended, I continued to work as a volunteer in the village. I used most of my ancestral property to give back to society, leaving only one piece of land for my descendants to continue farming.

My children got married very early. When I was about fifty, my first grandchild was born. I became a grandfather playing with my grandchildren at home. My wife, Fengjiao, was the happiest. She had long wanted to hold a grandchild, and at fifty-two, she became a grandmother, taking care of the grandchildren at home every day, incredibly happy.

My life passed by so smoothly, and I lived to the age of seventy-three before leaving the human world. I never thought about where my spirit would go after my body died. In our traditional concepts, we thought it was just crossing the Naihe Bridge and going to the underworld. As for what would happen after going to the underworld, we did not know. My spirit was taken by two officials to the King of Hell. I did not know why I came here either. After the King of Hell explained, I realised that I had been assigned to be a prison guard.

This is my very simple life. From childhood to old age, in just a short piece, I have finished talking about my life. Looking back now, life is really short. Without paying attention, one goes from youth to middle age, and with another distraction, one goes from middle age to old age. Once one reaches old age, life is almost at its end."

The Preciousness of the Buddha's Teachings

"After listening to Practitioner Su give Dharma talks in hell and beginning to understand the Buddha's teachings, I realised how precious life is. This spirit relies on this body to cultivate. If I had known the Buddha's teachings earlier, I would definitely not have gotten married, nor would I have farmed. I would have learned the Buddha's teachings and introduced them to others. Too many Taiwanese in the countryside do not know the Buddha's teachings. Everyone believes in Taoism more and never knows how important this spirit is to us. Learning the Buddha's teachings is not for seeking safety; learning the Buddha's teachings is to allow our spirits to return to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. If we learn the Buddha's teachings this way, we have truly learned it correctly, and this life has been worth it.

Finally, I once again represent the sixty prison guards in gratitude to Namo Amituofo and gratitude to Practitioner Su. Today is my happiest day!

Namo Amituofo.

Lin Shenghua"