A Spirit's Journey from the Rice Fields of India

This is a record of an interview with Alisha, who sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. She now resides in the Western Land of Dharma Nature. This account reflects upon her life approximately 249 years ago. Recorded by the chief writer, Fa Ning, on May 12, 2026.

Alisha speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am grateful to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su for giving me this opportunity to be interviewed. I am an Indian woman from a small village in central India. Counting it up, I have just realised that I have been away from the human world for two hundred and forty-nine years! Before, as a lonely spirit, I had no concept of time. But after arriving in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, whenever I wish to know something, the Buddha fulfills my wish. I was wondering when I left the human world and how long I had been a wandering spirit, and the Buddha told me: 'Two hundred and forty-nine years'."

A Life of Hardship and Simple Virtues

"In the human world, I experienced quite a lot in that time. When I passed away, I was only forty-six years old. In the society of that time, reaching forty-six was considered an average lifespan for an Indian woman. Back then, women in India had many children, and many of them suffered from malnutrition or passed away prematurely. Raising five children on my own was no easy task, let me tell you.

To be honest, my life story is nothing special. I came from a farming family. Under the caste system in India, I belonged to the third tier—not high, but not low either. It was a very common social standing. When I was Alisha, I was not highly educated, but I had a strong ability to learn. My life lasted only forty-six years. My husband left me early, so I raised my five children alone. Relying on my own two hands, I worked hard to raise them, teaching them to be filial, obedient, and good children. We were Hindus, which was the most common religion in India, and my family were vegetarians—a very common practice in our region."

The Search for Equality

"I consider myself a person who enjoyed giving and helping others. I often took my children to nearby villages to reach out to those whose status was even lower than ours. Although India had a caste system, I did not agree with it at all. Therefore, from a young age, I tried hard to instill the concept of equality in my children, hoping that one day Indian society would no longer have these divisions of high and low status.

Because of this, my children, like me, would not hold any contempt for those of lower status, nor would they believe that those of higher status were necessarily worthy of respect. I firmly believe in moral education; whether a person's character is upright is the only reason someone should be respected."

Lost in the Spiritual Realm

"Today, accepting this interview from the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, my heart is filled with joy. This is the first time in a long while that I have reconnected with people from the human world to tell my story. I am actually just one of many, many souls. The world of ghost deities in India is simply too crowded! The physical eyes of humans may not be able to see it, but as a spirit in the spiritual realms, we are countless suffering souls who have experienced wars, famines, various diseases, and all kinds of calamities. The space is densely packed with beings—they are too numerous to count!

At the time, I did not know where I had ended up. When I saw the towering, majestic billboard of Namo Amituofo, I learned that I was already in northern India. I couldn't help but be shocked. It turned out that during all these years as a spirit, I had drifted so far—at least several hundred, if not over a thousand kilometres—to reach this small town in northern India. I was staying there as a spirit, aimless and without any particular destination. A spirit is just like that, drifting everywhere without any autonomy. At that time, my spirit was in the middle of a rice field."

The Golden Light of Deliverance

"But I never expected that in this small town called Bihar Sharif, ever since the Namo Amituofo billboard was erected, I discovered that many beings were heading in one direction. There was light there—a very bright light. I didn't dare to approach at first because I wasn't sure what kind of light it was. But I often heard it said in the place where I was that this light was very warm and very comfortable, and that many beings from the spiritual realms who went there would surely obtain deliverance.

I wondered to myself, what does 'deliverance' mean? I used to believe in Hinduism, which is the largest and most widely followed religion in India. I was not very familiar with the term 'deliverance'. But I knew that India has many gods, and each of these gods has different stories and backgrounds. The god I worshipped was relatively niche at the time and not known to many. Based on the common knowledge I had learned before, I knew that the light emitted by the gods worshipped by the people in my small village seemed to be blue. But this time, the light that the beings in the spiritual realm were talking about was an incredibly dazzling golden light. This shocked me, but I was still willing to go and explore it."

A New World of Light

"Later, when I approached this light, I felt a very shocking power. I don't know what language to use to describe this light, but my drifting heart suddenly calmed down, as if I were instantly certain that this light could bring me salvation. So, with a single thought, I entered the light that reflected the towering Buddha statue and arrived in the world of the Western Land of Dharma Nature. This is a world of incomparable brightness, so different from the life of a ghost I had lived for two hundred and forty-nine years.

Although I used to believe in Hinduism and believed in reincarnation, we thought that the ultimate state of perfection was not something that ordinary people could reach—much like the state of awakening and becoming a Buddha that is spoken of in the Buddha's teachings. There is a similar saying in Hinduism that if one can awaken, one can be forever free from suffering and no longer need to reincarnate. But I always thought that was a state impossible for ordinary people to reach; to me, it all felt so distant.

But when I arrived in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I saw the towering, majestic Namo Amituofo, and Practitioner Su, who has realised his true nature and attained Buddhahood. I was overjoyed because this place truly surprised me. Why would there be such a place in Australia? I kept thinking to myself, what kind of place on Earth is this, where so many Buddhas and Bodhisattvas can gather here?"

True Practice vs. The Old Ways

"In my memory, our land of India also had many gods and teachers. In the society of the past, under the caste system of India, these great masters, spiritual guides, and countless practitioners and ascetics of various schools were the most respected people in society.

But when I arrived in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I suddenly saw things clearly. In this place, everyone's level of practice is so high, yet they do not have the miserable, suffering appearance of the practitioners I remembered in India. Here, everyone has a dignified and full appearance, an extraordinary temperament, and they are practicing with joy. The practice here is also very simple—it is just chanting this one sentence: 'Namo Amituofo'. Everyone's heart is very comfortable and peaceful, and there is not a single trace of affliction on their faces. This reminded me of the state of practice I used to imagine, and it is truly different.

I, Alisha, was just a woman, and I didn't have much knowledge about practice. But I had taken my children to many places and witnessed the living conditions of people from different classes in Indian society. In those days, whenever we met practitioners, we would give them some food as an offering. Although they belonged to different schools and had different philosophies of practice, which I never delved into, I had always admired these people throughout my life. I believed they were striving to obtain liberation and helping all beings obtain liberation. That is exactly what I admired about them."

The Truth of the Universe

"After arriving in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I have been listening attentively to Practitioner Su's lectures, because this is truly a very special place. I believe that Practitioner Su here must be someone who knows the truth of the universe. Listening to his lectures is like being bathed in a gentle breeze. Although the Dharma he speaks is not profound, every word goes straight to the heart, as if it has untied the mysteries that have puzzled me for years.

In my nearly three hundred years of spiritual memory—including my forty-six years of life and two hundred and forty years as a spirit—I have spent a long time in India and have seen much injustice and turmoil in society. Our society at that time was still quite complex because the cultures, languages, and customs of different places were not the same. So, people of all kinds gathered together, and although they learned to tolerate each other over time, there were still many disputes.

Especially in the region of India where I drifted, Hindus were the majority, but there were also many Muslims from the north, who made up one-third of the local population. These people made up the social situation at that time. Although there were no major conflicts between them on a daily basis, looking at history, there was still a knot in their hearts, and they were never able to truly get along harmoniously.

The human world always divides itself in many different ways to establish factions and small groups. This is very common in Indian society. Divisions by race, by class, by religion, and all kinds of other divisions—even the most trivial methods of division—are very common."

A Life of Gratitude

I never expected that after my simple, unremarkable life ended, I would find myself in such an extraordinary place. I suppose it is because, when I was human, I kept my heart relatively upright. I did not harbour many evil thoughts; instead, I spent my life living with a heart full of gratitude, doing my best to help those in need. Although the world after death was a lonely place, at least I did not have to suffer greatly. Now, because of the guidance of this Buddha-light, my heart is moved beyond words. So many beings have found liberation simply because of the Namo Amituofo billboards.

The Light in a Land of Shadows

Although the Buddha’s teachings are virtually non-existent in India today—it is fair to say that those who truly believe in and practise the Dharma are very few, gathered only in isolated pockets—because India is the birthplace of the Buddha’s teachings, there is still a general awareness of the Buddha. However, for most, this knowledge is strictly limited to Shakyamuni Buddha.

Regarding Namo Amituofo, many beings in the spiritual realms feel a sense of familiarity, yet they are also strangers to Him. They know only that He is a very great Buddha, but their understanding of who Namo Amituofo truly is remains microscopic. Now that they see the Buddha has come to the human world—and that it is Namo Amituofo Himself—many of the spirit realm beings in India have finally, truly come to recognise the Buddha’s existence right here.

A Beacon for All Beings

Namo Amituofo is truly, unimaginably great! Even though the Buddha resides at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, He makes no distinctions between people; He is single-mindedly focused on saving everyone. Wherever Practitioner Su’s Dharma Body goes, the Buddha follows to save beings. Today, because the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia has erected Namo Amituofo billboards across India, wherever those signs stand, it is as if the Buddha is residing right there—shining brightly, radiant and magnificent! Many beings are so overjoyed to enter that light, knowing that this is the chance they have been waiting for to be saved.

I continue to receive the purification of the Buddha-light here in the Western Land of Dharma Nature. I hope that one day, through my own diligent practice of chanting Namo Amituofo, I will be able to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Namo Amituofo.

Alisha.