Confessions of a Prison Guard: From Samsara to Deliverance

Liu Baozhi, a spirit who served as a prison guard in the underworld, sought deliverance through the compassion of Practitioner Su. This interview, recorded on January 5, 2024, details his journey from a life of greed and karmic retribution to his eventual rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Liu Baozhi speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am filled with gratitude—so much gratitude to Practitioner Su for helping me break free from this cycle of reincarnation. I am grateful for the Causal Conditions that led me to serve as a prison guard, for that role allowed me to finally understand the laws of karma and cause and effect, and taught me the true meaning of repenting. Today is the magnificent day of my rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I am thankful for my time in the world, for it was there that I learned about the laws of karma and cause and effect and discovered the path to liberation. I am also grateful to the King of Hell for allowing me to serve as a representative of the prison guards, so that my life might serve as a mirror for others to learn from."

A Childhood Defined by Competition

"My name is Liu Baozhi. My father was Liu Yunchang, and my mother was Zhang Baozhen. My mother was my father's concubine. To secure her position as a concubine, my mother sacrificed so much; she gave her youth to my father, bore his children, and spent every waking moment revolving around his needs.

My father's first wife was not a woman to be trifled with. She only accepted my mother into the household because my mother had given birth to me, a son. My arrival allowed my mother to enter the Liu family, but it also meant that her fate was forever shackled to that house. Being a concubine meant she was destined to be treated as inferior for the rest of her life.

From my earliest childhood memories, I recall my mother constantly fighting for what she believed we were entitled to—the finest silk quilts, imported apples, the inheritance, and so on. She monitored everything, from the most significant matters to the most trivial. If she did not get what she wanted, she would fight until she won.

Sometimes, I would look at my mother's profile. Her face would be expressionless, yet I could feel her heart weeping. She was so helpless, sometimes even wishing to end her own life, but she endured it all to protect me. I do not know when it started, but I eventually learned to mirror my mother's behavioral patterns."

The Downward Spiral

"My mother passed away from a severe illness when I was twenty-three. After she was gone, my father's first wife tried every possible method to drive me out. When I realised she was beginning to take major actions against me, I, too, began to fight and seize for my own sake. In the end, I unintentionally harmed her, causing her to hit her head against a wall and lose her memory. From that moment on, I took control of all the family's affairs. I seized the family assets, but because I was so harsh to the employees of our paper-offering business, they left one by one. With a staff shortage and no way to hire new people, the business had to be shut down.

Once the family business was gone, I continued to squander our wealth daily. Within a few years, I had lost everything. My father could not bear the decline of our family; lacking the will to live, he fell into a deep depression and eventually passed away.

After my father died, I had virtually no family left in the world. I wandered aimlessly every day, not knowing what to do with myself."

The Nightmare Realm

"Several times, I would fall into dreams where I was being chased by a group of people. I felt absolutely terrified and helpless; there was no one in those dreams who could help me. I walked back and forth, unable to find a way out of that space.

After this happened a few times, I became afraid to sleep at night, fearing I would enter that dream again. My mental state began to deteriorate. Many people said I was having hallucinations, and often, I seemed to be crying out for help.

The most intense experience occurred when I was chased by a multitude of people. My panic and fear reached their absolute limit. I felt as though many people were beating me with clubs, and I kept screaming. I do not know how long I remained in that terrifying, fearful space before I finally escaped."

Life as a Mantis

"After leaving that space, my spirit was reborn into the body of a mantis. In truth, my spirit did not know I had become a mantis; I thought I had finally escaped that dark space. I saw a vast grassland before me and felt incredibly happy, believing I was safe. Little did I know, this was the beginning of another cycle of retribution.

When I was hungry, I began searching for food on the grass. Eating small insects felt like a grand feast to me. After I was full, I decided to bask in the sun.

Suddenly, several large birds appeared before me. To me, they were enormous—much larger than any human. I thought to myself, 'I have never seen such large birds before. How can there be birds so much bigger than humans?'

The bird charged at me as if it had spotted its prey. I looked at the bird, feeling furious, and wanted to find a stone to throw at it. But to my surprise, I could not lift the round stones; they felt incredibly heavy. I finally managed to pick up a small pebble and threw it at the bird, but it was insignificant to such a creature.

After I threw the stone, the bird became even angrier, and its speed as it dived toward me increased. Before long, I was snatched up in its beak and carried into the sky.

The wind speed was so fast that I could not see what was ahead, so I had no idea where the bird was taking me. When the bird finally stopped, I was thrown onto the ground. My head, body, and legs were quickly dismembered by three small beaks, and I died in agony."

The Cycle of Retribution

"The pain did not last long, and my life began again, landing on another patch of grass. This time, because of how my previous life ended, I was extremely cautious with every step. After eating, I would immediately hide in a place that seemed safe.

But no matter how well I hid, it seemed that accidents would always find me. One day, a heavy rainstorm began. I was hiding in a place I thought was secure, but suddenly, the earth shifted, and a landslide occurred from above. I was crushed to death by a pile of rocks. Before I died, I felt so unwilling; I did not want this hard-won life to end like that.

Just as my heart was filled with resentment, a light suddenly appeared before me, allowing me to see how I had harmed others in the past. The cold, heartless face I wore and the methods I used to hurt people shocked me to my core. I did not know that my past self had been so cruel, showing not a shred of mercy.

I felt the suffering of those I had harmed. My heart softened, and I began to repent deeply. All this time, I had been complaining about my own experiences, never realising that I had truly hurt so many people.

I knelt and wept bitterly, washing my face with tears, not knowing what to do. I do not know how long I cried before I saw the King of Hell standing before me."

A Chance for Redemption

"Upon seeing the King of Hell, I immediately repented. I hoped the King of Hell would give me a chance to make amends to the beings I had harmed.

The King of Hell was compassionate. To help me see the cycle of birth and death more clearly, he allowed me to take on the role of a prison guard, directing the newly deceased spirits on the path through the underworld.

I watched them—every one of them was expressionless, and some were hollow, desperate, fearful, or anxious. I knew this was the suffering of an unpredictable future. Seeing these people, I constantly reflected on how many in the world walk this same path. Many are ignorant or unaware, forced to follow the turning of the cycle of reincarnation.

I saw one spirit after another in their helplessness, and I truly wished to help them, but my duties forbade me from interfering with the laws of karma. In my heart, I prayed that many spirits could find an exit.

After waiting for a long time, I finally heard Practitioner Su giving Dharma talks in the hells. I also saw Practitioner Su performing great Chao Du for all beings, bringing Buddha-light to illuminate the entire hell realm, allowing those with the Causal Conditions to be saved. I am so grateful to Practitioner Su, and I hoped that one day I, too, could be saved.

Perhaps the Buddha felt my sincerity, for today, I was finally arranged to have the Causal Conditions to chant Namo Amituofo loudly under the guidance of Practitioner Su, and to arrive at the Buddha-land—the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I am grateful to Practitioner Su, and I hope that many more beings can receive this help.

Namo Amituofo.

Liu Baozhi, kneeling and bowing."