Escaping the Prison of a Lifetime

This is a record of an interview with Liang Youhui, who sought Chao Du 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 and his subsequent time as a spirit in the hell realms. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa, on August 20, 2022.

Liang Youhui speaks:

"After such a long journey, I have finally reached the exit of samsara—the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Youhui and fifty-nine other prison guards are all filled with profound gratitude. We are so grateful to Practitioner Su for bringing us to the Western Pure Land. On this long and winding road of reincarnation, he led us to the exit of samsara and back to the Western Pure Land, the true home of every spirit. Greetings to you all. I am Liang Youhui, born in mainland China.

A Life Defined by Misfortune

It feels as though I have experienced everything life has to offer, though none of it was particularly good. Yet, I accepted it all willingly. No matter how my friends laughed at me, I could only shrug and say, 'That is just life.' I was not an unattractive man, so it was natural for women to be drawn to me. I began dating at fourteen—not too early, not too late. I found someone I liked, and we began a relationship.

I had assumed this romance would last for a long time. To my surprise, within three months, my beloved girl ran off with another man. She abandoned me cruelly without saying a single word. At fourteen, such an event was not the end of the world; if I wanted a woman, I could simply find another. I did not feel too much sorrow, and in my heart, I wished her a lifetime of happiness.

That incident was merely the beginning of my life's disappointments. Afterward, one thing after another went wrong. For instance, during the Tangshan earthquake, my home collapsed, and I was the only survivor in my entire family. During that period, I was in such agony that I wanted to end my own life. I loved my family so deeply, yet they were taken away by that earthquake, leaving me behind in eternal separation.

The Illusion of Kindness

To cope with the grief and sorrow of losing my family, I left my hometown and planned to work elsewhere. After searching for a long time, I finally found a place to stay. A kind-hearted person helped me, charging me a small rent to live in a simple house. I truly believed I had met a noble person, but I did not realise he was a fraud. The house was not his; it belonged to someone else who had been living abroad for years. The house was fully furnished and just sitting there empty. I moved in, believing his lies. Within a few months, the owner noticed something was wrong, returned to check on the property, and caught me red-handed. I was sued by the owner. That was my first time in court, and the experience was absolutely dreadful. Fortunately, the owner eventually agreed to a settlement, and I paid a small sum to end the matter.

I had originally sought a place to heal my heart, but I only encountered more misfortune. Must my life be so miserable? All my money was gone, leaving me with barely enough to eat. A dear friend of many years kindly offered to help, letting me stay temporarily at his home, where he lived with his girlfriend. I felt terrible about imposing on them, but I had no other choice.

My friend and his girlfriend had a very stable relationship, lacking only the desire to marry. Unexpectedly, after I moved in, everything changed. In just a few months, his girlfriend fell in love with me. I had done nothing, yet I was inexplicably loved. In the end, my friend kicked me out, and I lost that dear friend of many years forever.

The Weight of Unresolved Grief

By this point, my life was already miserable enough. Could anything worse happen? It truly did. My identity was stolen, and it was used to commit many illegal acts. I thought that coming forward to clarify the situation would resolve it, but I was sentenced and spent several months in prison, completely innocent. While in that cell, I truly wanted to end my life. In those few decades of life, I lived entirely in the shadows, never experiencing a single day of happiness. I no longer held any hope for the future.

A noble person entered my life at that moment—a long-time friend of my father whom I had met several times as a child. This uncle listened to my account of the events of these past years. He was deeply sympathetic to my situation and kindly wanted to help me. However, he did not help me to continue living such a painful life in this world; instead, he led me into the Buddha’s gate. I had never imagined that I would study the Buddha’s teachings in this lifetime, but under these special Causal Conditions, I began to come into contact with the Buddha’s teachings.

This uncle had always served in the temple, and under his arrangement, I began to live in the temple and serve alongside him. Seeing my life's experiences, I should have been able to see through the nature of life. There was nothing left to be attached to, nor was there any need to be filled with illusory fantasies about life in this world. I thought I had truly seen through it, but I had not yet let go.

The Hidden Obstacle

What was it that I still had not let go of? I could not understand it myself. It seemed as though this body could not be completely pure. Even though I listened to sutras and heard the Dharma every day and followed the daily practice, there was still a voice in my heart telling me that I had not let go. The master in the temple asked me, 'Do you still want to return to your old life?' I immediately shook my head and said, 'No, I absolutely do not want to go back; it was too painful.' The master then asked, 'Then what is it in your heart that you have not yet let go of?'

I could not answer the master's question because even I did not know what I was holding onto. Every day I stayed in the temple, I obediently listened and worked. In the process, I kept searching for my own heart, looking for that part of myself deep within that was not yet completely pure. One day, a devotee came to the temple to pay respects to the Buddha. As soon as he stepped into the temple, he began to weep bitterly. I was standing outside the main hall sweeping the floor. Hearing the devotee's cries, I was about to go forward to show concern, but a master had already walked to his side. Hearing the devotee describe the process of losing his family, my heart was moved.

Why was my heart moved? I even shed tears, as if the event had truly happened to me. The memories in The Head were pulled back, pulled back to the very moment the earthquake occurred. At that moment, I seemed to suddenly wake up. I find it hard to describe the feeling of that awakening; it was as if I had suddenly woken from a dream. I said to myself unconsciously, 'So, the earthquake has already ended.'

The Final Realisation

Only now do I realise that at that time, I was still in the space of the earthquake. I had never walked out of it. Therefore, my heart was forever trapped in terror, as well as in the longing and mourning for my family. I had never moved on. The family affection that I had not yet let go of was the greatest obstacle to my own practice.

I worked hard to learn to adjust myself, wanting to help myself walk out of the pain, but the memories in The Head often interfered with me, especially when I was purifying myself. They would suddenly surge forth, plunging me into agony. I did not give up because of this; I continued to purify myself, adjust myself, and through listening to sutras and hearing the Dharma, I learned more and more how to let go.

Later in this life, I became a monk. This was a path I had to take in this life, for I had no other choice. After becoming a monk, I also began to learn to give Dharma talks, wanting to let more people know about the Buddha’s teachings, learn the Buddha’s teachings, and then walk out of this life to find the ultimate path to liberation. After more than ten years of spreading the Dharma, my life came to an end. I thought I would have the opportunity to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, but I never expected that I would ultimately be defeated by myself. I never imagined that after so many years of effort, I still had not let go.

Gratitude for Deliverance

At the very moment before I stopped breathing, my karmic creditors brought me back into the space of that earthquake. I lost my awareness and treated that space as real, falling deep into it once again. Just like that, I missed the opportunity to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Fortunately, I was still able to serve as a prison guard in the hells, and even more fortunately, I was still able to listen to Practitioner Su give Dharma talks.

I first heard Practitioner Su give a Dharma talk about ten years ago. In the hells, I thought I would never have the chance to hear the Buddha’s teachings again. I never expected to hear the sutras spoken by Practitioner Su. In my heart, I praised this as the true Great Dharma—the Great Dharma that can truly help sentient beings be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Namo Amituofo truly resides in the human world.

When I saw with my own eyes the Dharma Body of Practitioner Su enter the hells to perform Chao Du, I was completely stunned. Many spirits followed him in chanting the six-character name and then departed with the Buddha-light. Every day I could see such scenes, and every time I saw them, my heart felt joy for these beings in the hells. Today, it is my turn to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and my heart is filled with gratitude. I am grateful to Practitioner Su for giving us prison guards the opportunity to return to the West. We all cherish this deeply.

Gratitude to the Buddha for his compassion. Gratitude to Practitioner Su for his compassion. Namo Amituofo."