Finding the True Self Through the Dharma

This is a record of an interview with Yang Sheng, who sought Chao Du at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Dharma-Nature Land. This account reflects upon his life approximately 720 years ago. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa Jing, on September 7, 2018.

Yang Sheng speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Yang Sheng. My parents passed away when I was very young, leaving me to live under the roof of my cousin. My cousin was a man who had no intention of marrying or having children; he lived entirely on his own. In an era where social pressure dictated that men and women must marry, my cousin stood apart. He refused to let the institution of marriage bind his life, and he cared nothing for the ridicule of others. He cherished his bachelorhood and the freedom that came with it.

A Life of Restless Seeking

My cousin’s temperament deeply influenced me. We were both drawn to a life of ease, freedom, and spontaneity. To us, the most important thing in life was laughter. We travelled everywhere together, constantly searching for a place where we could be happy forever. We did many wild and reckless things. Sometimes we would run joyfully through torrential rain; other times, we would leap into large ponds to splash and play. We would run into the valleys to shout at the top of our lungs, or tease the wild beasts in the mountains just to feel a thrill. Every single day of our lives was filled with this frantic pursuit of joy.

We had no fixed home; we moved constantly, always chasing new stimuli to satisfy the deep, gnawing hunger for happiness within our hearts. By the time we moved for the fifteenth time, we ended up in a house near a monastery. At first, we regretted it. The area was far too quiet, entirely unsuited for the loud, boisterous life we led. We would often make a great deal of noise inside our home, only for the neighbours to come knocking, politely asking us to keep it down. They told us that our shouting was disturbing their chanting. They explained that they were chanting Namo Amituofo to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land. My cousin and I looked at each other and laughed. We did not understand what the Pure Land was, and we certainly did not understand chanting. It was the first time we had ever heard of people chanting to seek death, and we found the very idea hilarious!

The Quiet Transformation

While we waited to find our next place to live, we were forced to stay in this boring village. My cousin and I walked through the entire settlement, and we saw many households where people held prayer beads and chanted. I could not understand why they would do such a thing; it seemed like such a dull, monotonous task. Living there, I found no excitement to make me happy. Every day, I watched them chanting, chanting, and chanting. What was the meaning of this? Why were these people able to sit so still? My cousin and I were deeply puzzled. In all our lives, we had never seen anyone practising the Buddha’s teachings. This was our first encounter with practitioners.

After living in that village for half a year, our hearts finally began to settle. We started to see that these people were different from those we had met elsewhere. Compared to the people we had known before, these practitioners looked dignified and spoke with such gentleness. They did not need to seek thrills to be content; they did not need to feast on meat and wine to feel satisfied. Their houses were not as luxurious as the ones we had lived in before, yet every home seemed to radiate a special warmth. Seeing families gathered together was deeply touching. This place was truly different.

The Wisdom of the Grandmother

What was the reason they gathered here to learn the Buddha’s teachings? What was the meaning of it all? Questions began to multiply in my mind. One day, a neighbour invited us to their home for a meal. Under her warm insistence, my cousin and I accepted. The household was home to only one person—an elderly grandmother. It was our first time meeting her, and she prepared a feast to welcome us. Although there was no fish or meat, the food was truly delicious. The grandmother told us that chanting was a wonderful practice. She said she saw that my cousin and I were kind-hearted children, but it was a pity that we did not know the Dharma. She offered to introduce us to it. Having nothing better to do, we agreed. For nearly a month, we went to her home to listen to her stories. She explained what the Buddha’s teachings were, why one should practise, and what the ultimate meaning of life was.

During that month, we spent a great deal of time with her. Her temperament and demeanour were those of a truly sincere practitioner. Every move she made exuded the essence of the Dharma. Her kind, compassionate smile warmed our hearts, and her selfless dedication to everyone around her moved us to tears. She opened our eyes to the truth, and we developed a deep respect for the Buddha’s teachings. We were willing to listen to her and began to try living the life of a practitioner.

Finding True Peace

We entered the monastery to listen to the sutras. Through the Master’s teachings, we finally realised that we had never truly been happy. Those fifteen moves were not a search for happiness, but a search for peace of mind. The happiness we displayed on the surface was not real; our constant need for excitement was merely a mask for the anxiety within. Both my cousin and I had lost our parents at a young age. We carried the same sense of insecurity and the same hidden sorrow, burying it deep within our hearts while projecting a false image of joy to the world.

The Master told us that practising the Dharma is about adjusting the heart. This heart can be wounded, this heart can be led astray, and this heart has been ravaged by the passage of time and the suffering of samsara. Without the Dharma, this heart would wander in darkness forever, never seeing the light—for the only light is the heart-light that the Buddha ignites for us. After listening to several lectures, the knots in our hearts were completely untied by the Dharma. We wept bitterly before the Buddha. We realised how much sorrow we had been carrying. We were so grateful that the Buddha watched over us, allowing us to encounter the Dharma during our fifteenth move. We were ashamed of our ignorance and for having mocked these practitioners. We realised they were the ones truly enjoying life, diligently chanting every day to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

A Mission to Save Others

How many people in this world are like we were, unaware of the beauty of the Dharma? My cousin and I made a vow before the Buddha: we would never marry, and we would dedicate our lives to introducing the Dharma to the world. We had known many young people like ourselves who were constantly seeking thrills and excitement. Looking back, I realised they were just children like us, unable to find peace. We went back to find them and introduced them to the Dharma. Seeing the change in us, they were astonished. In just one year, our appearance and our speech had become completely different. They saw our transformation, and deep down, they too longed for that same peace of mind. We gathered twenty-five young men and women—children who were desperate to be understood, who had never had anyone look into the depths of their hearts. My cousin and I brought them to the monastery to listen to the sutras, letting the Dharma untie the knots they had carried for years. We discovered that everyone hides their own burdens; those who do not practise are never truly happy, no matter how well they dress on the outside.

The Dharma transformed our hearts. We found a sense of stability we had never known before. We all became volunteers at the monastery, serving the public. With the twenty-five youths, my cousin, and myself, we became a powerful group of twenty-seven volunteers. We travelled everywhere to introduce the Dharma, especially to people of our own age.

A Lifetime of Devotion

Eventually, we all chose to live in the monastery to practise. My cousin and I were ordained in the same year—I was fifteen, and he was twenty-one. The other twenty-five youths chose either to be ordained or to practise as lay practitioners. We were a group of children who had found hope and light in the Dharma, and we wished to share that light with as many people as possible.

We were all children who had wandered in the sea of humanity. Though we were young, we understood the suffering of life. Even without the worldly amusements, our hearts were finally at peace. Ordination was our choice; we were willing to dedicate our entire lives to the Dharma. There are so many people in this world who have suffered as we did, who do not yet know the Dharma, who do not know that by chanting Namo Amituofo they can attain liberation. They are still seeking worldly desires, thrills, and pleasures, unaware that their lives are slipping away and their human bodies are being ravaged. My cousin and I shared the same mission: to save those still wandering in this world. Decades passed as we practised in the monastery, and we both became dignified Bhikkhus. The Dharma reshaped our lives and changed our temperaments. We spread the teachings far and wide, saving many young people and opening up new lives for them through the Buddha’s wisdom.

The Universal Mission

Carrying this vow to save the world, I follow Practitioner Su. I hope to help Practitioner Su save even more beings. I am grateful for the Buddha’s compassionate blessing, which has allowed Practitioner Su’s legs to gradually recover. Every day, I join the other Venerables in accompanying Practitioner Su as we travel through the universe to perform Chao Du. I also look forward to saving beings on planets connected to me by karmic affinity. The planet I recently visited was very different. If I were to use a modern term, I would call them trendy. It was a planet filled with fashion-conscious beings who were at the cutting edge of style. Their attire was unlike any other planet—vibrant, adorned with all sorts of decorations. They were a group of beings who pursued uniqueness and novelty to satisfy the emptiness within their hearts. Through the Chao Du of Practitioner Su, I was able to bring the Dharma to them. These beings did not know the Dharma, and the six-character name was very strange to them. But the Buddha did not abandon them. We planted the seeds of the Dharma in their world. Now, I see those seeds beginning to sprout. Some of these beings have started to chant Namo Amituofo to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land. As their hearts begin to open, their colourful, elaborate decorations gradually fade away, and they return to their original, pure state. Some have become very devout, following the Buddha-light to the Western Pure Land. The Dharma is changing these beings who so desperately need to be understood and warmed. I believe that in the future, more and more beings will understand the beauty of the Dharma and be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

Namo Amituofo.