Finding the True Self Through the Dharma

This is a record of an interview with Venerable 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.

Venerable Yang Sheng speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Yang Sheng. My parents passed away when I was very young, leaving me to grow up 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 those days, the social expectation was that a man should marry and a woman should wed, but my cousin refused to let the institution of marriage bind his life. He did not care for the ridicule of others; he simply cherished the freedom of being single.

A Life of Restless Wandering

My cousin’s temperament deeply influenced me. We both craved a life of relaxation, ease, and freedom from all constraints. To us, the most important thing in life was laughter. My cousin and I were travelling to the ends of the earth, 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 play in the water. We would run into the valleys to shout at the top of our lungs, or tease the wild beasts in the mountains just to find a thrill. Every day of our lives was filled with this kind of hollow excitement.

We had no fixed home, constantly moving from one place to another. Our entire existence was a cycle of seeking new sensations to satisfy the craving 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 noisy, boisterous life we led. We were once shouting loudly inside our house when someone knocked on our door. It was a neighbour, politely asking us to keep our voices down. He explained that they were chanting Namo Amituofo, seeking rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. My cousin and I looked at each other and laughed. We did not understand what the Pure Land was, and we understood even less about chanting. It was the first time we had ever heard of people 'chanting to seek death,' and we found the very idea amusing!"

The Quiet Power of the Pure Land

"Until we could find our next place to live, we had no choice but to stay in this dull, quiet village. My cousin and I walked through the entire village and saw many households holding prayer beads, chanting Namo Amituofo. I could not understand why they would do such a thing; it seemed like such a tedious and boring existence. In this place, there were no thrills 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 filled with confusion. In all our travels, we had never seen anyone study the Buddha’s teachings. This was our first encounter with practitioners.

After living in this village for half a year, our hearts finally began to settle. We started to notice that the people here were different from those we had met elsewhere. Compared to the people we had known before, these practitioners looked particularly dignified, and their speech was exceptionally gentle. They did not need to seek thrills to live in peace and joy. They did not need to feast on meat and fish to feel satisfied. Their houses were not as luxurious as the ones we had lived in before, but looking at each home, there was a sense of warmth. Families gathered together in a way that was truly heart-warming. This place was genuinely different from anywhere else."

A Grandmother’s Compassion

"What was the reason they gathered here to study the Buddha’s teachings? What was the meaning of it all? More and more questions began to arise in my heart. One day, a neighbour invited us to their home for a meal. Under his warm invitation, my cousin and I accepted. The household consisted of only one person—an elderly grandmother. It was our first time meeting her. She prepared many delicious dishes to treat us. Although there was no meat or fish on the table, the food was truly exquisite. The grandmother told us that chanting Namo Amituofo was truly wonderful. She saw that my cousin and I were kind-hearted children, but it was a pity that we did not know the Buddha’s teachings. She hoped to introduce us to the Dharma.

My cousin and I had nothing better to do, so we accepted her invitation. For several days in a row, we went to her home to listen to her stories. She explained what the Buddha’s teachings were, why we should study them, and what the true meaning of life was. For nearly a month, we spent time with this grandmother. Her temperament and demeanour were those of a truly sincere practitioner. Every move she made radiated the essence of the Dharma. Her kind, compassionate smile made us feel warm, and her selfless dedication to everyone moved us deeply. She opened our eyes to the truth, gave us a positive impression of the Buddha’s teachings, and we became willing to listen to her and start trying to practise the life of a practitioner."

Uncovering the Hidden Sorrow

"We entered the monastery to listen to the sutras and hear the Dharma. Through the Master’s teachings, we finally realised that we had never truly been happy. In those fifteen moves, we were not searching for happiness; we were searching for 'peace of mind.' The happiness we displayed on the surface was not real; those thrill-seeking behaviours were merely masks to hide the anxiety in our hearts. Both my cousin and I had lost our parents when we were young. We shared the same sense of insecurity and the same deep sorrow, but we had buried these feelings in the deepest corners of our hearts, showing only a facade of false happiness to the world.

The Master told us that studying the Buddha’s teachings is about adjusting our hearts. 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 the cycle of rebirth. If one does not encounter the Buddha’s teachings, this heart will wander in darkness forever. It will never see the light, because the only true light is the light of the heart that the Buddha ignites for us. After listening to the teachings several times, 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 hiding. We were so grateful that the Buddha looked after us, allowing us to encounter the Dharma during our fifteenth move and to live in this village of practitioners. We felt ashamed of our ignorance and for having mocked these people for living a 'boring' life. It turned out that they were the ones who were truly enjoying life, diligently chanting Namo Amituofo every day to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

A Mission of Compassion

"How many people in this world are like we were, unaware of the beauty of the Buddha’s teachings? My cousin and I made a vow before the Buddha: we would never marry, and we would dedicate our lives to introducing the goodness of the Dharma to the world. We had known many young people like ourselves who were constantly seeking thrills and excitement. Looking back at those friends, I realised they were just children like us who could not find peace of mind. We went back to find them and introduced them to the Dharma. They saw the changes in my cousin and me and found it inconceivable. In just one year, our appearance and our way of speaking had changed completely. They saw our transformation, and deep down, they also longed for that same peace of mind. We gathered twenty-five young men and women who were all longing to be understood, people whose inner depths had never been touched by anyone. My cousin and I brought these twenty-five youths to the monastery to listen to the sutras, allowing the Dharma to untie the knots they had carried for years. It turned out that everyone was hiding their own burdens. Those who do not study the Buddha’s teachings are never truly happy; no matter how well they dress on the outside, their hearts are incredibly fragile.

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 these twenty-five youths, plus my cousin and me, we became a powerful group of twenty-seven volunteers. We travelled everywhere to introduce the Dharma, especially to young people of our own age."

A Lifetime of Dedication

"Eventually, we all moved into 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 to practise as either monastics or lay practitioners. We were a group of children who had found hope and light in the Buddha’s teachings, and we hoped to share that light with more people.

We were all children who had once wandered in the sea of humanity. Although we were young, we understood the suffering of life. Even without the worldly pleasures we once chased, our hearts were finally at peace. Ordination was our choice. We were willing to dedicate our entire lives to the Dharma. There are too many people in this world who have suffered as we did. They do not yet know the Dharma, and they do not know that by chanting this name, Namo Amituofo, they can attain liberation. They are still seeking worldly desires, thrills, and enjoyment, unaware that their lives are slipping away bit by bit, and their human bodies are being ravaged by the cycle of rebirth. My cousin and I shared the same mission: we vowed to save those still wandering in this world. Decades passed as we practised in the monastery, and we both became dignified Bhikshus. The Dharma transformed our lives and changed our temperaments. We spread the teachings far and wide, saving many young people and using the Dharma to open up a brand new life for them."

The Universal Reach of the Buddha’s Light

"Yang Sheng follows Practitioner Su with the vow to save the world. I hope to help Practitioner Su save even more beings. I am grateful for the Buddha’s compassionate empowerment, as Practitioner Su’s legs have been gradually recovering. Every day, I join the other Venerables in accompanying Practitioner Su to perform Chao Du throughout the universe. I also look forward to delivering the beings of the planets connected to me by karmic affinity. The planets I have visited are quite different. If I were to use a modern term, I would call them 'trendy.' They are inhabited by aliens who are at the cutting edge of fashion. Their attire is different from other planets—vibrant, colourful, and adorned with all sorts of decorations. They are a group of aliens who pursue uniqueness and novelty to satisfy the emptiness within their hearts.

Through the Chao Du performed by Practitioner Su, I have been able to bring the Dharma to these planets. 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 these planets, and now I see those seeds beginning to sprout. Some of these beings have started to follow along and chant Namo Amituofo, seeking rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. As their hearts begin to open, their colourful, flashy adornments gradually fade away, and they return to their original, pure state. Some have become very devout in their chanting, following the Buddha-light to the Western Pure Land. The Dharma is transforming these aliens who 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.