From Demon to Dharma: The Transformation of Bai Tanyi

This is a record of an interview with Bai Tanyi, who sought Chao Du at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Land of Dharma Nature. This account reflects upon his life approximately 210 years ago. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa, on April 19, 2019.

Bai Tanyi speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Bai Tanyi. Looking back at my life two hundred and ten years ago, I see a soul lost in the cycle of rebirth, trapped by the heavy karma of a demon. My mother gave birth to me in such a rush; she and my father were desperate to return to their work in a distant land, so I was left behind in the care of my grandparents. They were lonely, and they had begged my parents for years to give them a grandchild to fill the silence of their home. When I finally arrived, they were overjoyed, insisting that I stay with them permanently.

They had no idea what they were taking on. I was not an ordinary child. I was restless, hyperactive, and possessed a destructive energy that defied explanation. Even as a toddler of barely one year, I had the physical strength and relentless activity of a child three or four times my age. My grandfather, a skilled craftsman, was so proud when he built a custom cradle for me. He placed me inside, and within moments, I had figured out how to rock it with such force that the ropes snapped. I tumbled to the floor, wailing in pain. My grandfather rushed over, bewildered, touching the sturdy wood he had just finished. 'I built this to be unbreakable,' he muttered to himself, 'how could it fall apart so quickly? This child... he is a force of destruction!'

A Childhood of Chaos

My destructive nature only grew. Anything I could reach, I would inevitably break. My grandparents were forced to hang every household item from the ceiling, suspended by ropes, just to keep them out of my reach. They had never seen a child with such power; I could snap a thick bamboo rod as if it were a dry twig. As I grew, so did my strength. My grandparents, who once loved to show me off to the neighbours, soon found themselves isolated. The villagers began to avoid us, terrified of what might happen if I entered their homes. I had shattered antique vases, destroyed wooden furniture, and ruined precious ceramics. Once, I even climbed onto a desk and grabbed a calligraphy brush, turning a masterpiece that had taken months to complete into a chaotic mess of ink in seconds. My grandparents spent their days apologising to everyone, until eventually, the shame was too great, and they stopped taking me out altogether.

When I was five, my grandmother had a dream that changed everything. In the dead of night, she saw my past life with terrifying clarity. She woke up drenched in cold sweat, sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze. My grandfather, startled by her movement, asked what was wrong. She whispered, 'I just had a dream about our Tanyi. In his past life, he was a demon! He is a demon reincarnated! How could our family give birth to a demon? No wonder he destroys everything he touches!' My grandfather dismissed it as the ramblings of a tired mind, telling her it was just a dream. But then, he suddenly bolted upright in bed, his face pale. He stammered, 'I... I just had the same dream. He is a demon.' From that night on, the weight of that truth hung over our home. They could not abandon me—I was still a Bai—but they looked at me with a mixture of fear and sorrow.

The Village's Fear and My Disappearance

Despite knowing what I was, my grandparents continued to care for me. I was a gluttonous child, always hungry, demanding three bowls of rice at every meal, which only added to my growing, stout frame. By the age of six, I was a chubby boy, and my grandparents had completely lost control over me. I was the 'little demon' of the village. If a neighbour’s fence broke or a harvest failed, they blamed me. If I merely walked past their house, they claimed I had brought them bad luck. Eventually, every misfortune in the village was laid at my feet, whether I had caused it or not.

My grandparents felt such deep shame that they hid inside, refusing to face the villagers. The community held meetings to decide my fate—some wanted me driven out, others suggested locking me in a dungeon, and some even spoke of burning me alive. The tension was unbearable. But just as the villagers finalised their cruel plans, I vanished. I simply disappeared. For weeks, I was nowhere to be found. My grandparents were initially frantic, but as the days turned into weeks, they found a strange, quiet peace returning to their home. They stopped searching, letting me drift away into the unknown.

A Strange Encounter with Kindness

I remember waking up in a strange, grand house. 'Young Master, the hot water is ready for you,' a servant whispered. I sat up, confused, as an elderly woman and a young man approached me. The woman looked at me with tears in her eyes, saying, 'Look, he is the one we have been searching for. He looks exactly like him.' The young man nodded, 'Yes, he is the crazy monk who saved us all those years ago. He acted like a fool to hide his true work of helping people resolve their karmic debts.' I was bewildered. 'Who are you?' I asked. My head throbbed with pain. They told me they had found me lying by the roadside, abandoned and alone, and brought me in, never expecting to find the very person who had once changed their family's destiny.

I insisted I was a demon, not a monk, but they would not listen. They treated me with such profound kindness that it shattered my world. When I began to break things in their home, as I had always done, they did not scold me. Instead, the old woman would smile and say, 'He is resolving our karmic obstacles! Resolving our obstacles!' I was stunned. No one had ever responded to my destruction with such positive intent. Their kindness acted like a mirror, reflecting a version of myself I had never known. My grand, destructive gestures turned into small, hesitant movements, and eventually, I stopped altogether. In just a few days, surrounded by their unwavering compassion, the 'little demon' transformed into a gentle, obedient child. I had finally found a path away from the darkness."

It was a revelation to Tanyi—the discovery that being a 'good child' brought such a profound sense of peace and joy. He began to find genuine happiness in following the Young Master, learning the subtle art of being a well-behaved boy. The Young Master, ever observant, knew that Tanyi had a fondness for food, so whenever Tanyi showed obedience, he would reward him with treats. But this 'obedience' was not merely about following simple rules; it required Tanyi to sit and study the Buddha’s teachings alongside him. The Young Master possessed a deep, intuitive knowledge that in a past life, Tanyi had been an eminent monk, and he was determined to help him reclaim that lost, noble identity. Tanyi could hardly fathom it—that in the blink of an eye, he had been guided to transform from a malevolent demon into a high-ranking monk. For years, everyone in the village had branded him a demon, and so, in his confusion, he had simply complied and acted the part. But now, being nurtured with such care as a monk, he truly began to carry himself with the quiet dignity and grace of one.

A Decade of Cultivation

Environment truly has the power to reshape a person. Tanyi lived in the Young Master’s home for ten full years, never once leaving his side. During those years, the Young Master became his anchor. Once, the Young Master asked him with a gentle smile, 'Do you ever wish to return home?' Tanyi looked at him and replied with sincerity, 'Only when I have completely transformed and shed my past will I be worthy of returning to see my grandparents.' He applied himself diligently to the Buddha’s teachings, not only to refine his character but to become like a Buddha, capable of helping others instead of causing destruction as he once had. He wanted to be a beacon of light, not a shadow of his former self.

Unexpectedly, before Tanyi could even return to his village, he followed the Young Master to a temple to take monastic vows. The Young Master had encouraged him, saying, 'When the Causal Conditions ripen, you must seize them.' Tanyi followed this guidance and entered the monastic life, where he spent more than a decade in deep, focused practice. It turned out that the spirit within Tanyi was indeed that of a highly virtuous old monk—which explained why he possessed such immense energy to cause so much destruction in the first place. Why had he used such power for evil? It was because the forces of Goodness and evil within him were tangled together. Without a proper environment for education, the most malevolent aspects of his nature had manifested. Fortunately, in this lifetime, he had the karmic affinity to meet the Young Master’s family. Under the Young Master’s patient guidance, the 'demon' of his past life did not manifest; instead, the 'eminent monk' of his previous life re-emerged to travel far and wide, spreading the Dharma and saving sentient beings from their confusion.

A Final Homecoming

When Tanyi finally returned home to see his grandparents, the scenery remained, but the people were gone. After his grandparents passed away, his parents had sold the house to invest in business. Tanyi felt a deep, aching pang of sorrow that he had not returned in time to see them one last time. Yet, to repay the immense kindness of his grandparents, he became even more diligent in his practice. Through his unwavering efforts, he was able to help his grandparents escape the hells and be reborn into the human world, with the hope that in their next life, they would encounter the Buddha’s teachings and seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land. Tanyi himself never faltered in his mission to save beings, working tirelessly until the very last moment of his life, when he achieved rebirth in the Western Pure Land.

The Cycle of Reincarnation and the Path of Deliverance

Human beings drift through the cycle of reincarnation. If one is born into a good environment, one receives good education; if one is born into a poor environment, one receives poor education. There is both Goodness and evil, often mixed together. Whether this lifetime manifests as evil or Goodness depends entirely on the family one is born into. Today, Practitioner Su has come from the Western Pure Land to this world specifically to spread the Buddha’s teachings throughout the worldly realm. It is our hope that every family can become a 'Buddha-transformed family,' ensuring that the young sprouts of the human world receive the nourishment of the Dharma. Even the spirits in the surrounding space can hear the sound of the Dharma, turn away from evil, and embrace Goodness. By letting the power of Goodness spread everywhere, we can save every soul caught in the cycle of reincarnation, allowing them to be forever free from the suffering of karma. We are deeply grateful for the compassion of Practitioner Su. Namo Amituofo.

This interview was recorded and written by the disciple Shi Fajing.