From Malicious Eyes to Eyes of Compassion

This is a record of an interview with the spirit known as 'Evil Eye,' who sought to be saved at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He has since been given the Dharma name Shi Kaici and now resides in the Western Dharma-Nature Land. This account reflects upon his life and his eventual transformation. Recorded by the chief writer, Disciple Shi Hailiang, on March 31, 2020.

Shi Kaici speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Shi Kaici. Humans often say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. They look upon the world, taking in beautiful scenery, and if one asks about Goodness and evil, the heart can see it all. A normal person has two eyes; modern people might have four; the blind have eyes but cannot see. We, however, are known as the 'Evil Eyes.' Our eyes are different from those of ordinary people—they are telescopic, and more powerfully, they possess a magnification function. Why do we have this function? Let me tell you: we specialise in picking faults. We can take the mistakes others make and magnify them again and again. You could say we are picking bones out of an egg. This is our specialty. As long as something has been looked at by our Evil Eyes, we will find a flaw, without exception.

The Nature of the Evil Eye

In the universe, we are considered quite unwelcome, yet without our existence, it would be impossible to distinguish between Goodness and evil. We are specialized in looking at human evil. Even if someone is called 'good,' we can always find a tiny blemish. This is where our skills lie. As the saying goes, we can even see white as black—that is how we earned our reputation. If you want us to see the Goodness in people, you would have to replace our eyes with a Buddha-heart. We found the Buddha—we heard he was Practitioner Su—and we thought that perhaps his eyes could transform our Evil Eyes. Who would have expected that we would come quietly, only to be discovered? We were circling around Practitioner Su’s eyes, but we were pushed out. It turned out to be Venerable Changren, who was guarding his eyes. He gave us a gentle push, and we tumbled down.

After we tumbled down, we felt a bit sad. Is there really no place for us Evil Eyes to hide? We received news that this place could save the world, so we rushed over immediately to see how they go about saving it. At first, we saw that the people here looked just like everyone else—two eyes, two ears, a mouth, and a nose. There was nothing special. We habitually began to look for their flaws, but in the end, we found that there was a little light in their hearts, and we were left with nothing to say. Then, we heard the sound of chanting coming from afar. It was the chanting team led by Practitioner Su. We looked up and saw the Buddha-light. We were filled with admiration. We had originally intended to interfere and cause destruction, but as our eyes flashed, sparks flew, and we all exclaimed together: 'How beautiful! How bright!'

A Transformation of Vision

When we blurted that out, we raised our hands to cover our eyes. We were transformed! Because from the perspective of our eyes, it was so beautiful, so bright! We are no longer Evil Eyes; we are now the 'Bright-Eyed Clan.' We saw the light; we saw the Buddha. We came here because everyone knows the severity of the current pandemic. We wanted to see just how serious it had become. We came to investigate the epidemic, so we brought our specialized telescopic crystal lenses to check the details. Indeed, the pandemic has not yet been resolved, but unknowingly, we saw a solution: as long as these patients report to their leaders, and the leaders are wise enough to seek Practitioner Su, there is a cure.

The reason I was called 'Evil Eye' is that I grew up in a family of bandits. My father was a 'King of Thieves,' and my mother was what people call a 'captured wife.' My mother told me that she was forcibly taken by my father. At first, she hated him and cried every day. After about a month, she stopped crying because she discovered that the King of Thieves had over a hundred subordinates who worked from dawn till dusk. My mother thought to herself: 'How can being a thief be so exhausting?' Moreover, the King of Thieves would come to see her every day, bringing small flowers and delicious food. My mother was curious. She felt that continuing to cry would not change the fact that she had been brought there, so she decided to get along with him. After understanding him, she realized that in those chaotic times, the people were suffering, so the King of Thieves took in homeless wanderers as his subordinates. Besides stealing, they would also rob the rich to help the poor, providing food to those who had nothing to eat.

The Origins of a Thief’s Son

My mother discovered that the King of Thieves was actually a good man. She became his wife and gave birth to me. My birth brought hope to those hundred-plus people. Although my features were not striking—small eyes, a flat nose, a large mouth, and protruding ears—my ordinary appearance was, strangely enough, quite cute when put together. From a young age, my parents taught me to move my eyes, scanning the surroundings for anything unusual. If there was any movement, we might have to run. My father and these uncles taught me the skills of a thief from childhood, so my eyes were more agile than others. My scanning speed was very fast, and it was extremely accurate. When I was about eight years old, my uncles took me out while my parents were away. We went to a wealthy family's house in the city. My uncle told me to keep watch and notify them immediately if I saw anyone coming, as they were stealing rice from the rich man's granary. In an instant, I glanced over, and sure enough, someone was coming. I signaled my uncles to run, and they all carried the rice and fled back to the mountain stronghold. My sharp eyesight was trained in this way.

When I was twelve, one day, many government officials came to the stronghold and arrested my parents and uncles. I became the one who slipped through the net because I had just returned to the stronghold from outside. From a distance, I saw dust rising, and I knew someone was coming, so I hid in the shadows to see exactly what was happening. I was not discovered by the officials and thus survived. From then on, I held a guarded heart toward people, interacting with them with extreme caution. As time went on, I realized that I only picked on people's faults and did not trust anyone. This was the source of my becoming an 'Evil Eye'—seeing the bad and not the good. Because of this habit, I never married and lived a lonely, bitter life. After I fell ill and passed away, I remained attached to everything my eyes saw. I did not expect that in the universe, I would see other Evil Eyes just like me, and we became the 'Evil Eyes of the Universe.'

The Path to Compassion

To change all of this, we listened to Practitioner Su chant the Buddha's name, and we listened to his Dharma talks. During the talks, Practitioner Su said: 'The eyes should look at the good, not the bad. Looking at people's good qualities will not cause afflictions; looking at people's bad qualities will only pollute the heart. It is best to look without truly looking—practise diligently, chant the Buddha's name, and recite the Sutras.' Hearing this, we realized that when we looked at the Buddha's eyes and Practitioner Su's eyes, their eyes were the same. There are two words for it: Compassion. We should not open our eyes too wide; we decided that squinting is just fine. We have decided to take refuge in the Buddha’s gate. We will no longer be Evil Eyes; we will learn the Compassionate Eyes of the Buddha. Thank you, Buddha. Thank you, Practitioner Su. Namo Amituofo.

The Buddha gave me the Dharma name: Shi Kaici."

This message was recorded by the Buddhist disciple Shi Hailiang.