From Prison Guard to Pure Land: A Journey of Redemption

Hu Daqian, a former prison guard in the hell realms, sought deliverance through the compassionate guidance of Practitioner Su. After a lifetime of early trauma, self-harm, and eventual transformation through the laws of karma and cause and effect, he now resides in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. This interview was recorded on February 25, 2023, during a Thrice Yearning Ceremony.

Hu Daqian speaks:

"The day we have long awaited has finally arrived. Today, during the Thrice Yearning Ceremony, sixty of us prison guards were guided by Practitioner Su to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. Gazing upon the breathtaking beauty of the Western Land, every one of us opened our eyes wide in awe. We were all praising the dignity and magnificence of this realm. We are so grateful to Practitioner Su for bringing us here. We knelt and bowed, expressing our deepest gratitude to the Buddha for His compassion, and to Practitioner Su for her boundless mercy."

Reflecting on the Illusion of the Body

"Looking back at my life, I am filled with many profound emotions. Why is it that once we possess this human body, desires immediately manifest? Why is it that once we have this body, our personality emerges so naturally? I felt as though I could not master my own body; it was as if I were being manipulated by someone else. It was completely different from who I was before I obtained this human form. Is it possible that those living in this world cannot truly be the masters of their own lives? If that is the case, then in many moments, it is not really 'us' living in this world, but rather our bodies being used to go through the motions of life.

In this lifetime, I was born with a deep sense of insecurity. I cried and fussed easily as an infant. It was not that I did it on purpose; there was simply a persistent, uncomfortable sense of unease in my heart that made me want to cry incessantly."

A Childhood of Abandonment

"My father passed away when I was seven, leaving only my mother to care for me. At that age, I was neither fully understanding nor completely ignorant; I was in the midst of learning and growing. However, my heart did not find security as I aged. Instead, as the years passed, I felt an even greater need to cling to something or someone to help soothe the anxiety within me.

My mother was the person I wanted to hold onto. I hoped to find security in her, but when I was ten, she remarried a wealthy local man. This man already had several wives, and they were all coveting his wealth. Even after my mother entered that household, she became a different person. She completely refused to acknowledge me as her child, speaking to me like a stranger. She would even lose her temper, accusing me of trying to claim a false connection."

The Scars of Self-Harm

"I was shocked and devastated by my mother’s change, and my heart was filled with confusion and anxiety. Once, when that feeling of unease surged again, I spoke to it: 'I know you are in my heart, and you are doing this on purpose to make me suffer. If you truly want me to be in pain, then so be it! I don't even want this body anymore!' When I said these words to my own heart, I expected the feeling of unease to vanish. Instead, it made me suffer even more—to the point where I had to grip something tightly with both hands just to feel a little better. Otherwise, I felt as if the sky were collapsing and the earth were splitting apart. I felt incredibly insecure and helpless.

Placed in my aunt's home, I had almost nothing to talk about with her. She did not understand my heart; she only thought I was a quiet child. In truth, I was often stifled by misery, not knowing how to resolve my own suffering, nor knowing what to do when that sense of unease arose."

Awakening Through Karmic Retribution

"I did not finish my schooling. I went out to find work at a very young age and was cheated several times, working for nothing. It was only later, when I met an honest employer, that I stopped being swindled and received my first paycheque.

If I had continued on that path, I would have quickly spiralled toward old age. I didn't care about the length of my life because I lived in such pain. Whenever that sense of unease arose, I would engage in self-destructive behaviour. I would take a knife and cut my own skin, using the physical pain to dilute the inner suffering. That is why I have so many scars on my body—all from my own hands.

When I was thirty-five, a heavy rain caused a creek to swell. I happened to see a few children playing by the water. I shouted at them to go home, but they ignored me and kept playing. Finally, the tragedy happened: a child fell into the water. I jumped in without a second thought to save him. The current was extremely swift. With one arm holding the child and the other struggling to swim toward the bank, I knew clearly that life and death were in a single instant.

In the end, I successfully saved the child, though I was injured and remained unconscious for quite a while. During that time of coma, I clearly saw my past. So many lives had perished at my hands; the insecurity I was born with was entirely the karmic retribution for what I had done in the past."

A Life Dedicated to Hope

"Saving a life allowed me to see my own history. When I woke up from the coma, I was truly awake. When the feeling of unease appeared again, I no longer suffered along with it. Instead, I constantly apologised to those I had harmed in the past. Through my sincere repentance, this sense of unease became less and less frequent, no longer as intense as before. I stopped using knives to hurt myself; it felt as if my life had been reborn.

When I realised that everything is inseparable from the laws of karma and cause and effect, I no longer had so many complaints or feelings of injustice. I understood that all of this was created by myself. For this reborn life, I decided to change myself completely. The biggest change was to stop living for myself. I began looking for opportunities to help others everywhere. I donated the money I had earned over the years, buying an ambulance for a hospital, and later, I continuously gave money to many places in need.

That experience of saving the child inspired me to become a firefighter. I told myself that this reborn life was meant to bring hope to others, so I wanted to help all those in distress find the hope of rebirth, just as I had. I worked diligently at my post. Every time an emergency occurred, I was the one who rushed to the front line. This was what I had to do; I wanted to bring new hope to those lives. I did this job for nearly thirty years. As I grew older, my physical strength was not what it used to be. Although I wanted to continue, I knew that if I persisted, I would only drag down my teammates, so I decided to leave."

A Legacy of Compassion

"After leaving the fire department, I opened a noodle shop. It wasn't in the city, but in the countryside. The people who came to eat were villagers, and they praised my cooking, which I had learned from my aunt when I was young. Before opening the shop, I studied hard for a while, and I was able to cook noodles quite well.

My shop wasn't really opened to make money, but to help the children who couldn't afford to eat—there were many of them in the village, and I encountered them often. Every time I saw a child standing in front of the noodle stall swallowing their saliva, I knew they had no money. At those times, I would beckon to them. Some would walk in happily, some would run away in fear, and others would just stand there looking at me. I didn't want these children to have bad feelings, so I would make a deal with them: if they read a passage of text to me every day, they could have a bowl of noodles. The children were so happy because they felt they had earned the noodles by reading, not that I was giving them charity.

Some children moved me deeply. They would come every day to read to me, and after getting the noodles, they wouldn't eat them immediately but would take them home to give to their families. I once asked one of the children, 'Who are you taking the noodles home to?' The child replied, 'We usually only eat two meals a day. Now with this extra bowl, my grandfather and I can eat three meals.' It turned out that the child and his grandfather were dependent on each other, but the grandfather couldn't work and lived on relief money. After I found out, I secretly added extra noodles every time so that the two of them would have enough to eat.

Until I died of old age, I lived this kind of life. Without realising it, I had come to know many children. Later, when they grew up and went away to study or work, they would come back to the noodle shop to find me. It felt like we were family; we were very close."

Deliverance to the Western Land

"I lived to be seventy-five. After falling outside the noodle shop, I began to get sick. In just three years, my life came to an end. After my soul left my body, I entered the hells, and King Yama assigned me the role of a prison guard. Seeing so many suffering criminals in hell, I felt truly sad. I desperately wanted to help them, but my heart was willing while my strength was limited.

I counselled these criminals to turn from evil to Goodness and to repent for their sins so that they could leave suffering behind sooner. Some listened to me, while others did not yet know how to repent. It seemed my power to help them was quite limited. Fortunately, a few years ago, I heard Practitioner Su giving Dharma talks. I was so happy because every word of her teachings was a wake-up call for us. I used these to counsel the criminals in hell, helping them to truly repent and seek liberation.

Two years ago, I was placed on the list to be guided to the Western Land by Practitioner Su. At this moment, I have already arrived in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, and my heart is filled with infinite gratitude.

Gratitude to the Buddha for His compassion.

Gratitude to Practitioner Su for her compassion.

Namo Amituofo."