From the Mines to the Western Pure Land

This is a record of an interview with Gu Banjie, who sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his life as an Indigenous Australian approximately 200 years ago. Recorded by the chief writer, Fa Ning, on May 8, 2026.

Gu Banjie speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am deeply grateful to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su. Today is truly an auspicious and joyous day, for fifty-nine other prison guards and I have long been prepared, waiting for Practitioner Su to guide us to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. Upon arriving here, the first being I beheld was Namo Amituofo. In the presence of the Buddha, all sixty of us prison guards knelt down with joy, kowtowing to express our heartfelt gratitude. Naturally, we are also infinitely thankful for the boundless grace of Practitioner Su.

We are a group from all corners of the world, each with our own unique appearance. The time we spent serving as prison guards was a period of rigorous tempering; it taught us all the immense importance of helping others and giving of ourselves with a sincere heart. Since arriving in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, our hearts have suddenly become much more open and expansive. Moreover, we all now share a remarkably similar, dignified, and beautiful appearance. The women among us have immediately transformed into the likeness of men, and all sixty of us prison guards have joyfully joined the ranks of those in the Western Land. Ha-ha, that is just how it is!"

A New Beginning in the Western Pure Land

"Today, the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre has arranged for me, Gu Banjie, to act as a representative to share my story with you all. Where should I even begin?

Long before I became a prison guard, I grew up on a vast plain here in Australia. It was a rather arid region, and I was an Indigenous person of that time. Our tribe was skilled in hunting. If I count the years, it seems I have been away from the human world for two hundred years now. This means I spent quite some time drifting in the void before being sent to the hells to serve as a prison guard. Thinking back, I do not even know how long I lived, but at this moment, none of that matters anymore.

When I was living as an Indigenous person, my name was Gu Banjie, which was a very common name among our people. Our tribe lived by hunting, and many of our tribespeople were also highly skilled in crafting various works of art. We Indigenous people loved to sing and dance; we would make small handicrafts and exchange them or give them as gifts to members of other tribes. The wild animal most frequently encountered in our region was the kangaroo, which was also a vital source of food for us. This seems to be much the same as the people in Australia today; generation after generation, everyone has eaten kangaroo meat because they are so common and their numbers are so vast.

Although I ate kangaroo meat from a young age, I was foolishly unaware that it was kangaroo meat, as I was often very close to them. In the past, kangaroos would not shy away from people from a distance; some would even enter our tribe and become our good friends. When I was a child, I did not know that kangaroos could be hunted for food, so I ate the meat quite happily. Later, when I realised the truth, I felt a bit of guilt in my heart because, after all, the kangaroo was my good friend. I was truly saddened for a long time, and eventually, I proposed to my family that I did not want to eat kangaroo meat anymore.

Later, I discovered that on our barren land, there were almost no fresh plants available for consumption. Therefore, carrying a deep sense of guilt, I had to face the 'delicacy' that frequently appeared on our family table in the days that followed."

The Hardship of the Mines

"After I grew up, I wanted to leave the tribe and venture out into the wider world. By then, quite a few British people had settled in the border towns, gradually building their settlements, which would later develop into the major cities of Australia today.

I packed my bags, took my younger brother Guhaji, and we left our homeland, relying on each other for survival. We travelled to a tribe in the southeast, wanting to understand the outside world and broaden our horizons. We were not very old at the time, only in our teens. Upon arriving at the border town, we found that the people there were not very welcoming to us, as we were Indigenous, and we could not communicate with them normally due to the language barrier. Some British people would even look at us with contempt, which left us feeling very bewildered. We were the original masters of this land, so why were these newcomers always so hateful towards us?

We were considered lucky; we eventually found work. Our employer was a British man who gave us a job in mining. Mining was quite prevalent in Australia at the time. Ever since the British arrived and developed the mineral resources, there had been an endless flow of minerals, including gold. Fortunately, our small foreman was a local Indigenous person. Although we did not speak the same language, we knew that we were both people of similar culture on this land, so we looked out for one another.

My brother and I settled down in that small southern tribe and began our life as miners. It was extremely arduous work, but the pay was decent, so we wanted to persevere, hoping that it might bring a turning point for our family in the future. We worked there for several years, and when I was in my early twenties, I wanted to return to my hometown to have a look. So, we temporarily set aside our work, applied for long leave, and returned to our original tribe.

What shocked us at the time was that our tribe no longer existed. Residents of nearby tribes said that many of our people had fled, and quite a few had unfortunately passed away because they could not withstand the epidemics brought by the British explorers. Because the Indigenous people had never been exposed to such foreign diseases, we lacked immunity and thus fell ill. My brother and I were heartbroken, knowing that our parents were likely no longer in this world, so we performed a simple sacrificial ritual for them. This is also one of our Indigenous traditions."

Tragedy and the Path to the Underworld

"When we left our homeland with tears in our eyes, we had no choice but to return to the southern city, a place that had gradually developed from a tribe into a city, and we settled down there permanently. In the days that followed, we continued with the same work, and our economic situation did indeed improve. We also took local women as our partners and started our own families. The bond between us two brothers remained excellent; we lived close to each other and looked out for one another for the rest of our lives.

I, Gu Banjie, was quite satisfied with such a life. After all, it was truly not easy for Indigenous people to establish a foothold in society at that time. We lacked too much of the high-tech knowledge brought by the British; there were many things we did not understand, and even learning their language took us a long time before we could barely communicate with them. However, none of that mattered. We were hardworking and resilient children, and we were also very optimistic and strong. In our eyes, no matter how bad things were, they could soon turn into something good. I lived a simple life until I was fifty-six, when I unfortunately passed away due to an unknown illness.

My wife and two sons saw me off as I left the human world. They were very sad, but I was already separated from them by the veil of life and death, and there was nothing more I could do for them. Because I still had a slight attachment to my homeland, my spirit actually ended up in a large rock in my hometown, lingering in the space within that great stone. Our tribe had a custom: after a person died, one must move the deceased's remains to this famous large rock to perform a sacrificial ritual before the body would be cremated.

At that time, I was in the space within that large rock, seeing many, many spirits of Indigenous people just like me, all drifting near this great stone. Everyone was trapped in their own space and could not get out. Although we knew of each other's existence, there was very little interaction or communication. So, this is what a human life is—after death, one lives the life of a ghost. I was very puzzled in my heart: is this the only possible ending? I had been a kind-hearted and helpful person my whole life, thinking I would have a good destination, but I never expected such an outcome. I silently wondered: as a ghost, is there any good I can do?

After I sent this thought out, I actually felt a beam of light shining upon me. I looked towards this light, and it seemed someone was telling me: 'Child, as long as you send out a thought of Goodness, the surrounding magnetic field will change accordingly; this is a good deed. The change in the magnetic field will keep disasters away and allow good things to happen.' Thus, after receiving this message from an unknown source, I, this ghost, continued to think of good things in that space. For example, during a drought, I would think that rain would surely come soon. If I saw the surrounding flowers, plants, and trees suffering, I would comfort them. Just like that, being a nameless little ghost, it was actually not so bad."

A Prison Guard's Compassion

"I do not know how many years passed—perhaps several decades. I suddenly saw two bailiffs who told me: 'If you want to help people, why not come with us to the hells?' I was startled. Why go to the hells to help people? Was I to descend into hell? I knew what the hells were like at the time, which is why I was so surprised. But they told me I could be a prison guard. A prison guard helps the prisoners in the hells, assists in carrying out the tasks of the hells, and can also help and comfort them. So, I followed the bailiffs to the hells and began my work as a prison guard. It turned out that this was truly a good job where one could help others, so I felt at ease and continued my work there.

The hundreds of years I spent as a prison guard in the hells were indeed very long. While there, I felt the arrival of the Buddha, proclaiming the six-character great name of 'Namo Amituofo'. At that time, I felt very warm in my heart, knowing that this six-character name must be a Truth that could bring spiritual solace. So, I taught the suffering beings in the hells to loudly chant this six-character name, 'Namo Amituofo'. Everyone was very joyful in their hearts; in times of pain, having a little bit of comfort seemed quite nice. Although their bodies were in great pain, under the nurturing influence of the Buddha-name, they seemed to become clear-minded.

During this time, I continued doing the same things until I recently heard that Practitioner Su was going to take us prison guards to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. I pricked up my ears to listen, and the more I heard, the more Dharma-joy I felt, believing that I would surely be on that list one day. Sure enough, not long after, I was indeed on the list. Today, I have arrived in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss along with the other fifty-nine prison guards.

The Western Land of Ultimate Bliss is truly too wonderful! In these hundreds of years, I have never seen such a magnificent world. Only then did I realise that this is the world established by Namo Amituofo. He has established the Land of Ultimate Bliss for us souls who have nowhere to return to, allowing us to find peace.

Gu Banjie is filled with gratitude. I am grateful to Namo Amituofo, and I am also grateful to Practitioner Su. Only by realising one's true nature and attaining Buddhahood can one generate such a great heart to help us prison guards; this is truly rare and precious good news. Therefore, I have decided here in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss that I must diligently practise, learn the spirit of the Buddha, attain Buddhahood, and in the future, save beings just like the Buddha. This is my current wish, Gu Banjie. I dare not have any other thoughts; I will simply chant one Buddha's name to the end and go straight ahead.

Namo Amituofo.

Gu Banjie"