The Debt of Blood and the Path to Deliverance

This is a record of an interview with Zhang Xianzhong, who sought Chao Du at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his life approximately 4,375 years ago. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa, on December 26, 2020.

Zhang Xianzhong speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. Every step I take is upon a lotus flower, and every step releases a delicate, pure fragrance. I, along with fifty-nine other prison guards, stand upon these light, ethereal lotus seats. My heart, which was once filled with such turbulent agitation, has instantly transformed into a state of profound stillness. This is the purity of the Western Pure Land. As I look down at the crystal-clear, magnificent lotus flower beneath my feet, I realise that the Western Pure Land is so pure, so transparent, and so utterly untainted. It is truly a world of light where there is no evil, only Goodness. It is magnificent and dignified beyond compare—the very land I had dreamed of for so long. I am filled with such immense gratitude; I kneel before the Buddha to express my thanks for His compassionate grace, and I thank Practitioner Su for saving us, these nameless prison guards, and guiding us to this place."

The Plague of the Snake Skin

"Four thousand, three hundred and seventy-five years ago, I was born into this world. That year, a devastating epidemic struck our town. It began with just one household, but within ten days, twenty more families were afflicted with the same horrific disease. Day after day, new cases emerged. The entire town was gripped by panic. Those who were not yet infected lived in constant terror, wondering if they would be next, while those already suffering lived in fear of the moment their lives would end. Before the epidemic finally subsided, there was not a single day of peace.

The symptoms of this plague were truly nightmarish. Red, itchy patterns resembling snake skin would erupt across the skin. While the patterns varied from person to person, the infection always began in the same way: a ring of snake-like scales would form around the abdomen. From there, it would spread to the neck, and eventually, it would cover the limbs and the face, consuming the entire body. Many victims, unable to bear the maddening, burning itch, would scratch themselves incessantly until their skin ulcerated, leading to fatal infections. There was no medicine to cure it, no herbal remedy to soothe the itching. Everyone who caught it lived in unimaginable agony. Some, driven to madness by the itch, would scratch until they were covered in blood and pus. Their families had no choice but to bind their hands and feet. Unable to endure the torment, the victims would roll on the ground, thrashing and colliding with everything in their path, letting out wails of pure, unadulterated pain. Within three months, the first deaths were reported, plunging the entire town into absolute chaos and despair."

A Mother's Unwavering Compassion

"At the height of the crisis, the authorities imposed strict controls. Anyone infected was forcibly quarantined. If the condition was deemed incurable, they were simply abandoned in the wilderness to die. These measures did succeed in curbing the spread, keeping the number of infections within a controlled range.

My mother, while pregnant with me, contracted the plague and was forced into quarantine. My father was devastated, but my mother, wanting to put his mind at ease, told him, 'Do not worry. I believe this child will bring me good fortune. I will return to you soon!'

Mother was confined to a thatched hut on a hillside, sharing the space with two other infected women. These women, though less severely ill than my mother, were far more pessimistic. They would moan and sigh constantly, and whenever the itching flared up, they would scream and lash out in madness. They asked my mother, 'Do you really have the plague? Why do you seem so calm, as if you are perfectly fine?' Mother showed them the snake-like scales on her own skin. They were shocked. 'How... how can you be so severely affected yet remain so composed? It is as if you feel nothing at all!' Mother replied, 'No matter how intense the itching becomes, I must endure it. I cannot allow the child in my womb to be frightened. No matter how difficult it is, I will persevere.' And she did. From the moment she was infected, no matter how unbearable the itch, she never scratched herself once. She knew that scratching would only cause the infection to spread, so she endured it all to protect me."

The Truth of the Karmic Debt

"When Mother was six months pregnant, she had a dream. In the dream, I spoke to her, not as an infant, but in my true form. She was not frightened by my appearance; she looked at me calmly and asked, 'Who are you?' I replied, 'I am a snake.' She said, 'I can see that you are a snake—a massive, venomous snake. Why have you appeared in my dream?' I answered, 'I am about to become your son. In this lifetime, I have the chance to be reborn as a human.' Sensing the malevolent energy radiating from me, she asked, 'Does this epidemic have anything to do with you?' I replied, 'Of course it does. These people owe me from the past, and I am making them pay. I vowed that if I ever had the chance to be reborn in the human world, I would wreak havoc and make every single person who wronged me suffer a life worse than death!'

Mother asked, 'Does that include me?' I told her, 'In the past, you and I fought many times. Back then, you were tolerant; you did not continue the fight and even helped heal my wounds. I have always been grateful for that. Being reborn as your son in this life is my way of repaying the debt of saving my life all those years ago.' Mother asked, 'Then why did I contract the plague?' I replied, 'Because I wanted to see if you were still as tolerant as you were back then. I wanted to see your true heart. After testing you for months, I saw that you never scratched once, never harmed yourself or me, and never complained. You lived your life as normally as possible. I became convinced that you were still the same person who could accept and forgive me. That is why I revealed my true form to you today, so you would know that the child in your womb is the same being from the past.'"

The Final Sacrifice

"Mother said to me, 'Since you have come to be my son, I will teach you as a mother. Do you know that these people are living a life worse than death? Their families are suffering alongside them. How could you commit such harmful acts?' I replied, 'If there were no deep-seated hatred between us, I would never have done this.' Mother told me, 'If your birth into this world brings such harm, then I would rather not have this child!' I was stunned; I had not expected her to say such a thing, and I fell silent. She continued, 'Everyone has a past. Who has not committed sins? Who has not made mistakes? But you are clinging so tightly to these old grievances. By coming to the human world to seek revenge, you are the one who suffers the most.' I remained silent. She said, 'Go and look at the families you have infected. See how they are living now.' I looked, and every household was shrouded in misery. She said, 'Now, look at how you harmed them before they ever harmed you.' I followed her instruction and looked into our past. I was shocked to see that I had destroyed every one of their families, and they had all died in such tragic ways. I had no idea I had harmed so many people, which is why they sought revenge after their deaths. Now, I was making them pay, and after they died, they would come to seek revenge on me again. Mother asked, 'Do you see? When will this ever end?' I could not help but weep. 'I always thought they owed me,' I told her. 'I never realised I was the one who harmed them first.' Mother asked, 'Will you continue this cycle of revenge? If you do, the hatred will never cease.' I replied, 'I will not. There is no need to continue.' Mother asked, 'Then how can these people be cured?' I answered, 'There is no medicine in this world that can heal them. Only by drinking my blood can they be saved.' Mother said, 'You have not yet been born; how can they drink your blood? You are a fetus in my womb; your blood is my blood. Can they drink my blood instead?' I shook my head. 'They must drink the blood that has flowed through my body.' Mother asked, 'Then what must be done?' I told her, 'Give birth to me now!'

As soon as she spoke, she felt intense pain, and she gave birth to a premature, underdeveloped fetus in a basin. When I was born, my body was already at death's door. Mother understood what I meant. She immediately pierced my body, collected my blood, and had people distribute it to all the infected. The first to drink it were the two women who lived with my mother. As soon as they drank my blood, the snake-like scales vanished from their skin. Another woman, who had been blinded by the disease, regained her sight instantly. They were all in shock—they had never seen such a thing! With every person who drank my blood, the hatred between us was wiped clean in that instant. They no longer owed me, and I no longer owed them. For the very last drop of my blood, I asked Mother to drink it herself. Once she did, the snake scales on her body also disappeared."

"That night, Mother returned home to be reunited with Father. She told him everything. He found it hard to believe that his own son was a snake spirit reborn to seek revenge, bringing such a terrifying plague upon the world. Yet, my final act of sacrifice left him in awe. Father said, 'People only commit sins out of ignorance. Change your ways, and I believe we will have the chance to meet again.' Namo Amituofo."

Although I sacrificed my own life to save those people, I still had to endure the karmic retribution for the sins I had committed. While suffering in the hells, every single day, I openly repented. It was my own moment of deviation—a single lapse in judgment—that led to the creation of such heavy sins. I repented, I acknowledged my mistakes, and I was truly willing to change my ways.

The Weight of Retribution

Under the grace of my sincere repentance, the King of Hell allowed me to shorten the time I had to suffer in the hells. I was granted the opportunity to return to the world, but in this lifetime, I was not reborn as a human. Instead, I became a dog—a stray dog. My mother was a stray, and after she gave birth to me, she did not care for me at all. Sometimes, children would pass by and, seeing that I looked somewhat cute, would toss me scraps of food. I once heard a child say to his mother, 'Mother, look at that puppy! It is so adorable. It must have just been born. Can we please take it home to raise?' His mother replied, 'No, absolutely not. How could we possibly know if that dog has a skin disease? Look at its skin; it looks so strange.' The mother was right. I was indeed a dog suffering from a skin disease, still in the process of paying off my karmic debts.

No one dared to take me home. I had to rely entirely on my own strength, wandering from place to place, scavenging for food, and struggling to survive in this world. Even though I was just a dog, I cherished my life deeply. I did not want to waste a single opportunity to repay my debts or show gratitude for the kindness I received. I ate wild grasses from the roadside, and I ate the sour, rotting food that others threw away. As long as it could stop the gnawing hunger, no matter how foul it tasted, I would swallow it down. I had to live. I had to survive. I believed that as long as I remained alive, even in the body of a dog, I could still exert some effort to do something good.

A Life as a Stray

As I grew older, my body remained incredibly thin and frail because I lacked proper nutrition. There were several occasions when I managed to find a bit of food, only to see an orphan on the side of the road also searching for something to eat. I would immediately use my paw to nudge the food toward the child, using my eyes to tell him, 'This is for you.' The orphan, who clearly had not eaten for a long time, did not care what the food was; he would immediately pick it up and swallow it.

I knew that the life of a dog is not long. Even though I was thin, sickly, and unsightly, I cherished every single day that I was given.

The Final Act of Compassion

One day, the rain was falling incessantly. My senses, sharpened by my experiences, told me that something was about to happen. Sure enough, a horse came galloping out at high speed. A young boy standing in the middle of the road was completely unable to react in time. I used every ounce of strength I had to dash forward and knock the boy to the side, saving his life. In that moment, I collapsed to the ground, my life as a dog coming to an end.

After I passed away, my soul was taken by the officials of the hells. I was no longer a dog; my spirit was human once more, and I stood before the King of Hell. He looked at me and said, 'In this life as a dog, you were constantly helping others, and you even saved a human life. I will appoint you as a prison guard. Perform your duties well and do your job properly.'

From Sufferer to Guardian

I am deeply grateful for all of this. In the hells, I do not dare to slack off. Whatever I am tasked to do, I perform with all my might. Every time I drag a criminal to the execution ground, I am filled with profound emotions, because I was once a spirit who was dragged here to suffer retribution myself. Now, I have been liberated from that state and have become a guard. I sigh with regret, thinking: if only these criminals had heard Practitioner Su's Dharma talks earlier, if only they had understood the laws of karma and cause and effect, how could they have dared to commit such sins, only to end up suffering this retribution? I urge those who are still in the world: you must learn Buddhism, listen to the Sutras, and truly follow the teachings to change yourselves. Seek rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

This interview was recorded by the chief writer, disciple Shi Fajing. Namo Amituofo.