, gratitude, such gratitude! I am finally safe, and I no longer have to suffer! I have arrived at this beautiful Western Land of Nature, and it has been a week or two. I have been watching all these changes before me with a gentle smile in my heart. I know I have come to the right place, and I know that the of the Buddha has truly saved so many of us; it is truly so compassionate. So many of us Chinese people have gathered here in this place called the Western Land of Dharma Nature, a Buddha-land that is generally unfamiliar to Chinese people. Today, I must introduce it to everyone properly.
Perhaps people in China have heard of Namo Amituofo and the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss? Although not many people generally study the Buddha’s teachings, given our country’s profound foundation in Buddhist studies, people are actually not unfamiliar with the Buddha; it is just a matter of whether they believe or not. I did not believe in the past either. My name is Li Zhaojie, and I was a law professor and a professional legal expert. I believed in the law written in black and white; laws, one by one, were like rules before my eyes. I felt that it was essential for the country to firmly uphold these rules without any bias. Throughout my life, I was very attached to researching the many details related to international law, and I strove to ensure that the country could truly comply with international law in all diplomatic affairs. This was because I did not want the country to commit illegal acts.
Everyone said I was a pragmatic person and someone who insisted firmly on my own principles. For a country as large as China, to be honest, it is very easy to cause disputes with other countries over many ambiguous laws, and to me, this was not worth it. I hoped to avoid this double harm—harming one’s own country and harming others. Therefore, I always did my utmost to ensure that the country was respected in international law. As laws were presented to me one by one, I treated them like the Bible, showing them great reverence. That was what I loved most in my life, and it was the legal principle I trusted with every thought. I believed that whether from a macro international perspective or an individual perspective, law is very important in society as an indicator to help people not to go astray.
Haha, this is truly laughable. If I followed the law so strictly, why did I have to report to the brain-gouging hell after I died? It is evident that everything learned from the laws of the human world is quite different from the laws that can be seen beyond the world—that is, the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, and the laws of and cause and effect. It turns out that the laws I studied were created by people and were not necessarily the same as the natural operating principles of the universe. Or perhaps, the international law I saw was only a tiny fraction of the many legal rules in this world. However, the laws that can truly remain unchanged in the universe are called the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, which is everything spoken of in the Buddha’s teachings.
I did not particularly know the Buddha before, nor did I have any deep , so I did not think that studying the Buddha’s teachings was very important. Regarding life and death, I also held a calm attitude; one is born when one should be born, and one dies when one should die, without too many thoughts. Like many Chinese people, I believed that people could change their destiny through their own efforts and use their professional knowledge to help others. When I was alive, I had a famous motto that was widely known when I was a professor: “Intellectuals should become the conscience of society.”
I believed that our generation, especially the earlier generation of Chinese intellectuals, must set a good example for Chinese society so that when the world sees us, they know that Chinese people truly walk according to the law and do not violate it. It is especially important for Chinese people internationally that no matter where they go, they must abide by local laws and be good citizens. Whether at home or abroad, one must be a good citizen so as not to damage the country’s image. In my heart, the status of the country was very noble.
Like many intellectuals of my generation, I was a cautious and conscientious professor of that era, spending my whole life trying to fulfil my duties well and hoping to help students walk this righteous path. Yet, I still descended into hell! It is so shameful to speak of this. I descended into the brain-gouging hell. Although I did not do anything particularly evil in my life, many times while travelling on the path of law, as long as I carried even a little bit of my own opinion, subjectivity, or selfishness, it would unknowingly cause an impact. This selfishness might be reflected in my decisions and the advice I provided, or in how I interpreted and used international law to deal with various matters. Sometimes, I would unknowingly fall into focusing on my own country’s interests while slightly disregarding the interests of others. This was actually very subtle; as long as one thinks a little more for oneself and a little less for others, that in itself is already a great violation of the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way.
I thought I had considered everything thoroughly, but I had not, because I am not a Buddha, and I am a person with selfishness. For the sake of the country, I would sometimes inadvertently fall into such a trap. Especially in the world of international law, things are often ambiguous, giving people loopholes to exploit. In this unconscious state, I also committed some mistakes, which is something I must admit. But the main reason was also my own persistence throughout my life, as well as my strong personality and the strength in my heart; I hoped that what I published was correct, I hoped to be recognised by others, and I had various expectations and thoughts, which were also the keys to my descent into hell.
My life ended relatively early; I left the human world in a hurry at the age of seventy. Not long after retirement, without enjoying many years of peaceful time, I gradually grew old and fell ill. In the last six months, I was almost in a state of severe illness, unable to speak much or express many of my inner thoughts. Everything in life ended just like that. It was only in hell that I realised I had gone astray in my life. Crying was useless; I was just suffering the punishment.
Therefore, when people do not study the Buddha’s teachings, they do not know what the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way are, and this is quite dangerous.
What use was it for me to know so many laws and so much international law? When death arrived, these laws could not save me, but the Buddha could help me. It is just a pity that I did not believe in the Buddha at that time, so I could not receive the Buddha’s help before I died. Since I did not truly believe in the Buddha, how could the Buddha bless me?
In the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I finally truly realised that everything in the human world is illusory and not real. Everything I had learned so well was gone the moment I died, and everything I was attached to was also gone.
There is a huge difference between the world and beyond the world. Everything that can be used in the world is only temporarily used while one has this body; when one dies, one comes empty-handed and leaves empty-handed. This spiritual realm is ever-changing, and all the past experiences in the human world are of no use at all.
When I felt very helpless in my heart, I wondered if there was any way to take a detour while in hell so as not to descend into hell? Or was there any way to plead for myself? There were always such thoughts of protecting myself, but that was truly not the way, not the way! When I was in the human world, I always had a strong personality, so I hoped that many things could be reasoned out and hoped that what I said was always right. Therefore, when debating with others, we legal professionals would also have many persistent opinions and thoughts. These were things that should not have been done, but I did not understand and still acted that way, showing my personality, which caused me to descend into hell to suffer.
Many intellectuals in China are like me; everyone has their own firm subjectivity and thoughts, and they hope to implement these thoughts on the next generation of students. We who are professors and teachers should actually be especially careful. Being a professor or teacher, the most important thing is to truly walk on the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way so that we can teach the next generation of students to act in the same way. If one is biased, leading the students one brings to also be biased, this karma will still be added to oneself, which is truly not good.
I see clearly now, and I also want to become a disciple of the Buddha. I know that studying the Buddha’s teachings means letting go of the habits of this life. I am working hard to adapt, and I know that I still have a personality that has not been changed, so now, whenever my own feelings arise, I will tell the Buddha, hoping that the Buddha can help me change and help me not to have these feelings.
I will try hard to tell myself, just as Practitioner Su said: “I am a Buddha, I have nothing, I am a Buddha.” I think what Practitioner Su said is truly reasonable, and I admire this elder who has attained in the human world from the bottom of my heart. It turns out that there really is a Buddha in the human world, and it is someone who has attained Awakening and attained Buddhahood in one lifetime. The Practitioner Su before me is as compassionate and as wise as Amitabha.
I am very joyful; I have made prostrations before the Buddha, and I hope that I can truly follow the Buddha in the future without any bias. I now understand the preciousness of the “Western Land of Dharma Nature,” which lies in the fact that there is a Buddha truly abiding in the world here. This is also a transit station to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, and it is the Buddha who personally brought us to this place, so we can rest assured and entrust ourselves to the Buddha.
Alright, I think I will stop here. I hope that everyone who knows me, especially intellectuals, can read this confession of mine. I am telling everyone my story, speaking simply, and I hope it can serve as a reference for you all.
Gratitude to Namo Amituofo, gratitude to Practitioner Su.
