Interview at the Western Land of Dharma Nature: Yeh Chang-tung (Former General Commander of the Navy of the Republic of China)

Interview Chief Writer: Venerable Fa Ning

June 4, 2026

The Buddha speaks the Dharma with one voice, and sentient beings understand it according to their own kind.

Yeh Chang-tung:

I am grateful to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su for saving my suffering soul from hell.

In the brain-gouging hell, my soul endured endless torture; my head was constantly being gouged open, repeating this process over and over. Hell is filled with wailing; it is truly a place of immense suffering.

While undergoing punishment, I did not understand why I had come to hell to suffer retribution. I considered myself a law-abiding, good person, and because of my Christian faith, I understood the importance of being a good person.

In Christianity, rejecting God leads to great suffering for the soul. While in hell, I thought, "Could it be that I disobeyed God's will? If so, what exactly did I do wrong?" This was a question in my heart at the time. However, very soon, these questions vanished from my heart because my head was constantly being gouged open, making my soul increasingly muddled.

To put it more simply, I became increasingly dull, and my mind felt less and less clear. Eventually, I was in a completely dazed state, enduring the punishments of hell.

I do not know how much time passed, but suddenly, a massive golden light shone in hell. The golden light illuminated my soul, and that is how I arrived at the Western Land of Dharma Nature at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Goombungee, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia.

I, Yeh Chang-tung, am a person who knows how to repay a kindness. After arriving at the Dharma-Nature Land, I kept searching for who had saved me. Upon understanding, I discovered that it was Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre who saved me. I am very grateful to Them; if not for Them, my soul would still be in the brain-gouging hell, suffering without knowing when I could ever escape.

Now that I am on the Dharma-Nature Land, I am no longer in the state of splitting headaches I had when I first left hell; I have recovered to a healthy state of soul, full of vitality. I must thank the Buddha-light that constantly shines on the Dharma-Nature Land, which has been of great help to my soul.

After listening to Practitioner Su’s Dharma talks here, I slowly came to understand that the reason I went to hell was that my mental notes and actions violated the "universal principle and the righteous path of Truth." I had never understood this before, and I had not even heard these eight words. Previously, I only knew of God and the Bible, but now at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, I have come to understand that both Buddhism and Christianity encourage people to be good, teach people to have empathy for others, help others, and be a good person.

However, in terms of Buddhist education, it is more ultimate. The Buddha’s teachings guide people on how to make their hearts and actions, as well as their physical actions, completely in sync with the universal principle and the righteous path of Truth. In Christianity, it is emphasised that God is above our will; however, after receiving Buddhist education, I discovered that everyone can actually be a Buddha, because the unborn and undying Buddha-nature originally exists within the soul.

Buddhist education teaches us to keep our hearts in a state of purity and Goodness; those who can achieve this one hundred percent can be called a "Buddha." And Practitioner Su of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is such a Buddha who has already attained Buddhahood.

It is a great surprise that everyone has the opportunity to become a Buddha. At the same time, I feel extremely regretful because I no longer have a human body and cannot practice to attain Buddhahood. Fortunately, I learned on the Dharma-Nature Land that the Western Land of Dharma Nature where I am now is a transit station to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. As long as I chant this Buddha-name well here and make a vow to save beings, I will have the opportunity to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Therefore, "rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss" is now my primary goal. This is not because I covet the beauty of the Pure Land, but because I hope that once I am there, I will have the opportunity to attain Buddhahood. After all, I know that many suffering souls like me have been saved by Practitioner Su, and I hope that I, too, can become a Buddha like Practitioner Su and possess the ability to help beings.

The reason I entered the "brain-gouging hell" after death can actually be glimpsed from the name of this hell. It turns out that when I was alive, for the sake of the country's national defence issues and the future development of the Navy, including proposing large-scale naval armament plans and purchasing warships, the process was not easy. To achieve these goals, I often had to spend a lot of effort planning, strategising, and calculating, including how to get these plans adopted and how to implement them smoothly.

The various analyses and strategies involved sometimes contained my own personal gains and selfishness. Although a large part of it was indeed done for the country, from the perspective of the laws of karma and cause and effect, even a tiny bit of selfishness has already created sins, which will lead to retribution. Therefore, following the universal principle and the righteous path of Truth is indeed very important. If one does not understand what the universal principle and the righteous path of Truth are, one will not understand what is right and what is wrong, what can be done and what cannot be done. Often, one creates many sins in a lifetime, and where the soul will wander after death, or whether it will enter hell, truly tests everyone's virtue.

However, based on my recent observations on the Dharma-Nature Land, if people have not received the Buddhist education of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, it is actually impossible for them to keep their mental notes and even their actions without any deviation, or to have no selfishness at all, not even a little bit of self-protection. Therefore, many people enter hell to suffer punishment after death, which surprises me greatly; I never expected that so many people's souls would go to hell to suffer after death. I was one of them, and if the Buddhist education of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre had not told us the truth, we might still not know where we went wrong.

A person's life always has ups and downs, highs and lows. And I think that at the end of everyone's life, this low point is often accompanied by illness.

Illness is indeed one of the problems that everyone finds difficult to avoid. Very few people can leave the world peacefully without any pain; most people are tortured by illness and pass away in suffering, and I was one of them. Regarding the fact that "people do not have to get sick," I had never thought about such a possibility before.

However, after receiving Buddhist education, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that as long as people follow the teachings of Namo Amituofo and truly practice the Buddha's education perfectly, they can obtain the true benefits of the Buddha's teachings: "not grow old, not get sick, and the spirit does not die." Practitioner Su of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre has truly achieved this.

Knowing that the Buddha's teachings have such great benefits, many people should want to learn Buddhism, right? After all, I never knew before that learning Buddhism could be so helpful to oneself; I mostly thought it was just a kind of ethereal spiritual comfort and reliance. But now that I have come to know the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, I know that the benefits and advantages of learning Buddhism can be manifested while one is still alive.

After all, the true Buddha's teachings are about living in every present moment. If one can truly follow the universal principle and the righteous path of Truth, then there is no need to wait until after death; one's soul has already obtained benefits in the present moment.

The Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre has set up "Namo Amituofo" billboards on the Brisbane highway. On the Dharma-Nature Land, I have seen that these billboards have saved many Australian souls. I was very moved after seeing this; I never knew that the Buddha's teachings possessed such great power.

In addition, there are also Namo Amituofo billboards from the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Taiwan. These Namo Amituofo billboards emit a massive golden light, allowing many lonely wandering spirits in Taiwan to be saved.

Australia is truly a lucky country because the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is located in the small town of Goombungee, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The reason that makes the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre extraordinary is that Namo Amituofo has not left the temple for twenty-four hours, constantly emitting great light, illuminating the space around the temple.

Namo Amituofo is very compassionate and hopes that all beings can obtain the benefits of the Buddha's teachings and be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Now, as a Buddhist disciple who has just started learning Buddhism, I sit on the Dharma-Nature Land, very happily and focusedly chanting this "Namo Amituofo." Because this is a key point I have learned from the sutras taught by Practitioner Su: that is, to chant the Buddha's name well. This Buddha-name possesses inconceivable power.

I hope that everyone who reads this interview transcript can also chant this "Namo Amituofo" well.

In short, I, Yeh Chang-tung, am here on the Dharma-Nature Land of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, waiting for everyone to come and talk to me at any time.

I hope you can help me convey the above message to my family.

Gratitude to Namo Amituofo

Yeh Chang-tung