Interview with Jiang Ping (Renowned Chinese Jurist and Legal Educator)

Brief Introduction: A renowned Chinese jurist and legal educator, one of the primary founders of civil and commercial law in the new China, former President of the China University of Political Science and Law, and awarded the title of "Lifetime Professor." He dedicated his life to the construction of modern Chinese rule of law, presiding over and participating in the drafting and formulation of core laws such as the General Principles of Civil Law, the Company Law, the Contract Law, and the Property Law.

Interview Chief Writer: Venerable Fa Ning

16 July 2026

Jiang Ping:

Namo Amituofo. I am Jiang Ping.

Throughout this life, I have always strived for the rule of law. Although I experienced persecution and my left leg was crushed during forced labour, resulting in lifelong disability, I still chose to face the path of life with an optimistic mindset.

In the series of legal formulations that laid the foundation for the rule of law in China, I consider that I contributed a little effort. Being able to serve as the President of the China University of Political Science and Law, I feel it was my honour. In fact, governing such a school was of great help to my own body and mind. While contributing to the school and helping these young students achieve better development, it actually allowed my heart, which had once lost its vitality, to become full of vigour once again.

I think the value of a person's life lies in being able to help others and being able to make a contribution to the country and society. After all, only when one can help others can one feel the meaning and power of one's own life. That natural joy is not a stimulating kind of happiness, but a peaceful delight.

After learning Buddhism, I realised that it was somewhat similar to what is called "Dharma joy." Because helping others is the foundation of happiness, after I arrived at the Western Land of Dharma Nature, my understanding of this phrase became even more profound. It turns out that all beings in the vastness of the Dharma Realm are one; when you help others, you are actually helping yourself.

I, Jiang Ping, have also experienced many trials in this life. There have been ups and downs, but I have always hoped to use my own strength to exert my value. I think this is also a pursuit that everyone has in life; one always hopes that one can do something for others, to a greater or lesser extent.

Perhaps the objects of everyone's help are different; some may only be their own family or loved ones, while others extend to the group they belong to, or even to society and the country. If it is a Buddha, then the objects to be helped are the Dharma Realm, the void, the Milky Way, and every corner of the Earth; all beings are the objects that a Buddha wishes to help. This is the mind-capacity of a Buddha, and it is also the mind-capacity of my benefactor—Practitioner Su.

After leaving the world, my soul entered the brain-gouging hell. In the brain-gouging hell, even if one dies countless times, there is no way to escape; one simply repeats the torture of brain-gouging over and over. My head felt extremely painful, but I could not see any hope of escape; that feeling of despair made me feel even more terrified. However, I knew I could only grit my teeth and hold on, hoping that I might see a glimmer of hope at some point.

After a few years, I was finally fortunate enough recently to be saved by Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su to the Western Land of Dharma Nature at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. At this moment, I am speaking to everyone from the Western Land of Dharma Nature at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Goombungee, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. This pure and bright Buddha-land is a world established by Practitioner Su after attaining awakening, representing Practitioner Su's boundless mind-capacity. Beings anywhere in the vastness of the Dharma Realm are the objects Practitioner Su wishes to save.

Now, Practitioner Su very much wishes to save the future of our Chinese people, which is why I, Jiang Ping, am accepting an interview from the Venerable at this very moment on the lotus seat in the Land of Dharma Nature, and recording these messages, hoping to convey them to China so that more Chinese people with karmic affinity can come to know the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre and be saved.

In the Land of Dharma Nature, I clearly see that people in China today are generally living very bitterly. They suffer from the competitive environment and various pressures of reality, but they suffer even more because they have actually taken the wrong path in life and chosen the wrong way to walk.

It turns out that this path of life can be very simple, without any scheming, without any suspicion, without any concern for protecting oneself or one's own interests; one only ever needs to move towards the Western Land. If one can understand that one's future should be in the Western Land, and that one has only come to the world briefly as a Buddha to help beings, then this path of life can be walked very smoothly and peacefully.

If one forgets the mission for which one came to the world and simply lets the desires of the body and various feelings lead the way, drifting in the world according to karma, then it is difficult to avoid entering the six realms of rebirth after death. If one has created the karma of hell, then how can the tortures of hell be avoided?

I, Jiang Ping, am one of those people. Unknowingly, my actions had actually gradually deviated from the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. Perhaps many people could see the good part of me, but they could not see that in my heart, in the quiet and silent moments, every change in erroneous belief, or every fluctuation of the mind of selfishness, was occurring. This is what everyone did not know. But within the laws of karma and cause and effect, every fluctuation of the heart and every mental note is recorded clearly, without the slightest deviation.

Therefore, my entering hell to suffer punishment was not unjust at all; it simply represented that I had ultimately failed to keep this heart in a state of purity and goodness. Only by being able to truly settle this heart upon the Holy Name "Namo Amituofo" can one ensure that one's heart has no stains.

Any stain actually represents a deviation from the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. The Truth is such a simple principle; it is merely pure, simple goodness. If I were to use a simpler way to describe it, I think everyone can use this method to judge: if you are one bit kinder today than you were yesterday, I think you have already begun to move towards the path of Truth; but if you are one bit more complicated today than you were yesterday, then I think you are actually moving further and further away from the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way.

Are the people of the world, in the process of moving through life, getting closer to the Truth, or further and further away? In the Land of Dharma Nature, I clearly see that, basically, most people, once they deviate from the Truth and the Right Way, often just drift further and further away in this process, with no chance to turn back. Because gradually, one's body is no longer controlled by one's true self. In such a situation, when more and more parts of the soul are kicked out of the body, and the control of the body is increasingly held by karmic creditors or demon crowds, how can one have a chance to turn around?

It turns out that the reality of life is so serious; once you move forward, there is no turning back, and once you choose the wrong direction, there may never be a second chance to start over.

Now that Namo Amituofo has come to the world and abides at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, why is this so precious? It is actually to give those suffering people whose souls are no longer complete a chance to be reborn. Because with the help of Namo Amituofo, Practitioner Su can help everyone invite their lost three hun souls and seven po souls back into their bodies. As for how long they can be kept in the body, that depends on the cultivation of each person's heart.

Now, the teachings of Namo Amituofo are a true "therapy of the heart": healing this heart of yours that has become ill, and also healing the restless and confused hearts of the countless karmic creditors and demon crowds within your body. This not only helps everyone gradually understand that their heart should always have been in a state of purity and goodness; it also helps everyone remember that they have always been no different from the Buddha in compassion, and in auspicious characteristics.

Reflecting on my own life, why was my leg crushed and why did I become disabled when I was undergoing forced labour? Why did my organs fail in my later years, leading me to leave the world? In fact, everything is inseparable from karmic retribution.

This is because I failed to receive Buddhist education and did not understand that resolving conflicts with my karmic creditors was so important. I was even completely unaware that my karmic creditors were right there in the space of my cells, waiting to seek revenge on me.

How many people in the world today are aware of this? If one has not come to know the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, how could one know the truth of such facts?

Now the Buddha is so compassionate, helping everyone unlock the mysteries of the human body and the universe, hoping that after understanding such truths, everyone will gradually be willing to let go of this false world and the attachment to this body. It turns out that this body was never owned by oneself; this body is just a tool for oneself to come to the world to save beings.

How can one escape the fate of aging, sickness, and death? That requires everyone to be able to initiate the Ultimate Vow to save the world and save beings. While reciting this "Namo Amituofo," one has the opportunity to accumulate merit and virtue in the process, and naturally resolve conflicts with the karmic spirits within the body.

Now, Practitioner Su is leading the Namo Amituofo salvation team in the human world, actively spreading the Dharma without stopping every day, hoping to let more people know about the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. Because only the Buddhist education of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre can help everyone find their true self and help everyone understand where their mistakes actually lie.

If one cannot understand the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, then how can one walk steadily on this path of life? Even if one is a good person recognised by the world, how can one avoid the end of aging, sickness, and death?

Any aging and illness actually represent that one's heart and actions have already deviated from the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. Any slight change in the body's condition actually represents that one's behaviour at that moment is hurting the hearts of the karmic creditors within one's body who are already in great pain.

If one can understand what true compassion is, then one will understand that there is never anything of the world in compassion—no people, no things, no objects; it is purely a state of pure, undefiled, no-thought, and it is entirely a heartless state of helping beings. Only in such a state is one truly compassionate to oneself, and also compassionate to the countless karmic creditors and spirits within one's body.

When the body and mind are tortured, and when illness makes one feel powerless, can one understand that one's heart has become ill at that moment? Because one has become selfish, because one has this "self," one makes the karmic creditors and sentient beings feel such pain.

How can one help the countless karmic spirits within the body who are suffering great pain to be saved? This is the importance of receiving Buddhist education, and it is also the reason why one must receive Buddhist education.

Because only by receiving such a Great Dharma can everyone understand that only by keeping this heart of one's own settled on this "Namo Amituofo" at every moment can one truly save oneself, as well as the countless karmic creditors and sentient beings within the body.

The length of life is at most a short one or two hundred years in the human world, but the length of the spirit is infinitely long. How should one walk this long and endless spiritual journey?

If it were not for knowing Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su, I think we would probably never be able to understand that the destination of the spirit should always only be the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, where there is no suffering. It turns out that no soul should continue to wander in the six realms of rebirth, because in this process, one will have to suffer countless pains and create countless sins.

What is the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way? It turns out that it means there cannot be any of this "self."

As long as one still thinks of everything related to me in this world—my feelings, my sensations, or even the comparisons between me and others, or my value, etc.—as long as there is this self, then it is difficult to avoid deviating from the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way.

Now, Practitioner Su of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is performing grand Chao Du in this world day and night. Why can Practitioner Su save so many sentient beings? That is because Practitioner Su is truly selfless and has no self, and also because Practitioner Su's heart is entirely focused on moving straight forward, holding tightly to this "Namo Amituofo" Buddha-name, without any hesitation or any thinking. Because Practitioner Su simply wants to help beings, Practitioner Su has no mind; because Practitioner Su knows how much beings suffer, Practitioner Su is fearless.

This fierce and fearless appearance of a great person is the appearance that every practitioner in the future should learn to emulate. This is absolutely not idol worship, but rather telling everyone that this kind of dignity is also an auspicious characteristic that one can possess; it turns out that one's own heart can also be so compassionate and full of Wisdom.

It is just that now, because of having received too much pollution in this world, one cannot see clearly what the true self is. Is this body the true self? Or is the soul within the body the true self? This is a question that everyone should explore.

In reality, the body is merely a temporarily borrowed vessel, while the soul within it represents the true self. However, if we say this, does it mean that our souls have already found the true self? In truth, such a statement does not seem complete, for after all, we are still wandering in the human world and have not yet been able to attain Buddhahood like Practitioner Su.

After listening to the sutras and hearing the Dharma, I slowly came to understand that compassion, goodness, simplicity, sincerity, purity, equality, and right awakening are the true self. Beyond these, the ever-changing personality is actually just an illusion of the cycle of rebirth, a mistaken perception we have of ourselves.

I only encountered the concept of use this "temporary" body to find the "eternal" truth after arriving at the Dharma-Nature Land. If one can awaken in the present moment to the fact that they are a Buddha, they will understand that they have no problems at all; they have simply forgotten to recite "Namo Amituofo". They do not need to seek anything else; they only need to recite this "Namo Amituofo".

Those who truly understand suffering, after experiencing heart-wrenching pain and countless entanglements, will be able to understand—if they can learn the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha and accept Buddhist education—that there is truly no other way to leave suffering and gain happiness. It is just this "Namo Amituofo"; this one "Namo Amituofo" is enough. If anything else is added beyond this Buddha-name, it becomes, from another perspective, an added burden that increases one's suffering.

It turns out that no person, matter, or object in this world is worth relying on, nor can they truly be relied upon. This is not to say that when one has doubts, there is no one to answer them, nor that when one feels exhausted, there is no one to provide support.

People are always able to find someone in the course of their lives whom they are willing to trust and believe in, to whom they can confide their difficulties; or perhaps they always encounter someone who can teach them what to do; or, when they feel uneasy, there is always someone whose presence makes them feel settled.

I, Jiang Ping, am not here to speak against any of these phenomena; I only hope that everyone can understand from a spiritual perspective: when we develop a sense of reliance or attachment to anyone in this world, we have inevitably engaged in too much interaction on a spiritual level. The interaction referred to here is not a mutual exchange between souls, nor is it what is called a meeting of minds; it is not that at all.

Rather, when two people establish such a relationship, the countless karmic creditors or spirits within both of them have, in fact, unknowingly entered the other person's body. What does this mean? A person who hopes to help others, in the process of resolving the other's problems, absorbs many of the other person's karmic creditors and sentient beings, creating entanglements and becoming a burden to themselves.

When a person who hopes to receive help and relies on others receives that help, they also absorb many of the karmic creditors and sentient beings of the one helping them. This means that although they only hoped for their own problems to be solved, even if the problems are resolved, they have become entangled in more complex issues. Because these karmic creditors and sentient beings that have entered their bodies represent streams of karma that are difficult to resolve, and they are a burden to their own spirits.

It turns out that this is the truth of the human world—the so-called debt collection, repayment, gratitude, and resentment. In this process, if one cannot truly achieve a state of no-mind and no-thought, then every arising thought actually represents the creation of more problems.

Only the Buddha, when saving beings in the world, can truly remain without any fluctuations of the mind, without any attachments, and without any arising thoughts or intentions. This is the only way to avoid creating more entanglements while saving sentient beings.

This is the manifestation of Practitioner Su coming to this world. While truly save all boundless suffering sentient beings, there is not the slightest stain of attachment. Even after helping countless sentient beings to leave suffering and gain happiness, or healing the illnesses of many people, Practitioner Su has never spoken of any relationship, nor has he ever allowed himself to have more entanglements in this world because of his compassionate deeds. It is truly coming empty and going empty. Coming to the world is empty, and leaving the world is also empty. After attaining Buddhahood, in the process of saving beings, for those being saved, it is even more so: coming empty and going empty, never staining anything, never being tainted by a single speck of dust.

The truth of all medical practices in the world is that while treating the other person's illness, one must bear many of the karmic creditors or spirits from within the other's body. If one does not understand the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, all practices of compassion actually represent adding many burdens to one's own soul. If one cannot truly make one's heart pure and good, and abide in this "Namo Amituofo", then all good deeds will find it difficult to avoid the problem of spiritual attachment.

Only after becoming an awakened being and attaining Buddhahood, and truly aligning completely with the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, can one avoid being affected by those one is saving, and truly use wisdom to exercise compassion, thereby avoiding the problem of spiritual attachment while helping beings. Only in this way can the beings being helped receive true benefits.

Here, I also appeal to all Chinese people in the world, and even to all healers: come quickly to learn Buddhist education at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. Only by truly learning this heart-based therapy, allowing your heart to return to its original state, and being able to truly abide in the Buddha-name "Namo Amituofo", will you be qualified and able to help beings leave suffering and gain happiness.

Do not let yourselves be tied together by threads of karma. That would mean that at some point in the future, due to the pulling of these karmic threads, you will fall into a relationship of debt collection, repayment, gratitude, and resentment. By then, everyone will still be suffering in the cycle of rebirth; how can that be considered giving the other person true help?

Why do we learn Buddhism? It is to help sentient beings leave suffering and gain happiness, to help them attain Buddhahood and be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss—that is, to help them receive the true benefits of the Buddha’s teachings.

Why seek liberation? It is because only when one can truly be liberated from the world, when one's heart is no longer in this world, does one have the ability to save the suffering beings who are still lost in this world.

Gratitude to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su for coming to the human world to bring the benefits of no aging, no sickness, and an eternal spirit, and even more so to help everyone be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I hope that the Buddhist education of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre can spread rapidly in China, so that more Chinese people can receive the benefits of the Buddha’s teachings early. I hope to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in the future, and I hope the future of China is also in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Gratitude to Namo Amituofo, gratitude to Practitioner Su.

Jiang Ping