Interview with Shen Xubang (Chinese Computer Expert, Core Contributor to Aerospace Engineering)

Brief: Academician Shen Xubang led the development of China's first large-scale integrated circuit aerospace computer, successfully equipping strategic missiles and Long March rockets with a self-developed "intelligent brain." He spent decades living in anonymity, rooted in the Northwest, laying the foundation for China's aerospace microelectronics with his exceptional chip and microprocessor technology, and training a large number of top computer talents for the country.

Interview by Chief Writer: Fa Ning

July 18, 2026

Shen Xubang:

Namo Amituofo, everything in the Western Land of Dharma Nature is truly miraculous! I have been in this place for over a month, and I have seen high technology that I had never encountered before. This is a Buddha-land established by Practitioner Su with the help of Namo Amituofo. As one of the very fortunate beings, I was fortunate enough to be saved by Practitioner Su through Chao Du and brought here.

My name is Shen Xubang. Previously, I spent my entire life pursuing the highest technology, the best computers, and the best chips, with the goal of creating chips and computers with the smallest volume and lightest weight, yet the greatest capacity. However, after arriving in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I discovered that all of this was useless. The Western Land of Dharma Nature, and even the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss that people yearn for, is the place with the highest level of spirits; it is the perfect embodiment of the highest science and technology. In the Western Land of Dharma Nature, the truth of facts and the breadth of vision that people can see are things that those with physical bodies cannot perceive.

Why is this so? I have explored here for over a month and only then realised that there is no end to what Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su can achieve after attaining Buddhahood. Namo Amituofo inherently possesses the ability to know everything; and after Practitioner Su attained Buddhahood in the human world, he naturally gained such ability, which allows him to help us beings come to this Buddha-land in a spiritual state after leaving the human world.

The beauty and dignity of the Western Land of Dharma Nature are displayed before my eyes. Today, all the famous people from China who have been saved by Practitioner Su are deeply moved. Everyone experienced different things while they had human bodies and made contributions to the country in various fields. But where do we go after death? This seems to have no guarantee. After death, it can be said that everyone scatters, going to different places to suffer; those who still have the opportunity to enjoy happiness after death are truly very few.

Most people, after leaving the human world, continue to live lives of suffering, reincarnated within the six realms of rebirth, because when we had human bodies, we did not know how to cherish them, and we did not understand the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way. Therefore, having walked through life with both good and evil, we ended up on such a path.

All of this is truly miraculous. As one of China's computer experts, in all my research, I always hoped to find the fastest and most accurate goals, enabling the country to achieve the most precise and appropriate answers, whether in the field of computing or aerospace.

Computer applications are reflected in many fields, but most of what I was involved in at the time was focused on aerospace. This is a field where one can truly serve the motherland. In the era of turmoil and war, everyone felt that the aerospace field was the most popular, because only when national security is guaranteed can the people have the possibility of living and working in peace.

In fact, when I was young, I held this same intention, moving forward step by step, until I eventually focused on research in chips and computers. Like many scientists and engineers at the time, in order to serve the motherland, I did not have many requirements for the profession and field I chose; I simply did whatever the country needed.

At that time, the country arranged for me to study in the Department of Mathematics, believing that I was a talent in this area. I naturally entered the Department of Mathematics at Wuhan University and later transferred to the Department of Mathematics at Peking University. I was quite adept at mathematics, and everything went very smoothly; later, I was selected to enter a national-level research institute for further study. Because of this, I had the opportunity to work with other equally talented young people on the research and development of computers and chips. Throughout this journey, everyone was very diligent and hardworking, which had a lot to do with our upbringing.

My entire childhood was shrouded in the War of Resistance Against Japan. Life during my studies was very unstable; my hometown was devastated by Japanese bombing, and I often had to flee with my family. Children who grew up in such difficult environments were all very strong, knowing that the country was suffering from a huge disaster, and therefore understood that everything they learned would be used to serve the motherland in the future.

Everyone entered the research institute with the same mindset. For decades, we lived almost in anonymity. Because everything we researched concerned the country's highest secrets, we could not contact our families or the outside world at any time; we had to root this secret deep in our hearts and never allow any possibility of a leak.

This was work that had to be done to maintain national security; we all had no complaints and no regrets, and we were happy in it at all times. This might be somewhat similar to the "heart of Dharma joy" mentioned in the Buddha’s teachings, but it is not exactly the same. The reason we were happy was that in the process of research, we had a great sense of achievement, knowing that everything we did would definitely provide help and make contributions to the country and the people, so we felt very grounded and happy.

Now that I am in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I have discovered that the happiness we thought we had at that time was not truly the ultimate and perfect happiness. Because everything we did was researched and developed under the limited lives and limited wisdom of people; whereas what is taught in the Buddha’s teachings is to achieve the integration of all things and flow naturally with the Dharma while being in a state of no-mind and no-thought.

Such "high technology" is something I can only see and believe now that I am in the Western Land of Dharma Nature. Even the fact of how the Western Land of Dharma Nature was established is an extremely objective scientific fact before my eyes; at its root, it is a heart that is pure, good, and as clear as lapis lazuli. Only in this way can such a perfect Buddha-land be established, allowing so many of us beings to come here to practice and be filled with Dharma joy.

Regardless, as a researcher back then, the joy and anticipation in my heart are still vivid in my memory. This is consistent with what Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su said: "If everything you do is done with the heart of benefiting beings, there will not be too much burden," and "If a person keeps thinking about themselves, they will feel very tired." This perhaps reflects our state of mind at that time!

In addition, we also knew that although these top-secret research tasks were not easy, the results achieved through collective cooperation could indeed allow the country to take a big step forward in related fields and contribute to other scientific or technical fields, realising the vision of mutual assistance and common growth among various fields. This was something we deeply yearned for.

Working in the Great Northwest at that time, life was very difficult, and sometimes we even lived a precarious life. Especially during the years of the Cultural Revolution, we researchers were often devastated, facing extremely strict scrutiny and surveillance, and all work was very difficult to carry out. Many times, materials were extremely scarce, and we couldn't even light a lamp to do research; we could only light kerosene lamps and continue to engage in scientific research in an extremely unstable environment. However, this also strengthened our determination to serve the motherland.

All these efforts continued intermittently, never stopping. This period of time was truly "ten years like one day," always burying our heads in hard work, very busy, to the point that we even forgot about time. It was not until the end of the Cultural Revolution that many people began to resume their original positions, and everything we researched gradually improved.

Later, I was also sent to the aerospace field to continue research on the computers and chips used in aerospace projects. At that time, I came to this field full of hope and vision. As I just said, aerospace is the hot land in our hearts, and we can directly serve the country. Each of us was full of joy, knowing that everything we did would definitely bring substantial meaning to the country and lay the foundation for the future peace and prosperity of the nation.

My subsequent life was still very smooth. Through hard work, we slowly developed the first computer in the aerospace field, which was a breakthrough at the time. This was an aerospace computer developed and manufactured by the Chinese people themselves, to be used for rocket launches. For all this, the pride in my heart at that time was indescribable.

I lived to be over ninety years old, which is quite a long time, and I spent my whole life buried in the computer field without ever coming out. Whether eating, walking, or sleeping, I was thinking about how to carry out the next step of work and how to carry out the next step of research. This is something that every scientist or practitioner is concerned about at all times.

Today, I have attained spiritual elevation. In the Western Land of Dharma Nature, looking back at all the efforts I made in the human world, my heart is full of joy; at the same time, I also feel very emotional: although everything we did at that time was a good deed and not an evil deed, regardless, the impact of everything we did on future generations is still unpredictable.

Taking computers as an example, what I strove for at that time was to allow the country to achieve peace and stability. This heart and starting point were good, which allowed me to at least not fall into the evil realms and suffer great pain. Because of the results brought about by this good heart, although it cannot be estimated yet, based on this heart, I can still receive the love of the people of the motherland and obtain the very magnificent karmic affinity to come to the Western Land of Dharma Nature.

However, if high-tech products such as computers and computer chips are used for personal enjoyment in the process of use, or for various subsequent good and evil fields that researchers cannot predict, this is also creating karma, and one must bear certain karmic responsibilities. This is the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way mentioned in the Buddha’s teachings, and there is no way to escape it.

Now, I am full of a joyful heart, but also carry a little bitterness and repenting, because I know that currently, computers are widely used as common tools. It is just that the computers at that time were larger in size, had less capacity than they do today, and were not as fast as they are today, but they are still one of the founders of what people call high-tech products today. Looking back at all this, my heart is still filled with many emotions.

People use computers extensively now. If used in a malicious way, it will affect people's state of mind, and even demon crowds use computers to achieve the goal of controlling people. Such use is something I could not have predicted in that society at the time.

At that time, people generally believed that computers were to help people solve problems in work and life, so that everything could be recorded more perfectly, improving accuracy and efficiency. People at that time never imagined that today's high-tech products such as computers and mobile phones, under the abuse of people in modern society, have actually caused trouble for many people, especially children.

Children do not know the pollution brought by these high-tech products from a young age, and naturally follow their parents to use these products very frequently. This leads many children to indulge in these products, their character becoming fragile, selfish, and even degenerate. If controlled by demon crowds, it is very difficult to return to the right path, and the harm to children is great.

This is because, at that time, everyone's cognition could only reach the general level of cognition at that time. Not understanding the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way mentioned in the Buddha’s teachings makes it easy to take a detour.

When a person has not reached the height of an awakened being, all the morals and values they think they have may be presented by personal subjectivity, or may be the accumulation of experience and the teachings of ancestors, but all of this is not ultimate and perfect.

Only the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way mentioned in the Buddha’s teachings are the directions that people can follow. Because this contains everything, without any omissions, deviations, and is completely selfless and very perfect. If it does not conform to the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, it is impossible to escape in all the cycles of karma.

I, Shen Xubang, am here, seeing the high technology of human society today. Although it is much more advanced than what we learned and studied at the beginning, people's character has also become very polluted and opaque, and people's souls have changed from their former glorious appearance to being dim and lightless.

Currently, as a spiritual being, I see things in the world more clearly. People in the past thought about benefiting others, benefiting the country, and benefiting the people, so they could still shine with a faint light. But people today are always thinking about how to achieve success in this life, how to live a good life, how to make the best use of what they have learned, and how to help their families have a better life. All of this seems to be the general wish of people, but this "self" that appears at every moment is getting further and further away from the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way.

Why can Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su attain Buddhahood? It is because they have no "self." Yet, people today think only of themselves, and the path they walk is the exact opposite of the Buddha's.

Without Buddhist education, people do not understand these principles; they do not know that one should think for others, nor do they understand that thinking for others is truly thinking for oneself, because we are all one. Therefore, people today are on a path of birth, aging, sickness, and death, with no way to turn back.

I, too, because I did not receive Buddhist education, lived my life doing good deeds, but I still had my own attachments and personality. Although this personality was not very strong and did not cause me suffering, it still prevented my spirit from ascending after death, trapping me in the computer space of that time.

In this space, I repeatedly did the same things I did while alive, like dreaming. Looking around, many people after death are like me, lingering in the spaces they loved and were familiar with, unable to leave for a very long time.

Today, if it were not for Namo Amituofo residing at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, and Practitioner Su, who has realised one's true nature and attained Buddhahood, helping beings leave suffering and gain happiness, I might have stayed in that space forever—for ten, a hundred, or a thousand years—or perhaps merged completely with the earth. Maybe one day the Earth would disappear, and my spirit, having no place to rest, would naturally rotate to the next place, suffering according to my own karma.

This is the fate of all beings in these spaces. They do not know how many years it will take to leave that space, where they will be reincarnated to receive retribution, or if they will be lucky enough to encounter an opportunity for spiritual elevation. Just like me now, it is only through the help of Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su that I have been able to achieve spiritual growth.

Everyone in the Western Land of Dharma Nature is like this. No matter what one did while alive, before the Buddha, everyone is equal, and past events are forgotten. The Buddha hopes that every being in the Western Land of Dharma Nature will chant the Holy Name "Namo Amituofo" and follow Namo Amituofo back to their old home—the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss—so they will no longer be reincarnated in the six realms of rebirth. This all depends on everyone truly letting go of this "self," letting go of everything from the past, and chant one Buddha's name to the end.

My life was plain and satisfying. I had my preferred fields, where I could contribute to national development. But deep in my spirit, there were always some feelings that I easily magnified, leading to anxiety.

When I still had a human body, I also once thought about what the future would be like. After all, all achievements in the human world, even the highest ones, must come to an end when the breath stops.

However, the world after death has too many unpredictable things. We who work with computers fear the "unpredictable" most of all, especially in aerospace work, where we are constantly striving for the utmost precision.

If there is the slightest deviation, it could lead to people in space being unable to solve problems and, without timely rescue, disappearing into the vast universe. This is something we never want to see. I would occasionally pause to contemplate the unpredictable nature of life. Although I was not a Buddhist then, I believed there must be a force that causes people to go to different places based on their thoughts—either continuing to live or rotating through suffering. What I thought then was very similar to the laws of karma and cause and effect in Buddhist teachings. Perhaps this was my own sensitivity, allowing me to sense a direction.

My occasional thoughts actually came true. As someone who studied computers all my life, after I died, I entered the computer space and, just like when I was alive, I was busy with the development of computers, never stopping for a moment.

In the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I deeply realised that everything I had managed before still belonged to the various satisfactions and enjoyments of the body, or were merely feelings. Everything that stays with the body cannot help one's spirit ascend. Yet, dragging one's body along is like a burden; the stronger the attachments to feelings, the further one is from spiritual growth.

In the Western Land of Dharma Nature, all beings here have long since shed their bodies, so they can progress rapidly on the path of practice. Without the constraints and obstacles of the body, one can see the truth of all things more clearly.

In the Western Land of Dharma Nature, if we want to obtain the fastest and most accurate information, we do not need any instruments or equipment like computers or chips; we only need to completely empty this heart. When there is nothing in the heart, like a calm lake reflecting the clearest moon, this self-nature can give rise to all phenomena, and one naturally knows everything. This is the Buddha's teachings—the highest of high technology—which is best embodied in Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su.

Now, as I look at all this, tears stream down my face, and I finally understand the principle that "emptiness is existence." I also want to chant the Buddha's name and practise diligently here, so that in the future I can be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, practice there to attain Buddhahood, and like all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, help immeasurable and boundless beings leave suffering and gain happiness.

I advise everyone in the human world, including children, not to blindly pursue technological products; these are all illusions. People gain temporary satisfaction but hinder their own great future—which is spiritual elevation. If everyone can earnestly learn the Buddhist education brought to you by the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, that is the good deed that will allow everyone to truly elevate.

I, Shen Xu-Bang, sincerely wish that the Chinese people can recognise true Buddhist education sooner, so that every Chinese person has the Buddha in their heart, providing a true reliance. By acting according to the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, one can reach a state of no aging, no sickness, and a spirit that never dies. Furthermore, by promoting Buddhist education, China can become a great place for people all over the world to study the Buddha's teachings, allowing more people to return to their true nature sooner, escape the six realms of rebirth, and stop suffering. It can also help all sentient beings with karmic affinity leave suffering and gain happiness. This is my sincere wish.

Gratitude to Namo Amituofo, gratitude to Practitioner Su.

Namo Amituofo

Shen Xu-Bang