This is a record of an interview with the 691st Venerable, He Yaoyuan, who lived approximately 1,500 years ago. He sought at the Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre in Australia and now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account was recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fajing, on November 8, 2018.
He Yaoyuan speaks:
". I am He Yaoyuan. When we arrive in this world, we are like kites with their strings cut, drifting aimlessly in every direction. We desperately need the Buddha’s teachings to pull us back to our true nature. Our hearts, originally pure, become tarnished upon entering this world. Our lives, originally simple, become complicated by our excessive thinking, afflictions, and delusions."
A Childhood of Mud and Simplicity
"The era in which I was born was not as complex as the world is today; the environment was relatively simple. As a child, I did not have many toys. I spent my days wallowing in piles of mud, playing until I was covered from head to toe in dirt and sand. I would grin, my teeth coated in mud, and feel a sense of that seems far greater than the complicated happiness found in modern society.
My mother once asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. I only wanted to chant Namo Amituofo. That life was pure, simple, honest, and free. Living without afflictions, even while residing in this worldly realm, felt as joyful as living in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."
The Lesson of the Clay
"I am deeply grateful for the destiny of my life, which placed me in a poor family. We had no luxury, no material comforts, and no complex thoughts. My parents spent their days farming and chanting Namo Amituofo—it was the only thing they knew, and naturally, it was how they taught their children. My two younger brothers and I grew up in the mud. While our parents worked the fields, we played in the dirt beside them. Even when we were filthy, our parents never scolded us, for mud was the one thing we had in abundance, and it was the only thing we had to play with. Our childhood was defined by the earth; it was the soil that accompanied us and the soil that led me to my first realisation about life.
When you mould clay into a circle, it becomes a circle. Mould it into a square, and it becomes a square. Mould it into a long strip, and it becomes a strip. Regardless of the shape, with a little effort, it becomes whatever we desire. Yet, when we throw that clay back onto the earth and a heavy rain falls, it dissolves and returns to being part of the land, losing the shape we had so carefully crafted. Our lives are exactly like this clay. Every one of us is formed from the same earth; we are only moulded into different shapes. Some have higher noses, some flatter; some have larger eyes, some smaller; some have longer legs, some shorter. Different people are placed into different families—some wealthy, some poor, some simple, some complex. The education we receive in these families instills different ideas in us, and these concepts learned from childhood make us appear so different from one another."
The Illusion of Separation
"We have become so different that we have long forgotten we were all moulded from the same pile of clay. We are all born from the same root, yet now we do not recognise each other. We bicker over trifles and create divisions between 'you' and 'me.' It is only when we draw our final breath and our bodies return to the earth that we finally wake up to the truth: we are all just children moulded from clay. By the time I was ten, I realised that all beings are one. Even the wealthiest landlord in town was one with me, because he and I were both moulded from the same earth, merely placed into different families.
When the neighbour, Old Lady Lin, gave me a steaming bun, I would break off a piece for my brother Yaosheng, a piece for my brother Yaojin, a piece for the neighbourhood child Qingtong, and a piece for any passerby. Everyone was one with me. Whenever I had something good, I wanted to share it with everyone I met, without distinguishing whether they were my family or not. My 'family' was merely a label for this lifetime—I was marked as a descendant of the He family—but in truth, I do not belong to any one family. Like everyone else, I am a child of the earth."
The Expansion of the Heart
"My mind-capacity was cultivated from a young age. Once I realised this oneness, my heart expanded day by day. I no longer argued with others. When I was happy, I wanted others to be happy; when I had something new or delicious, I wanted to share it. When people spoke unkindly to me or mocked me for being a child of a poor family, my heart remained undisturbed. I knew that all of this was false. The label of being a 'He family descendant' would have no meaning after I died, let alone the labels of 'rich' or 'poor.' None of it mattered.
I never went to school in my life and could not read, but I knew how to chant Namo Amituofo. I had a simple mind and lived a simple life, chanting Namo Amituofo every day. Day by day, I cultivated Wisdom; day by day, I realised my true nature. I understood life through living and saw the universe through life. I used this Buddha-name to save others, using my own transformation to help them believe in the Buddha. When one sees the truth of the universe, the Buddha-name is chanted more deeply and sincerely, with a single-minded desire for rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."
A Call to Return Home
"I am one with all of you. I know the goodness of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and I hope everyone can understand the preciousness of Namo Amituofo. I manifested this truth in the world, chanting the name of Namo Amituofo before all, and stepped onto a lotus flower to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
There are countless sentient beings in the universe. Although many eminent monks have come to save them, none have been as powerful as Practitioner Su. Practitioner Su leads all these lost children back to the West. They have long forgotten the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss where they once resided, having wandered outside for trillions of years. We are all children of the West, and we must all return. No matter how long we have wandered, we still hold the key to returning home. Namo Amituofo is the common password we brought with us when we entered this world. Do not forget to chant this Buddha-name once more to help yourself be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
A complex mind brings a complex life. A single 'Namo Amituofo' returns us to simplicity. Afflictions and delusions are halted within the Buddha-name; the difference between simplicity and complexity lies only in this one chant. In the space of the universe, there is light and purity, but also complexity and darkness. Because the characters of sentient beings differ, there are different spiritual realms. I bring this Buddha-name into every space to help all spirits return to the Western Land."
