The Ancient Ascetic and the Path to Deliverance

This interview was recorded on June 3, 2018, at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. The speaker is Venerable Atanda, a practitioner from 1,800 years ago who now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss and serves as a protector of Practitioner Su. In this testimony, he recounts his past life as an ascetic in India, his miraculous encounter with a master who guided him to the Pure Land path, and his current role in assisting Practitioner Su with the mass deliverance of sentient beings during the Thrice Yearning Ceremonies.

Venerable HaiZe speaks:

"May I ask the Venerables of the Western Pure Land who protect Practitioner Su's left leg—today, during the Thrice Yearning Ceremony, you are working alongside Practitioner Su to save the sentient beings from across the Milky Way who have come seeking Spiritual Deliverance. Is there any Venerable among you who could share this experience with us? May the Buddha be compassionate, and may the Venerables be compassionate."

Venerable Atanda speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Atanda, the four hundred and sixty-seventh Venerable. I was born in India approximately 1,800 years ago and was a practitioner of an external path. In India, the life of an ascetic has always been regarded by many as a method to attain liberation. Countless people have held fast to this belief, enduring extreme hunger and profound psychological suffering, constantly challenging the limits of what the human body can withstand. They believe that if one can endure such torment, the fruits of practice will naturally be attained. This conviction has been deeply held by those seeking the Way since ancient times. Therefore, even if one were to die of starvation, illness, or be mauled by wild beasts in the depths of the mountains or forests, it was considered a blessing rather than a tragedy.

A Life of Extreme Austerity

Against this backdrop, I became one of those ascetics, practising alone in the forest. When I was truly starving, I would forage for wild fruits and drink the morning dew to quench my thirst. One day, an old man passed through the forest. Seeing that I had exhausted all my strength and collapsed on the ground, he lifted me up and fed me the flatbread and water he carried with him. In my hazy state, I remember biting into the bread and drinking the water, but I lacked the strength even to fully regain consciousness. I do not know how much time passed before I finally awoke, though I remained weak. I dragged my body up, thanked the old man for saving my life, and prepared to leave. However, the old man called out to me, asking me to wait a moment longer, and posed a question: 'Where are you going?' I replied, 'I do not know, and it does not matter. I take the earth as my home and suffering as my joy; the more I suffer, the closer I am to the Way.' The old man then asked, 'Do you know where your consciousness went while you were unconscious?' I answered, 'I do not.' The old man said, 'Your consciousness went to the side of an ownerless, lonely grave. You were about to enter it when I called you back to wakefulness; otherwise, you would have already entered that grave. Once the consciousness departs, the body decays. Without care, it would be left to rot in the wilderness; even with care, it would be but an empty shell, and you would eventually perish.'

The Turning Point: Meeting the Master

I was shocked to my core. The old man did not look like someone who would speak falsehoods; rather, he appeared to be a practitioner with true attainment, someone who possessed the heavenly eye—otherwise, how could he have seen where my consciousness had wandered? If this were true, then this old man was my saviour. My life was meant to be used to attain the fruits of the Way and to leave suffering behind forever, not to enter a lonely grave from which I could never escape. I immediately knelt and kowtowed to thank him for saving my life. The old man asked if I would be willing to travel with him, and I nodded eagerly. From that day on, I ceased my ascetic practices and took the old man as my teacher, following him wherever he went.

It turned out that the old man was a practitioner of the Amitabha Dharma-door. He could enter deep meditative states and chant the Buddha's name while in samadhi. Although he did not pass down written texts, his practice was one of personal experience and verification. 24/7, the Buddha's name never ceased in his heart; he chanted without the mark of chanting, and without chanting, he was always chanting. He passed away at the age of ninety-two. On that day, everyone heard the constant sound of the Buddha's name; it was Namo Amituofo and the holy assembly from the Western Pure Land arriving to lead him to rebirth. I continued to follow my master's teachings and passed on this Dharma, eventually passing away at the age of seventy-six. At that moment, amidst the chanting of my disciples, I saw Namo Amituofo coming to receive me, and among the procession, I saw my master's compassionate face. Today, that same master has descended from the Western Pure Land into the human world, manifesting as a lay practitioner in a mother's womb. He diligently practices the Pure Land path, has attained the Dharma Body, and is saving countless beings. That master is the one you now know as Practitioner Su.

The Vastness of the Dharma Realm

Now, I am also able to enter the vastness of the Dharma Realm with my master. I have personally experienced the breadth of the Buddha's gate and the Pure Land—the 'great compassion for those with whom one has no karmic connection' and the 'compassion of the same substance.' This is the true heart and action of a practitioner. One is not swayed by external circumstances but is instead able to transform them, even transcending the constraints of the physical body to bestow grace upon the boundless beings of the void.

Today, at the Thrice Yearning Ceremony, I see the space filled to capacity with sentient beings—men, women, young, and old. Their bodies are of various colours: transparent, white, green, brown. They come from Earth and other different realms and spaces, accompanied by their own modes of transport—spherical, square, and other strange-looking flying vessels. The physical eye cannot see them; it is like a grand interstellar gathering. The beings of our own world look on with curious eyes at these extraterrestrial friends they have never seen before. Although their appearances differ, what they share is that they have all come to this place, the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, seeking Spiritual Deliverance and rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The Power of Compassionate Deliverance

During the 'Praise to the Buddha' verses in each session of the ceremony, these sentient beings crowd forward, batch by batch, to be presented before the Namo Amituofo who stands before us. Some move forward alone, some hand-in-hand, others in large groups. Some lack sufficient energy, and others, whose bodies are incomplete, struggle to walk and fall behind. With a single wave of Practitioner Su's sleeve, he provides them with immense support, guiding them forward. Being bathed in Buddha light, those lacking energy are replenished, and those with incomplete bodies are healed. They are sent forward, filled with astonishment. To be able to fulfil the wishes of all beings here—the greatest blessing is that Namo Amituofo is present here, capable of leading them into the Western Pure Land.

During the circumambulation, although Practitioner Su's physical body is chanting before the Buddha, he is actually employing his Dharma Body to enter into deep visualization. He leads Venerable Chang Ren and the rest of us—beyond the usual routes of deliverance—into the vastness of the Dharma Realm. Without wasting a single second, he continues to receive and guide connected sentient beings into the Western Pure Land. This scene is truly moving! How many beings, due to a lack of energy, could not reach this place, or because they had no one to guide them, could not find the path to attend this Thrice Yearning Ceremony, and were left waiting in the void for Practitioner Su to save them?

A Mission Without End

After these days, everyone's attitude toward Practitioner Su's arrival has shifted from initial strangeness to anticipation; he brings light and hope. His appearance makes them cheer, for they can finally leave suffering behind, gain new energy, and be reborn. However, because time is truly limited, those with karmic affinity are saved; for those whose time has not yet come, as long as they hear the holy name of Namo Amituofo, there will surely be a time for their deliverance. Wherever Practitioner Su is, the Buddha's name is present, so his Dharma affinity is boundless and inexhaustible. Countless beings are waiting for Practitioner Su to save them. That one person performs such infinite work—this is truly the ultimate expression of the Buddha's compassion!

As the ceremony is about to enter its next stage, we must return to join the assembly. The field of deliverance is not only conducted within the Buddha hall of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre but also outside the temple grounds. The Buddha-light and the grace of Namo Amituofo continue to spread throughout the void without interruption."