The Ascetic Path and the Vow to Save Sentient Beings

This interview was recorded on June 20, 2017. Master Jiushi, also known as Venerable Fuhui of Jiuhua Mountain, Taiwan, sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. She now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account details her life of ascetic practice, her compassionate work in healing the sick, and her eventual transition to the Pure Land.

Master Jiushi speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. To practise asceticism is to let go of the body. I did not live for this physical form; I lived only for sentient beings. I had no 'self'—there was only the needs of others. Why do beings suffer from illness? It is because every thought and intention is rooted in the self. If one is free from greed, free from deluded thoughts, and free from the 'self,' how could there be illness or suffering? By embodying Compassion, Joy, and Selfless Giving, one can broadly save all beings. By knowing the bitterness of suffering through ascetic practice and letting go of the Five Desires and the Six Dusts of this body, one can finally escape the cycle of rebirth. Namo Amituofo."

A Life of Renunciation and Austerity

"I was born into a prominent family and was exceptionally intelligent from a young age. After graduating from high school, I encountered the teachings of Venerable Lühang, who spoke of the path of the ascetic monk coming to save sentient beings. From that moment on, I practised diligently, never ceasing my daily practice. Though I married and had three children as my parents had arranged, I never interrupted my morning and evening devotions. During those years, I witnessed the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death, and observed the stark contrast between wealth and poverty. The wealthy were insatiable, always wanting more, never knowing contentment or how to cherish their blessings. The poor struggled to secure three meals a day, working themselves to the bone only to barely survive, often dying of illness because they could not afford treatment. It was a life of endless suffering.

I saw couples who lacked harmony, and husbands who, despite having a wife, still sought pleasure elsewhere. I saw wives and children in distress, turning to superstition and prayer, hoping for their husbands to return, only to be met with further suffering. Having seen through the illusions and falsity of this world, at the age of twenty-two, the conditions matured. I explained my determination to my husband, entrusted our children to his care, and decided to become an ascetic monastic. I sought strict adherence to the precepts and diligent practice. After more than a decade of intense meditation in the deep mountains, I rented a tin-roofed shack on a mountain in Tongluo, Miaoli, to continue my practice. I refused external offerings, choosing to support myself through farming, and I did not allow followers to kneel before me."

The Path of Compassionate Healing

"Seeing the impoverished residents on the mountain suffering from illnesses they could not afford to treat, I resolved to heal them without charging a single cent. I would touch the affected areas of the patients to communicate with the spirits involved, perform tapping to invite them out, and then provide the patients with Great Compassion Water. I would counsel the patients to communicate with the spirits residing within their bodies and resolve the conflicts, urging them to sincerely repent for the negative karma they had created out of ignorance. My heart was focused entirely on the suffering of others, helping them resolve their karmic creditors. I understood that the root of all illness lies in the karmic creditors from immeasurable past lives who have come to claim their due. Through sincere repentance of spiritual obstacles and the resolution of these karmic debts, healing becomes possible.

Because I did not charge any fees or accept any offerings, and because the efficacy of the Great Compassion Water I provided was widely spread, my reputation grew. Word of mouth spread rapidly. However, this success drew the jealousy of some temple abbots. They slandered me, claiming I was 'playing with supernatural powers.' I did not respond or explain myself. I focused on the precepts and self-examination. I continued to treat the faithful, no longer speaking, but using my mental note to communicate with beings, urging them to chant Namo Amituofo and seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land. I gave away my own food to the poor. I was not performing 'supernatural powers'; I was using a heart of utmost sincerity—a heart for sentient beings—to hold that cup of Great Compassion Water. The government even investigated my water source, suspecting I had added unknown substances, unable to comprehend how it could heal. When the results were published, my innocence was proven. Oh, the human heart! Greed and jealousy are rampant. Some famous temples, with their magnificent halls and abbots draped in fine robes, supported by followers and chauffeured in cars, possessed only an empty exterior. They had no inner cultivation and no true realisation, only jealousy and slander. Monastics should praise one another so that the Buddha’s teachings can flourish."

The Final Transition and Beyond

"Because healing others sometimes consumed my own energy, I would enter seclusion to restore it. During one such period of meditation, I saw my karmic creditors from immeasurable eons waiting to take revenge. I repented before them. I also saw that the spirits I had invited out from the bodies of the faithful were unwilling to leave; some refused to be resolved and waited nearby, seeking an opportunity to retaliate. I worried that these immeasurable, boundless spirits and my own karmic creditors would swarm me. I feared the cycle of rebirth. I knew this body was false, merely a borrowed vessel. In that moment, I cast aside this 'false body' and did not leave a single word of a will. My spirit entered the Heavenly Realm and did not return to the body. My disciples held a farewell Dharma assembly for me, formally announcing my passing."

Communicating with the Unseen

"When I was healing people, I used heart-to-heart communication and thought power to interact with the beings—our karmic creditors. I would help them take refuge in the Three Jewels, using a compassionate heart to transform and counsel these spirits so that they would no longer seek revenge. When would the cycle of revenge ever end? Once these beings were transformed, they were willing to leave. Sometimes, when a spirit was stubborn, even if they had let go of their resentment, I would ask them to leave. Most of them would go to be reborn as humans. Some, however, were unwilling; after being invited out, they would linger around the person, watching to see if they had truly improved. If the person’s character had not changed, the spirit would enter them again."

The Power of the Vow

"When I practised asceticism, I did not accept offerings, consuming only a little fruit and Great Compassion Water. Did I have enough energy? My heart was focused only on helping others. I had no 'self.' I had no desire for material things. I had no heart and no 'self,' only the desire to save and help beings. Naturally, I did not feel hunger. Without desire, there is no appetite. I used my Great Compassion Water to maintain my life without needing to eat. My own vow and the power of that vow, combined with compassion for suffering beings, allowed me to hold the Great Compassion Mantra with a heart of utmost sincerity. That water possesses its own power and life, and the spirits are moved by it. Those who request the Great Compassion Water must recite it with a heart of sincere repentance; the water will naturally generate its own energy and can heal illnesses."

Deliverance to the Western Pure Land

"When I entered samadhi, I saw from the Heavenly Realm the karmic creditors I had invited out waiting for me. I also saw my karmic creditors from beginningless time waiting for the moment I might have a single deluded thought or a moment of insincerity, ready to enter my body and take revenge. When my spirit was in the Heavenly Realm and saw this, I knew this 'illusory body' was false; why cling to it? I also saw that my time was coming to an end. I decided then and there not to return to the body. Once my spirit was in the Heavenly Realm, I had no physical body, and I could no longer chant the Buddha's name to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land. It was then that I heard Practitioner Su of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre calling out from the Heavenly Realm, 'Master Jiushi, where are you?' I descended from the Heavenly Realm to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. During the Thrice Yearning Ceremony, Practitioner Su guided my spirit to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I am deeply grateful for Practitioner Su’s compassion and for her deliverance of so many immeasurable, boundless spirits in the Dharma realm of emptiness. In the entire world, there is no great master who can truly deliver spirits to be reborn in the Western Pure Land, except for Practitioner Su, who has true cultivation, true practice, a true heart of compassion, and a heart of the Ultimate Vow. Only such a person can break through the boundless space of the Dharma realm. Although Practitioner Su is a lay practitioner, her heart is completely dedicated to the dust-motes of the universe. She does not live for herself; she thinks only of delivering immeasurable, boundless suffering beings. Practitioner Su is more compassionate than I, and her vow power is even greater. I, Master Jiushi, admire her immensely. I pray that the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre may continue the Buddha’s wisdom, broadly save sentient beings, and allow the Buddha’s teachings to exist forever. Namo Amituofo."

"Namo Amituofo. I am grateful to Master Jiushi for her compassionate acceptance of this interview."