The Awakening from a Thousand-Year Slumber

This is a record of an interview with the two hundred and twelfth Venerable, Cao Yi, who lived approximately 1,200 years ago. He now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account was recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa Jing, at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre on April 8, 2019.

Venerable Cao Yi speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Cao Yi. Looking back at my long journey through the cycle of rebirth, I see a soul that was perpetually lost in a heavy, suffocating fog of sleep. It is a memory that weighs upon the heart, yet one that serves as a profound lesson on the nature of our spiritual obstacles and the Causal Conditions that bind us to this world. For many lifetimes, I was a prisoner of my own habits, drifting through existence without ever truly opening my eyes to the light of the Dharma."

The Heavy Fog of Perpetual Slumber

"In that lifetime, my family was always searching for me, their voices echoing with a mixture of frustration and deep concern. My mother would call out, 'Where is Cao Yi?' when it was time to prepare for the ancestral offerings, but I was never to be found. My brother would be sent to the warehouse, and there I would be—curled up in the smallest, most cluttered corner, fast asleep. I was not a child who played or ran about; I was a child who lived to sleep. My family tried everything to break this cycle. My father once took me to work, hoping the labour would keep me alert, but I would finish my tasks with unnatural speed just to find a quiet corner to drift off again. Even when he assigned me more work, I would perform it like a hollow shell, my spirit already long gone into the depths of slumber."

"My parents were desperate. They brought in renowned physicians and even Taoist priests to cure what they perceived as a strange illness. One priest told my father, 'This child is surrounded by too many spirits.' My father plastered the house with protective charms, even on my bed, but it was useless. He eventually found me sleeping in the toilet—the only place he had forgotten to place a charm. He was utterly defeated, convinced that I had been born into this world for the sole purpose of sleeping. I was, in essence, a soul that had forgotten how to be awake."

A Tragic Departure and the Seeds of Faith

"My father had to travel for work, and I woke just long enough to see him off. He looked at me with such worry, a premonition that something terrible would happen. Days later, while my mother was busy in the kitchen, she sent me to fetch water from the well. I never returned. My sister eventually found me—or rather, she found the place where I had vanished. She pointed to the well, her face pale with terror. When they looked inside, my body was already bloated. My mother’s cries were heart-wrenching, but I was beyond waking. My father returned to find his worst fears realised. Our family was shattered, but in our grief, we turned to the Buddha. My brother, in particular, became fiercely diligent, eventually renouncing the world to become a monk and dedicating his life to the Buddha's path."

The Revelation of the Worm

"My brother’s practice was profound, but he was troubled by a recurring vision during meditation: a well with a worm crawling near it. When he asked his master about it, the master asked, 'Is there still something you are attached to?' It took time, but my brother realised it was me—the only one in our family who had not practised the Dharma. He returned to our old home and found a fat worm by the well. In that worm's space, he saw my spirit, still trapped in sleep. He chanted Namo Amituofo to break the cycle, and when the worm died, he sought my rebirth. He found me as an infant in a poor household, bearing the same birthmark I had in my previous life."

The Piercing Pain of Awakening

"My brother ensured I was brought into the temple at the age of seven. My master used his spiritual powers to show me my past lives—ten lifetimes of being nothing but a worm, sleeping in grass, in tree hollows, in the dirt. I was horrified. I had never been truly awake. In a moment of intense clarity and fear, I took a sharp object and pierced my own thigh. The pain was excruciating, but it finally shattered the fog. I vowed never to waste another moment in lethargy. I practised with a ferocity that surpassed all my peers, knowing that this human body was a fleeting, precious opportunity that might never come again. I had to make this lifetime count, or I would be lost to the cycle of reincarnation forever."

Gratitude for the Compassion of Practitioner Su

"I have now achieved liberation, but I know that my journey was only possible because of the compassionate intervention of Practitioner Su. I watch as Practitioner Su’s Dharma Body manifests in countless spaces, saving the spirits of beings who have been trapped as insects for centuries. Without the immense mind-capacity of Practitioner Su, these beings would remain lost in the cycle of rebirth forever. I am learning to emulate that same great compassion. I wish to share my story so that all beings may realise the urgency of chanting Namo Amituofo and practising the Dharma. Do not let your life slip away in the sleep of ignorance. Namo Amituofo."