The Demon Who Challenged the Buddha

This is a record of an interview with the demon Mo E Gang, who sought Chao Du at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Land of Dharma Nature. This account reflects upon his long history as a demon and his eventual transformation under the guidance of Practitioner Su. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fajing, on December 6, 2023.

Mo E Gang (Shi Youwei) speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I once made a solemn vow: until I had conquered the entire universe, I would never leave the Demon Realm. My ambition was immense. For the past 7.8 billion years, I have been a demon, never resting, constantly striving to bring the universe under my control.

Why did I become a demon? It was for myself. I believe many other demons are just like me—we became demons for our own sake. It was for that 'breath' of resentment we could not swallow, or to satisfy our own insatiable desires. That is why we entered the Demon Realm and began to create karma through evil deeds.

The Mirror of Human Selfishness

I have observed humans for a long time. My initial feeling was that humans and we demons are not so different. They simply possess a physical body, a shell that allows them to perform more actions. When I look into the human heart, I see that everyone hides a 'self' deep inside. This hidden self is often quite massive, constantly emerging to interfere with everything. Humans place this enormous 'self' at the very forefront of their lives; that is the essence of human selfishness.

This human selfishness is identical to the heart of us demons. It is a state of being where one is the centre of the universe, treating those around them as secondary. In many cases, humans do not even consider others; they think only of themselves. Even their own parents are excluded, pushed aside in favour of their own interests and desires, without a single thought for their parents' feelings or expectations.

We see humans so clearly. There is not a single person without selfishness; almost everyone has it. Some have a greater degree of selfishness, while others have less. Those with greater selfishness inevitably have a distorted countenance, and their hearts are filled with schemes. They possess more complex thoughts than others, and everything they plan is based solely on their own considerations. Those with less selfishness still have it, but at least they are more inclined to think of others. However, even that is not enough. In the eyes of us demons, even that tiny bit of selfishness can be magnified into something vast.

The Illusion of Practice

Take some practitioners, for example. They appear to be determined to help sentient beings, but we can see that tiny, hidden selfishness in their hearts very clearly. When the time comes that they must generate a greater heart to sacrifice themselves, to dedicate themselves, or to completely remove the 'self' and become someone who has no 'self' at all, that is when the 'I' stands up, and they fail to achieve it. At such moments, we laugh. We laugh because the people of this world are truly incapable of becoming a Buddha. One by one, they are just waiting to become demons and enter our Demon Realm, because the selfishness within their mental notes is simply too similar to our own.

I watched this group of foolish humans and had already devised methods to occupy and control them. We utilised their selfishness, allowing it to become a lethal poison within their bodies. But before they were poisoned to death, they had to be used by us. We used their bodies to do our bidding, to expand our influence and territory, giving us greater demonic power to dominate the universe.

The Earth as a Treasure Trove

Among the countless planets, Earth was the one I valued the most. To our Demon Realm, the hearts of Earthlings are highly malleable. As long as we carefully adjust them and put them through our demonic training, they can achieve great 'development.' Have you ever heard of children killing their own parents? You must have, because it has happened many times. We enter the bodies of those children, utilising the selfishness, resentment, anger, injustice, and foolishness within their hearts. We make them unable to control the negative thoughts in their heads. Those who cannot endure it choose to numb themselves with drugs or alcohol, while others resort to violence to harm others.

We make it impossible for their parents to accept them, leading to constant conflict and discipline. Eventually, the child reaches a breaking point and commits the act of killing their parents. Of course, it is not just that. We coordinate with each child's personality and their relationship with their parents, using various methods to interfere with and control them. The end result is always the same tragedy. The human body is very easy for us to use, and once used, it greatly increases our demon nature and produces significant effects. That is why I say Earth is the planet that has helped our Demon Realm the most. Coming here, we can always dig up 'treasures,' which is why so many demons have built their demon caves here to develop their powerful influence.

The Encounter with Practitioner Su

When I first arrived on Earth, I had never heard of a person called 'Practitioner Su.' I had encountered many who claimed they could subdue demons, but these people eventually became our jokes. They would try to subdue us, only to be captured by us in the end. The reason was simple: they had weaknesses we could exploit. It was very easy for us to invade their bodies and use them to continue our chaos. However, when I learned of this Practitioner Su, I heard that he had already successfully subdued a vast number of demons. Every day, he would lead them to perform Chao Du, and the scenes were grand and spectacular, filled with cosmic demons and Milky Way demons who had already been subdued.

When I heard such news, I was initially half-believing and half-doubting. I had never encountered or seen such a thing. It was hard to believe that a human could possess such ability—not only to confront our Demon Realm but to defeat so many great Demon Kings, and even make those Demon Kings willing to follow him, performing good deeds and delivering sentient beings every day. To me, having never heard of this, it sounded like a fantasy. It felt unreal, false, and impossible to happen on Earth.

The Destruction of the Demon Cave

Just as I remained in disbelief, my demon cave was attacked. A vast expanse of golden light appeared over the cave. The energy of this golden light was extremely powerful, but it was positive energy, completely incompatible with my negative energy. That immense positive energy was on the verge of destroying my demon cave, causing our demonic power to continuously weaken. Finally, the entire cave was purified by the golden light; it no longer resembled a demon cave at all. You can imagine how furious I was at that moment. The first person I suspected of doing such a thing was that legendary 'Practitioner Su.'

I did not hesitate to dispatch my demon children and grandchildren, immediately heading to where Practitioner Su was, prepared to defeat him and satisfy the hatred in my heart. In my 7.8 billion years in the Demon Realm, the number of my demon children and grandchildren had become staggering. They could completely cover the entire sky, layer upon layer, thick and stacked—all of them were my descendants. With so many demons coming to find Practitioner Su, how could his individual power possibly win against us? We were absolutely certain of victory.

Very quickly, we truly filled the entire sky. The space was layered with demon crowds. We wanted to see how much ability Practitioner Su had and if one person could deal with so many of us. To ensure Practitioner Su would not have a chance to win this battle, we quickly used our 'magic' in the space. Every spell we cast was aimed at Practitioner Su's body parts, intending to make him feel pain, itchiness, or soreness. We wanted to make him feel uncomfortable so he would know the power of us demons.

Unmoved by the Demon's Might

We demons always speak with such arrogance because we have always been very confident in ourselves. We like to boast like this to boost our morale and make the opponent fearful. However, we did not expect that Practitioner Su would be completely unaffected by us. No matter how we disrupted or what spells we cast, his heart remained 'unmoved,' as if nothing had happened at all. We were very confused and puzzled as to why this was the case. While we were still trying to figure it out, Practitioner Su jumped up, and with ease, he swept us all away, leaving not a single one behind. The entire sky became clear and bright, and we had all been sent into the Western Land of Dharma Nature.

Mo E Gang

The Buddha gave Mo E Gang the Dharma name 'Shi Youwei.'

Reflections on the Thrice Yearning Ceremonies

Even we demons found it hard to believe, let alone humans. We truly could not believe that someone in the human world could defeat the demon crowds. The entire Demon Realm is filled with immeasurable and boundless demons, including very old ones. All those who came out to find Practitioner Su were subdued. An immeasurable and uncountable number of demons have already been subdued, yet an immeasurable and uncountable number still exist in the Demon Realm.

Many Demon Kings are still watching from the sidelines, especially the old demons, ancient demons, and extremely old demons who have been demons for a long time. These are demons of significant weight. I know they are still watching, waiting to see exactly how much ability this Practitioner Su has. But they have also heard that many old demons have been subdued, so these ancient demons dare not act rashly. They fear that if they move, they too will be subdued by Practitioner Su, and then they will truly have nothing left. Having hidden in the Demon Realm for so long, they do not want to lose everything easily.

However, I want to tell these old demons now: stop watching and come find Practitioner Su sooner! Before I came to find Practitioner Su, I also thought he was going to oppose us and destroy all my demon caves. But now, after arriving at this place called the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I know that Practitioner Su is not trying to deal with us. He truly wants to save us, to prevent us from continuing to create karma. That is why he saved us, brought us to the Western Land of Dharma Nature, and purified the demonic power within us.

Gratitude for Deliverance

We should be filled with gratitude. If Practitioner Su had not saved us in this way, we do not know how much more karma we would have created. So now, we demons feel very fortunate—fortunate to have been saved by Practitioner Su first. But we will not just rely on being here; we will start working hard to change ourselves and work together to use our abilities to help sentient beings, thereby repaying the Buddha's grace and Practitioner Su's grace.

In the Western Land of Dharma Nature, we see Practitioner Su very clearly. Practitioner Su uses his countless manifestations to deliver sentient beings. No matter how difficult a being is to save, he can save them. In my view, the most difficult to save were probably us demons, yet looking at Practitioner Su, he saved us all so easily, as if it took no effort at all. I think this is Practitioner Su's 'great cultivation' and true ability.

Throughout the universe, the Milky Way, and the Earth, no matter where, space is full and immeasurable. Practitioner Su does not stop delivering beings; he hopes to save all those who are still suffering in the cycle of rebirth. Even if his own body must suffer, Practitioner Su is willing. We now admire Practitioner Su immensely and are filled with gratitude in our hearts. If possible, we all wish to take Practitioner Su as our teacher and beg him to teach us his skills.

Shi Youwei"