The Demon's Transformation: A Lesson in Light

This is a record of an interview with the demon Hei Nuo, who sought Chao Du at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Dharma-Nature Land. This account reflects upon his transformation after attempting to interfere with Practitioner Su. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fajing, on June 7, 2023.

Hei Nuo (Shi Minzhen) speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. A sheet of golden light descended, and we were all completely enveloped within it. I had thought I could lead my demon children and grandchildren to escape, but I never imagined that the energy of this golden light would be so incredibly powerful. It was not something we could simply flee from just because we wanted to.

We demons have arrived in massive waves, following the changes on Earth. In the past, before the current 'batch' of humans appeared on Earth, we had no great interest in this place. I use the term 'this batch' to emphasise the humans of the last five million years, because before they appeared, there were other beings in the space of the Earth who were similar to humans. They looked just like humans, yet their spiritual nature was actually higher than that of modern humans. In fact, they are still present in this space; it is just that the physical eyes of humans cannot see them.

A History of Demon Infiltration

We all felt that the character of this current batch of humans was quite similar to us demons. Whether it was their mental note or the thoughts within their heads, they all carried subtle demon thoughts and demon nature. Especially after humans began to develop culture, and distinctions and different nations appeared, it greatly attracted us demon crowds to come. Because at that time, the demon nature in the hearts of humans grew rapidly, we quickly sensed the difference in the Earth, so we flooded in, wanting to occupy this planet.

The Buddha’s teachings have always existed in the universe. Some planets have the Buddha’s teachings circulating, while others have never had them introduced. It seems that the beings there have not yet had the Causal Conditions to recognise the Buddha, which is why their planets lack the Buddha’s teachings. We demon crowds all know that the Buddha’s teachings can help sentient beings achieve liberation, so we obstruct them in every possible way. Especially on planets where the Buddha’s teachings have not yet been introduced, those are the targets we demon crowds are most actively trying to plunder. As long as we occupy the planet before the Buddha’s teachings arrive, and instil demon-natured thoughts into the beings there, or directly control the inhabitants of those planets, making them all obey our commands, the planet will gradually become closer and closer to our Demon Realm, eventually becoming our territory.

When this batch of Earth humans began to appear, we sensed that there were evil thoughts in their mental note, and these evil thoughts outweighed their Goodness. Therefore, we were able to quickly invade the heads of Earth humans, injecting more demon-natured thoughts, making it difficult for humans to master their own bodies.

The Modern Era of Control

Take the Chinese mainland on Earth, for example. The five thousand years of history with written records that began later—those five thousand years seem like a long time, but in the eyes of us demon crowds, it is a very short period. We have been on Earth for far longer than five thousand years, but these five thousand years have been the most essential five thousand years. The effect of our control has been better than ever before, because the mental changes in these humans have been quite significant. Especially in the modern era, the situation of becoming evil has become more severe, and thus they have been controlled by us more thoroughly.

Why has this situation of humans becoming evil appeared? The most fundamental reason is the inherent inferiority in the human heart. This inferiority comes with the cycle of rebirth and naturally manifests in the human heart; the longer one is reincarnated, the more severe the situation becomes. Added to this is what is referred to here as 'spiritual attachment'. We clearly see that the more modern the era, the more obvious the situation of spiritual attachment becomes. It is the change in human character that has exacerbated these attachments.

By the modern, technological generation, it is essentially the world of us demon crowds. No matter which country or which place you point to, you can see the existence of a large number of demons, all controlling the Earth humans.

The Challenge of Practitioner Su

To us, conquering the entire Earth was no longer a problem. Many demon crowds had already set their minds at ease, believing that before long, we would be able to completely subdue the Earth. I never expected that in these recent years, a 'Practitioner Su' would appear to interfere with us, subduing us demon crowds in large batches. Furthermore, he can defeat any kind of demon. In particular, many great demons in the universe—those who are famous, high-ranking Demon Kings—have come to Practitioner Su, and within just a few seconds or minutes, they have become Bodhisattvas of the universe, surrendering to the Buddha. If we had not seen this with our own eyes, it would be truly hard to believe.

Many demon crowds already know of Practitioner Su’s actions. Every batch of demons that finds out will certainly want to come and attack Practitioner Su. Everyone wants to try their luck; whoever has the ability to defeat Practitioner Su would be able to become the highest-ranking great Demon King in the Demon Realm and would surely be respected by all demon crowds, worthy of being called the 'King of Kings'. From this, one can see how great Practitioner Su’s influence is on us.

The Failed Attack and Final Surrender

Our group of demons recently began to target Practitioner Su. We clearly knew that Practitioner Su’s body was already protected by a golden light shield, and it was not something we demon crowds could easily invade just because we wanted to. So, we thought of different methods to attack Practitioner Su, which was to use 'magic' on Practitioner Su from a distance.

This method was not only used by our group of demons; many other demon crowds also used the same way to deal with Practitioner Su. As for the effect of using 'magic', we actually felt it was quite good, because Practitioner Su’s body was indeed interfered with by our 'magic'. Even if our power could not invade Practitioner Su’s body, it could still harass him from outside the body.

We used 'magic' on Practitioner Su’s body day and night, believing that with our efforts, we would soon succeed. Unexpectedly, just as we were enjoying our 'magic', a large sheet of golden light suddenly appeared, enveloping all of my demon children and grandchildren. My demon children and grandchildren were all confused; no one knew where this golden light came from, including me.

At this moment, a demon grandchild shouted, 'Great King! The energy of this golden light is very strong; we can absorb its energy!' I quickly stopped my grandchild and shouted loudly, 'Wait! How can you be sure that after absorbing the energy of this golden light, it won't harm our demon power? Perhaps after absorbing just a little bit of its energy, our demon power will all disappear.' When I said this, my demon children and grandchildren seemed to wake up instantly. They all felt that I was very wise to have thought of this beforehand, so they all listened to my words. Even though the energy of the golden light was strong, they were not tempted by it.

We tried to escape from the coverage of the golden light, but no matter where we went, the golden light followed us. It seemed as if it was determined to shine upon us, which made us feel very confused, yet we did not know how to get rid of it. I originally thought that this golden light shining on us would not have any effect on us, but I was wrong. The longer the golden light shone on us, the more our demon power weakened. This was first discovered in one of my demon children. He had tried to use 'magic' again to deal with Practitioner Su, performing the same 'magic' as before, but when he made the movements and released his intent, only a faint trace of power remained. It was only then that we realised this golden light had been absorbing our energy all along.

In the end, we naturally lost to Practitioner Su. Our originally hard hearts became soft. I am not used to being like this, but we were truly transformed, and it happened in such a short time."

Hei Nuo

The Buddha gave Hei Nuo the Dharma name 'Shi Minzhen'.

A New Life in the Western Land

Shi Minzhen (Hei Nuo) shares his thoughts on participating in the Thrice Yearning Ceremonies:

"After being transformed, we all shed our demon power. Now, in the Western Dharma-Nature Land, we are no longer the fierce-looking beings we once were, but instead possess a gentle and kind appearance. This is the inconceivable nature of the Buddha’s teachings.

We, who have committed so many evil deeds, had never looked directly at the Buddha before, but now we have finally seen Him. The Buddha who appeared before us includes the tall and majestic Namo Amituofo, as well as the great compassionate Practitioner Su. At first, some of us could not tell them apart, because Practitioner Su looks so much like Namo Amituofo. Everyone guessed that Practitioner Su must be a cell of Namo Amituofo, which is why he looks so similar.

We watched Practitioner Su perform Chao Du, using the method of countless manifestations to go over the entire Earth again and again. The speed was so fast that we could not keep up at all. However, it is precisely this speed of Chao Du that is required to save so many spaces and so many sentient beings; it is truly remarkable.

We clearly see that the Earth, which was originally destined to be destroyed rapidly, has had many sentient beings who were waiting to seek revenge transformed through Practitioner Su’s Chao Du. These sentient beings were all harmed by Earth humans. In fact, they originally lived on Earth as well; it was the Earth humans who harmed themselves, which is why they invited the karmic retribution of the end of the world. However, under Practitioner Su’s compassionate and ceaseless Chao Du, he has truly turned the space around again and again, which is the only way to subdue so many resentful spirits. Earth humans should really be grateful to Practitioner Su, and we, too, should be grateful to Practitioner Su. If it were not for Practitioner Su’s shining light, it would be impossible for us to become so gentle and compliant, and still be able to follow along in chanting Namo Amituofo."

Shi Minzhen

Namo Amituofo.