The Entrepreneur's Final Lesson

This is a record of an interview with Huang Jinxuan, a Singaporean entrepreneur who sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his life and his journey to the Pure Land. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Hailiang, on June 4, 2017.

Disciple Hailiang speaks:

"I, your disciple Hailiang, offer ten prostrations to the Buddha. Today, Namo Amituofo resides at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, leading suffering beings to deliverance. Through the great heart and ultimate vows of Practitioner Su, a direct path to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss has been opened for the world. We have invited the Singaporean entrepreneur, Mr. Huang Jinxuan, to compassionately accept our interview. We ask that you explain the circumstances of your rebirth and how you reached the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. To repay the Buddha's kindness, we will make this interview public so that the world may know that the Western Pure Land truly exists."

Huang Jinxuan speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. My Buddha is truly compassionate. I had only just arrived here when my karmic creditors and other sentient beings all appeared. I am filled with such deep repentance! In order to satisfy my pursuit of fame and wealth, the hotel business I operated in the human world was essentially a place where I committed the karma of killing every single day. It was only after I began to study the Buddha's teachings that I realised everything in the universe is a transformation of spirits taking rebirth, cycling through the six realms based on the sins they have committed.

The Weight of Killing Karma

"When I look at how many people in the world are trapped by their own selfishness and greed, unable to escape, and how they continue to grow and consume beings without pause, I realise that without true Buddha's teachings, it is incredibly difficult to guide the people of this age of the Dharma's decline. I consider myself quite blessed to have studied Mahayana Buddhism and the Pure Land Dharma Gate in this lifetime. Chanting Namo Amituofo to achieve rebirth was my greatest goal, especially because my mother achieved rebirth through chanting. Her example influenced me to dedicate myself to supporting everything Venerable Master Chin Kung undertook. I was happy to contribute both money and effort to projects like the Malaysia Han Studies Academy, where I even served as a board member.

"However, in my business, I operated three hotels. To satisfy customers, I had to provide various types of cuisine. Modern people demand freshness, so every day we had to bring in fresh ingredients, which meant that live seafood and poultry were inevitably killed. After learning the Buddha's teachings, I understood that this is called the karma of killing and must not be done. But I could not let go of such a profitable business, so I continued to earn money while trying to support the Dharma, thinking that this might offset some of my karma. I knew deep down that such actions could not truly erase the karma, but I was hesitant. While I wavered, my faith in the Buddha's teachings was tested. I was diagnosed with cancer. It seemed that no matter how much money I had, it could not save my health. It truly fulfilled the old saying: 'You cannot bring wealth with you when you are born, and you cannot take it with you when you die.' I am filled with such profound emotion."

A Lesson in True Wealth

"After learning of my condition, I sought out Venerable Master Chin Kung. When the Master looked at me, he surely knew. Seeing my helplessness and fear regarding death, he gave me a few words of teaching, urging me to have faith in the Buddha, to believe in the Buddha, and to chant Namo Amituofo. I am so grateful to the Master for recommending that I go to the Hsiang Kuang room in Shiding, Taiwan, to ask Practitioner Su to help me and treat my illness. At the time, I was desperate, willing to try anything. I never expected that participating in Practitioner Su's Thrice Yearning Ceremonies would lead to such a profound experience. When we were circumambulating the Buddha, I could barely walk, but I forced myself to try with a heart of repentance. With Practitioner Su's help in visualisation, I returned to my seat and vomited about half a plastic bag of sticky phlegm and transparent white matter. It was inconceivable! My whole body felt much more comfortable. That was how my hope was reignited.

"Practitioner Su is a true practitioner with real attainment. She is compassionate and humble, always saying she has no attainment and that everything is the blessing of Namo Amituofo. That morning, she brought noodles she had cooked to the hotel to see me. I was watching a lecture by Venerable Master Chin Kung. I sincerely expressed to Practitioner Su that I did not want to die yet, that I had plenty of money and could do many things for the Dharma. She listened without saying a word, then asked my wife to serve two bowls of noodles. I took a few bites but could not finish. Practitioner Su said, 'I am truly sorry, but although you are very wealthy, you can only eat a few bites. I am poorer than you, just an ordinary person, yet I can finish a whole bowl of noodles. I am wealthier than you.' Her words were so profound. She urged me to seek rebirth, but because I had come to her too late and the cancer had spread, she could not cure me.

The Reality of the Hells

"To be honest, during the whole process of my illness, I felt some resentment toward Venerable Master Chin Kung. I had listened to him so attentively, heard his lectures every day, and chanted Namo Amituofo honestly, yet I still contracted such a serious illness. Practitioner Su told me, 'You listened to the lectures, but you did not take them into your heart; you cannot blame the Master. You did not change yourself.' She said she also listened to the Master's lectures, but she applied them to her daily life, changed her personality, and corrected her habits, benefiting greatly and improving every day. As my condition worsened, I was grateful that Venerable Master Chin Kung sent Venerable Dinghong to help me. He accompanied me in chanting Namo Amituofo during my final days, urging me to chant with sincerity and seek the Buddha's guidance. At that time, I thought I saw Namo Amituofo, but I was not sure because I was in a state of delirium. Without realising it, I closed my eyes.

"I was taken to the hells to be judged. The judge asked, 'Is the one who has come Huang Jinxuan? I see that you operated hotels to make money, and all the killing you committed is here.' I looked and saw a pile of documents stacked high—there were fish, shrimp, oysters, abalone, clams, and other seafood, as well as chickens, ducks, geese, and even pigs, cows, and sheep. Only then did I realise how great the karma I had created was. It turned out that while I was in the human world, my three hun souls and seven po souls were no longer with me; I was already receiving retribution in the hells. No wonder I sometimes smelled the stench of a corpse or a fishy odour on my own body.

The True Path to Rebirth

"Huang Jinxuan had great blessings in this life and knew about the laws of karma and cause and effect through studying the Buddha's teachings, but how could ordinary people in the world know this? When will the karma they create ever end? I supported the Dharma with all my might, and at the end of my life, I always thought I would surely be led by the Buddha. This is what I want the world to know: no matter how much you give in charity, it cannot guarantee rebirth, because that is merely accumulating blessings. True certainty of rebirth is as the sutras say: one must possess the blessings, the Causal Conditions, and the three provisions of faith, vows, and practice. One must chant Namo Amituofo and be led by the Buddha. You must truly believe in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, believe in Namo Amituofo, and believe that chanting truly leads to rebirth. You must make the vow to achieve rebirth and, in the future, return to save sentient beings. Only by sharing the same vows and heart as Namo Amituofo and chanting with a sincere heart can one be led by the Buddha. All the charity I accumulated was merely blessings.

"When I was dying, my spirit was terrified. At that moment, it occurred to me that only Practitioner Su could save me. I found her and begged for help. I am grateful for her compassion in Shiding, where she held a Thrice Yearning Ceremony and led my spirit to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. My son and daughter-in-law are very filial, but they do not know that it was Practitioner Su's compassion that led me to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I hope that by hearing this news, they might come here to see me one day."

Disciple Hailiang speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. May I ask, Mr. Huang Jinxuan, at what age did you begin to fall ill?"

Huang Jinxuan speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. Looking back, I began to feel unwell around the age of fifty-two. I often had dreams and would feel tired the next day. In my dreams, I would see myself building a new five-star hotel with over 1,500 rooms and top-tier facilities. I would be admiring the equipment when one of my souls would be snatched away. From that day on, I loved to wander around or return to the hotel to flip through magazines, looking for books on travel and hotels, always feeling that my hotel needed to be even bigger. Another incident occurred when I was sixty-one. I was sitting in the hotel discussing the menu with the head chef because Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew was coming to host foreign guests. The ingredients listed were very high-end and expensive, such as abalone, lobster, oysters, and shark fin. I signed the purchase order with great pride, but my soul was snatched away again. From then on, my body began to lose strength; I was easily tired and often felt stifled. My internal organs felt like they were burning, and sometimes it felt as if I were being hollowed out, as if the poultry I had killed were coming to claim their debt. It turned out this was receiving retribution.

"Looking back, all those times my souls were snatched, it was by my karmic creditors. When I was fifty-two, I was snatched because in a past life, I was a government official who signed documents that falsely accused people of treason, leading to the execution of their entire families. When I was sixty-one, I was snatched because of the fish and shrimp I had harmed when I was a fisherman, and the beings in the lake who died when it dried up.

"Namo Amituofo. At that time, the Causal Conditions were ripe. In my eighth and fifth past lives, I was a great Dharma protector in a temple, helping to build the kitchen. Because I needed money for my own business, I did not dare to use the temple's funds, and since I had no extra money of my own, I took the initiative to sell my land to donate to the temple, completing the reconstruction of the kitchen. From then on, I never lacked food or clothing. The kitchen I rebuilt for that temple is the now-famous Guoqing Temple.

"In business, I always valued integrity, but there is one thing that has always weighed on my heart: I never fulfilled my promise to help the Hsiang Kuang room build an elevator. I have remembered it again today."

Disciple Hailiang speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. Let it go! Lay Practitioner Huang, you are truly a person of integrity and a great elder. Practitioner Su says you do not need to worry about it. Namo Amituofo."

This message was recorded by the Buddhist disciple Shi Hailiang.