On December 22, 2019, at the Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre, Venerable Haize invited Rao Mingyuan, a representative of sixty prison wardens seeking deliverance to the Western Pure Land, to share his testimony regarding his life and his journey to the Western Land of Nature.
Rao Mingyuan speaks:
". I am Rao Mingyuan. Standing here with my sixty fellow prison wardens, I wish to offer our most sincere and heartfelt gratitude to everyone present, to Namo Amituofo, and to Practitioner Su." (Rao Mingyuan stands at the front, with the other wardens behind him. They stand straight, bow respectfully, and then perform three full prostrations to everyone.)
A Childhood Rooted in the Earth
"I am Rao Mingyuan. I grew up in a farming family. My life followed the rhythm of the seasons, with the landscape of our fields changing as the year turned from spring to summer, autumn to winter. Whenever the fields were left fallow, it was a quieter time for our family. My father would take the opportunity to teach us children how to read and write. Because of this, every one of us in the family was literate and could recite the Classic of Poetry—we were quite different from the other children in the village. You see, my father was originally a man of great talent and scholarship. He grew weary of the sycophancy and hollow flattery found in the city, so he chose to move to the countryside to farm alongside my grandfather, eventually marrying and raising a family there.
I inherited my father's teachings and continued to cultivate the land. Through his guidance, we learned the true meaning of gratitude. We were taught to be grateful to the heavens and the earth for embracing all things, grateful to our parents for the grace of raising us, and grateful to the land itself for nourishing and sustaining all living beings."
The Abundance of a Giving Heart
"Because our family understood the importance of gratitude and never harboured complaints, our rice crops always grew more bountiful and the grains were larger than those of our neighbours. We were often able to sell our harvest for a very good price. My father taught us that beyond gratitude, one must also understand the virtue of generosity. If we had surplus grain or money, we were to use it to help the poor. He believed that among those people, there might be our own family members from past lives, even if we no longer remembered them.
There were several families in our village who had lost their fathers. For years, we covered the costs of their food and clothing, allowing those children to grow up safely and successfully. I also taught them the principles of contentment, gratitude, and generosity. As a result, even though their lives were difficult, they were never 'poor in spirit.' Our village was filled with a sense of harmony and peace.
Whenever someone had a dispute and came to me to mediate, I would counsel them to look at the good qualities in the other person. I encouraged them to view the situation with a heart of gratitude, helping them find common ground where they could learn and grow together. In this way, I was able to resolve many conflicts and disputes."
From the Fields to the Underworld
"I lived until I was fifty-eight years old. One night, I dreamt of a brilliant, radiant light, and my father came to take me away. I told him, 'Father, I still wish to stay and help the people in the village. I want to spread the message of gratitude and continue to practise generosity.' My father smiled, nodded, and departed. Two years later, when I was sixty, I had another dream. This time, prison wardens arrived with a palanquin and told me to get in. They said that my extended two years of life had come to an end. I was then carried before the Yama King of the Fifth Hall. I served as a chief warden, assigning tasks and mediating the problems of the spirits there. Later, I was notified that I would be included in the group being sent to the Western Pure Land by Practitioner Su. I waited for four and a half years, and today, my wish has finally been fulfilled.
I am filled with gratitude to Namo Amituofo, to Practitioner Su, and to all of you."
Rao Mingyuan and the sixty prison wardens bow in gratitude to everyone.
Note: Practitioner Su, out of for the karmic suffering of Rao Mingyuan’s father, Rao Jinwen, has guided his spirit from the Second Heaven to the Western Land of Dharma Nature to listen to the sutras and hear the Dharma.
