The General's Regret: A Reflection on Strategy and Karma

This is a record of an interview with General Lü Meng, 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 life approximately 1,800 years ago. Recorded by the chief writer, Venerable Shi Fa Ru, on March 28, 2026.

Lü Meng speaks:

"To call me a 'Great General' is truly an honour I do not deserve. I am Lü Meng, a general of Eastern Wu. From a young age, I practised martial arts and was filled with confidence in my own physical strength and combat skills. While still a youth, I followed my general to suppress the Shanyue rebels, repeatedly performing extraordinary feats on the battlefield. Although my mother was not entirely supportive, I longed to earn her recognition through my military achievements. Yet, my true goal went beyond that; I deeply admired our leader at the time, Sun Ce, who was known for his bravery and skill in battle, and I yearned to officially join the Eastern Wu army to expand the territory of my homeland.

At that time, those around me were short-sighted, often mocking me as a reckless brute who understood nothing of strategy. But in my heart, I understood that in the era of the Three Kingdoms, where warlords vied for power, one could never stand out through brute force alone. Because of my impoverished background, I had no opportunity to receive a formal military education. I could only seize every chance in actual combat to carefully observe terrain and formations, secretly pondering the strategies of both friend and foe.

A Turning Point in Blood and Ambition

In my youth, I was hot-blooded and once killed a clerk in the army out of a moment of impulse. Afterwards, I felt deep remorse. This was not only a major stain on my life, but it also confirmed the evaluations of others—that I possessed only brute strength and lacked composure. I told myself, 'If I am to become a great general, I must not be afraid to face life and death, or I will inevitably be timid on the battlefield.' Thus, I chose to demonstrate the courage a soldier should have and voluntarily turned myself in.

This spirit of not fearing death actually earned me the strong support of Colonel Yuan, and our leader, Sun Ce, had the keen eye to recognise my potential. Not only did he commute my death sentence, but he also made me his personal bodyguard. This encounter was the greatest turning point of my life. By staying at the side of our leader, I was able to participate directly in high-level military decision-making. From terrain layout and logistics to the strategic objectives of our campaigns, my narrow perspective as a mere soldier expanded into that of a general who could grasp the overall situation.

The Weight of Leadership and Loss

Later, I had the fortune to take command of troops in place of my brother-in-law. Just as I was preparing to display my talents and repay the leader for his kindness in recognising my worth, he was assassinated and passed away prematurely. This left me in a state of immense shock and self-reproach. I felt deeply that it was my failure to translate what I had learned into security advice that led to this tragedy. It made me realise completely that the true battlefield is not just on horseback; schemes such as assassination and internal infiltration are omnipresent.

Fortunately, his successor, Sun Quan, was equally visionary. To stabilise the Eastern Wu regime, I led the fierce army I had personally trained to successfully crush the Shanyue rebellion that my brother-in-law had failed to pacify. At twenty-six, I was in my prime, becoming a commandant. My preferred tactics at the time were quite simple: I used my superior martial prowess to break through enemy lines, strike directly at the command centre to slay the enemy general, and then have my well-trained subordinates break through local fronts, thereby winning repeated victories.

The Wisdom of Strategy

After I was promoted to General of the Rear, I began to witness the far-reaching and comprehensive strategic layouts of our leader and Grand Governor Lu Su. Under their counsel and teaching, I suddenly realised that 'intuition and observation' based solely on combat experience were not enough. Reading military classics allows one to transform the experiences of predecessors into the ability to respond instantly, preempting situations before they deteriorate. This is the very essence of the art of war.

I began to study diligently, reading widely. 'After three days of separation, one must look at a scholar with new eyes.' This praise, which has been passed down to future generations, was both an affirmation of my hard study of military classics and a wake-up call regarding my past arrogance. I no longer relied solely on brute force to break through; I learned to make good use of resources, terrain, and varied methods.

Ultimately, I pushed these profound strategies to their limit. By employing the tactic of 'attacking the heart first,' I dismantled the enemy from within, soundly defeated Guan Yu, and successfully reclaimed Jingzhou. I became the Administrator of Nanjun, reaching the peak of my career as a general.

The Illusion of Victory

This was truly a situation created by the right time, the right place, and the right people. If it were not for the fact that Lord Lu, General Lu, passed away so early, how could I have had the opportunity to replace him and become the governor? This was certainly not something I had anticipated.

'Oh, Governor, Governor, you left us far too soon.' I admired your wisdom and strategy immensely. It was thanks to you that I understood the importance of military strategy and was able to learn many tactics from you.

I calculated everything, yet I failed to calculate one thing. What I failed to calculate was that I could not learn from you until the very end. After hearing your interview transcript, I felt a deep sense of lament. Following you to learn strategy, I ended up following you down the same path. But I never knew where you went after you passed away, and I had never even thought about such a question.

A lifetime of military service and merit was truly reduced to ashes after death, but it was also a heavy burden of killing karma. Alas, I had so many schemes in my heart, yet I failed to calculate my own end. After I died, I first entered the space of a military manual, a chapter explaining the strategy of attacking the heart. With all my schemes, it was truly miserable. Three hundred years later, most of the ancient military manuals had been shattered and destroyed, and I finally departed from that chapter in the manual and arrived before the gates of the Yama King.

The Judgment of the Yama King

Before the Yama King, he asked me if I knew how to repent. Did I know that my actions had committed grave errors and sins?

I did not understand. I had utilised my schemes and military strategies to the fullest to help the Eastern Wu regime break the Cao camp, force back the Shu Han, and reclaim Jingzhou and lost territory. Serving the country and being loyal to my duty—what was wrong with that?

However, the Yama King explained to me: such schemes, as well as slaying enemy soldiers on the battlefield, are boundless sins.

At that time, I truly did not understand. If I did not kill the enemy, would the enemy not kill me? In this chaotic era of the Three Kingdoms, was everyone not working hard for their own country and planning their own strategies? Schemes are merely the offensive and defensive battles between us. If I did not use schemes, would I not be the fish on the chopping block the next day? Such mutual schemes and defensive battles are common in military affairs. Why was I the only one singled out as a sinner? On the contrary, failing to establish a nation, failing to perform meritorious service, or even causing the death of one's leader—are those not the true sins?

The Yama King saw that I did not understand these principles and lacked true repentance, so he arranged for me to descend into the hells to suffer punishment. Here, my heart was dug out, my brain was extracted, and my limbs were severed—I have been in all kinds of great hells. However, although they were said to be several different hells, I felt as if these hells were happening simultaneously. My suffering was not experienced in stages or segments; it was an endless, continuous torment.

By the time I had suffered for a long time, I could no longer distinguish where I was or why I was there. I only knew one very clear thought: the pain I was suffering now was exactly the pain I had inflicted upon others during my lifetime.

Now I understood a little. Although my consciousness was still very blurred and my thoughts were unclear, based on this realisation and feeling, I instinctively understood that this was everything I had done in life, the schemes I had used, the blades I had held, and the feelings of those I had harmed. Every blade, every cut, every time my own heart and brain were dug out—was this not the very scene of the miserable situation I had created when I used my heart and brain to make others bleed and die on the battlefield?

Although I had a glimmer of understanding, the punishment continued. I did not know how to escape these predicaments; I only knew that I had to continue enduring these tortures. I do not know how much time passed, but suddenly, the pain ended. This ending also surprised me greatly; this endless suffering simply stopped one day.

The Yama King summoned me before the throne and asked if I knew how to repent. My consciousness had not fully recovered, but deep in my heart, I understood. Although I was not yet completely clear, I truly felt remorse. That remorse came from the depths of my heart, upon knowing that many of the people I had harmed at the time had also suffered the same pain I felt in hell, and it was unbearable.

I truly regretted it. At the time, I had not thought that I would bring such suffering to so many people, nor did I think that my schemes and strategies would bring them such a tragic end, which is why I had to accept such tragic punishment. I could not speak, nor could I explain my repentance to the Yama King, but the Yama King nodded. He seemed to understand the thoughts deep within my heart, so he arranged for me to go to the ghost realm to continue watching the Jiangdong and Eastern Wu regions of that time.

In the ghost realm, I had nothing to do. My heart and brain were in chaos; I was very confused, muddled, and my chest felt very uncomfortable. As a lonely ghost, I could not do anything. No amount of schemes or strategies were of any use. I drifted through space, alone and desolate. What use were all those schemes and strategies? The former General Lü Meng, the Governor, no longer existed. A lonely, suffering spirit—how could I look like the majestic figure of the past? Is this the end I earned from a lifetime of military service and meritorious deeds? Should it not have been returning home in glory, improving the poverty of my family, and bringing about great change?

Looking back on my life, I died of illness at just over forty years old. From the perspective of my spirit looking back, wow, that was truly harmful to others! After each period of slaying enemy soldiers and achieving military merit, I was surrounded by immeasurable and boundless black spirits filled with resentment. These spirits surrounded me, each one viciously hoping to put me to death.

Alas, perhaps the time was not yet ripe, or perhaps it was not my time to die, but I continued to use my abilities to slay more enemies on the battlefield, while simultaneously continuing to increase the resentful, suffering spirits surrounding me. This is absolutely terrifying! I had never thought that by killing enemies on the battlefield, all those enemy generals and soldiers who died because of me would all follow me.

This is what is called an endless war. I thought I had succeeded, winning a city, turning the tide, yet the war did not end because of it. Numerous suffering spirits—those resentful generals and soldiers—were still by my side, ready to claim my life at any moment.

Can this war still be fought? This is my deepest, most profound lament. There are no winners. There is no such thing as 'the victor is king, the loser is the bandit.' In an endless war, everyone is a defeated bandit; where could there be a winner?"

"Even though I became the Governor of Nanjun in my forties, I had no chance to enjoy the blessings that such a high position should have brought. I never had the opportunity to truly experience or enjoy that life, nor the sense of pride and accomplishment that came with the rank. Instead, what I received in return was a constant, suffocating presence of spirits orbiting me, which eventually led to my body succumbing to illness. The sickness I suffered at that time can only be described as 'inexplicable.' My condition would fluctuate—alternating between cold and heat, with nightmares haunting my every night. Yet, whenever I woke up in a cold sweat, no physician could find anything physically wrong with me.

The Truth Behind the Illness

My lord at the time dispatched the most renowned physicians from across Eastern Wu to treat me, but none of them could achieve any results. It was, of course, impossible to cure. How could medicine possibly remove the boundless, bitter resentment of the spirits that were circling within my very body? This is the true nature of illness. No one understands this. Even if one were to invite Taoist priests to perform special religious rituals in hopes of seeking good fortune and avoiding calamity, or to improve one's physical state, it is only a superficial spiritual remedy. After all, what could a mere mortal priest do to repay the boundless, immeasurable killing karma I had accumulated? They say 'a life for a life,' but how many lives does a single priest have to offer in exchange for mine?

My life as a great general, Lu Meng, was still not enough to repay the debt. After I died, I was sent straight into the 'Military Book Space,' and after emerging from that, I was cast directly into the hells to suffer retribution. Have you ever considered that a brilliant Grand Governor of Eastern Wu would end up with such a fate? When I was reborn back into the Eastern Wu region, it was already the Qing Dynasty. By then, the era of division had ended, and the Qing Emperor had unified China.

The Cycle of Resentment

This brought me a great sense of relief; at the very least, there was no longer war within China, nor was the country fractured. But while that was the case within China, what about its borders? They remained filled with ethnic tensions and conflicts between different peoples. Although most border tribes dared not provoke the Qing Empire easily due to its prestige, the long-standing resentment, coupled with the immense death, injury, and hatred generated during the Qing Empire's invasions and territorial consolidations, was staggering.

Surely, this karma must have returned to the generals and emperors of the Qing Empire as well. The longevity of the Qing Empire was undoubtedly affected by this—I have experienced these things personally, and I see it with absolute clarity. Sure enough, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the country began to fracture into the rule of various warlords. Later, the invasion and partitioning of China by Western powers caused immeasurable death and suffering among the civilians, bringing forth countless layers of hatred between ethnic groups.

The Invisible Battlefield

The resentment resulting from all this is spread across the entirety of China. It is difficult to even distinguish what these various spirits are truly resentful of. There is such a complex web of grievances that the objects of their blame are not just the enemy forces of the time, nor just the government of that era, but a tangled, intricate web of laws of karma and cause and effect. This has made the magnetic field of China incredibly chaotic, filling the people with a pervasive sense of terror and the energy of slaughter. This is a scene that can only be observed from the perspective of a spirit. In the eyes of the vast Chinese populace, they may seem to be living ordinary, uneventful lives; yet, within this mundane existence, people carry extremely complex beliefs.

These beliefs do not entirely originate from the individual's own character. Rather, once a person's beliefs become distorted, they attract immeasurable, 'bitter-among-bitter' spirits into their bodies. These spirits intensify the rigidity and strength of those beliefs, even leading to psychological distortion. One really cannot blame a single individual. While personal beliefs and actions are indeed responsible for a portion of this, the other part belongs to the collective karma of five thousand years of war and slaughter in China. I, Lu Meng, could be called a victor in military life; my career was highly successful. Yet, behind this success lies the fact that the killing karma I carried was far greater than that of others.

A Warning from History

I speak my story from the heart to tell the Chinese people: do not repeat my mistakes. Looking at the current development of the nation, there is surely a tendency to follow the policy that 'the victor is king, the loser is the bandit.' Using the nation's military power to harass border tribes, and using one's authority, prestige, and technology to rule over minority regions—alas, everyone knows this in their hearts, though it cannot be explicitly stated. This is, in fact, the result of being controlled and interfered with by demons.

Now, I, Lu Meng, have been invited to the Western Dharma-Nature Land of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. This process was quite miraculous; after all, in the ghost realm, life seemed to have no end, and such a transformation was hard to imagine. But on that day, when the golden light shone down, I followed it and instantly arrived at the Western Dharma-Nature Land. Only then did I understand that this was established by laywoman Su Yue-e, a Chinese person who has now awakened and is known as 'Practitioner Su.'

The Path to Deliverance

With a heart of great compassion, Practitioner Su made a vow to save the immeasurable, suffering spirits of China. Practitioner Su truly has a deep karmic affinity with us from the Three Kingdoms era, as well as with the people of this current age. It is through this connection that I had the opportunity to be delivered by Amitabha Buddha and Practitioner Su into the Dharma-Nature Land. This world is far brighter than the ghost realm, and it is deeply reassuring.

Here in the Dharma-Nature Land, I look out with a broader perspective and see that the spirits in those spaces are indeed suffering. The suffering spirits from different dynasties in China are trapped in their respective spaces due to their own attachments and the karma they created. Many are still suffering in the hells, unable to escape. Perhaps one day, Practitioner Su will have the opportunity to save them as well.

I was sent to the hells at that time. It was only through the heart of repenting that I was able to arrive in the ghost realm early, temporarily easing the agony of having my heart and brain gouged out and my limbs severed. It was only after hearing the Buddhist education from Amitabha Buddha and Practitioner Su here in the Dharma-Nature Land that I truly awakened to the truth. It is indeed true: my actions deserved the hells.

The Illusion of Glory

At the time, I was single-mindedly focused on expanding the nation's territory, allowing the country's prestige to stand firm among the Three Kingdoms, and even achieving the goal of unification. Yet, these things, which seemed to be for the greater good of the nation, were mostly to achieve my own glory, using the name of the country as a pretext. In reality, it was merely to obtain a high status for myself; although it was for the country, it truly sacrificed the civilians of other nations.

Such behavior cannot be called true righteousness. Before the Buddha's teachings, everyone is equal; there is no distinction between nations. People are one, without discrimination. This act of distinguishing 'my country' from 'theirs,' launching wars, and wanting to seize territory, causing massive death and injury to the people—this is even further from the Buddha's teachings. This is 'magic' that runs counter to the Buddha's teachings. It violates the universal principle and harms immeasurable, boundless beings; the result must be suffering in the hells. Unless one truly repents, it is difficult to escape for ten thousand kalpas. Practitioner Su also taught that even after escaping the hells... one still needs to repay the consequences of these actions. This shocked me even more. Does the suffering in the hells not count as the conclusion of the matter?

The Weight of Karma

It turns out that one must still suffer, and even if reborn into the human world, one must still repay this extensive killing karma. This left me deeply shocked and terrified. I do not have the psychological preparation to face life and death countless times. Is this the tragedy of the human world? Only then did I understand why Practitioner Su constantly counsels everyone to learn the Buddha's teachings as early as possible. Who can endure such severe consequences and karma? Those who have not suffered the torments of the hells do not understand the suffering of the hells. However, from my observations, most people have actually been a part of the hells; they have finally managed to escape and be reborn into the human world, only to forget the suffering of the hells.

Must it really be such a tragic, infinite cycle? After briefly entering the human world, one must return to the hells to suffer—does this not need to change? The Buddha's teachings are the method by which Amitabha Buddha, with great compassion, saves people! This is the life-saving driftwood on the vast ocean. Only by grasping it tightly, seizing the opportunity, following Amitabha Buddha to learn the Buddha's teachings, and even joining the salvation team to introduce the Buddha's teachings to more suffering beings connected to oneself, can one slightly turn around the immeasurable karma one has created.

This is my heartfelt testimony, I, Lu Meng, having experienced the ups and downs of life—from extreme success to death by severe illness, to entering the Military Book Space, to suffering in the hells, and then spending a hundred years in the ghost realm—to all of you.

I hope that one day you will truly come into contact with the Buddha's teachings, learn the Pure Land education of Amitabha Buddha, stop creating your own killing karma, and truly save yourselves. May all beings have the opportunity to turn around the karma created over countless kalpas due to a lack of Buddhist education. I hope everyone can gain some insight from my story.

I am grateful to Amitabha Buddha and Practitioner Su for giving me the opportunity to introduce to the world the true journey of my life as a soldier, Lu Meng, and my suffering in the hells.

Namo Amituofo.

Lu Meng"