The Gentle Spirit of the River

This is a record of an interview with Kazuko Taniyama, a spirit who sought Chao Du at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. She now resides in the Western Dharma-Nature Land. This account reflects upon her life approximately two hundred years ago in Japan. The interview was recorded by the chief writer, Fa Ning, on February 15, 2026.

Kazuko Taniyama speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Kazuko Taniyama. I came here to seek Chao Du after seeing the Namo Amituofo sign displayed by the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Japan. It was a beacon of light that guided me out of the darkness of the spiritual realms.

A Simple Life by the River

In my life, I was just a simple village girl, living a quiet, modest existence. Ah, those were different times! I remember how I would carry my laundry down to the riverbank every day. The local children would often be playing there, splashing about in the water. Sometimes, they would intentionally kick up sprays of water, soaking my clothes completely. But I never minded—I found it quite amusing, actually. I would laugh and splash them back, and we would play together in the sun. That was the rhythm of my daily life, simple and filled with small joys.

I passed away at a young age, when I was only in my twenties. We lived in a house at the foot of the mountain. I was the only child in our family, and my father was a well-respected local doctor. However, everything changed after he treated a wealthy family in the city. When the treatment did not yield the expected results, malicious people seized the opportunity to spread false rumours, claiming my father was a quack. The damage was absolute. No one would come to him for medical help anymore, and the entire village began to look down upon our family with contempt. Whenever I went to the river to wash our clothes, the other children would tease and mock me, knowing full well that their parents despised us. I did not let it bother me too much; I chose to smile through it. Even though I was not particularly beautiful, I believed that a person’s worth comes from the heart, and I was able to accept these hardships with a calm spirit.

The Fall of a Family

Sadly, my parents were not as resilient. They could not adjust to the sudden shift in our social standing. The shame and the isolation weighed heavily on them, and they both fell into a deep, melancholic illness, eventually becoming bedridden. My heart ached for them, but I felt so powerless to comfort them. I could only do my best to care for their daily needs, silently tending to them as they withered away.

Then came a night of torrential rain. A group of angry people arrived at our door, their faces twisted with rage. They had come to settle a score with my parents. When I opened the door, they were shouting, threatening, and hurling insults. I tried to stand in their way to protect my parents, but one of them struck me across the face, and I collapsed to the ground. 'If only we had known it would come to this!' I thought to myself. I was confused and terrified. After questioning my parents, I finally learned the truth: my father, despite his skill, had made a grave error in prescribing medicine for the son of that wealthy family. Because the symptoms were so similar to another condition, even an experienced physician like my father had miscalculated. Although he tried to rectify the mistake, the young man’s condition worsened, leaving him with a permanent ailment. This was the root of the retaliation we were now facing, and because the young man’s health had recently declined again, they had come to exact their revenge.

The Choice at the Riverbank

After hearing my parents' confession, I sat in silence for a long time. I did not know what to say. It turned out that all this suffering was a result of my parents' own actions. I was not angry, but I felt a profound sense of helplessness. In the end, I was the only one who had been kept in the dark about the true cause of our ruin.

My parents, consumed by guilt and unable to cope with the reality of our situation, eventually passed away, one after the other. I faced their deaths with a strange sense of calm, as I had long expected this day to come. Looking up at the sun, I decided to walk to the riverbank where I had spent so many peaceful moments washing clothes. It was the place where I felt most at ease. And there, I ended my own life by stepping into the water.

Finding the Path to Deliverance

After I died, I became a water spirit. I knew that if I found the opportunity to pull someone else into the water, I could potentially escape my state as a water spirit. But my inherent kindness held me back; I simply could not bring myself to harm another living being. I remained in that state for two hundred years. Eventually, other spirits told me that I could go to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia to seek Chao Du, because they had seen the Namo Amituofo sign that the temple had set up in Japan—it was glowing with such brilliant light.

I thought about it, and I realised these spirits were very wise. They had studied the Dharma in their past lives and began to chant 'Namo Amituofo' for me, teaching me to do the same. Through this, I was finally able to break free from my existence as a water spirit. Together, we travelled to the temple to seek deliverance and were guided into the Western Dharma-Nature Land.

I am so deeply grateful to Namo Amituofo and to Practitioner Su for their great compassion in saving immeasurable and boundless sentient beings. The suffering in the spiritual realms is truly beyond words, and we often have no way to help ourselves. I am so fortunate that Practitioner Su is in this world to save us. There are so many spirits in Japan, and I truly hope they all have the opportunity to come to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre to seek deliverance, so that they too may be saved and reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Namo Amituofo.

Kazuko Taniyama"