The Mask of the Poet: An Interview with Li Shangyin

This is a record of an interview with the late Tang Dynasty poet Li Shangyin, who sought Spiritual Deliverance 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 1,160 years ago. Recorded by the chief writer, Venerable Shi Faru, on April 19, 2026.

Li Shangyin speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I never imagined that future generations would study my poetry with such intensity. Yet, in a way, that was one of my original intentions when I penned those lines. To be honest, my entire life was a struggle I would rather not have acknowledged, but now that I am free from the constraints of a physical body, I can finally let go and speak plainly. The name 'Li Shangyin'—it was truly a fitting choice for the life I led.

I spent my whole life living in shadows and ambiguity. In the political arena, the phrase 'a frustrated career' hardly begins to describe the reality of my situation. In truth, I was deeply resentful. I considered myself well-read, having delved into countless classics and diverse fields of knowledge; I believed I was destined to make a significant contribution to the governance of the empire.

The Trap of Factional Strife

From a young age, I followed the guidance of Lord Ling, learning the intricate arts of statecraft and administration. He was my mentor, and his patronage initially promised a bright and prosperous future. But who could have foreseen that the Niu-Li factional strife would become so treacherous? I had no desire to participate in such bitter political infighting. To me, any position where I could apply my talents—whether under the Niu faction or the Li faction—would have been a tremendous opportunity to serve.

As a distant relative of the imperial family, I lacked the deep-rooted connections and the powerful background necessary to climb the ranks of the court. Therefore, I cherished every opportunity offered by those who were willing to value my abilities and grant me a chance to advance. When Lord Ling first showed appreciation for my work, I was profoundly grateful and determined to seize the moment.

Later, when Lord Wang, my father-in-law, also recognised my potential and gave his daughter's hand in marriage to me, I truly believed this would be the turning point for my political career. I never expected the factional conflict to become so extreme. The world seemed determined to force everyone into a binary choice—you were either with the Niu faction or the Li faction. It was a situation I was completely unprepared for.

A Young Scholar Lost in the Storm

I was merely a young, obscure scholar who had just entered the officialdom. How could I have possibly understood the lethal complexities of such a political landscape? Yet, the severity of this strife—where those not belonging to a specific faction were simply discarded—dealt a crushing blow to my career. Turning to poetry became the common refuge for all poets and those who felt their ambitions thwarted by fate.

Ask yourself: if one were successful in the court, busy every day with official duties and the welfare of the people, would there be any time or energy left to obsess over literature? The repeated setbacks in my career forced me to become incredibly cautious and guarded. I lived in constant fear that one careless move would turn me into a tool for political manipulation. Even my poetry became a victim of this caution; it was deeply stifling. Even when I tried to escape reality through my verses, the work itself remained shackled by the weight of political considerations. It was utterly depressing. The only thing I could do was pour all my learning and my deepest thoughts into those poems.

The Hidden Language of Verses

On one hand, I hoped these works would catch the attention of those in power, proving that I possessed the talent and capability to serve, and that they should not exclude me simply because of factional labels. I had no strong political colour; I only wanted a position where I could truly contribute. That would have been enough to satisfy me.

The allusions I used in my poems were proof of my extensive study of history and ancient classics. In every line, I wove in references to show the world that I possessed true scholarship. At the same time, this was a deliberate strategy to make my poetry more obscure, protecting myself from being manipulated or used by those with ulterior motives. Most of my poems could only be understood by those directly involved. Only those who knew the history and the full context of the events could decipher what I was writing. Perhaps for many, treating my work like a riddle to be solved was a form of amusement, but for me, these poems represent the most depressed and darkest side of my life.

The world knows me through my poetry, but they do not realise that if I had been given another choice, I would have preferred never to write them at all. I would have much rather lived a successful life in the court, fulfilling my ambitions, or served as a local magistrate, caring for the people. That would have been far better than burying my heart in verses. I believed in the Buddha’s teachings throughout my life, and this alone reflects how lost and confused I truly felt about my existence.

A Life Without Direction

I had no clear goal. Time and again, just as I was about to secure a position where I could finally make a difference, a disaster would strike. My seemingly bright future was always blocked, as if by the cruelest of fates. I did not understand why, but as the decades passed, I grew increasingly desperate. I thought many times about ending my life, about leaving this world, but I was held back by a sense of responsibility to my country and my wife. To leave so abruptly would have been irresponsible and immoral.

People say I was a man governed by emotion, and they are not entirely wrong. My life was not guided by reason, mostly because I had no control over my own destiny. In a life where I could not be the master of my own path, I turned to emotion and the things around me to distract myself from my failures in the court. That was the only way I could survive each day. Otherwise, facing a life without purpose would have been unbearable.

During those times, I poured my heart into poetry and turned my focus toward reading vast amounts of Buddhist sutras. Yet, the longing for a political career never truly faded; I could not deceive myself. I wrote many poems related to Buddhism and grew close to Master Zhixuan, but in my heart, I lacked a true spirit of renunciation. I was still attached to worldly affairs and worldly emotions. This internal tug-of-war shows that my life was completely without direction: I gained no profit in the court, I attained no true Dharma in my practice, I found no fulfilment in my emotions, and I found no clarity in my poetry.

The Pen Space and the Ghost Realm

I spent my life in a state of deep depression. Eventually, I gave up on the path of high office. I held a few minor positions toward the end of my life, and for that, I was grateful. Although the rank was low, at least it was work. The only thing I truly regret is my wife; I never gave her a life of abundance, and I failed to live up to the expectations of my father-in-law. In my later years, I felt so aimless that I considered becoming a monk. But I was already old, and I knew I did not have a sincere heart to spread the Dharma or save the world. I was only looking for a spiritual crutch, and I knew that would be an insult to the Buddha’s teachings and the monastic community.

Shortly after, I passed away due to illness. After death, I entered the space of a pen. In this 'pen space,' I continued to write, expressing my inner thoughts and commenting on the politics of the time. Perhaps deep down, I never truly let go of my desire to serve in the government. That belief never left me.

I remained in that pen space for nearly three hundred years. Eventually, I had the chance to hear the sound of the Buddha-name and the chanting of sutras, which allowed me to escape that space and enter the wandering ghost realm. But in that realm, just as in my life, I remained aimless. I drifted everywhere, not knowing where to go or what to do.

Occasionally, I would hear my own poems being recited or copied by others. Yet, I was so deeply depressed that I had long since lost interest in such things. My poetry brought me no real career, and my life was always met with obstacles just when I had a chance to shine. My life was just like that—so sorrowful and helpless, and turning to poetry did nothing to change it.

The Light of Deliverance

After drifting aimlessly in the ghost realm for a long time, one day I saw a golden light shining down. It was incredibly warm and brilliant. I knew instantly that it was Buddha-light; or rather, I believed it was. I believed that only the great Buddha could help me escape the suffering of my life. Although I had not been a truly devout practitioner while alive, I had at least formed some Dharma affinity with the Buddha.

I believed that one day, the Buddha would not forget me. The Buddha’s teachings do not abandon anyone, and I trusted that this day would come. When that golden light shone, I knew it was the moment of my salvation. I quickly entered the light and arrived in a world of immense brightness. I guessed that this must be a Buddha-land. I looked around this brilliant world with great excitement; it was silent and luminous, and everywhere I looked, there were lotus seats. This gave me a sense of peace. The lotus seats represented the Buddha-land, and I was thrilled. In all my life, I had never encountered such a great opportunity, never experienced such good fortune.

I was overjoyed. Although I did not understand why I had the chance to encounter the Buddha’s teachings and the Buddha-light at that moment, I was finally in a Buddha-land, seeing a magnificent Buddha right before my eyes. I bowed respectfully to the Buddha, tears streaming down my face. I was praying to the Buddha with all my heart, while also thinking of my wife; if I could bring her into the Buddha’s Pure Land, at least I would not have failed my father-in-law. As I listened to the teachings in this Buddha-land, I slowly began to understand that this was a Buddha-land very close to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

This made me very curious and puzzled, as I had never heard of such a Buddha-land in the sutras. I had only heard of the Medicine Buddha’s Lapis Lazuli Land, the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, and other lands recorded in the classics, but I had never heard of the 'Western Land of Dharma Nature.' As I delved deeper, I finally understood that this was a Buddha-land created by a lay practitioner from the human world who had attained Awakening through practice.

I was absolutely astonished when I heard this. I had never imagined such a thing was possible. That a lay practitioner could achieve such a state was a profound shock to me. The reason was that my own life had been so aimless, without direction; yet Practitioner Su, also a lay practitioner, had attained such a high level of practice—a level that even most monastics find difficult to reach. This scene was right before my eyes, so real that it could not be questioned. And the great Amitabha Buddha of the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss was truly present here. I repeatedly asked the Buddha: 'Is this truly not the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss? If it is not, why is the Amitabha Buddha of the West here?'"

"After hearing the Buddha's teachings, I finally understood that this was a manifestation of the human world's aspiration resonating with the Buddha-heart. Namo Amituofo from the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss had traversed immeasurable and boundless Buddha-lands to appear in the human world, delivering countless beings. It was only through this extraordinary opportunity that I was able to escape the dim, confused space of the ghost realm."

A Profound Awakening

"Upon hearing this, I was struck with immense astonishment and moved beyond words. I had lived a life of aimless drifting, never imagining that after my passing, I would encounter such a miraculous turn of events. I was filled with both joy and deep lamentation.

If only I had encountered such magnificent Dharma earlier in my life, perhaps my existence would have had a clearer purpose. My life could be described as having been wasted in vain: I spent my years chasing fame and status, yet never attained them; in my practice, I failed to truly let go; and in my emotions, I failed to truly transcend. My life was neither here nor there—a truly sorrowful state. If I had heard the great Dharma of Namo Amituofo sooner and received this precious Buddhist education, my life would surely have been much more fulfilling. Had I known how to use my limited time to help immeasurable and boundless beings—both those with form and those without—how meaningful my life would have been! But now, no amount of lamenting can change the past. One truly must live in the present. With that, I quickly brushed aside these thoughts and focused my mind entirely on the sound of the Buddha-name."

The True Essence of Dharma

"Within the sound of that Buddha-name, for the first time in decades, my heart felt truly at peace. I had never understood that the true mystery of the Buddha’s teachings lay right here. It not only fills the heart with energy and provides a sense of security, but it also genuinely awakens that compassion for the suffering of all beings in the world.

So, this is the true Buddha’s teachings. The literary terms and intellectual games I used to study and obsess over were far removed from the actual Dharma. I had never truly understood the essence of the Buddha’s teachings or the true nature of following the Buddha to save the world."

A Comparison of Legacies

"Now, standing here in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I am truly close to the Buddha for the first time. This fills me with immense praise. Watching Practitioner Su tirelessly delivering beings from immeasurable and boundless dimensions, I cannot help but shed tears.

To have served as an official for decades is nothing compared to one day of becoming like Practitioner Su. The number of beings she saves is immeasurable and boundless; how could the work of a government official ever compare? Furthermore, the help provided by an official does not lead to the ultimate goal of leaving suffering behind and gaining happiness.

Practitioner Su has opened up the infinite dimensions that have existed since time immemorial. Namo Amituofo is already there, saving beings from their original suffering and guiding them all into this bright, human Buddha-land—the Western Land of Dharma Nature. Every being there wears a smile, having shed their dark, grey, and murky spirit-bodies. They sit quietly on lotus flowers with a brand-new appearance, basking in the compassionate and warm glow of the Buddha-light, their hearts filled with unparalleled peace. Everything from my past life seems so worthless at this moment; and of all the worthless things, my poems are the most worthless of all."

Letting Go of the Past

"The Buddha’s teachings focus on the present, so why speak of the past? Using poetry to critique current events serves no practical purpose, and indulging in romantic emotions is undoubtedly creating the karma of the hells. To have created so many obscure poems, only to invite later generations to analyze, ponder, and interpret them—this is truly a transgression, a great transgression.

At this very moment, I, Li Shangyin, have finally understood the truth and the goal of life. I advise the people of the world to simply glance at these poems and leave them be; do not delve into them further. There is no need to investigate the various hidden, obscure, and unclear meanings within them. Regardless of where the answers lie or what the truth may be, in the end, it is all an illusion.

Why not let go of these useless poems and truly use your limited life to learn the authentic Buddhist education of Namo Amituofo? To be able to act like Practitioner Su, to truly help all beings, and even to help the human world move away from the suffering of birth, aging, sickness, and death, so that at the end of life, one can enter the Buddha-land and escape the cycle of rebirth—this is the only life that is truly meaningful. Practitioner Su delivers beings and widely saves demons. She has now delivered the beings of China’s five-thousand-year and ten-thousand-year history, helping famous historical figures, the vast masses of civilians, and the spirits of the land to enter the Western Land of Dharma Nature."

A Vow for the Future

"At this moment, I, Li Shangyin, make a vow to follow Practitioner Su and to follow Namo Amituofo in learning the Buddha’s teachings. I vow that one day, I will surely return to this Saha world to learn the heart of saving the world and delivering beings as Practitioner Su does, and to learn the immeasurable and boundless mind-capacity of Namo Amituofo, so that I may widely deliver demons and save all beings.

I am deeply grateful to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su for saving me and giving me the opportunity to learn the true, supreme Buddha’s teachings. Although my life was indeed lived in vain, to have the chance to hear the true great Dharma at the very end is something I am deeply content with.

Namo Amituofo.

Li Shangyin"