The Ironworker's Path: Destiny and the Power of the Heart

This is a record of an interview with Lai Shitong, 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 approximately 150 years ago during the Qing Dynasty. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa, on September 18, 2021.

Lai Shitong speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I have arrived in the Western Pure Land, kneeling here with fifty-nine other prison guards to express our deepest gratitude for the Buddha's grace and the kindness of Practitioner Su.

Throughout the endless cycle of reincarnated lives, this moment finally marks a conclusion. Looking back at the past—and the past before that, an uncountable series of lifetimes—the cycle of reincarnation has been continuous, never ceasing. Only now has it all come to an end, and I kneel before the Buddha to repent for the sins of my past lives.

The Unexpected Deliverance

When I was serving as a prison guard, I had already prepared myself mentally for the next few hundred years, expecting to face a brand-new life in the human world. I anticipated returning to the world to be born as a human once more. To my astonishment, before I could even be reborn, Practitioner Su brought me here to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, ending my karmic destiny. My heart is filled with immense gratitude.

Now that my feet tread upon the soil of the Western Pure Land, my heart finally feels secure. My spirit has attained stability. Otherwise, I do not know what my next life would have been like. A soul left to be tossed about by the forces of karma is truly helpless and full of suffering.

A Destiny Written at Birth

The life I lived before becoming a prison guard took place about one hundred and fifty years ago, during the Qing Dynasty. It is said that I came into this world smiling. When my mother held me in her arms, there was a smile on my face. They said it was a very natural smile, and everyone who saw me couldn't help but smile along with me.

At the very moment of my birth, my destiny was already set. From beginning to end, every stage, every peak and valley, every rise and fall, every success and failure—it was all clearly written in the word 'destiny.' No one could change it, except for oneself.

The Mother's Disappointment

What was my destiny? Shortly after I was born, my mother had it calculated. The words of the fortune-teller left her completely stunned. She could not accept that I would grow up to be someone who would not marry, would not have children, and would not earn money. My mother asked my father, 'Then what is the point of raising this child?'

The fortune-teller's words were widely regarded as one hundred percent accurate. Everyone’s destiny was described with absolute precision, and people believed in him without a shadow of a doubt, including my parents.

The villagers jokingly called my mother a 'money-grubber,' meaning she loved money dearly. Wherever there was money to be made, she would be the first to arrive. To her, living was all about money. Only by clutching money in her hands could she feel secure enough to live. To her, money was more important than life itself.

So, when she learned from the fortune-teller that I would be a child who could not earn money, her heart went cold. One of her purposes in giving birth to me was the hope that I would grow up to earn a lot of money for her to spend, ensuring she would not have to worry about food or clothing in her old age. Now, that dream was completely shattered.

The Contrast of Two Brothers

My mother did not believe she couldn't produce a 'good' son. Less than a year after I was born, she became pregnant again, and ten months later, my younger brother was born. This time, she actively sought out a fortune-teller to calculate his fate. The fortune-teller predicted that my brother would enjoy great wealth and status his entire life! When my mother heard that my brother would have boundless financial luck—that no matter what business he did or what he invested in, he would always make money, and that he could even easily find money just by walking down the street—she was overjoyed. She kissed and hugged my brother, saying to my father, 'We got it right! This time, we really got it right!'

The disparity in our destinies led my mother to treat us very differently. I was always left to eat the scraps my brother didn't want. The clothes I wore were always tattered rags discarded by others, while my brother had new clothes for every occasion. From a young age, I was never given the opportunity to study, while my brother was sent to a private school. I never received any affection from my mother, while my brother was the apple of her eye.

The Wisdom of Acceptance

Many relatives and villagers could not stand my mother's materialistic nature. They advised her many times not to treat us two brothers so differently, but she would not listen. She told everyone who tried to persuade her, 'One investment can succeed, while another is like throwing money into the ocean. Of course, one should invest in what can succeed! Who would want to throw money into the ocean? Even if I had a mountain of gold and silver, it wouldn't be enough to spend. I’ve kept him alive; that is enough. I don't owe him anything.'

Hearing my mother say such things, I would always just smile and say nothing. Someone once asked me, 'Your mother treats you this way; don't you feel sad, hurt, or angry?' I smiled and replied, 'There is nothing to be sad, hurt, or angry about. My destiny and my brother's destiny were different from the start. I should be grateful that my mother didn't abandon me and allowed me to have a breath of life. That is enough. My mother gave me this body, but I must walk my own path of destiny. It is not as if she gave me gold and silver treasures that I would have a good life.'

Someone asked, 'How could you be so mature at such a young age? If it were any other child, they would definitely be crying and making a scene, feeling a sense of injustice.' I answered them, 'Perhaps it was the life of Yuqian that influenced me.'

The Lesson of Yuqian

Yuqian was a girl who lived near our home. She only lived to be nine years old before leaving this world. We were once very close friends. Her family was poor, and her mother had passed away when she was three. Someone calculated her fortune and said that she would marry a wealthy husband and never have to worry about food or clothing. When Yuqian learned of this, her character began to change drastically. Originally, she would listen to her stepmother, but later she began to defy her father and stepmother, becoming unfilial. I had tried to advise her, but she would not listen to my words. Unexpectedly, she passed away in an accident at the age of nine, ending her short nine-year life. Where was her wealthy husband? It seemed it was just a dream.

Yuqian's life influenced me deeply. She made me clearly understand that destiny is in one's own hands. Whether the future is good or bad, whether it brings fortune or misfortune, even if it is predestined, it can be changed by one's own heart. This is what I believe.

Filial Piety in the Shadows

Regardless of what destiny held, I felt that having this body was something to cherish and be grateful for. Therefore, I was very grateful to my parents. I thanked them for giving me this body. No matter if my mother liked me or not, or how differently she treated me and my brother, I could accept it with a smile. This was my destiny. I accepted it, faced it, and then used my heart to change it.

So, even though my mother was truly not good to me, I remained very filial to her. Whatever my mother needed, I would always prepare it for her in advance. For example, when the weather turned cold, I would take the initiative to replace her quilt with a thicker one. When my mother was prone to catching colds and couldn't eat, I would prepare hot soup or porridge so that whenever she wanted to eat, she could have it immediately. My mother had a poor memory and was prone to forgetting things—like taking something and forgetting to put it back, or leaving the house without bringing something she needed. I would always keep an eye out for her so that she wouldn't be troubled by her poor memory.

Everything I did, I never let my mother know it was me. I let her think it was all my brother's filial piety. Naturally, my mother loved my brother even more, feeling that only he was filial to her. My brother once asked me, 'Why don't you tell her you did it?' I told him, 'If I told her I did it, she certainly wouldn't accept these things from me. Since that is the case, it is better to say you did it. As long as it helps Mother, it doesn't matter who she thinks did it.'

The Turning of the Tide

My brother, pampered by my mother since childhood, was a bit spoiled. I did not argue with him, and I knew he looked down on me as his older brother, often feeling that I was inferior to him. I didn't mind. However, whenever my brother had trouble, he would still come to me for help, and I was always very willing to assist him. Even if he thought everything I did for him was taken for granted, I didn't take it to heart. As long as he was well, it didn't matter.

Growing up, I lived a calm and peaceful life, and naturally, my heart felt at ease. I worked hard to change my own heart; as for the external circumstances of life, they were not important to me.

As for the future, I didn't have many thoughts. After mastering my own heart, I let destiny take its course. I couldn't change anything else anyway.

Under my mother's expectations, my brother was supposed to pass the imperial examinations, but he failed. My brother, who had a strong sense of pride, fell into a slump after failing. He began to turn to business investments, not wanting to be an official. My mother remembered that the fortune-teller had said my brother would succeed in whatever he invested in. She began to support him, taking out all her life savings to let him invest, believing he would definitely earn back many times the amount.

The Price of Greed

Just as the fortune-teller said, my brother succeeded in every investment. He earned a lot of money, as if money were falling from the sky. He couldn't pick it up fast enough, and he filled his pockets with ease. As for me, I honestly earned my living through the hard work of an ironworker. Every cent was earned through sweat and toil. I wanted to use the money I earned to honour my parents, but it wasn't much, and my mother looked down on it and wouldn't accept it. So, I used all that money for Generosity, and every month I had no savings; my pockets were always empty from giving. Seeing me do this, my mother couldn't help but say to me, 'You are just as that fortune-teller said—a child who cannot earn money, never saving a single cent in your life!' My mother was right; I really didn't save a single cent.

After my brother earned money, he soon married a beautiful wife, which made my mother very satisfied. However, after my brother succeeded in business a few times, his greed grew stronger and stronger. Eventually, he faced one failure after another. The money he had earned so easily vanished, and he even lost all of my mother's life savings. Seeing my brother's situation, his wife's temperament began to change. She treated my brother poorly and was even more unreasonable toward my mother, arguing with her at home all day long. The household became chaotic. Eventually, without a word, my brother's wife secretly left home in the middle of the night and never returned.

A Simple Life, A Pure Heart

As for me, although I was an inconspicuous ironworker, my diligent attitude toward work, through a subtle Causal Condition, attracted the favor of a wealthy young lady. Her father was an honest man who appreciated my character and hoped to marry his daughter to me. However, I truly had no desire to marry. In the end, the young lady and I became close friends who could talk about anything. Such a simple friendship was better than the intense emotions between a husband and wife.

The fortune-teller was indeed not wrong; I was a child who couldn't earn money and wouldn't marry or have children. As for my brother, he was indeed someone who could succeed in any investment, but his greed changed his destiny, causing his blessings to diminish rapidly until, in the end, every investment failed.

My brother owed a pile of debts. When my mother was critically ill, he left home to hide from his creditors. I took on the responsibility of caring for my mother. When she ate the medicinal soup and porridge I prepared, wore the clothes I washed, and covered herself with the quilt I had warmed for her, she finally realized that all those things before had been done by me.

My mother apologized to me in front of me. I told her, 'This is what I should have done.'

My life passed simply like that. I was an ironworker my whole life, giving away my meager salary every month, and honouring my parents every day after returning home from work.

The Final Journey

My life came to an end at the age of seventy. My parents were no longer by my side. My brother had appeared once when I was fifty-five. At that time, he had become very old, reaching out to me to borrow money and beg for food. Seeing my brother's state, I felt a deep sense of lament. The words of a fortune-teller had influenced his entire life.

Whether one's destiny is good or bad, in the end, it depends on one's own efforts. The mental note is the most important thing. If the mental note is upright and the heart is Good, even the worst destiny can be turned into a good one, because when the heart is beautiful, everything one sees is pleasing.

This was my simple, unadorned life.

After my life ended, I stood before the King of Hell and was assigned the position of a prison guard. From beginning to end, I maintained a diligent and responsible attitude. Coupled with a heart that wished to help beings, after listening to Practitioner Su's Dharma talks, I made a vow to save beings. This sincerity gave me the opportunity to be placed on the list for Practitioner Su to guide to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Today, I have fulfilled my wish to return to the West.

I am grateful for the Buddha's compassion.

I am grateful for Practitioner Su's compassion.

Namo Amituofo.

Lai Shitong"