The Jailer's Awakening

This is a record of an interview with He Wentian, a spirit who sought Chao Du at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his life many lifetimes ago. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fajing, on April 6, 2024.

He Wentian speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. Our hearts are overflowing with such profound gratitude that we cannot stop ourselves from kneeling and bowing in thanks. We are deeply grateful to the Greatly Compassionate Namo Amituofo, and we are eternally indebted to the compassionate Practitioner Su, who guided us to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. We are truly saved now; we have finally left all our suffering behind.

I am here with fifty-nine other jailers. Some of us are laughing, some are weeping, and some are doing both at the same time—our hearts are simply overwhelmed with emotion. We have been trapped in the cycle of samsara for so long, but now, it has finally come to an end. We can let go of everything from the past and focus on our practice here in the Western Land.

The Price of a Childhood Game

I am He Wentian. Looking back at my life, I realise that I was born into this world specifically to settle my debts and face the consequences of my past actions. Everything that happened to me was a direct result of my own karma; I have no one else to blame but myself.

When I was just four years old, a playmate and I were in the courtyard, each holding a pair of chopsticks. We were having a competition to see who could catch the most earthworms. After we had both successfully caught several, we suddenly spotted a particularly fat, large earthworm. I reacted instantly, lunging forward with my chopsticks and snatching it up. My playmate was furious that I had taken the prize, and he tried to grab it from my chopsticks. I refused to let him have it, so I turned and started running, with him in hot pursuit. In my haste, I tripped over a wooden board on the ground. I fell hard, and my chopsticks pierced my right eye. That eye was blinded instantly, and it never recovered.

The Weight of Unspoken Resentment

After that incident, our two families became bitter enemies. My family was filled with indignation—I was a perfectly healthy child, and suddenly, I was a one-eyed boy. They worried constantly about my future, convinced that my life would be an uphill battle because I was no longer 'whole' and would struggle to find work.

My playmate was subjected to the harsh scolding of all the adults. He transformed from a vibrant, cheerful child into a silent, withdrawn shadow of himself. I never saw him smile again. I did not want him to become like that, and I did not want my family to harbour such deep-seated hatred. In truth, I did not resent my fate. It was not that I didn't feel the pain, but I knew deep down that this was something I had to endure—it was a debt I had seen coming.

The Right Eye and the Vision of Karma

After my right eye went blind, something truly extraordinary began to happen. I started to see vivid images through that blind eye—images that were completely invisible to my left eye. I remember sitting alone on my bed, watching scenes from my past unfold before me like a play. I saw clearly that I had harmed that earthworm in a previous life, when it was a human, and that my playmate had once conspired with that same person to harm me. We were bound by a tight, intricate web of causal conditions. The moment I snatched that earthworm with my chopsticks, and the moment my playmate saw it and I felt that surge of greed, all the conditions were met. The law of karma caught up with me in that very instant.

I had once caused someone to go blind, and now, I had only 'paid' with one eye. In a way, I had gotten off lightly. Because I saw how malicious I had been in the past, I felt no anger toward my playmate, and certainly none toward the earthworm. It was all mine to bear.

The Burden of Seeing the Future

Although no one had ever taught me about the laws of karma and cause and effect, and my family knew nothing of such things, the visions in my right eye told me everything. I knew I was suffering because I had wronged others. I was wrong. Once I held this understanding in my heart, I stopped blaming anyone. Even when my family demanded that I stop playing with my friend, I chose to remain his friend. I wanted him to know I held no grudge, so he could finally find peace and stop blaming himself.

By the time I was eight, I could see not only the past but the future through my right eye. Strangely, I could see everyone else's future, but never my own. I was baffled—why was my own future hidden from me? When I saw the futures of those around me, I was terrified. Everyone I knew, whether in this lifetime or the many to follow, was destined to suffer and pay for their deeds. I saw that my father would soon fall ill; I saw that my grandmother would pass away and be reborn as a chicken. I saw that the disrespectful older boy next door would meet a violent end, his spirit dragged into the hells because of his cruelty toward his parents.

The Deception of the Uncle

Watching these futures unfold was agonising. Everyone I loved was heading toward suffering. I wanted to help them, but every time I tried to intervene or get close to them with the intention of changing their fate, I was struck by invisible forces. My body would be covered in bruises. I wasn't afraid of the pain, but it was clear that the unseen forces would not allow me to interfere. I felt trapped.

Then, my uncle returned from a distant town. He possessed some spiritual sensitivity, and when I told him my situation, he believed me completely. I was overjoyed—finally, someone understood! I asked him, 'How can I help these people?' He replied with great confidence, 'Just learn from me.' I trusted him implicitly. He took me to his home, a place very far away. Upon arrival, I felt a strange chill, but I ignored it. He led me into a secret room, and the moment I stepped inside, the atmosphere felt suffocating and wrong. When I told him I felt unwell, he just smiled and said, 'Endure it. Don't you want to save people? I will teach you now.' I gritted my teeth and began to learn, thinking that if I mastered these methods, I could save my grandmother, the neighbour, and perhaps even the whole world. I never realised that what I was learning was an evil law.

"I could hardly believe what I was hearing. Later, the entire village turned against me, for I had brought ruin and death to every household. Do you know what my final fate was? They bound me hand and foot and burned me alive. I can still feel the searing heat, the way the flames licked at my skin, and the suffocating smoke that filled my lungs. It was a brutal end to a life that had already lost its way.

Did I feel resentment? No. In the moments before the fire consumed me, I saw the past between my uncle and me. He was my fellow practitioner from a previous life. We had walked the path of evil together, but I grew jealous of him. I found an opportunity to capture his spirit, trapped it inside a straw effigy, and set it ablaze. I wanted him to taste the agony of being burned alive, to feel the pain that is beyond endurance. In this lifetime, my fellow practitioner returned to seek revenge, and he succeeded. I had created such immense sins that I was dragged into the hells to face my retribution.

The Cycle of Retribution

While in the hells, I truly repented, for I never truly desired to harm anyone. Because of my sincere repentance, I was quickly released from the hells and entered into a crystal ball. This crystal ball belonged to a shaman who used it for his rituals. Due to my past karma and the sins I had committed in this life, I was drawn into it. Once inside, I could perceive the shaman's heart—whether his intentions were Goodness or evil, I knew them all.

I felt both Goodness and evil within this shaman. He could use his magic to save people, or he could use it to harm them. I would not allow him to harm others. So, whenever he attempted to cast an evil spell, I used my thought power to alter his magic. I turned his evil intentions into acts of Goodness, and those he intended to harm were saved instead. There were many reasons I could influence him; beyond my own knowledge of magic, there was a deep Causal Condition between us from the past—he was my disciple.

A Change of Heart in the Crystal Ball

Eventually, all of his magic was transformed by me. The crystal ball, once a vessel of dark power, became a source of bright, positive energy. The shaman was thoroughly changed, and because of this, the crystal ball saved many more people. I was eventually released from the crystal ball and brought before the Yama King. He appointed me as a guard in the hells, praising my kind heart. He saw that no matter the circumstances, my desire to save others remained unshaken.

In the hells, I heard the Dharma talks of Practitioner Su. I wept for a long time, lamenting that I had not encountered the Buddha’s teachings sooner; if I had, I would not have ignorantly committed so many sins. Yet, I was also deeply grateful to hear the Dharma while in the hells. I told the other prisoners there to quickly chant Namo Amituofo, for that is the only way to achieve liberation.

The Path to Liberation

My heart was truly focused on the well-being of others. Perhaps it was this mental note that allowed me to be placed on the list of those Practitioner Su would guide to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. At this very moment, I have truly arrived in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. My heart is filled with infinite gratitude.

Namo Amituofo.

He Wentian bows in reverence."