This interview was recorded on June 26, 2021, by Practitioner Shi Haliang. It features the testimony of Wei Zhenchang, a former prison guard in the underworld who sought deliverance through the Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre in Australia. Having served in the Sixth Hall of the hells for two decades, Wei Zhenchang shares his life story, his transition from a humble farming background to a trusted steward of his foster father's land, and his eventual path to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
Wei Zhenchang speaks:
"My face is filled with smiles, and I am incredibly happy. We are so fortunate! As we chanted , Practitioner Su took our hands and guided us to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. From the moment we arrived, our faces have been beaming with , and I still cannot stop smiling. Seeing Namo Amituofo, so dignified and with a gentle smile, we all knelt down immediately. We have all reached the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and we are deeply grateful for the help of Practitioner Su, as well as the Venerables and volunteer Bodhisattvas at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, who chant Namo Amituofo with such sincerity."
A Humble Beginning in Jiangxi
"I am Wei Zhenchang, a native of Jiangxi. I grew up in a farming family where my parents had to head out to work in the fields at the crack of dawn. When my mother was about to give birth to me, she had to rush back from her employer's home, feeling as though the baby was about to drop. She quickly excused herself, and my father hurried her home. There was no one else there, so my father ran to fetch the midwife. 'Hurry, hurry! The baby is coming, please help!' The midwife, seeing my father's intense anxiety, rushed back with him. The moment they stepped through the door, they heard my cries. The midwife told my father to boil water and used scissors to tie and cut my umbilical cord. She remarked, 'This child is faster than us! We had only just arrived, and he was already eager to come out.' My father replied, 'He is a child of our family; he doesn't want to make his mother suffer too much.' I was wailing loudly, and when my father picked me up and saw I was a boy, he was overjoyed—our family finally had a son to carry on the lineage. My mother looked at me and said with satisfaction, 'This child has eyes like his father and a mouth like mine; he will surely be well-liked by everyone when he grows up.'"
The Meaning of a Name
"My birth changed the pace of my parents' lives. They no longer had the luxury of being away from home for long periods; they had to consider me in everything they did. My mother stayed home to care for me. A great-uncle from next door came to visit and remarked on how well I looked. He asked, 'Have you named him yet? Let me help.' He was a man of great learning who loved naming children. He named me 'Zhenchang,' meaning that a man must have boldness and the strength to revitalise the Wei family, so that one day I might bring honour to our name. My parents agreed.
My mother was a seamstress; whenever the townspeople had torn clothes, they would come to her for repairs. Though we had little money, my parents would feed me porridge while they ate only sweet potatoes, ensuring I grew up plump and healthy. No matter how hard the days were, seeing my smile when they returned home made them forget their exhaustion. My mother would say, 'Zhenchang has a wonderful quality: he smiles at everyone he meets.' By the age of five, I was already taking care of myself and helping my parents; by eleven, I could handle all the household chores, from cleaning to cooking meals for them."
A Fateful Opportunity
"My parents were honest and loyal, having worked for their employer for twenty years. On the day of the Winter Solstice, my father took us to the employer's house to eat tangyuan. There were six of us around the table—my parents and me, the employer and his wife, and their son. The employer said to my parents, 'A-Zhong, I am very fond of your son. He is sensible and polite, and I would like him to study alongside my son. We will all grow old one day, and I want to train my son to be my successor. My business cannot rely on him alone. I would like to adopt your son as my foster son. What do you think?' He added, 'In three days, Zhenchang will come to live with us and study with my son, Changgui. I have hired a tutor to teach them literacy daily.' My father was a bit worried—why would the employer suddenly want to adopt me? But being a kind man, he did not suspect any ulterior motives. As for me, I was delighted and agreed, calling him 'Foster Father' and his son 'Big Brother Changgui.'
Three days later, I moved in. I began learning the trade of farming, studying agricultural information with the tutor in the mornings and evenings. My foster father owned over twenty acres of land. Every year, he would share a portion of the harvest with those in need and distribute grain to the villagers."
Stewardship and Trust
"After three years, at the age of fifteen, I had grasped the basics of farming. I suggested to my foster father that we divide the land into three zones: one for rice, one for vegetables, and one for fruit. At harvest time, he was overjoyed and said, 'You are a very diligent child. Seeing how you study the soil quality every day, it is no wonder you could offer such excellent advice. In the past, I only ever planted rice.' Strangely enough, he accepted every suggestion I made, and the resulting vegetables were lush and the rice ears full.
When I was nearly twenty, my foster father called me into his room, handed me several land deeds, and said, 'Zhenchang, I want you to keep these ten acres. They are a gift for you. No matter what your Big Brother does in the future, you must not give these ten acres to him. I have allocated ten acres to each of you, and I hope you will both make good use of them.' When I hesitated, my father told me, 'Your foster father must have his reasons.' I accepted the land and replanned the cultivation."
The Test of Character
"Two or three years later, the crops were thriving, but then news came of my foster father's sudden passing. He had been ill all along but never told me. After he died, Changgui spent his days drinking and gambling. With no wife to keep him in check and a mother who spoiled him rather than educating him, the land was sold off piece by piece. When only one acre remained, Changgui came to me for help. He claimed he knew he was wrong and demanded I return the land I held. I did not agree. I understood why my foster father had entrusted the land to me—he knew his son and wife lacked the discipline to manage wealth. I gave him three acres first and continued to watch over him, hoping for a change.
Three years later, he had sold that land too, still gambling and drinking. When he turned thirty-five, I gave him another three acres, but only after discovering that the land had been mortgaged to a woman at the Xinghua Pavilion. I told him, 'There is no more land left for you to sell. If you continue, you will end up a beggar, and the money lenders and taverns you owe are not people to be trifled with.'"
A Lesson in Integrity
"I persuaded him to live with me, promising him two more acres if he stayed for three months. He agreed, on the condition that he follow my daily routine. We spent long hours patrolling the orchards and vegetable gardens, studying the crops and exercising by walking home from the fields. During those three months, he suffered from alcohol withdrawal, shouting and throwing tantrums, but I stayed by his side. As he grew clearer-headed, I finally produced a letter my foster father had written: 'My only son, Changgui, I failed to teach you well because I was too busy with work. If I am no longer in this world, you will be easily influenced. That is why I asked your foster brother to hold the land—to protect you. When you read this, you should understand my intentions and pull yourself together.' Changgui knelt on the ground, weeping in repentance. 'I know now, Father. I thought you were biased toward Zhenchang, but your intention was to protect me.'
Seeing his genuine change, I returned all the land to him. He was astonished: 'Do you really not need the land?' I replied, 'It never belonged to me; I was merely keeping it safe. I am grateful for my foster father's care, and after these years, I have the skills to create a new farm elsewhere.' I told him that my capacity for tolerance came from my own parents' teachings: even if one is poor, one must have ambition and integrity. This was how I repaid my foster father's kindness. Changgui was deeply moved by the education my parents had given me."
From the Fields to the Underworld
"Looking back, my parents' honesty, their complete trust in others, and their lack of greed were lessons they taught me through their daily actions. Once I lived by those principles, everything felt natural. After returning the land, I left my hometown to seek inner peace. I went to a temple and sat in meditation in a cave on the mountain, growing vegetables on a small plot of land. I lived a simple life of coarse tea and plain rice for ten years.
One day, while I was meditating, a prison guard called my name: 'Wei Zhenchang, wake up! Come back to the hells with us. The hells need you to serve as a guard to counsel the inmates, to urge them not to return to the hells, and to chant Namo Amituofo to achieve rebirth.' I served in the Sixth Hall for twenty years. One day, the King of Hell informed me that my name was on the list of sixty guards to be taken by Practitioner Su. I thanked the King for his recommendation. I had heard Practitioner Su's chanting during my time as a guard, as it would appear at a certain time every day. When I arrived at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia and participated in the , I realised that Practitioner Su is saving the world. For the sake of this pandemic, she performs -Body Visualisation Deliverance. I humbly requested that Practitioner Su allow us to join her salvation team.
Gratitude to the Buddha. Gratitude to Practitioner Su.
