The Lesson of the Lost Opportunity
An Interview with the Spirit of Venerable Dixian
Recorded at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre
This is a record of an interview with the spirit of Venerable Dixian, who sought at the Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his life and his journey to the Western Land. Recorded by the disciple Shi Haize on June 2, 2017.
Venerable Haize speaks:
"I perform ten prostrations to the Buddha and respectfully invite Venerable Dixian. Venerable, your is boundless. I am truly fortunate to have this magnificent affinity to interview you today. You now reside in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Could you please share with us the circumstances of your passing, how the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre facilitated your deliverance to the Western Pure Land, and whether you experienced illness or interference with your three hun souls and seven po souls during your life of practice? I hope that through your compassionate guidance, those who hear this will develop a firm belief in Namo Amituofo and the existence of the Western Pure Land."
Venerable Dixian speaks:
"Namo Amituofo. I was once lost in the illusions of the world. I took a wife and fathered children, living a life of constant, frantic busyness for the sake of my family. Day after day, I hurried through life, wondering: 'What is the purpose of this existence? Is this all there is to a human life?' The universe is so vast and profound. What of the sentient beings within it? I eventually chose to let go of everything and enter the monastic life.
A Life of Teaching and the Weight of Regret
Everything I once possessed is now gone, replaced by the rebirth I have witnessed. We all share this journey. Why am I where I am now? It is simply because I was not in sync with the Buddha's light, and thus, I remained hidden from view. If one is ready to open their heart, they can enter. Once inside, one must follow the path, and through that path, one will come to understand. It is only when one acts without a conscious, grasping mind that one truly aligns with their original nature.
Namo Amituofo! I never expected to have this karmic affinity to speak with all of you today. Although I passed away decades ago, I have not forgotten the connections I made during my life. Though we are now separated by time and space, gather and disperse. We once gathered to study the Buddha’s teachings, to discuss the future, to resolve crises, to help beings leave suffering behind, and to ensure the continuation of the Dharma lineage. My focus was never on myself, but on how to help others achieve liberation from the cycle of rebirth, how to unify the teachings, and how to stabilise the restless, drifting hearts of people in this changing environment. I wanted everyone to believe in the Buddha’s teachings and receive the benefits of the Dharma in their daily lives, rather than seeing it as something remote, cast aside, or difficult to grasp. Therefore, I dedicated my life not only to spreading the Dharma but also to teaching and resolving the doubts of others. Whether one is a monastic or a lay practitioner, both are vital. Without the support of lay practitioners, monastics cannot focus on their practice, and the younger generation is equally important, for the transmission of the Buddha’s teachings rests upon them.
The Single Stray Thought
I lived my entire life with great caution, never daring to be lazy for even a single day, fearing that a moment of laxity would be a betrayal of the Buddha’s grace. You could often find me hunched over my desk, writing down what I had learned, studied, and realised. Insights are fleeting; they appear and vanish in an instant. Yet, they never strayed from the Truth. When I reached a moment of sudden , I would clap my hands in . The Buddha’s teachings are truly endless. If you keep moving forward without stopping, you will eventually reach the point of clear realisation.
I feel ashamed to admit this, but I knew of the story of the 'pot-mender,' a disciple often mentioned by Venerable Master Chin Kung during his lectures. The pot-mender was a childhood friend of mine who later became my disciple. He understood suffering and truly wished to leave it behind. I taught him the Holy Name 'Namo Amituofo,' and once he grasped it, he never let go. He knew the time of his death in advance and passed away standing, heading straight to the Western Pure Land. It was truly magnificent!
I dedicated my life to teaching, and I always had students. I constantly told them that the Buddha-name is the most important thing. When the time comes for rebirth, the only thought in your mind should be the Buddha-name—continuous, uninterrupted, without any messy thoughts or delusions. Yet, at the age of seventy-five, I also knew my time was approaching. But in the midst of chanting, I had a stray thought: I remembered my old friends and thought, 'They should be coming with Namo Amituofo to lead me back to the Western Pure Land.' Because of this single, stray thought, I failed to follow the Buddha to the West. Golden light appeared, but there was no Buddha to receive me, and I was drawn straight to the twenty-seventh heaven. What a tragedy! I was a practitioner of the Buddha-name my whole life, and though my focus was not absolute, it was powerful. Because of that one deviation, I lost the Western Pure Land! I urge all who have this affinity: when you are about to pass away, do not let your mind wander. Keep your heart and mind entirely focused on the Holy Name. Otherwise, once a stray thought arises, you lose the opportunity to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
The Hidden Interference of
The purpose of practice is to purify and mind so that one may receive the benefits of the Buddha’s Wisdom. The Pure Land method of chanting the Buddha-name is the most essential of all. Why do I say this? Sentient beings have heavy from countless cycles of rebirth. Although the Buddha’s teachings are vast and adaptable, the speed at which beings create karma is staggering. While the Dharma can wash away the dust to reveal our true nature, the speed of our progress depends on our root capacity. How many beings have sharp roots? Most have ordinary roots. To achieve liberation in one lifetime is no easy task; it is often slower than the rate at which we create karma. The Pure Land method is unique and rare because it allows one to carry karma to rebirth. This is only possible through the great compassionate vow of Namo Amituofo. That is why the Pure Land is called a 'difficult-to-believe' teaching. Unless one has accumulated sufficient and karmic affinity over many lifetimes, it is hard to believe and hard to hear this teaching. I feel truly ashamed that, while I spent my life spreading the Dharma, I did not fully protect and promote the Pure Land method. The World-Honoured One long ago warned us that in this age of the Dharma’s decline, only the Pure Land method can lead to success. In reality, given the limitations of time and space, we must rely on the convenience and the power of the Pure Land method to be saved. It was truly my mistake; to call it 'carelessness' would be an understatement. Although I chanted the Buddha-name daily, I did not pay attention to the subtle thoughts at the moment of death, and that is why I suffered the consequence of missing the Western Pure Land by a single thought!
Other schools, such as the Tiantai school to which I dedicated my life, have many diligent students and monastics who study hard and possess the demeanour of true practitioners. But this life eventually ends. Where will they go in the next life? It is worrying! If the thoughts at the moment of death are misdirected, one could easily fall into the three lower realms or the six realms of existence. Monastics must be extremely cautious! Regardless of which school you specialise in, you must remember that the holding of the Holy Name 'Namo Amituofo,' the meditative concentration of 'one-mindedness without confusion,' and the mastery of subtle thoughts are essential courses for every practitioner to ensure rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
A Miraculous Deliverance at Hsiang Kuang
A few years ago, Practitioner Su at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre delivered immeasurable and boundless sentient beings from the four holy realms of the twenty-eighth heaven and the underworld to the Western Pure Land. The teaching materials Practitioner Su used were based on the lectures of Venerable Master Chin Kung. When I heard my name mentioned in those texts, I had actually been observing Practitioner Su from the celestial realm for some time. Although she is a lay practitioner, her achievements and her work in helping beings reach the Western Pure Land have surpassed those of many monastics. In this age of the Dharma’s decline, she cannot be taken lightly. When the time and karmic conditions were ripe, I manifested through the body of a lay practitioner. When I announced my name, the crowd was shocked; everyone thought I had already been reborn in the Western Pure Land. They never expected I had ended up in the twenty-seventh heaven. Later, amidst the sincere and earnest chanting of Practitioner Su and other virtuous ones, I saw Namo Amituofo appear right before my eyes. He was covered in golden light, and He looked at me with a compassionate face. I knelt down immediately, received by the Buddha, and with a single recitation of the Holy Name, I arrived in the West. This matter is inconceivable. If I had not experienced it myself, I would find it hard to believe that Namo Amituofo could manifest in such an intimate way at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, and that the relationship between Namo Amituofo and the deceased is so close and immediate. This is something I had never heard of before. Namo Amituofo is not ten billion Buddha-lands away; He is not unreachable. He is here, manifesting instantly. This was a matter of my own afterlife, and now that it has been revealed, it is to tell all those with affinity: Namo Amituofo is real, and the Western Pure Land is real. And Namo Amituofo is right here at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. Monastics must never speak falsehoods, especially when claiming to have seen the Buddha or to be the Buddha. One must be extremely cautious. If it were not true, it would be a grave lie, leading to the hells of uninterrupted suffering. Everything I have said here is the truth—it is my own personal experience."
Venerable Haize speaks:
"Thank you, Venerable. Those who hear this will surely receive the benefits of the Dharma. May I ask, did you experience illness before your passing? Could you speak about your view on the three hun souls and seven po souls, and whether your own were interfered with? Under what circumstances does such interference occur? Please, Venerable, share your compassionate teachings."
Venerable Dixian speaks:
"The concept of the three hun souls and seven po souls is rarely mentioned in the Buddha’s teachings, for fear of confusion with folk beliefs. But their existence is a fact. About ten years before my passing, when I was around sixty-five, I felt slightly unwell. I would occasionally experience dizziness, but it would pass after a while. It happened repeatedly. At the time, I was busy with monastic and academic duties, so I did not pay much attention to it. Besides, as a practitioner, I had long ago stopped worrying about my own physical health. Looking back now, when those dizzy spells occurred, it was because one of my po souls was already missing, which is why my body felt increasingly tired and I could not maintain my mental focus as I once could. Furthermore, when I was fully immersed in a task, I would forget my own problems, but once I relaxed, they would all rush back. When my body was exhausted and I rested, my karmic creditors would manifest in my dreams. I would dream that I was teaching, with a hall full of students listening intently. In reality, those students were manifestations of my karmic creditors, but I did not know it. One of my souls had been drawn into the dream to teach. At that point, that soul could no longer function as it should in the waking world. Because of the loss of these two souls, my mind was scattered at the moment of death. I could not focus on the Buddha-name, and thus I was diverted to the celestial realm. It is not wrong to say that this was an obstruction caused by karmic creditors seeking repayment."
Venerable Haize speaks:
"May I ask, do you know which lifetime these karmic creditors were from, and what your relationship with them was that they would come to obstruct your rebirth?"
Venerable Dixian speaks:
"I observed and realised that six lifetimes ago, I was also a monastic. I was skilled at explaining the sutras and treatises, but because of this, a subtle sense of arrogance arose within me. I did not notice it because it manifested in moments of carelessness, but the listeners felt it, and I obstructed many people from seeking the path. These karmic creditors were the people I had obstructed back then. Now, they had come to claim their debt, preventing me from achieving the goal of rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Alas! I never knew there were such ways to obstruct the path. One must never be careless.
This is truly inconceivable! How many people know of this? Practitioner Su is compassionate to make this public, hoping that those who hear it will be vigilant. Many students should also believe that when come into contact with , there are many things that ordinary people with physical eyes cannot see or know. Our vision and hearing are limited. Now that this has been verified, believe as much as you can, and you will receive that much benefit. I hope that all beings will believe in Namo Amituofo, believe in the Western Pure Land, make the vow to be reborn there, and achieve Buddhahood in one lifetime! Namo Amituofo."
Information recorded by the Buddha-disciple Shi Haize.
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About the Author
Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre
Contributed to Pure Land Buddhism knowledge library