The Long Legs That Saved the World

This is a record of an interview with the Venerable Peng Can, who lived approximately eight hundred years ago. He now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account was recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa Jing, on November 5, 2018.

Venerable Peng Can speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Peng Can. When I was born, my entire family was shocked by my appearance. My body was small, but my two legs were exceptionally long. My parents were not tall people, yet they had given birth to me with these disproportionately long limbs. My father would hold me, looking at me from every angle, unable to believe that I was truly his son. However, everyone knew my mother’s character; she was a woman of absolute integrity who would never betray my father. He was her lifelong reliance and the person she loved most in this world.

The Burden of Being Different

My physique was strange, and many people would whisper and laugh behind my back. I grew up feeling incredibly inferior. While long legs might be considered a gift, mine simply did not fit my body; they looked as if they had been attached to me by mistake. My mother did not know why I was born this way, and she felt helpless as she watched me sink into such deep insecurity. No matter how she tried to teach me to adopt a positive attitude, I could not walk out of the shadows in my own heart.

One day, while I was walking along the road, I suddenly heard cries for help from afar. I immediately sprinted toward the sound. It turned out that a house had caught fire. The woman standing outside was frantic, screaming, 'My child! My child!' I rushed into the burning building without a second thought. In less than a moment, I had rescued the woman's child—a tiny infant. The woman was so moved that she knelt to thank me. I immediately pulled her up and brought her to my home so she could care for her baby in safety. Because of this act of rescue, the villagers gave me the title of 'The Long-Legged Hero.'

Finding Purpose in the Flames

From that day on, my heart finally opened. I realised that these two legs had a purpose for existing. Though they looked strange, they could be used to save lives. I changed my negative mindset and began to view my legs through a positive lens. I chose to use them to help others rather than letting them be a source of shame.

Once I stepped out of the shadows, my entire being became radiant, and I wore a smile that no one had ever seen before. I used my feet to travel everywhere, performing good deeds and saving people. Whenever someone needed help, I would immediately dash forward, using my speed to reach those in need as quickly as possible. At the age of fifteen, I left home and resolutely embarked on the path of practice. I had made a great vow before the Buddha: since these legs were born with a mission, I would use them to save the world.

The Joy of Selfless Service

I became the most diligent person in the monastery. Every task my Master assigned, I could complete with the greatest speed; this was a skill I had cultivated since childhood. After finishing my own duties, I would use the remaining time to help my fellow brothers complete their work. Sometimes, the senior brothers would simply hand their tasks over to me. I was grateful to them for giving me the opportunity to learn, because helping others was the greatest function of these long legs. I happily accepted every task given to me, and through this, I mastered how to complete things efficiently and perfectly. While it might have seemed that I was 'suffering a loss' by doing more work, I was actually progressing more every single day.

Through my work, I realised what true practice is. Practice is simply forgetting oneself while performing the Buddha's work. The more I did, the less time I had to think about myself. The more insight I gained from my work, the more compassion I could generate to help others.

A Life Dedicated to Deliverance

To me, doing more work was a blessing, not a burden. Regardless of whether others were taking advantage of me, the one who gained the most benefit was the one who did the work. Since I was young, I never haggled with others over gains or losses. My mother had taught me from a young age to have a vast mind-capacity. Whatever I had, if others needed it, I could give it away. No matter how much I could help, as long as someone was in need, I had to extend a helping hand.

My mother taught me bit by bit, which is why I was able to make the vow to save the world at fifteen. This was the result of the compassion cultivated since childhood. My Master kept me by his side, hoping I would learn his skills so that in the future, besides using my feet to save people, I would also have the true attainment to save the world.

The Dharma affinity I had built by helping others in the past turned into a following of disciples when I became a monk. I travelled everywhere to give lectures, using the sutras to awaken the deluded hearts of the people, allowing them to see the truth of life through the fog. My legs could walk incredibly long distances, and no matter how long the journey, I never felt tired. The path of delivering sentient beings is long and arduous, but I diligently managed my life of salvation. Every day, I delivered beings according to their karmic affinity, using various methods to help them break through delusion and attain enlightenment, teaching them to chant Namo Amituofo and seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land.

Gratitude to Namo Amituofo

In this life, my long legs truly walked a long way. I did not leave this world to return to the Western Pure Land until I was one hundred and twenty years old. Over those one hundred and twenty years, the one I am most grateful to is Namo Amituofo. If not for the compassion of Namo Amituofo, I would still be walking in the darkness of life. It was Namo Amituofo who allowed me to see my own strengths and use them to help sentient beings. I also shared my experiences with others, guiding many people to rediscover the light of self-confidence from within their own inferiority.

After returning to the Western Pure Land, I quickly came back to the world to assist Practitioner Su. Practitioner Su’s legs have endured the suffering of sentient beings, suffering injury after injury. Although Practitioner Su is compassionate and has never uttered a single word of complaint, the damage caused to his legs by the karmic creditors of sentient beings has made it impossible for him to walk quickly. This path of delivering sentient beings truly requires the same compassion and mind-capacity as Practitioner Su, to be able to help beings with great effort without any regret, feeling no personal pain, only seeing the suffering of the beings.

Purifying the Universe

Besides helping to adjust the affected areas of Practitioner Su’s legs, I follow him every day into the universe to perform Chao Du. Practitioner Su’s Dharma Body is not affected by his physical body; he remains flexible in space, delivering beings without stopping for a single day. Every day is a great day for deliverance.

The changes in the universe are clearly visible. Every day that Practitioner Su performs Chao Du, the universe is purified by one more degree. The originally chaotic energy fields have begun to change, and the space where good and evil were mixed is becoming increasingly pure and good. Those spirits in the universe who could not be reborn in the Western Pure Land are being saved one by one; they had been trapped in these spaces for a very long time. Today, I am fortunate to save the spirits who have karmic affinity with me, sending them to the Western Pure Land. I am grateful for the compassion of the Buddha, and I am grateful for the compassion of Practitioner Su.

Namo Amituofo."