The Obstacle of Emotional Attachment: The Testimony of Zeng Shuhao

This is a record of an interview with Zeng Shuhao, who sought deliverance through the Thrice Yearning Ceremony 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 and his subsequent service in the hells. Recorded by the chief writer, Venerable HaiZe, on September 22, 2019.

Zeng Shuhao speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Zeng Shuhao, and I have arrived. (He kneels on the ground, dressed in the uniform of a hell guard. Sixty other guards kneel in perfect unison behind him, with Zeng Shuhao at the forefront.)

On behalf of all sixty hell guards, I wish to express our deepest gratitude to Practitioner Su for the grace of saving our lives. This life we have been granted is the Dharma Body and Wisdom Life. We, the sixty of us, find it impossible to repay such vast Buddha-grace. We can only transform this heart of gratitude into the strength to practise diligently in the Western Pure Land. Once we have achieved success in our practice, we vow to follow Practitioner Su in descending to the human realm to save sentient beings who share a karmic affinity with us, guiding them back to the Western Pure Land. We wish to allow more suffering spirits, beings in the hells, and those in the six realms of existence the opportunity to receive the Buddha's grace, to chant Namo Amituofo, and to be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

A Life of Quiet Devotion

I was merely an ordinary person. By the grace of living near a temple, I often went there to chant with the Venerable. I originally wished to become a monk, but my parents would not permit it, as I was the only son and had to carry on the family lineage. Thus, I followed my parents' wishes, married, and had children. However, I still yearned for the life of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. After starting a family, I lived a simple, frugal life. I loved to chant and spend time in solitude. Together with a few fellow lay practitioners, we would chant in my home during our spare time, and I remained a vegetarian for my entire life.

I raised one son and two daughters. My children and my wife also followed my vegetarian diet, and they were very filial. In our village, my friends and I established a chanting group that gathered nearly one hundred people to chant together. But after all, we were self-taught, and my own aptitude was quite dull. At the age of sixty-two, I passed away without illness. In my dreams, I saw hell guards leading me before the King of the Second Hall of Hell. He reviewed my life and found no major evil deeds; because I had chanted and been a vegetarian, he granted me the position of a hell guard in the Second Hall to serve the King and the beings there.

The Reality of the Hells

The suffering in the hells is truly, truly intense. After undergoing punishment, or when one's sentence is served, or perhaps when one chants with utmost sincerity and manages to leave the prison, it is often not long before one falls back into the hells again. It is truly tragic! Fortunately, the Buddha is compassionate. Practitioner Su has descended to the world to save the world, rescuing countless suffering spirits from the hells and beings from the six realms, guiding them to be reborn in the Western Pure Land. Even the former King of the Tenth Hall of Hell was led to the Western Pure Land by Practitioner Su. This event caused a massive shock throughout the hells and gave everyone great confidence. Many hell guards have begun to chant Namo Amituofo because of this. I had to wait for four years before my turn finally came today. I spent one hundred and twenty-six years serving as a guard in the hells.

I am so grateful to Practitioner Su. I am grateful to Namo Amituofo. I am grateful for the grace of the fourfold assembly and all the attendees at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre.

Namo Amituofo."

The Hidden Trap of Attachment

Venerable HaiZe: "Representative Zeng Shuhao, may I ask: why did you, a person who was a vegetarian and a practitioner of chanting, still end up in the hells as a guard?"

Zeng Shuhao: "Practitioner Su is truly a person of great Wisdom; you have identified the very core of my problem in a single sentence.

I loved my wife deeply. She was a virtuous and kind woman who helped me achieve my wish to chant and be a vegetarian. However, because her own spiritual obstacles manifested, she became bedridden and lost the ability to speak. While I was healthy and free of illness—thanks to the care I provided for her and the power of the Buddha's blessings from my chanting—I was the one who looked after her.

Because my heart was burdened by emotional entanglements, I could not attain a pure heart. Therefore, when I was in my dream state, I was unable to encounter the right conditions to chant, and I was led by the hell guards into the hells. But after all, the laws of karma and cause and effect are never empty. I firmly believe that the merit and power of my chanting still remained, which is why I have had this opportunity today to be led by Practitioner Su to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. This is a Causal Condition that is difficult to encounter in millions of years, and today, it has finally come to fruition. I have finally been able to fulfil my wish to be reborn in the Western Pure Land.

I am grateful to Practitioner Su. I am grateful to my Buddha, Namo Amituofo."

Spoken by the hell guard, Zeng Shuhao.

Interview recorded by the Buddhist disciple, Venerable HaiZe.

Namo Amituofo.