The Path of Light

This is a record of an interview with the Venerable Lu Binwa, who sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his life approximately 410 years ago. Recorded by the chief writer, the disciple Shi Fajing, on May 6, 2019.

Lu Binwa speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Lu Binwa. My father was Lu Yi, and within the notorious Mida assassination organisation, he was the most formidable of them all. There is a famous poem that says, 'Ten steps to kill a man, travelling a thousand miles without leaving a trace.' If one were to describe my father’s peerless martial arts, that would be a fitting tribute. His skills were beyond the reach of words. If a mission was assigned to him, he would complete it with absolute precision, leaving no one behind. In those days, he was known as the Cold-Blooded General. It was precisely this icy, unyielding nature that allowed him to kill without a flicker of mercy. No one could ever best him. Yet, after twenty-five years of living as an assassin, in his twenty-sixth year, he finally could not escape the relentless pursuit of his own karma, which stirred the emotions he had long buried deep within his heart.

The Cold-Blooded Assassin and the Turning Point

That year, my father was entrusted with a mission of immense gravity. If he succeeded, it would be the single largest massacre of his twenty-five-year career. He sat in his study, brush in hand, composing calligraphy. A man of both literary and martial prowess, he looked like a scholar; if he were not dressed in his signature black assassin’s garb, no one would have guessed he was a cold-blooded killer. He had just finished one character and was preparing to write the second when—'Swish!'—a throwing star pierced through a tiny gap in the window. It was a display of masterful technique. The assailant had calculated the distance with terrifying accuracy; the star flew past my father’s body and embedded itself deep into the roof beam beside him. My father set down his brush and pulled the star from the wood. It was coated in red lacquer. At a glance, he knew exactly where it had come from. He read the small inscription on the blade, which detailed the mission. Usually, when my father saw a mission, he would not even blink; his eyes would instantly turn cold and ruthless. But this time, he blinked twice, completely unaware that he had done so.

He retrieved a tattered black notebook—a ledger he had kept since childhood, recording every single person he had ever killed. He turned to a blank page, picked up his brush, and wrote: 'Exterminate the Zhou Clan.' This was his mission: every person bearing the surname Zhou was to be hunted down and killed, leaving no survivors.

A Childhood Forged in Blood

With his characteristic agility, my father launched the mission. He donned his gear and hid in the shadows between the walls, watching the gatehouse ahead where the characters 'Zhou Mansion' hung. This was his first target. In an instant, he vanished, scaling the walls with ease to infiltrate the estate. Master Zhou was raising his wine cup, singing loudly, his entire family immersed in a festive atmosphere. 'Snap!' The white porcelain cup in Master Zhou’s hand shattered on the floor. His throat was filled with blood, and a throwing star had pierced his artery; blood sprayed like a fountain. The joyful atmosphere turned to absolute silence in a heartbeat. Before Master Zhou had even breathed his last, everyone present had already been struck down by my father’s blades. Master Zhou tried to struggle, but the blood loss was too rapid, and within moments, he collapsed, never to rise again. My father counted the bodies and whispered to himself, 'There are more.' He leapt to the highest tree, scanning the entire mansion with his eyes, until he spotted movement in a room. 'Your time has come!' he muttered. In a flash, he was at the door, pushing it open gently to find a beautiful woman lying inside. He raised his blade, ready to plunge it into her chest. Suddenly, his pant leg was tugged. He looked down to see a young boy smiling up at him. That boy was me, Lu Binwa—though at the time, my name was Zhou Quan. No matter how fierce my father’s face appeared, I simply smiled at him. The grip on his blade began to loosen. He had never seen such an innocent smile. The woman on the bed, my mother, had been awakened by the sound of the knife hitting the floor. Seeing the tall, dark shadow before her, she let out a piercing scream. In a blur of motion, my mother and I were bound and transported by wooden cart to my father’s residence, where we were locked in a room. From that room, my mother could watch my father. When he shed his black assassin’s attire, his handsome face and towering frame immediately captured her gaze. When he saw her standing by the window in tears, he felt a profound sorrow. He was in agony, for he had developed feelings for her, and he knew he could never be an assassin again. He had not yet finished exterminating the Zhou clan, but he had already been 'exterminated' by his own heart.

The Inescapable Shadow of Karma

My father took my mother and me on a journey lasting over three months, travelling to a place where no one knew his past. He changed my name to Lu Binwa, giving me his own surname, and my mother became his wife. From then on, we lived as a family of three. My father once asked my mother, 'I killed your family; do you not hate me?' My mother shook her head. She had been sold into the Zhou household as a maid and was only elevated to the status of a concubine after the master took a liking to her. She had suffered endlessly under the cruelty of the first wife and had never known a single day of peace. Although she did not wish to see her family killed, she was helpless to stop it. Now, having fallen in love with my father, she felt as though she had found a new light in her life, immersed in the sweetness of their love.

From my childhood, my father began teaching me martial arts. He did not want me to become an assassin like him, but he hoped I would learn enough to protect myself or perhaps even save others. I studied diligently, mastering his techniques. However, our peaceful life lasted only about three years. By the fourth year, a great calamity struck our home; my father’s karma had finally caught up with him. He began to see phantoms, and voices constantly whispered in his ears. My mother would often find him sitting in a chair, speaking to thin air, sometimes with great agitation, other times weeping bitterly. His condition worsened until my mother frequently saw him brandishing his sword at nothing, even threatening her life. Only through her gentle, soothing words would he finally lower the blade.

One day, my mother waited for him to return, but he never came. She paced the room, eyes fixed on the window, hoping to see his silhouette. Night fell, and still, he did not return. Unable to bear it, she took me out to search for him. We wandered everywhere, calling his name, but there was no response. By dawn, we still had not found him. As the sun began to illuminate the sky, we sat by the roadside, exhausted, only to be horrified by the sight of my father lying in the grass, covered in blood. 'Lu Yi!' my mother screamed, her voice filled with terror. She rushed to him, cradling his body, crying his name, but he was beyond response. She sat on the grass, weeping until the blood on his body had long since congealed.

Finding the Light in the Wilderness

After my father died, my mother never smiled again. She lived in constant misery, her tears turning to blood. She could not survive alone, and even my existence became a burden to her. She had vowed to be with my father throughout her many lives, and now that he was gone, her heart was filled only with anxiety and fear. When I was seven, she slipped away while I was sleeping. I did not know where she had gone. I ran and searched, but I could not find her. When I finally saw her, she was hanging from a great tree, dead.

In my short life, I had witnessed the death of the entire Zhou family, then my father, and then my mother. I was left entirely alone in this world. I left our home and wandered, my tears dried up, my body weary. I saw no meaning in remaining in this world. As I chose to follow the same path as my mother, I hung a rope from a tree and leapt. The weight of my body made it impossible to breathe. In an instant, the rope was severed by a stone shard, and I fell to the ground. I turned to look behind me and saw a man standing there.

The man took me back to his home. He lived alone, having suffered the same fate as I—losing his entire family at a young age, the only one to escape the execution. He had lived in the mountains for over forty years. He told me, 'Though the world is not worth lingering in, there is no need to waste the time you have left to breathe. Living one day at a time, as I do, is enough.' I followed him, doing whatever he did.

One day, while we were cutting wood in the mountains, I accidentally found a Buddha statue. When I saw this Buddha, I knew it was destiny, for I could not stop my tears from falling. I asked the man, 'What Buddha is this?' He shook his head, saying he did not know. Later, I carried the statue everywhere, asking people, but no one knew which Buddha it was. It was not until I stepped into a temple that I learned it was Namo Amituofo. The master in the temple saw through my state of mind at a glance, clearly foreseeing the sorrow in my heart. He introduced me to the Buddha’s teachings, letting me know that I had the option to practice the Dharma.

The Vow to Save All Beings

Every morning, I climbed another mountain just to make it in time to hear the sutras. Through the Dharma, I finally understood the terrifying nature of the laws of karma and cause and effect. My parents had been pursued by their sins, which cut their lives short. I, too, could not escape the collective karma of the three of us. It was the Buddha’s compassion that saved me, allowing me to survive. My heart shifted from helplessness to finding peace within the Dharma. The Buddha brought peace to my lonely, dependent heart. At that moment, my soul began to obtain deliverance. I realised that the hearts of people in this world are filled with helplessness, yet few know the Dharma. The more helpless people feel, the more they cling to their loved ones, unaware that there is the Buddha to rely upon, and that they can choose to cling to the Buddha to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land.

I introduced the Dharma to the man who had saved me, hoping to save his soul so that there would be one less wandering spirit in the world. After I spoke to him several times, he became willing to practice, believing without doubt, for the anxiety he had hidden in his heart was calmed the moment he heard the Dharma. He began to believe in the Buddha, trusting that the Buddha was a bright lamp, a great Buddha guiding him toward a path of light, free from darkness.

I entered the temple to practice at the age of ten, dedicating my life to all beings. No matter how much this body had to endure, I was willing to let go of it to save others. In the past, I would sit before the Buddha and weep, but once I understood the suffering of beings, I stopped crying. My tears could not help them, nor could they change my own destiny. When I encountered setbacks, I would only reflect: 'Is the ego appearing again? Is my heart being occupied by myself?' I searched constantly, trying to find the freedom and stability of 'no-self.' I realised that as long as this body exists, there is still an 'I,' because I could not let go of the sensations of this body. Once I understood this, I stopped seeking states of practice and instead learned to let go of the attachment to the body. When my heart became pure, I heard the voice within—it was my soul, weeping bitterly. I chanted Namo Amituofo incessantly, using the Buddha-name to soothe the soul that had not yet let go of the world. Only when I stopped that soul from crying and focused on chanting the Buddha-name, one by one, could I say that I had truly begun to practice.

A Message for the Modern World

Seeing the tragic retribution my father suffered, I understood the horror of the laws of karma and cause and effect, but how many in this world know of this? If they understood that negative causes lead to evil consequences, how many would still choose to do evil? Fate plays tricks on people; the environment of one’s birth is not a choice, but when the Dharma teaches us that we can transform karma, are people willing to make a little more effort for themselves? Under the guidance of my master, I practiced for over a decade before I began to teach. I travelled, sharing the teachings with the world. 'At the beginning of human life, the nature is inherently Good'—this is true, beyond doubt; everyone is like this. The moment people take the Dharma into their hearts, the seeds of Goodness are ignited. It is only the dust of the world that covers the pure, kind side of human nature. The Dharma is like clear water, washing away layers of filth to restore the original simplicity of the spirit. Within the Dharma, we seek liberation and the bright light of our true self.

I have been away from the human world for several hundred years. Returning now, I find it has changed. Human hearts have become hurried, and those who commit evil are everywhere. The spirit within the body suffers immensely, yet the body continues to do evil. This evil does not only refer to the great sins of killing, stealing, or lust; it is also the endless delusions and afflictions in daily life. Such evil poisons oneself, not others, and leads one to continue reincarnating within the six realms of existence.

People in this world cannot let go of the body; they cling to ego-attachment and the sensations of the flesh. We often fail to achieve even a fraction of what the Buddha teaches because our deep-seated attachments often outweigh the influence of the Dharma. Now, the Buddha has come to the world in person to teach, to recalibrate the human heart. Practitioner Su speaks on behalf of the Buddha to teach and transform the world. Those who are willing to listen will obtain deliverance; otherwise, the ocean of karma will continue to surge. Who can withstand such powerful karma? Only when one is truly in a state of 'no-self,' as pure as Practitioner Su, and dedicated entirely to all beings, does the soul have a chance for deliverance. People should grasp this opportunity while the Buddha is here, lest they regret it when the time has passed. Namo Amituofo."