The Path of the Underworld Guard

This is a record of an interview with Xu Zhizhong, who sought Chao Du [Spiritual Deliverance] 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 time serving as a prison guard in the underworld. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Faxi, on September 19, 2021.

Xu Zhizhong speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity to be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. I cherish it immensely. Thank you, Buddha, for your compassion in still being willing to accept me. On behalf of sixty other prison guards and all beings connected by karmic affinity, I bow in gratitude to the Buddha and to Practitioner Su."

A Life Lost in the Cycle of Crime

"Throughout my life, I was always surrounded by my 'brothers.' I joined a gang—or, to put it more politely, I became a 'man of the streets.' I was arrested and sent to prison for rehabilitation many times. Each time I finished my sentence, I would be released, only to be arrested again for some reason or another shortly after. It was a repetitive, soul-crushing cycle, and my entire life simply withered away within it. Think about it—how many years can a man waste behind bars before he realises he has nothing left?

I was born in 1986. That very year, my father had just been released from prison. He had been incarcerated years earlier for robbery. Although I spent some time with him when I was very young, I was too small to have many clear memories of him. He was soon sentenced to prison again for manslaughter during a fight, but he fled to avoid his sentence. After that, I didn't see him for a long time. When I was three, my mother remarried one of my father's old friends, and I took my stepfather's surname. My mother renamed me Xu Zhizhong, hoping to sever all ties with the past and allow me to start a new life. She wanted me to be clean, to be free from the rot of the past."

The Shadow of a Father

"But fate is a tangled web. I met my biological father again when I was fifteen. After years of living as a fugitive, his life had been miserable. He looked dishevelled and haggard, his face a map of his own failures. He recognised me instantly as his son and desperately hoped I would help him. I knew my mother didn't want me to have anything to do with him, so I instinctively wanted to refuse. But my father wouldn't allow it; he had already told everyone that I was his son. From that day on, my life changed forever. Every day, different creditors would come looking for me, and some were even enemies my father had made while on the run. The problems were endless, a constant barrage of threats and demands. I didn't want my mother to know, so I started trying to solve them myself.

I joined the gang. To make myself strong, I learned how to fight, got tattoos, and picked up all the tricks of the underworld. I had to let those creditors know that I wasn't a soft target. I had to become strong so I could have my own life and protect my mother. In society, everyone started calling me 'Brother Zhong.' I gained a certain reputation in the local area, and those creditors no longer dared to trouble me. As for my biological father, I had no intention of acknowledging him. It was he who had turned my life into this mess, and deep down, I harboured a great deal of resentment. I was just angry at the hand I had been dealt, but I never expected him to meet such a violent end so quickly."

A Violent End and the Weight of Vengeance

"My father was hacked to death by creditors in the dead of night. His body was dumped in a mountain ditch. It wasn't until several days later, when the stench became unbearable, that a woodcutter found him. When I received the news and rushed to the scene, I was truly shocked and filled with regret. After all, he was my blood. I held a simple funeral for him to send him on his final journey, if only to acknowledge the life he had given me.

After he died, I tracked down the men who had killed him. I wanted revenge, but I knew I couldn't act impulsively because my mother would never want me to do such a thing. Instead, I secretly gathered evidence of their crimes and reported them to the authorities, ensuring they faced legal justice. Because of this, I became their enemy. Shortly after they were released from prison, we clashed. Both sides suffered heavy injuries, and I was taken to the police station. This was the first time my mother discovered I had walked down the path of the underworld. She was heartbroken. After she bailed me out, she left without even looking back."

"I knew I had disappointed her deeply, but I was already too far down this path to turn back. I had a group of brothers to support; I couldn't just abandon them. But I promised my mother I wouldn't let myself get hurt and that I wouldn't commit any more crimes. For a long time, she wouldn't speak to me. I knew she was still angry, and she was terrified that I would end up just like my biological father, walking a road of no return. I never wanted to cause her such pain. From the time I was a child, I knew how hard she worked. She had endured so much humiliation to bring me into her new family, all to give me a home. I knew my arrest had become the talk of the family, with people mocking me as the 'son of a thug.' Hearing them say such things about me hurt her deeply, and that hurt me even more. I wanted to make her happy, so I decided to find another way out of this life. I wanted her to stop worrying about me."

The Hidden Goodness in the Shadows

Finding a True Home

A Debt of Gratitude

Xu Zhizhong