The Prison Guard Who Found Liberation

This is a record of an interview with Li Kuigao, who sought 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 subsequent journey through the realms of samsara. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fajing, on January 6, 2024.

Li Kuigao speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I have truly arrived at the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. It is real; it is not a dream.

My heart is filled with infinite gratitude toward Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su. Right now, I am kneeling before the Buddha with fifty-nine other prison guards whom I brought with me to the West. We are all here to express our deepest thanks for the compassion of the Buddha and the compassion of Practitioner Su.

A Prodigy's Search for Meaning

I was a very intelligent person, even from a young age. I was sharper than most adults. I could look at my father and instantly know what he was thinking, or sense my mother's worries before she even spoke. I was only four or five years old, yet I already understood so much about the world.

Knowing so much made life seem meaningless. Everything was easy for me; nothing was a challenge. I spent my time constantly searching and exploring, desperate to find something fresh, something that would make me feel that being alive was actually worth the effort.

When I was sixteen, I happened to cross paths with a Taoist priest on the road. He stopped me suddenly. I looked at him, puzzled, and asked, 'Are you calling me?' The priest nodded and asked, 'Do you wish to learn the Taoist arts?' I looked at his attire and the ritual implements he carried—things I had never seen before. My curiosity was instantly ignited, and I replied without hesitation, 'I do.'

Three Years of Solitude

The priest took me as his disciple. He instructed me to live alone on a desolate mountain for three years before coming to find him. When I heard this, I nearly went mad. I had been searching for excitement because my life was so dull, and now he wanted me to rot alone on a mountain for three years? It felt like a death sentence.

Seeing my hesitation, the priest said, 'You must do it, unless you do not wish to learn.' I immediately answered, 'I will do it! There is nothing I cannot do.'

For those three years, the priest forbade me from leaving the mountain. I lived in a thatched hut he had once occupied. I planted vegetables in a small garden nearby and brought enough grain to survive, though I could forage for food in the mountains if needed.

By the third day, I was so bored I considered running away. I thought to myself, 'The master is not here. I will just slip down to the village, buy a cake, and come right back. No one will know.' I started down the mountain, but halfway there, my legs went numb. They became so heavy and weak that I collapsed to the ground, unable to move. I immediately remembered the master's words: 'Do not think that just because I am not by your side, I am not watching. I am always with you.' I knew this was his punishment. I repented instantly, begging for his forgiveness. In an instant, my legs were healed. I scrambled back to the hut, never daring to sneak away again.

Conversing with the Spirits of Nature

During those three years, the master did not teach me any techniques. He only told me to 'be still.' For someone as sharp as I was, with a mind constantly racing with ideas, stillness was not easy. But on that mountain, with not a soul in sight, there was nothing to do but watch the trees, the flowers, and the hut. Eventually, I grew so bored that I began talking to the trees. To my shock, they responded. I jumped back in terror, but gathered my courage to look at them again. They were all watching me. That was when I realised that these trees had spirits, and I had gained the ability to communicate with them.

Once I understood this ability, I began talking to everything—stones, flowers, grass, insects, and small animals. It was fascinating. Sometimes I would hear their stories, and some were so tragic they made me weep. I realised how much they were suffering. I asked them, 'How can I help you?' They would fall silent; none could answer, for they did not know how to attain liberation. Though I did not yet know the way, I promised them, 'When I find the method, I will surely save you all.'

The Burden of Power

After a long time, I returned from gathering water to find the master sitting in my hut. I asked, 'Master, how did you appear here?' He replied, 'Three years have passed.' Only then did I realise that time had slipped away; I had survived.

The master confirmed that my mind had been purified significantly, and he began to teach me his arts, demanding I learn them in the shortest time possible. When I asked why the rush, he simply said, 'Time is short.'

I learned his techniques rapidly. My intelligence, combined with the purification of those three years, allowed me to master his arts quickly. One night, I sensed that something terrible was about to happen. I checked the celestial signs and performed calculations, only to realise that a massive, bloody war was imminent. I realised then why the master had rushed my training. I resolved to stop this war; I could not let so many innocent lives be destroyed.

On the day the war was to break out, I used my arts to move an entire mountain, blocking the enemy's path. They were bewildered, wondering why their route had vanished. They tried to climb over the mountain, but when they reached the other side, they were met with an ocean—an ocean I had moved there just moments before. The sight of the sea stopped them in their tracks, and they retreated. The war vanished into thin air.

I had succeeded, but I knew there would be other wars and other disasters. I tried my best to save people, but I had to be careful not to violate the secrets of heaven, or I would bring harm upon myself. Seeing everyone suffer so much, I felt helpless. I had all these powers, yet I still could not truly save them.

The Final Breath and the Buddha-Name

By the age of sixty, I was still searching for the ultimate method of liberation. My own lifespan was drawing to a close, and I feared my promise would come to nothing. I calculated that I would find the method, but only when I had reached my final breath.

It was exactly as I had foreseen. At sixty-four, after saving a young boy and escorting him home, I heard the sound of 'Namo Amituofo.' My intuition told me that this Buddha-name was the key to saving these spirits. With my last ounce of strength, I returned to the mountain where I had spent those three years and chanted the Buddha-name for the spirits there. They were overjoyed and began to chant along with me.

I passed away in that thatched hut. My spirit, tethered by my attachments and lingering thoughts, remained trapped in that space. I had failed to truly internalise the Buddha-name, which is why I could not depart. Fortunately, the spirits of the trees and flowers I had saved, having heard the Buddha-name, had been reborn. It was one of them, now reborn as a human, who returned to save me.

A master who practised chanting came to that mountain. Though the area had been developed, the space I occupied remained. His chanting pulled me out of that void, but because I had been there so long, I still had not firmly grasped the Buddha-name in my heart.

From Hell to the Western Pure Land

The prison guards of the hells took me in. The King of Hell praised my good deeds in life, but lamented that I had never found the path to liberation. I became a prison guard in the hells myself. It was there, in the depths of suffering, that I finally grasped the holy name of Namo Amituofo. I taught this name to the beings in hell, telling them that no matter how much they suffered, they must chant this name.

In recent years, I began to hear someone giving lectures on the Dharma—it was Practitioner Su. I was filled with awe that in this age, someone in the human world could possess such skill and enter the hells to save the suffering beings there. I listened to Practitioner Su's lectures constantly, adjusting my own mind and never ceasing to help those in extreme agony.

Recently, I was placed on the list to be guided by Practitioner Su to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. My heart is filled with infinite gratitude. I am here now with fifty-nine other prison guards, bowing our heads to express our endless thanks.

Namo Amituofo."