The Prison Guard's Long Road to Liberation

This is a record of an interview with Guan Ziyun, a spirit who sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. Having served as a prison guard in the ghost realm, he now prepares for his rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his spiritual journey spanning many lifetimes. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa, on August 8, 2021.

Guan Ziyun speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Practitioner Su for his boundless compassion. He has extended his helping hand to me and to the sixty other prison guards who are also destined for rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss today. We are all profoundly moved and cherish this opportunity beyond words. On behalf of all sixty of us, I bow in gratitude to the Buddha and to Practitioner Su.

Today, I am finally going to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I am filled with such joy, and I treasure this moment immensely. I have waited for this for an incredibly long time. I always held onto the belief that this moment of liberation would eventually arrive, so I remained steadfast in my faith, and my heart was always filled with longing for this day.

The Weight of Unresolved Emotions

I am overjoyed that this moment has finally come. It is the goal I have pursued throughout countless lifetimes. I have always sought liberation, yet in the endless cycle of samsara, I was repeatedly unable to attain it. When I examined my own life, I realised that the root cause was my inability to let go of my emotional attachments. Because of this, I remained trapped, caught in the cycle of rebirth, unable to escape.

In one of my past lives, I was a practitioner by the side of Practitioner Su. I am so grateful for that karmic connection, for it is precisely because of that bond that I have been able to encounter Practitioner Su again in this lifetime. He is a teacher for whom I feel the deepest gratitude. I still remember that life clearly: I was an orphan with no parents, and it was my teacher who brought me back to the monastery to raise me. From that day on, I began my life of practice. I was diligent in my studies, and I strove to master every piece of knowledge my teacher imparted. I never allowed myself a moment of laxity. I desperately wanted to become my teacher's most accomplished student, but I never imagined that I would ultimately fail him. I could not pass the test of familial affection, and I returned to the secular world.

The Trap of Worldly Ties

My relatives recognised me during a Dharma assembly. They were absolutely astonished; they had assumed I had passed away just like my parents. They never expected to find me alive, and once they did, they used every possible method to force me to leave the monastery. My grandmother tried everything in her power to bring me back to the family home. In the end, I could not withstand the pressure of my family's expectations, and I followed my grandmother back to the Guan household. That single decision became the turning point that derailed my entire life.

My grandmother was overjoyed to bring me back. Not long after, she arranged for me to marry a young girl more than a decade my junior. Under her orchestration, I completed the marriage rites, and my life began to sink deep into the dust of the mundane world.

The failure to complete my practice and attain the fruits of the Dharma has always been the greatest regret of my life. I can never forget the day I was first brought to the monastery—my heart was filled with such joy and hope. Conversely, I can never forget the day I left; my heart was heavy with so much sorrow and regret. I could not erase the gratitude I felt for my teacher, nor the sincerity I had for my practice. Even though I submitted to my grandmother's arrangements, I never truly stopped practising, but it was no longer the same as it had been in the monastery. My body and mind had already stepped into the secular mire.

A Rapid Decline

For the first few years, my life did not seem to change drastically; the days simply continued to pass. The only difference was in my consciousness, though it was not something easily detected. It was a subtle, gradual erosion, slipping away bit by bit.

My personality began to shift. My energy levels declined daily; I was constantly exhausted and felt as though I had no strength left. My grandmother initially assumed I was simply physically weak and ordered people to brew many tonics to help me regain my vitality so that I could carry on the family line. But to her surprise, no amount of herbal medicine could reverse the loss of my energy. My consciousness began to falter; I would frequently forget things and lose track of my belongings. I became a different person entirely—I was no longer the man I once was.

My children were born in the second year after I left the monastery. We had three children in quick succession. I should have been in the prime of my life, strong enough to support my family, but within five years, my body aged rapidly. My physical strength was far worse than before, and the impact on my consciousness was even more severe. My wife could not imagine how she had ended up married to such an old, frail husband. One night, she eloped with a younger man, leaving the three children for me to raise.

The Finality of Karmic Retribution

Although my life was not necessarily one of extreme hardship, my body suffered from countless ailments that I could not stop. Before my children were even ten years old, I suddenly passed away in the middle of the night. I had lived only twenty-nine years in that life.

After death, I entered the cycle of rebirth once again. During that time, I suffered immensely, as all the karmic creditors I had accumulated in the past came to collect their debts, alongside the weight of my own karmic retribution. The decision to abandon my practice was the most significant influence on that life, for it caused all my karma to surface at once. Karma that had been temporarily suppressed by my practice surged forward the moment I left. My body faced this reality; as all the karmic forces converged, my consciousness was the first to change, and my body began to be replaced by other beings day by day, until it could no longer bear the burden, and my life ended.

Though I felt a thousand regrets, I could not change the manifestation of these laws of karma and cause and effect. Throughout my many lives, I have always longed for liberation, but because my emotional attachments were so deep, I continued to sink, repeatedly entering the cycle of rebirth with no end in sight.

Deliverance and Gratitude

This time, I happened to arrive in the ghost realm, and I was given the opportunity to serve as a prison guard. During my service, my performance was exemplary, and the King of Hell helped me, granting me the chance to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss today. I am truly moved; I have finally waited for this opportunity for liberation.

While in the hells, I heard Practitioner Su giving Dharma talks many times. I miss the days when my teacher guided me. Serving as a prison guard in the hells, I became very clear about my many lifetimes. When I saw my past, I felt such deep shame; I felt I had no face to see my teacher again.

After I left my teacher all those years ago, I spent a thousand years as a tortoise after I died. Later, I was reborn as a human, but I still could not attain liberation. When I entered the cycle of rebirth again, I spent many years as an animal—I was a rooster, then a sow—and only later did I enter the ghost realm, where I met with good karmic conditions and was promoted to a prison guard.

The suffering of the cycle of rebirth is truly an exhausting ordeal. I am so grateful that Practitioner Su has appeared in my life once more to lead me onto the bright path. I am deeply thankful and cherish this moment. Today, I am going to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I am infinitely grateful for the compassion of Practitioner Su, and I am thankful that I can be reborn in the Pure Land today.

On behalf of the sixty prison guards who are being reborn today, and all sentient beings with karmic affinity, I bow in gratitude to the Buddha and to Practitioner Su. Namo Amituofo."

Guan Ziyun