The Purpose of Life and the Path of Redemption

This interview features Xu Renjian, a former beef noodle vendor who underwent a profound transformation through the Buddha’s teachings. After years of creating heavy karmic debt, he sought deliverance and eventually found his way to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. This testimony, recorded on June 12, 2021, by the chief writer, Venerable Hai Liang, details his journey from the life of a layman to his current role as a prison guard in the Third Hall of the underworld, where he now serves under the guidance of the salvation team led by Practitioner Su.

Xu Renjian speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. My name is Xu Renjian. I am a representative of a group of sixty prison guards who have been sent to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. In the early years of the Republic of China in Taiwan, people called me an 'outsider'—a mainlander. I married a local woman, and together we made a living selling beef noodles. I personally built a noodle cart, and every morning we would push it to the school nearby to sell our food. At noon, we would move to the busiest traffic circle in town. Business was booming, and we made a good living day after day.

The Silent Burden of a Child

At first, we sold beef noodles twice a day. Five years after we were married, our son was born. Ever since his birth, we reduced our business to once a day. Others would say he was a mute, but I refused to believe it. My wife and I were heartbroken that our son could not speak. We feared for his future, so whenever we had a moment, we did our best to take him to temples all across the province to seek divine guidance and consult doctors. By the time he was three, he still could not speak a word, only making simple 'ah-ah-ah' sounds. Every time we visited a temple to ask the masters or volunteers for advice, they would earnestly counsel us to stop selling beef noodles. They explained the heavy karmic retribution associated with that trade. After hearing this, I discussed it with my wife for half a year, and we finally decided to stop selling beef noodles.

We decided to find a storefront and switch to selling shaobing and youtiao—traditional flatbreads and fried dough sticks. We only had to work during the breakfast hours, from morning until noon. This gave us extra time to be with our son and continue searching for a way to help him find his voice. We searched through many large temples and consulted two or three famous abbots. They all gave us the same answer: our son, Zhicheng, could not speak like a normal child because of the causes he had created in the past, and he was now enduring the retribution.

A Visitor in Rags

Two years after we switched to selling breakfast, our son was five. One early morning, a monk came into our shop. His robes were tattered, covered in patches, and his shoes were worn through. He looked like a true ascetic monk. Despite his appearance, he had a dignified countenance. He stood at the door and asked, 'Namo Amituofo. Excuse me, proprietor, what time do you open?' I replied, 'We are open now. My soy milk is boiled, and the shaobing and youtiao are freshly fried.'

The monk sat down to eat. Suddenly, the sound of our son making his 'ah-ah-ah' noises came from the back room. My wife called him out. The monk looked at him and said, 'Is this your son? He looks so lovely, but he is not so young anymore. Why can he only make those sounds?' My wife patiently explained, 'Since he was born, he has only been able to make those sounds.' The monk replied, 'When you have time, you can bring him to our temple. It is located up in the mountains. We have treated several children with similar conditions, and they have all recovered. They are now living at the temple.' After he finished his breakfast, I wanted to make an offering to him, which he accepted with joy, promising to visit us again.

I watched as the monk spoke to my son. My son was staring intently into the monk's eyes. The monk addressed the spirits blocking my son's eyes, saying, 'Why are you obstructing him? If you continue to block him like this, you are committing a grave sin.' Then, the monk turned to my son and chanted, 'Namo Amituofo, Namo Amituofo.' I saw my son watching the master's mouth, trying to learn to chant the Buddha's name, though he could only manage the 'Ah' sound.

The Path of Repentance

A few days later, my wife and I took our son to the mountain to find the monk. To our surprise, once we reached the temple, our son’s face lit up with a smile, and he felt much calmer. His spirit seemed to lift. Seeing the environment of the temple, my wife and I decided that after finishing our breakfast business, we would bring our son to visit the temple often and ask the master how we could help him. The master told us, 'If your son is to change, you and your wife must become vegetarians, make prostrations to the Buddha, and make a Great Vow. Only by resolving the grievances with your son's karmic creditors will there be a way. I have observed the Causal Conditions of your three past lives; you have harmed many people. This time, your son is enduring the retribution for you. In this life, you have sold beef noodles and created much negative karma. Offering vegetarian meals to perform Chao Du for your karmic creditors is the most effective way to resolve these conflicts.'

From that day on, we decided to donate all our earnings to the temple. We told the abbot that our money could be used for children in need. At the end of every month, my wife and I would bring a sum of money to the temple as a growth fund for the children. My wife, Xiuzhi, and I also volunteered in the temple kitchen. The master told me, 'Zhicheng is a very well-behaved child. Let him live in the temple. You can visit him on holidays. We will teach him well.' I decided to let my son stay at the temple.

The Miracle of Speech

After about three years, Zhicheng progressed from only saying 'ah' to speaking intermittent single words like 'hello,' 'Namo,' and 'Amituofo.' The master told us that Zhicheng was a sensible child with a compassionate heart who loved to help others. Besides accompanying him to listen to sutras, read scriptures, and prostrate to the Buddha, the master let him help in the vegetable garden so he would be too busy to dwell on himself. Seeing Zhicheng’s progress, my wife and I became even more devoted to the Buddha.

We spent almost every day at the temple. We felt the Buddha’s teachings were so wonderful that it was a pity no one else knew about them. We decided to start promoting the Dharma. We put up posters in our shop and placed a sign saying 'Namo Amituofo' at the entrance. Whenever the temple had an event, we would proactively introduce it to our customers. For those customers who were too busy, we would set aside a day to invite the master to our shop to lecture on the sutras and teach everyone how to chant. From just my wife and me, the group grew to twenty or thirty people chanting together. Once, when the master was lecturing in our shop about how good deeds bring good rewards and evil deeds bring evil rewards—and that 'eating a pound of meat requires paying back sixteen ounces'—I felt a pang of anxiety. I wondered, 'My wife and I sold beef noodles for three years; how will we ever pay that back?'

That very night, I dreamt of many ox heads swaying back and forth, saying to me, 'Return my beef! Return my ox tripe!' I woke up in a cold sweat. The next day, I ran to the temple and asked the master, 'I sold beef noodles for three years; what should I do?' The master told me, 'During the Dharma assembly, you can repent before them, perform Chao Du for them, and ask for their forgiveness.' I asked the master to help perform Chao Du for the beef I had sold. My wife said, 'It is fortunate that we changed to selling shaobing and youtiao, or we would have created even more karma.' We were deeply grateful for the master's teachings, which helped us understand the laws of karma and cause and effect. We felt we had to let more people know about the benefits of practicing Buddhism.

A Vow Fulfilled

We returned to my wife's hometown, sold our old house, and used the money to build a Buddha hall. We invited the master to come and lecture there, allowing more people to learn the Dharma. We continued to sell our assets until we had built three Buddha halls. When the third hall was completed, the master brought Zhicheng to the new hall and asked him to kneel before my wife and me. As I pulled my son up, Zhicheng suddenly spoke clearly: 'Father, Mother, I can speak now! Thank you for your love, thank you to the master for your patience, and thank you to the Bodhisattvas for their blessings. I have fully recovered. There is one thing I must tell you: I have decided to become a monk to help people like me. My past karmic obstacles had obscured my true nature. Through my daily prostrations, chanting, and your generosity in building these halls and spreading the Dharma, my karmic creditors saw my efforts and my vow to save all suffering beings. They decided to allow me to speak clearly, and in my dreams, they told me to practice diligently in this life.' My mother was moved to tears, grateful for the compassion of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

A New Role in the Underworld

When I was forty-nine, on that very night, I washed myself clean. My heart was incredibly calm, as if something good was waiting for me. I went to bed, and just as I fell asleep, someone called out, 'Xu Renjian, Xu Renjian, do not sleep anymore. We must go. The King of the Third Hall is waiting for us. You must report for duty.' At the time, I wondered if I was going to the Third Hall to suffer retribution for selling beef noodles. But when I arrived, the King of the Underworld treated me with great respect. He said, 'Xu Renjian, although you sold beef noodles for three years, fortunately, you changed your path and learned the Buddha’s teachings. You learned to counsel others, propagate the Dharma, and practice generosity. You saved your son and transformed your own destiny. Now, we appoint you as a prison guard of the Third Hall to help those suffering there to turn from evil to good.' I felt the King’s words were reasonable, so I accepted the position. From then on, I spent every day counseling the inmates not to return to hell.

After serving in the Third Hall for thirty years, the King saw my performance and said, 'Xu Renjian, you may join Practitioner Su in guiding beings to be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.' I accepted this invitation with great joy. Every day, I listen attentively to Practitioner Su’s lectures. Seeing the compassion of Practitioner Su—knowing that in this entire universe, only Practitioner Su has the ability to guide beings to be reborn in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss—we knelt in gratitude. We realized that this salvation team possesses such a magnificent vow, which is truly the power of Namo Amituofo’s vow. I am delighted to join this salvation team. I am grateful to the Buddha, and I am grateful to Practitioner Su. We are all willing to join the salvation team.

We follow Practitioner Su and chant:

Namo Amituofo.

Xu Renjian"