The Rare Opportunity of a Human Life: An Interview with Venerable Chang Ren

This interview features Venerable Chang Ren, a monastic who sought deliverance at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. Currently residing at the centre, Venerable Chang Ren shares profound insights on the rarity of faith and the urgency of achieving rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. This testimony was recorded on October 17, 2017, and transcribed by the chief writer, Shi Faxi.

Venerable Chang Ren speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. When the heart is pure, one can truly hear the Buddha’s teachings. I am now speaking on this vast and subtle Dharma door as it truly is. Throughout the centuries, Buddhism has been propagated, yet those who can truly believe in the Buddha and see the Buddha are people of tremendous blessing. Otherwise, this path—which is truly difficult to believe—is hard to accept without doubt. It is extremely difficult!

The Rarity of Faith in a Scientific Age

In this world, people are difficult to guide; their temperaments are fickle and hard to transform. It is no surprise that many great practitioners find themselves in the current situation. Most people have lost faith in the Buddha’s teachings. Even those who claim to believe have not truly put it into practice. It is a great pity to see the decline of the sacred appearance of the Dharma. Everyone is too self-important, demanding scientific evidence for everything they see before their eyes. Consequently, they dismiss these truths as mere fantasy. It is a rare thing to obtain a human body, yet to have no faith in this—this is a matter of Causal Conditions. One cannot blame anyone else.

The Preciousness of the Human Body

To be born in this life is an encounter that is hard to come by in a thousand kalpas. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity. After countless cycles of samsara, can we finally terminate all karmic retribution? It can only be achieved in the human world. Because we possess this physical body, we have sensations and feelings; we can trigger all kinds of changes—emotions, sentiments, Greed, Anger, Ignorance, Arrogance, and Doubt, as well as the Five Desires. We experience fluctuations. We may be overwhelmed by them, or we may be able to restrain them. To awaken amidst this rising and falling, amidst this blindness—this is what we call practice. Only a human body can achieve this. Ordinary spirits do not have the capacity for these experiences. Without these fluctuating states of mind, it is very difficult to correct one's inferior habits, difficult to change, and difficult to see one's true nature.

The Warning of the Hells

Why is the environment of the hells necessary? It is precisely to create such a state of suffering, to make beings submit, and to make them understand the need to develop a heart of renunciation. Many are at their final station—the human world—and could finally end this cycle. Yet, the majority lose at this very station, starting the cycle of reincarnation all over again. No one has ever measured how difficult it is to obtain this human skin. To throw away such an opportunity so easily, to step back onto the path of samsara so lightly—they do not know what a painful choice this is. And yet, this is universally the case.

The Heavy Responsibility of the Monastic

As a monastic, one should develop a heart of renunciation and understand the laws of karma and cause and effect. Why, then, have some not taken up the responsibility of teaching the human heart? Do you know how much responsibility you must carry? If so many people cannot achieve rebirth, it is not just their affair—it is absolutely your affair. It is the sacred duty of a monastic to lead people to rebirth. Monastics receive offerings from others, so they are inherently obligated to teach and save. If you spend your days chasing fame and wealth, or engaging in internal conflicts, without real practice, and without even understanding what the Buddha’s teachings are—if you cannot even achieve rebirth yourself and have no certainty of seeing the true Buddha—how can you convey the Truth to the followers who look up to you, or to the Dharma protectors who provide compassionate support?

Having consumed so many offerings from the ten directions and used so much wealth from the ten directions, is there really a way to walk away freely? It seems that is an impossible task. Because you have already silently taken on the burden of these beings whom you are supposed to lead, you cannot simply walk away without consequence if you do not lead them to rebirth.

The Urgency of Rebirth

There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. There is no such thing as a life of practice that is free of charge, free of effort, and yet relaxed and at ease. It is indeed completely free, but what is free is also the most expensive. Do you know what your responsibilities are? Can you still sleep peacefully every day? If you are not diligent, when will you realise your true nature? Are the things you say to lay practitioners and followers really the Truth? Or are they just your own personal opinions? If you cannot achieve rebirth, there is nothing else to talk about. It is that intense. You must achieve rebirth, and you must help everyone achieve rebirth. There is no other principle in this world. It is absolutely vital, because if you cannot achieve rebirth, no matter how much you talk, it is still just worldly dust.

A Shortcut to Liberation

If you have practised for so long and learned so much, yet you still have to walk the path of samsara, is that not a great injustice? How bitter the path of samsara is! Everyone drinks the water of Meng Po and forgets everything. Once, you cried and suffered, begging for liberation, but now you are infatuated with it. Is the Five Turbidities and Evil World really that tempting? It is too easy to forget all awareness, too easy to fall back into the black whirlpool of emotion. Samsara is such a pity. It is a pity that you have finally arrived here, and now you can finally encounter a bodhimanda with the Buddha, yet you do not recognise it. That is truly a great pity. What you are losing is a shortcut to rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. This place is truly a shortcut; it is a Pure Land established to help beings quickly leave suffering behind.

The Compassion of Namo Amituofo

My Buddha’s compassionate heart is constantly waiting for lost beings, reaching out with a helping hand, yet there is never any news. I have watched for so many years, and everyone is still living a confused life of desire, unable to let go, unable to put down everything. They think that everything before their eyes and around them is real, not understanding that they are merely performing in a play. Even most of the great masters are sinking. Do you not think this is terrifying? Not understanding the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, not knowing the Teaching Master of the West, Namo Amituofo, and not knowing the Truth of liberation—you are stepping, step by step, into the Yellow Springs of reincarnation. Everyone knows suffering, but no one knows the principle of ending suffering. The principle is the word Truth. Everyone follows the Truth, but where is it, ultimately?

An Invitation to the Truth

If you have read these words of mine and you are willing to believe them, then I suggest you truly come here. The real Truth is worth exploring, no matter the cost, because its value exceeds the beginning of infinite kalpas. To leave the sea of suffering and end the cycle of birth and death—where else can you find this? Such a place is priceless. As far as I know, this place does not ask for anything in return. These virtuous lay practitioners only wait with patience, waiting for all those with karmic affinity, to lead them to rebirth in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss.

If you also wish to become such a fated Westerner, I hope for your participation. This kind of Buddha-work requires more people to promote it together. Everyone should work together on this true Buddha-work, and together seek rebirth in the Pure Land. We are all of one body and one family. This is the true Buddha’s teachings—there is no principle that involves abandoning anyone. This is true compassion, great capacity, a great heart, and great strength in action. Namo Amituofo."

Namo Amituofo.