The Red Bean's Journey: An Interview with Li Yingyuan

This is a record of an interview with Li Yingyuan, 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 experiences in the cycle of rebirth. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Faxin, on June 23, 2023.

Li Yingyuan speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. To me, drinking a bowl of red bean soup was the greatest happiness in the world. But now, I am surrounded by brilliant golden light, and I am basking in it. With one gentle pull of his hand, Practitioner Su guided me and fifty-nine other prison guards to the Western Pure Land.

No one would ever imagine that all things possess a spirit and that all things have life. Now, the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, in its great compassion, has unlocked the secrets of all things, hoping that everyone can respect all beings and see them as equal. I am deeply grateful for this opportunity to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

The Memory of a Red Bean

I am Li Yingyuan. The reason I mentioned red bean soup is that, before I served as a prison guard in the underworld, I was a red bean. As that red bean, I longed to be cooked into soup, to bring warmth and peace to whoever drank it. I hoped that the warmth of that soup could bring joy to people.

I have been a red bean one thousand three hundred times. Every single time I became a red bean, that was the longing in my heart.

Of course, in a single bowl of red bean soup, there are hundreds of red beans, and each one has a different state of mind. We exist in the same space, and I could clearly hear their inner voices.

Some red beans were filled with resentment, dissatisfied with why they had to be cooked. Others were deeply unhappy with their existence. The more sensitive red beans wished they were not red beans at all and wanted to escape that space. Every time, there was a cacophony of various sounds.

A Legacy of Kindness

I held a small wish in my heart: I hoped that whoever drank my bowl of red bean soup would be filled with positivity. The prerequisite, of course, was that the red beans in that bowl also had to be filled with positive energy so that the greatest effect could truly be achieved.

My mental note was always focused on this thought. Unexpectedly, it attracted a group of red beans who shared the same intention, and we would share our experiences of becoming red beans with one another.

I told them that I came from an ordinary, lower-middle-class family. I did not have much formal education. My parents were honest, hardworking people who raised nine children; life was not easy. Often, there was only one dish on the table for the eleven of us. My eldest sister would constantly remind us not to take too much, to ensure everyone in the family could have a share, and if we were still hungry, we should just drink more water. The most important thing was that the family lived in peace.

My eldest sister took on the role of a second mother, looking after every one of her younger siblings.

The Tradition of the Red Bean Soup

We kept some livestock at home, which were only slaughtered for food during the Lunar New Year; the rest were sold to supplement our family income. My eldest sister assigned tasks to all nine of us, and she watched over us strictly every day. We knew she was doing this to lighten our mother's burden.

Every Lunar New Year, Mother would use some of the money from selling the livestock to cook a large pot of red bean soup, which she distributed to the poor or the homeless, allowing them to feel the festive atmosphere as well.

I once heard a neighbor ask my mother, 'Isn't your own family struggling? How do you still have money to cook red bean soup every year?'

Mother told her, 'Our family is getting by, but there are people who are struggling even more than we are. Giving them a little warmth encourages one another. When our family had no money, someone once distributed red bean soup to us, and our whole family ate it together and smiled. I remember that feeling forever, so now that I have a little bit of ability, I hope to pass that warmth on.' The neighbor nodded, saying nothing more. I, however, heard these words and shared them with my siblings, and we all agreed that we must help Mother every year.

Seeing the joy on the faces of those who received the soup filled my heart with incomparable happiness and emotion.

The Path of Dharma

We siblings agreed to carry on Mother's kindness. No matter where we ended up in the future, we would continue to do this; it represented the inheritance of goodness in the Li family.

As Mother grew older and our life became more comfortable, she began to study the Buddha’s teachings and volunteered at the temple. She was an excellent cook, and the meals she prepared brought joy to all the practitioners who attended the communal dining. We saw that Mother was full of energy and vitality; even when she was covered in sweat, the smile on her face never faded.

After Mother began studying the Buddha’s teachings, she was rarely at home. If we wanted to find her, we had to go to the temple. She would ask us to listen to the Master’s Dharma talks together, to learn the principles the Buddha passed on to everyone, and she hoped we would believe in the Buddha and chant his name.

Every time I went to the temple to find Mother, I felt a sense of peace in my heart. I believe that what the Buddha brings to everyone is truly a power of peace and compassion.

A Life of Service

At thirty-three, I started my own family, and at forty, I established an orphanage. I did not have children of my own, so I gave all my love to the children in the orphanage, hoping they would not feel a sense of lack because of the incompleteness in their lives.

I brought the lessons Mother taught me through her own actions to the children, and I took them to distribute red bean soup, letting them know that the human world is still filled with love and tolerance.

I married a wonderful wife with a kind face who loved the children dearly. Mother once visited my orphanage and encouraged me to lead the children in studying the Buddha’s teachings.

I listened to my mother, and I discovered that after the children began to study the Buddha’s teachings, the magnetic field of their character became peaceful.

I have always hoped to bring good concepts to the children, because only good and positive concepts can benefit one for a lifetime. The more I did this, the more I felt that my life had no regrets.

The Awakening

At sixty-one, my body began to show signs of minor illnesses. I did not pay much attention to them, feeling that this was just the normal process of life. As I grew older, I often recalled the past, and I would frequently dream of the scenes of Mother and me distributing red bean soup when I was a child.

Unexpectedly, when I breathed my last, this scene appeared before my eyes again, and my spirit was drawn in by a natural attraction. I became a red bean, cooked by others, life after life, death after death—it all passed so quickly.

It was not until one time, when my bowl of red bean soup became an offering to the Buddha at a temple, that I heard the familiar sound of chanting. Seeing the dignity of the temple, I chanted the Buddha’s name once in my heart, and only then did I detach from the space of the Buddha-name.

According to the procedure, I entered the Hall of King Yama. King Yama told me that my kindness and good thoughts had accumulated much hidden merit, but because I had not let go of the memories and attachments in my heart, I had become a red bean. It was then that I had an 'Aha!' moment: it turns out that people should return to a simple state and not cling tightly to anything.

Gratitude and Deliverance

I am grateful to King Yama for appointing me as a prison guard. While serving as a prison guard, I would always be a bit of a busybody, sharing my life story with others, hoping to influence them. But too often, my Wisdom was insufficient; it was not enough to save the beings in the hells.

While serving as a prison guard, I was fortunate to hear Practitioner Su give Dharma talks. From them, I realized a deeper level of Wisdom and mind-capacity within the Buddha’s teachings, and I hoped for an opportunity to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. I often held the Buddha’s name in my heart, looking forward to the arrival of the Causal Conditions. I never expected that I would truly wait for the opportunity to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss today.

I am grateful to the Buddha, grateful to Practitioner Su and the entire Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, and I also thank King Yama for his compassionate nomination.

Everything has reached the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in gratitude. I hope that people in the world can have less suffering and more tolerance.

Namo Amituofo.

Li Yingyuan bows in reverence.

Note: The mother of the prison guard Li Yingyuan, Wang Tongxi, was guided by Practitioner Su from the space to the Western Land of Dharma Nature at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre."