The Redemption of Mai Jiehe

This is a record of an interview with Mai Jiehe, who sought spiritual 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 service in the hells. Recorded by the chief writer, Shi Fa, on June 1, 2024.

Mai Jiehe speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. We quietly chanted the Buddha's name, waiting for this moment to arrive. As soon as the time came, the Dharma Body of Practitioner Su immediately took me and fifty-nine other prison guards to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. For us, it truly felt like a dream—the Western Land is so beautiful. We stared, completely stunned, forgetting even to make prostrations to thank the Buddha for His grace. Now, with the most sincere hearts, we express our gratitude to the compassionate Buddha and to the compassionate Practitioner Su.

A Childhood Defined by Resentment

I am Mai Jiehe. My life only truly began to follow a straight and righteous path after experiencing many twists and turns. During that period of instability, I could not see my own faults. It was not until a mentor appeared in my life that my destiny was completely overturned.

Since I was a child, I never saw my biological parents; I was an adopted child. My adoptive parents were not wealthy, but they were unable to have children of their own, so they adopted me and cared for me as if I were their own. When they adopted me, I was less than three weeks old. Usually, a child adopted at such a young age would naturally view their adoptive parents as their own. However, I was different. I could always feel that they were not my biological parents, so until I was four, I was an incredibly difficult child with a very rebellious personality.

There was hatred in my heart. That hatred began the moment my biological mother decided to abandon me. I hated her for leaving me behind, even though I knew she was unhappy. From the time I was in her womb, I could feel that she was suffering and constantly miserable. She would often talk to me through her belly, pouring out her sorrows. My heart and spirit could hear her clearly; I knew she was a woman in deep pain. But when she decided to abandon me, my natural reaction was hatred. I had not even had the chance to open my eyes to see her face or feel her maternal love and warmth, yet she had heartlessly cast me aside.

The Burden of a Sensitive Spirit

Carrying that hatred in my heart and spirit, I lived a very painful life. I could not laugh innocently and happily like other children. Part of this was because my spirit was exceptionally sensitive, as was my body. In particular, I had a clear perception of different spaces, which meant my body was easily approached by spirits from other realms. This made my entire growth process extremely arduous, as I was frequently disturbed and in an unstable state.

My adoptive parents did not understand my physical constitution; they only felt that I was a child who was impossible to care for. During infancy, I was always crying and vomiting, my face turning blue. After the age of three, I began to throw tantrums easily. Often, that was not my intention, but I could not stop myself, which made my adoptive parents very angry. They often complained behind my back that they had chosen the wrong child. Although they never said these things to my face, my high sensitivity allowed me to feel their thoughts even without hearing them.

The Lesson of the Great Stone

My adoptive parents raised me until I was ten. Their method of discipline was hitting and scolding, so I was a child who was beaten and scolded for a decade; my heart was deeply wounded. By ten, although I was still young, I had already begun to exhibit various malicious behaviours. Coupled with my hatred for my biological mother, my actions became distorted, and I often did things that were improper or repulsive.

My adoptive parents could no longer stand me. They tried various methods to push me away. Finally, on the day I was about to turn eleven, someone decided to take me in. My adoptive parents immediately kicked me out of the house, and I went to live with that person—an old grandmother.

From the first moment I saw the grandmother, I felt a sense of awe, yet inexplicably, a sense of closeness. She did not speak; she looked very stern, which made me somewhat fearful. I thought I was someone who feared nothing, but meeting this grandmother, I felt a deep-seated fear from the bottom of my heart, so I dared not easily engage in my previous unruly behaviours.

I spent an entire year in the grandmother's home. She never said a single word to me. However, she had her own way of letting me know what I should be doing at any given time. If I did not do it within the allotted time, her gaze would immediately let me know I was wrong. I was terrified of that look, so every day I would obediently do what I was supposed to do.

The task the grandmother gave me every day was to use my own strength to push a large boulder that was taller than me. The stone was massive; I could not move it alone, and even an adult would have found it impossible. Yet, she insisted I push it every day until the day it moved. Many people who saw me doing this every day thought I was foolish.

A Sudden Awakening

I pushed that boulder for half a year, and it did not move even an inch. Then, on a summer evening half a year later, a massive thunderstorm broke out. The next morning, the aftermath of the storm was everywhere, and even that boulder... had been struck by lightning and split into two halves.

I immediately ran back to tell the grandmother. She seemed to have known this would happen. For the first time, she spoke to me: "Your personality is just like that boulder—stubborn and rigid. No matter how much people try to push you, you do not listen. Can you see the final outcome? If that stone had been moved even a metre by you earlier, it would not have been split in two by the lightning today. You should know by now what your own personality will eventually do to you. You should think carefully about whether you want to listen and change." Her words echoed in my mind for a long time. No one had ever taught me this way, and I felt as if I had suddenly woken up.

After that, I could feel that I had changed. I was no longer as rigid, and I had let go of much of my own subjective thinking. This was the education the grandmother and the boulder gave me. Whenever my heart became stubborn or rigid again, I would immediately think of the boulder and its final fate. When I thought of this, my heart would instantly soften, and I would stop insisting on my own ideas and feelings.

The Practice of Gratitude

The grandmother did not stop there. She required me to find ten people, plants, animals, or anything else every day and express gratitude to them, explaining why I was grateful. When I first heard this, my first thought was: Is there anyone I need to be grateful to?

Although that thought crossed my mind, I still had to do it. Every morning, I would start thinking about whom to thank. This was a question I had never considered, and I felt the grandmother had given me a very difficult task. I started to try: I thanked the grandmother for cooking my breakfast, then thanked the rice and vegetables in my bowl for their deliciousness, then thanked my chopsticks for letting me eat without using my hands, and thanked my bowl for holding the food.

After eating, I walked out to buy daily necessities. Seeing the rain, I immediately thought to thank the umbrella in my hand for keeping me dry. Walking on the street, I thanked someone for picking up something I had dropped; I thanked the hardworking vendors; passing by the roadside, I saw a beautiful wildflower and thanked it for its beauty, which brought joy to my heart.

Throughout the day, my heart was filled with gratitude. I suddenly felt that my world had become beautiful and happy—a feeling I had never experienced before. Unknowingly, the hatred in my body, mind, and spirit seemed to diminish, as I began to understand how to be grateful to my biological mother for the hardship of giving birth to me. At that moment, I felt I could slightly sense why she had abandoned me—that she had had no choice due to her own suffering.

Reunion and Redemption

The grandmother saw my obvious transformation. One day, she took me to a place. We arrived at a simple, clean wooden house. She opened the door, and I followed her inside. In the room lay a sick woman. I widened my eyes, looking at the woman and then at the grandmother. My sensitive perception immediately told me that this woman was my biological mother, and this grandmother... was my grandmother!

The reason my biological mother had abandoned me was that she had contracted an incurable disease. She looked very painful, but when she saw me, she revealed a smile she had not shown for years. She said she was very happy and could die without regrets.

All my hatred was released; my heart became open, happy, and calm. Afterward, I followed my grandmother every day. She taught me many things, especially how to observe celestial phenomena. Every day, she would ask me to go outside and learn to read the sky. Whenever the sky changed, she would test me on what it meant. With my natural sensitivity, I could quickly sense it, and many times I was right.

One morning when I was twenty-six, I suddenly saw an abnormal change in the sky. My perception was very accurate, and this time the vision was very clear; I knew a great disaster was about to happen.

Selfless Service to the Village

I calmed my mind and used my perception to see what was happening. I saw that the disaster was not happening without cause; it was because the hearts of our villagers had changed. The villagers had become greedy and selfish, completely different from the mutually supportive and loving people they once were. It was because of this selfishness that the disaster was attracted.

To prevent the disaster, I decided to become the one who would lead and influence everyone. I chose to dedicate myself, to give myself completely and selflessly to the entire village, to every person. So, wherever help was needed, or if there was any way to lead the village to change, I would work hard to do it. Every day, I was busy running around, all for the sake of changing the hearts of the villagers. I knew that changing human hearts was not easy, but I did not give up. I did my best to share, hoping that everyone would have a chance to change.

One day, a child fell into the water. All the villagers who knew about it rushed to the scene, but no one dared to jump in to save him, watching as the child struggled. When I arrived, I jumped in without a second thought. The current was swift. I used all my strength to swim forward and finally managed to grab the child's hand. Several times during the process, I was almost swept away, but I persisted, determined to save the child, even if it meant sacrificing my own life. Finally, the child was successfully rescued. My own body suffered many injuries, but that did not matter; the important thing was that the child was safe.

After this incident, the whole village had a new respect for me. They knew I was truly dedicating myself selflessly. My efforts finally began to change everyone. Slowly, some people stood up to speak out, hoping that everyone would bring out their true hearts, treat each other as family, let go of selfishness, and build a village of selflessness and great love.

The Path to the Western Pure Land

I worked hard to advocate and lead everyone to change together. Fortunately, our villagers were still relatively simple. Under my guidance and the inspiration of my genuine actions, everyone slowly let go of their selfishness, learned to face each other sincerely, supported and helped one another, and the whole village became loving. We even collectively used our strength to help other villages. Because other villages were in trouble and needed support, we did not hesitate to form groups to go and help.

After everyone's hearts opened, the village became completely different, as if it were shining every day, and the magnetic field changed. And the disaster? It did not come. Our change resolved the disaster and even brought more good fortune. For example, the vegetables and fruits grown by every household had a bumper harvest, which had never happened before. Everyone was very satisfied and shared with each other.

My grandmother's teachings did not stop there. I am very fortunate to have had such a grandmother. She later guided me to see through life and encouraged me to help more people who could not get out of their predicaments. My grandmother passed away when I was fifty-six. I am grateful to my grandmother; she was a person of great Wisdom.

In this life, every day of mine was fulfilling, and every day I was helping people. At the moment my life ended, what I thought of was: if I could become a cloud in the sky, I could see where people needed my help.

It was with this key thought that I truly became a cloud in the sky. I was a thin, bright, and very beautiful cloud. In the space of the clouds, my heart and mind were always on helping everyone, but I did not realise that I was just a cloud and could not really help anyone. However, this sincerity and kindness helped me, allowing me to transcend the cloud space in just three years.

Two officials from hell brought me directly before the King of Hell. The King of Hell let me see everything I had done in my life. Finally, he praised my sincerity and kindness and gave me the position of a prison guard, allowing me the opportunity to serve in hell.

During my time in hell, what I saw was the suffering of every soul—not the suffering of being punished, but the helplessness and pain of reincarnating over and over again. I hoped so much that everyone could be liberated and no longer suffer such pain. But I did not know how to help everyone, because even I had to continue to reincarnate.

A few years ago, I suddenly heard Practitioner Su giving Dharma talks. At that time, I was so surprised, so unexpected, and so pleasantly surprised, and I knew that everyone could be saved. I worked hard to listen to the Dharma talks and shared the Buddha's teachings with these suffering spirits, hoping they would have the courage to change themselves. Finally, many who listened to Practitioner Su's Dharma talks sincerely repented and were eventually saved by the Dharma Body of Practitioner Su, leaving hell.

I am filled with gratitude toward Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su, and I chant the Buddha's name without interruption every day. Finally, magnificent Causal Conditions led to my name being placed on the list to be sent to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. I represent all the prison guards here today in expressing our gratitude.

Gratitude to Namo Amituofo.

Gratitude to Practitioner Su.

Gratitude for everything.

Namo Amituofo.

Mai Jiehe bows in reverence."