The Truth of the Three Hun Souls and Seven Po Souls

Reflections on a Life of Service

It is the eleventh of October, 2018. I am Venerable Wufan. The late Venerable Master Chin Kung was my kind teacher. I served as his attendant and secretary, managing various matters by his side. As we travelled both domestically and internationally, I witnessed countless individuals from all walks of life coming to seek the Dharma. These included:

• Adults and children
• The elderly
• Men and women of all ages

These experiences broadened my horizons and allowed me to deeply feel the warmth and coldness of human relationships in this world. Under the Buddha-light and the loving guidance of my teacher, I dedicated years of my life to this service. However, my karmic ties to this world ended earlier than my teacher's, and I departed from the human realm. As a practitioner who chanted the name of Namo Amituofo, I feel deep shame that I passed away with a body burdened by illness, failing to live up to the teachings of my master.

The Urgent Need for Certainty in Rebirth

The Pure Land Society has always been my second home. I was fortunate to receive the care of my fellow practitioners, which sustained me through my monastic life. Looking back, this lifetime—this transition into a new physical form—feels as though it happened only yesterday, yet so many years have already passed. Everyone has changed; our bodies have aged, our appearances have altered, and our spiritual states have shifted. However, the vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss must never be shaken.

I wish to ask you all: as you study the Buddha’s teachings and chant Namo Amituofo, do you have true certainty of your rebirth in the Western Pure Land? Over these years, I have seen many things and understood many truths from the perspective of the Western Pure Land. Perhaps in the human world, one can live comfortably without fully understanding these deep truths. Yet, I now realise that even if one is a monastic wearing the robes, unless one has achieved Awakening and realised one's true nature, the path to the Western Pure Land remains blocked when karmic obstacles manifest at the time of death. If one falls back into the cycle of rebirth, this lifetime will have been wasted. Many people believe they are practising, but they are actually cultivating the karma of the hells and are destined to go there.

The Truth Behind the Soul

I have mentioned this many times before: after I passed away, I was initially cast into the hells to suffer retribution. It was Practitioner Su—whom you now respectfully call Practitioner Su—who rescued me from that suffering. He brought me to the Hsiang Kuang room, where I repented and chanted Namo Amituofo before the Buddha, and only then was I sent to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Since my own rebirth, an uncountable number of spirits have been sent to the Western Pure Land by Practitioner Su in this same manner. This includes several individuals you may be familiar with, such as Practitioner Huang Jinxuan from Singapore, Practitioner Huang Zhongchang from Shenzhen, and Practitioner Huang Renzhong.

The truth of these events should not be buried. It is a fact that Practitioner Su possesses the ability and the true attainment to guide sentient beings to the Western Pure Land. I share this to save those who are determined to chant Namo Amituofo and reach the Western Pure Land. I hope to provide a clear path for them, so they may see how to walk this road correctly. This way, those who have encountered the Pure Land Dharma door and are reading this article will not have lived their human lives in vain. A human body is difficult to obtain, the Buddha’s teachings are difficult to hear, and the Pure Land path is difficult to encounter. Now that you have met it, you must realise that among all hardships, none is greater than the difficulty of this opportunity.

I am now a resident of the Western Pure Land, and I am one of the many spirits who have been saved. Because Practitioner Su is currently exploring the truth of the three hun souls and seven po souls, he asked me to speak about my situation while I was still alive. Therefore, I, Wufan, now residing in the Western Pure Land, shall discuss this topic. Within the Pure Land Dharma door, few people think about this issue, and it may seem unrelated to chanting Namo Amituofo. In reality, this matter is deeply connected to the manifestation of karmic obstacles, the demands of karmic creditors, the process of Chao Du, and whether one can successfully be reborn in the Western Pure Land.

After the onset of my illness, I looked back upon my entire life and wrote a confession of repentance. Although my words were sincere and earnest, it was already too late. While I was alive, I failed to seize the precious opportunities for practice. When I reached the threshold of death, even though the Buddha’s compassion is such that He does not abandon a single being—and even though one or ten recitations of the Buddha-name are sufficient for rebirth in the Western Pure Land—do you truly believe it is easy?

The Peril of Procrastination

In daily life, chanting the Buddha-name may seem as simple as turning over one's hand. However, at the moment of death, to summon a single thought of the Buddha-name that is in perfect sync with Namo Amituofo is a hardship among hardships, none greater than this. Before I could even utter a sound, I was pulled into the hells. Once one has entered the hells, to then attempt to chant the Buddha-name is even more difficult; it is an almost impossible task. Because the suffering there is so intense, one’s attention is entirely consumed by the agony being endured. It is fundamentally impossible to summon that single, pure, and good Buddha-name. I feel profound shame now, realizing that my chanting during my life was empty; I never truly brought the Buddha-name into my heart, yet I was smugly satisfied, thinking I was doing so well.

The Compassionate Rescue

When Practitioner Su rescued me from the hells during a Thrice Yearning Ceremony, he brought me before the Buddha and urged me to repent deeply. I repented for the fact that, despite being by my teacher’s side, I failed to reach the Western Pure Land, serving as the worst possible example and failing my teacher. I felt truly ashamed before my teacher and before Namo Amituofo. Standing before the Buddha, I wept bitterly. I saw Namo Amituofo with my own eyes, looking down with a gentle smile, His golden arms lowered to lead me. I felt such immense gratitude and was deeply moved. From the depths of my heart, using every ounce of my strength, I chanted the name of Namo Amituofo with deep gratitude and repentance. In that moment, under the guidance of the Buddha-light and the Buddha’s hand, I was led to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

A True Practitioner of the Way

If I had not experienced this process myself, could I possibly describe it? I am filled with gratitude for Practitioner Su, and I hold him in the highest esteem. Although Practitioner Su is a lay practitioner, his depth of practice surpasses that of many monastics. These are the heartfelt words of one who has seen the truth. Today, the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia exists because Practitioner Su’s vow is in sync with Namo Amituofo. Through this centre, immeasurable and boundless sentient beings have already undergone Chao Du and achieved rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This is the true reality I have witnessed from the Western Land.

A Call to Unity and Respect

I hope that the fellow practitioners, monastics, and lay followers of the Pure Land societies will show respect and reverence toward Practitioner Su. There is so much that we do not know and so much that we have not yet seen. When Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, and the patriarchs and venerable masters manifest in this world to save sentient beings with karmic affinity, they often assume different identities depending on the circumstances and the karmic connections they share with the people of that time. In this Dharma-ending age, if one does not possess great power, great vows, and great practice, and if one does not manifest extraordinary deeds that differ from the ordinary, how could one possibly perform the Chao Du necessary to help the stubborn and difficult-to-transform beings of this Saha world achieve rebirth in the Western Pure Land?

If you believe what I say, you should hold A Heart of Gratitude toward Practitioner Su. He has already helped countless people—including those who had karmic affinity with my teacher and the Pure Land societies, as well as many who passed away without reaching the Western Pure Land—to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Furthermore, many monastics and lay practitioners who once had a connection with Practitioner Su left him due to misunderstandings. Despite how they treated him, Practitioner Su, in his compassion, continues to perform Chao Du for their ancestors, teachers, and karmic creditors every single week during the Thrice Yearning Ceremonies. This act alone moves me to my core.

The Path to True Benefit

I sincerely ask everyone to let go of the past regarding Practitioner Su. Re-evaluate him, and even seek him out to learn from him; the one who will receive the greatest benefits of the Dharma is yourself. If you persist in slandering, doubting, rejecting, or even envying him, the one who suffers the greatest loss is also yourself. Because people are unaware, uninformed, or choose to slander and disbelieve in Practitioner Su, the human world—which could have been the greatest beneficiary of the Western Pure Land—misses out on this immense blessing. Instead, the greatest beneficiaries are the spirits throughout the vastness of the Dharma Realm, who are saved and reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss in immeasurable and boundless numbers every single day.

My Buddha is compassionate, allowing me this opportunity to speak my heart. I hope that those who have the karmic affinity to see these words, and who truly possess the vow to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, will humbly visit the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. This place is a truly pure land where Namo Amituofo abides. You will surely gain much, return home fulfilled, and ultimately achieve your wish to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Gratitude to Namo Amituofo.

Gratitude to Practitioner Su.