The Zhu Family Vow: A Great Mission to Save the World

This is a record of an interview with Venerable Kong Yi, who sought Chao Du at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his life approximately 1,900 years ago. Recorded by the chief writer, Disciple Shi Fajing, on September 16, 2018.

Venerable Kong Yi speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. I am Kong Yi. From the time I was a small child, I had already established a great vow. My responsibility in this life was to inherit and propagate the Buddha’s teachings. I vowed never to touch the worldly emotions of men and women, for I was the hope of my parents and the vessel for the Dharma."

A Legacy of Devotion and Harmony

"My father was a man of striking handsomeness, and my mother was a woman of profound beauty. In our entire town, they were universally recognised as the perfect couple. Their gratitude toward one another was deep, and even after many years of marriage, they treated each other with the same respect and courtesy as newlyweds. It was a sight that filled many other couples in our town with envy.

Every single day, women would come to our home to ask my mother, 'How do you manage such a successful marriage?' And every day, men would come to ask my father, 'How do you live in such harmony with your wife?' The answers my parents gave always left everyone stunned. They would tell every man and woman who visited: 'Our shared goal is to leave the home life and become monastics. Our child, Kong Yi, has also come into this world to inherit and propagate the Buddha’s teachings.'

People would often react with confusion, asking anxiously, 'The Kong family has never heard of letting a child become a monk! Why have you made such a decision?' As the townspeople chattered and debated, my father would explain the history of our family's faith."

The Miracle of My Grandmother's Rebirth

"'My father, Kong Yu, passed away three years ago,' my father would recount. 'He was once a man who loved a life of indulgence and debauchery. He was never without beautiful women by his side, for he was handsome, charming, and wealthy. Every woman who met him longed to become his wife. However, my mother was a woman of lifelong, sincere faith in the Buddha’s teachings. Regarding my father’s wayward behaviour, she only hoped that he would one day return to the right path. Unable to change him, she focused entirely on her own diligent practice, never allowing his misconduct to disturb the purity of her heart.'

'One day, my father returned home drunk and saw my mother chanting the Buddha’s name in the shrine room. He reached out to touch her and shouted her name, but my mother remained focused, chanting without a single stray thought. That day was the moment she was destined for rebirth in the Western Pure Land. She had long prepared to chant the Buddha’s name and depart for the West on that very day. No matter what sounds my father made, she remained unmoved. At the final moment, a lotus flower descended from the West. The Great Compassionate Namo Amituofo appeared, majestic beyond description. Right before my father’s eyes, my mother stepped onto the lotus and departed for the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, leaving behind a room filled with the fragrance of lotus flowers.'

'My father caught the final moments of my mother’s life. He was shocked to see her step onto the lotus, and seeing Namo Amituofo clearly appear before him, he could no longer deny that the Buddha truly exists. He lamented that he had not cherished the time he spent with her, nor had he worked alongside her to learn the Dharma, instead wasting his days in indulgence. He knelt before the Buddha for three days and three nights, repenting for his sins, and vowed that from that day forward, he would study the Buddha’s teachings as diligently as she had. My father was a man of his word. To wash away the filth he had accumulated over the years, he used the Buddha-name to purify every thought. Beyond his own practice in the shrine room, he gave away all his wealth, made great offerings at temples, and travelled everywhere to listen to the sutras. He knew he did not have much time left in this world, so he seized every day to dedicate himself to the Dharma. To everyone’s amazement, within less than a year of practising, he too chanted the Buddha’s name and achieved rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. It was truly inconceivable. My parents witnessed the vastness of the Dharma for us, and my wife and I decided to dedicate our bodies and minds to the Buddha’s path, offering our remaining lives to the Dharma.'"

Transforming the Town Through the Dharma

"Those who heard my father share the true testimony of my grandparents’ rebirth were filled with admiration, praising my parents as a couple blessed with great fortune. For every couple who came to our home with questions, my parents used the Buddha’s teachings to guide them. They explained that practising Buddhism does not necessarily mean separating from one's family; rather, it means bringing the Dharma into the home, teaching the whole family to learn together, and making family relationships more harmonious. The men and women listening would nod repeatedly, realising, 'So, learning Buddhism is not about breaking up one's family, but about making family relationships better.'

My parents introduced the beauty of the Dharma to everyone, correcting the misconceptions many held. People began to try to learn the Dharma. Although they started with the intention of improving their marital relationships, they gradually discovered that the Dharma is a priceless treasure. They began to view chanting the Buddha’s name as the most important thing in life. Many even set aside their lifelong careers to practise in the temples, and some brought the Dharma into their homes until their entire families became devout believers. The Dharma truly has the power to transform a family from a state of tension into one of stable, harmonious kinship. Every person possesses Buddha-nature within their original character; once that Buddha-nature is awakened, every person is a true Buddha or Bodhisattva."

The Vow to Renounce Worldly Attachments

"I inherited my parents' beauty and grew up to be very handsome. Walking down the street, I would always attract many women who wanted to strike up a conversation. They praised my appearance, and many even deliberately sought contact with me, hoping to stay by my side. I remained vigilant, knowing that this must be because my practice lacked the necessary dignity, which was why I was still attracting these worldly women. If I radiated the aura of a pure practitioner, one that could not be violated, they would naturally not approach me so easily. From the time I was a child, I had already established a great vow: my responsibility in this life was to inherit and propagate the Dharma. I would never touch the emotions of men and women. I was the hope of my parents.

The Buddha’s compassion not only led my grandparents to the Western Pure Land, but news also began to spread throughout the town that other residents were achieving rebirth there as well. To repay the Buddha’s kindness, my parents decided that I must leave the home life to practise. To ensure the Dharma could be passed down through generations, I was willing to shoulder the Buddha’s work and spend my life propagating the teachings. Regarding the women who approached me, I did not look at their external appearance; I looked at their trapped souls. After thousands of years of samsara, they had become women in this life, and the souls within their physical bodies cried out to me, hoping to hear the Dharma. These encounters were not mere coincidences; there were Causal Conditions from the past. In previous lives, they had been disciples of the Buddha, but through the karma created over many lifetimes and the cycle of rebirth, they had become women who did not know the Dharma in this life. I used the Dharma to save them, helping them understand the preciousness of the human body and that they must chant the Buddha’s name to seek rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, rather than sinking into the sea of suffering and the endless cycle of the six realms of existence. Many women knelt and wept, lamenting that they had never had the fortune to hear the Dharma in their lives, and only today did they truly understand its value."

Life Within the Monastery Walls

"By the time I was seven, my parents sold all our family property, donated a large sum of money to the temple, and moved our entire family to live there and practise. Life in the temple was completely different from the outside world. Here, there were no disturbances from the outside, no temptations of desire, no miscellaneous objects, and no variety of people. Everyone’s heart held only one word: 'Buddha.' There was only practice—practising to attain a pure body, practising to make the heart as clear as a mirror, practising to achieve Awakening, and practising to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. Although the three of us were a family in the secular world, once we arrived at the temple, we were all disciples of the Buddha. We did not discuss emotions, and we rarely spoke. We were independent individuals practising in the temple, each moving toward our own goal of saving sentient beings. We all made a vow: in this life, we would certainly attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land.

My mother was the first of the three of us to achieve Awakening. She possessed extremely high wisdom, and her perseverance surpassed that of ordinary people. She had a heart of Bodhi and compassion; in the secular world, she was known by the townspeople as a 'living Bodhisattva.' Although she lived in wealth and beauty her whole life, she did not care at all about her external appearance or this false physical body. She understood the suffering of people in the world and practised diligently before the Buddha every day. She did all the heavy labour, hoping to temper her perseverance and character through the most difficult tasks. She practised day and night without stopping, and at the age of forty-five, she achieved Awakening. My father achieved Awakening second, and I was the last. I did not forget my great vow to save the world, and eventually, I served as the abbot of a temple, teaching many disciples to work together for the salvation of the world. In this life, the three of us each fulfilled our great vows and, at the time of our passing, each attained rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

The Urgent Need for Deliverance in the Age of Decline

"Rebirth in the Western Pure Land was not a difficult matter in those days. If one did not live in a harsh environment and suffer from its pollution, people generally kept a pure heart. When they encountered the Dharma and followed the teachings, everyone had the opportunity to attain rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

From the Western Pure Land, I know that today’s society has lost the simplicity of the environment of my time. The age of the Dharma’s decline is truly as one sees before one's eyes. Various chaotic phenomena have become frequent and common in society. Parricide and matricide were considered heinous crimes in ancient times, but today they have become common social phenomena. My heart laments that the beings in this age of decline are truly suffering beyond words. To save every lost child, I must assist the power of Practitioner Su. I hope that Practitioner Su can have even greater power to save more sentient beings. Practitioner Su truly possesses superhuman perseverance; she is not affected in the slightest by her leg injury. Instead, she exerts even greater power. Her Dharma Body breaks through the sky and arrives in the universe, vigorously performing Chao Du for all sentient beings throughout the Milky Way. In the past, there were ancestral masters and venerable masters who came to the universe to perform Chao Du, but the scope of their work did not reach the breadth of Practitioner Su’s. The compassion, mind-capacity, and the frequency of Practitioner Su’s Chao Du continue to expand, and the number of sentient beings benefiting is increasing. It is truly something that all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas praise!"

The interview message was recorded by the chief writer, Disciple Shi Fajing.