Rebirth in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss — Hou Zhijun (Son of Hou Guifen, Brother of Bai Yunyan)

Interview by Chief Writer: Fa Ning

July 10, 2026

Lay Practitioner Hou Zhijun:

In the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, my heart is incomparably spacious and at ease! I am deeply grateful to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su for leading so many of us deceased to such a wonderful world.

My life was truly filled with many reflections and deep shame. Leaving the human world and causing my family sorrow was not the ending I wanted. However, having been ill for such a long time, I had long known that my body could not hold on for much longer; thus, leaving the human world was actually a matter of the laws of karma and cause and effect, and I hold no resentment or dissatisfaction. This was the manifestation of the karma I had accumulated throughout my life, leading me to leave the human world at this very moment.

Fortunately, after I passed, my family at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia quickly registered me for the temple's Chao Du, allowing me the wonderful opportunity to arrive in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss today. I am filled with gratitude because of the compassion of the Buddha or Bodhisattva, and also because of my family's deep love for me. They do not yet know that this world is so wonderful; it is a spiritual elevation that no amount of money can buy.

I can now see everything in the human world from this place, including everything happening at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. If I were still in the human world, I would certainly come to this temple to practise and serve, because I see that this is the most wonderful place in the human world. This temple is always shining brightly, leading countless suffering beings to come here. People's physical eyes may not be able to see this magnificent scene, but I can see it very clearly; I could see it clearly when I was in the Western Land of Dharma Nature.

Regarding everything that happened to me in the human world, I think it was all an arrangement of Causal Conditions. Because when I had a human body, there were many things I could not master; I could not control myself, nor could I change myself. This is perhaps the sorrow of life. Being mastered by many beings, I did not even have a chance to turn my life around. But I do not have much regret in my heart, because I am already a person with great blessings, able to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

I want to share this rare experience with everyone, and I hope you will take my story as a mirror and not follow my path.

I am someone who has been to the hells. Although I did not stay long, being led up by Practitioner Su is my blessing. But this still means that what I did in my life did not conform to the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, which is why I ended up this way. This is a matter of the laws of karma and cause and effect, and no one can have any opinion about it.

To my family, I sincerely wish that they can learn Buddhism, and I hope they can be down-to-earth and step by step acquire the skills of the Buddha. Even if they cannot acquire them, they must properly change their personalities.

Keep chanting Namo Amituofo, purify your Body-Mind-Spirit, and coming to the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss will surely be even easier and simpler. Perhaps you can even be reborn in the Western Pure Land by chanting at home; what a remarkable thing that is!

Now, as a Westerner, I have been listening to sutras and hearing the Dharma here for some time, and I have also made a vow. That is, I want to be like the Buddha and be able to save all suffering beings. These are words I could never have said while I was alive, but now that my spirit has been greatly purified and elevated, what I say is perhaps a little closer to that of the Buddha or Bodhisattva.

This is not me being conceited, but this place is so pure and Good, that we dare not, and will not, give rise to any evil thought; it is naturally so. This is what Namo Amituofo promised everyone when He created the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

Well, I will not say much more. I hope my family can always remain on the Truth and the Right Way, and make the most of their strengths.

Gratitude to the compassion of Namo Amituofo, and gratitude to the compassion of Practitioner Su.

Namo Amituofo

Hou Zhijun