This is a record of an interview with the spirit of Mo Guang, a Demon King who sought at the Hsiang Kuang Buddhist Centre in Australia. He now resides in the Western Land of Nature, having been given the Dharma name Shi Yuansheng by Practitioner Su. Recorded by the chief writer, Venerable HaiZe, on October 9, 2023.
Mo Guang (Shi Yuansheng) speaks:
". I am the Demon King, Mo Guang. I have always been known for my refined and gentlemanly demeanour; that is my personal style. I am a Demon King of Earth. China has always been a land of propriety and righteousness, and that is where I hail from. It is an ancient nation with a long history, and we take pride in being its descendants. I simply never imagined that I would transition from the human realm into the Demon Realm.
I have been a demon for over two thousand years. In the Demon Realm, my seniority is considered quite low, but the Demon Kingdom I built is among the top tier in terms of the demon crowds on Earth. It is a great honour to join everyone today in coming to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre to seek out Practitioner Su."
The Shock of the Buddha's Presence
"I had heard of Practitioner Su's name long ago. Because Namo Amituofo abides at this temple, it has caused quite a shock throughout the Demon Realm. I have heard more senior Demon Kings say that they had never heard of Namo Amituofo manifesting in a spiritual form to descend into the human world to save beings. Therefore, we in the Demon Realm have been extremely cautious regarding this matter. Since the time of Shakyamuni Buddha, we have not heard of any practitioner appearing who could subdue so many demon crowds.
Many senior Demon Kings have already been purified and educated by Shakyamuni Buddha. Although they are still Demon Kings, their actions have become those of Dharma protectors—supporting the Buddha's teachings. This is a very unique situation; they do not harm Buddhism but instead contribute to it. Whether it concerns monastics, lay practitioners, or Dharma protectors, they even offer them protection. Thus, the demon kings, demon children, and demon grandchildren are not entirely as everyone knows them to be—only capable of doing evil and never good.
As for me, I am called Mo Guang. The character 'Guang' meaning 'vast' or 'broad' has a very Chinese feel, does it not? Chinese people love things that are vast and expansive; we feel that if something is broad, it is always better. For sentient beings, the more vast and powerful a demon's supernatural abilities are, the greater the threat they pose. I belong to the type of Demon King who does not make people raise their guard, yet I truly cause deep harm to their hearts. That is exactly how I was harmed before I entered the Demon Realm."
The Nature of Demonic Aggression
"Most demon crowds seek out targets for aggression who share the same personality and style as the people who originally harmed them. This is a projection of our own mentality. The very people who caused us to suffer and enter the Demon Realm are the types of targets we seek. Therefore, we look for those who are harmful to others, those with strong personalities, or those who would cause others to suffer and enter the Demon Realm. Conversely, those who bring benefits to people, help them leave suffering behind, and distance them from the Demon Realm—such as those in the Buddhist community—are what you would call 'good people' or 'virtuous people.' They possess the ability and the deeds to do so.
From the perspective of the Demon Realm, Practitioner Su belongs to the latter category. He specialises in helping beings in the spiritual realms, delivering them from their space and suffering through Buddhist education, and even using the six-character name of Namo Amituofo to deliver everyone. We in the Demon Realm understand these things very well, so many Demon Kings will not move against Practitioner Su until the very last moment.
Practitioner Su truly delivers far too many beings. Even the air molecules in the wind are objects of his deliverance; he has the ability to save them. As far as Practitioner Su is concerned, whatever he wishes to do, he can accomplish. He chants the Buddha-name once, moves a single thought, and can deliver the other party. This is the power of the Dharma. We Demon Kings understand this situation well because we have our demonic power, while Practitioner Su possesses . Therefore, the Demon Realm has different views on such a practitioner. Some Demon Kings have a demon nature that wants to challenge such Buddha-nature to see which is stronger. Others, because of their past experiences and what they have heard and seen, combined with a lingering sense of respect, will distance themselves from such practitioners and not harm them. Still others, who have a sense of justice, will protect such practitioners despite their own demon nature. As for me, Mo Guang, I have no fixed stance; I simply observe the situation as it unfolds."
The Protection of the Buddha
"Speaking of protecting practitioners, among ordinary practitioners, there are certainly good ones who truly save beings, but they do not possess such strong Buddha-power. Therefore, the demon crowds can truly be said to 'protect' them. But for a practitioner whose Buddha-power is greater than demonic power, how could we protect them? On the contrary, it is they who protect the demon crowds. We have seen this with Practitioner Su. We in the Demon Realm are not easily subdued; if the facts were not right before our eyes, I would not say such things.
We have a lot of data showing that the Buddha does not use methods of attack or a mentality of conquest against demon crowds. Instead, he uses a mentality of discipline and education to deliver the demon crowds into the Western Land of Dharma Nature. In fact, over the past two days in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, we even heard that Practitioner Su believes there are far too many demon crowds harming children around the world. He does not want children to be possessed, controlled, or harmed by demon crowds, which is why he goes to deliver them. Furthermore, Practitioner Su himself spends almost the entire day without stopping to deliver demon crowds, sending them to the Land of Dharma Nature so that children will not be harmed. Hearing this truly made us break into a cold sweat, because this is exactly what we Earth demon crowds are currently doing. How did Practitioner Su know about this?
Indeed, there are far too many demon crowds. As Practitioner Su says, they attack him like waves. We admit this; even we ourselves cannot figure out exactly how many demon crowds there are. They are increasing in massive numbers at every moment. The only way for the number of demon crowds to decrease is if they leave voluntarily, or if a Demon King steps down from his position and disperses his demon children and grandchildren. Otherwise, we have never heard of any human on Earth with such great ability to make so many demon crowds surrender and be sent to the Land of Dharma Nature for transformation—transforming demon nature into Buddha-nature. This truly allowed us to witness the power of the Buddha's teachings! It is not easy for these words to come out of the mouth of a Demon King, especially since Mo Guang has experienced all sorts of things in the Demon Realm and has always been full of confidence in himself."
The Failed Attack
"So, this time, upon being invited by other Demon Kings to come to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, I accepted. Firstly, I wanted to see what kind of person Practitioner Su is, and secondly, to join the ranks of those attacking Practitioner Su's body. Data indicated that Practitioner Su's right shoulder and arm had been unwell recently. Seeking out human weaknesses is what we demon crowds are best at, so we Earth Demon Kings decided to strike there. Since we were going to attack , we would naturally strike directly at the physical weakness; it is the fastest and easiest way to succeed.
Because we come from different spaces and have different abilities and methods, we first watched to see if other Demon Kings had any moves and what Practitioner Su's reaction would be. When those Demon Kings attacked the body, we remained calm and observed the situation. We saw, just as Practitioner Su said, countless demon crowds rushing into the light like ocean waves. We did not see them come out of the light; we only heard a very loud sound, and then there was no news. We also saw a Demon King leading his demon children and grandchildren rushing into the light. Soon after, like being blown by a great wind, they were blown out of the light, falling to the ground one by one, unable to stand steadily. But soon after, they were sucked away by a loud sound. This was very strange. Where were they sucked to? We looked at the data again, and it showed: oh, it turns out there is a place at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre called the Western Land of Dharma Nature, which is specifically for receiving these subdued demon crowds. I thought to myself: we shouldn't end up like that, should we?
So, after those two batches of demon crowds disappeared, it was our turn. We decided to rush directly at the angle of Practitioner Su's two shoulders. Using the fastest method is advantageous for us; we cannot drag this out. A quick attack was our decision. Thus, everyone brought the demon crowds they had with them. The combined power of several Demon Kings was indeed like an ocean wave—that description is very accurate. To push back such a massive wave, one must have considerable strength. We were full of confidence as we launched a quick attack toward the shoulder area. Whoever reached Practitioner Su's body first would release their demonic power, and surely Practitioner Su's arm and shoulder would be unable to move. Once everyone had their positions, we launched a full-scale quick attack, rushing into the light like a massive wave. Afterward, I thought I had touched his body, but later I discovered it was a protective shield. It turns out there is a protective shield around Practitioner Su's body. His light radiates through his body, passes through the protective shield, and shines outward. Therefore, when we touched it, we were bounced back by a powerful force. Everyone can imagine a strong, massive wave rushing forward, only to be quickly pushed back by another force. Because our momentum was great, the rebounding force was relatively great as well. I saw many of the demon crowds I brought, as well as those brought by the other Demon Kings, all wailing on the ground. The force was too strong! I never expected such a situation; it was truly a miserable sight."
A New Life
"Of course, their strength was dispersed at that moment, meaning they could not stand up. I was still able to stand, so I launched a second attack with the other Demon Kings. I wondered what kind of inescapable net this protective shield was, so during the second charge, I used all my strength, but I suffered the same result: being bounced out of the light. This time, the rebounding force left me only able to sit on the ground. Shortly after, I was brought to this place by the loud sound of the qing. I had no ability to resist. This was vastly different from my past experiences in battle. The taste of such failure should be very hard to swallow, but because the transition of time and space was so fast, I had no time to feel the frustration of failure before I was already sitting here.
Perhaps this is a place specifically for healing pain? I have spent over a day here, watching the situation as beings are sent here after Practitioner Su strikes the qing. Many beings who were originally full of sorrow and anger appear here in their originally kind-hearted state. And we demon crowds, no matter how kind or gentle we may be, because of our demon nature, we always emit demonic energy. Yet, I did not expect that after being here for over a day, I would seem unable to smell the demon nature on myself anymore. Is this not happening too fast? I had not intended to leave the Demon Realm yet, but the facts before me force me to accept it."
Mo Guang
Practitioner Su gave Mo Guang the Dharma name "Shi Yuansheng."
Reflections on the
"I saw the situation of Practitioner Su delivering beings at the Thrice Yearning Ceremony. Practitioner Su's deliverance is truly a vivid and excellent teaching material. His deliverance is the separation of body and spirit, and also the combination of body and spirit. I had never seen what a was, but this time I witnessed it. The Dharma Body is the ability to freely and comfortably accomplish whatever one wishes to do. This is just like our magic; if our demonic power is sufficient, we can also do this. In that sense, Practitioner Su is the same; his Buddhist Dharma power is sufficient, which is why he has the ability to do so. It is just that what Practitioner Su does is to save sentient beings, while what we do is to harm and control sentient beings.
Practitioner Su's speed of deliverance is extremely fast. In such a short and rapid time, he can do so without a single thought arising, so he has great meditative concentration. And his spirit—that is, his various manifestations—is constantly delivering beings. The names of the Twelve Buddha-Lights ring out incessantly. Practitioner Su is wholeheartedly focused on these Buddha-names, and the Buddha-names chanted from his mouth possess a tremendous vibration. At the same time, we also felt that the cooperation between Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su far surpasses anything in our Demon Realm! They use the power of , while we demon crowds use the power of force; the two are not the same.
Far too many beings were received by the Buddha-light of Namo Amituofo within this Buddha-light and these Buddha-names, especially within the Twelve Buddha-Lights. I could see this at the Dharma assembly, and it left me dumbfounded; the quantity was truly massive. Of course, those received also included many Earth demon crowds and demon crowds from different spaces such as the universe and the Milky Way, including demon crowds from the dark worlds beneath the Earth, who were all uncovered together. The Twelve Buddha-Lights also penetrated deep underground to deliver the demon crowds there. They were terrified, and without any preparation, they were sent into the Buddha-light and received. Later, I discovered that in an instant, they appeared in the Western Land of Dharma Nature. These demon crowds were actually received by the Buddha-light into the Western Land of Dharma Nature; it is truly unimaginable that such a thing could happen.
I understand that humans are called the 'most spiritual of all things' because their spirituality is higher than that of other beings. But I never expected Practitioner Su to exert his own spirituality to the fullest—not to harm beings, but to save them. This is equivalent to overturning our previous understanding as demon crowds, overturning everything we had seen and heard before, and witnessing that the Buddha's teachings are so flexible and wise that we demon crowds cannot grasp them, cannot guess them, and have no way to resist them. Although this attack on Practitioner Su failed, it has changed the lives of us Demon Kings.
Throughout the entire day of the Thrice Yearning Ceremony, whether it was the beings who came to the temple to seek deliverance or the beings delivered by Practitioner Su's Dharma Body in other places, there were simply too many—including beings from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Australia, the ten directions, the heavens beyond the heavens, the universe, the Milky Way, and other places. Our Earth demon crowds were present in all these places, which means these demon crowds were also sent here by the Twelve Buddha-Lights. This truly forces us to feel respect for Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su.
I wish for myself, my demon children and grandchildren, and the other Demon Kings to have a new life and new experiences here."
