Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu's story - he saw Buddha in hell.
Back From the Dead
By Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu
The Remarkable Testimony of a Buddhist monk in Myanmar (Burma) who came back to
life a changed man!
Introduction
The story that follows is simply a translation of a taped testimony from a man
with a life-changing story. It is not an interview or a biography, but simply
the words from the man himself. Different people react in different ways when
they hear this story. Some are inspired, some skeptical, a few will mock and
ridicule, while some others have even been filled with rage and anger, convinced
these words are the ravings of a mad man or an elaborate deception. Some
Christians have opposed the story simply because the radical and miraculous
events described herein do not fit their feeble image of an Almighty God.
My Early Years:
Hello! My name is Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu. I am from the country of Myanmar. I
would like to share with you my testimony of what happened to me, but first I
would like to give some brief background information from my life growing up. I
was born in 1958 in the town of Bogale, on the Irrawaddy Delta area of southern
Myanmar [formerly Burma]. My parents, who were devout Buddhists like most people
in Myanmar, named me Thitpin [which means 'tree' in English]. Our lives were
very simple where I grew up. At the age of 13 I left school and started working
on a fishing boat. We caught fish and sometimes also shrimp from the numerous
rivers and streams in the Irrawaddy area. At the age of 16 I became the leader
of the boat. At this time I lived in Upper Mainmahlagyon Island [Mainmahlagyon
means 'Beautiful Woman Island' in English], just north of Bogale where I was
born. This place is about 100 miles southwest of Yangon [Rangoon], our nation's
capital city.
One day, when I was 17, we caught a large number of fish in our nets. Because of
the many fish, a large crocodile was attracted to us. It followed our boat and
tried to attack us. We were terrified so we frantically rowed our boats toward
the riverbank as fast as we could. The crocodile followed us and smashed our
boat with its tail. Although no one died in this incident, the attack greatly
affected my life. I no longer wanted to fish. Our small boat sank because of the
crocodile attack. We had to go home to our village that night on a passenger
boat. Not long after, my father's employers transferred my father to Yangon City
[formerly spelt Rangoon]. At the age of 18 I was sent to a Buddhist monastery to
be a novice monk. Most parents in Myanmar try to send their son into a Buddhist
monastery, at least for a time, as it is considered a great honor to have a son
serve in this way. We have been observing this custom for many hundreds of
years.
A Zealous Disciple of Buddha:
When I turned 19 years and 3 months old (in 1977), I became a normal monk. The
senior monk at my monastery gave me a new Buddhist name, which is the custom in
our country. I was now called U Nata Pannita Ashinthuriya. When we become a monk
we no longer use the name given to us at birth by our parents. The name of the
monastery I lived at is called Mandalay Kyaikasan Kyaing. The senior monk's name
was called U Zadila Kyar Ni Kan Sayadaw [U Zadila is his title]. He was the most
famous Buddhist monk in all of Myanmar at the time. Everyone knew who he was. He
was widely honored by the people and respected as a great teacher. I say he
"was" because in 1983 he suddenly died when he was involved in a fatal car
accident. His death shocked everyone. At the time I had been a monk for six
years.
I tried hard to be the best monk I could and to follow all the precepts of
Buddhism. At one stage I moved to a cemetery where I lived and meditated
continually. Some monks who really want to know the truths of Buddha do things
like I did. Some move deep into the forests where they live a life of
self-denial and poverty. I sought to deny my selfish thoughts and desires, to
escape from sickness and suffering and to break free from the cycle of this
world. At the cemetery I was not afraid of ghosts. I tried to attain such inner
peace and self-realization that even when a mosquito landed on my arm I would
let it bite me instead of brushing it off!
For years I strived to be the best monk I could and not to harm any living
being. I studied the holy Buddhist teachings just like all my forefathers had
done before me. My life proceeded as a monk until I got very, very sick. I was
in Mandalay at the time and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment. The
doctors did some tests on me and told me I had both Yellow Fever and malaria at
the same time! After about one month in the hospital I was getting worse. The
doctors told me there was no chance for me to recover and discharged me to make
arrangements to die. This is a brief description of my past. I would now like to
tell you some of the remarkable things that happened to me after this time...
A Vision that Changed My Life Forever;
After I was discharged from the hospital I went back to the monastery where
other monks cared for me. I grew weaker and weaker and was lapsing into
unconsciousness. I learned later that I actually died for three days. My body
decayed and stunk of death, and my heart stopped beating. My body was prepared
for cremation and was put through traditional Buddhist purification rites.
Although I faded away in my body I remember my mind and spirit were fully alert.
I was in a very, very powerful storm. A tremendous wind flattened the whole
landscape until there were no trees or anything else standing, just a flat
plain. I walked very fast along this plain for some time. There were no other
people anywhere, I was all alone. After some time I crossed a river. On the
other side of the river I saw a terrible, terrible lake of fire. In Buddhism we
do not have a concept of a place like this. At first I was confused and didn't
know it was hell until I saw Yama, the king of hell [Yama is the name ascribed
to the King of Hell in numerous cultures throughout Asia]. His face looked like
the face of a lion, his body was like a lion, but his legs were like a naga
[serpent spirit]. He had a number of horns on his head. His face was very
fierce, and I was extremely afraid. Trembling, I asked him his name. He replied,
"I am the king of hell, the Destroyer."
The terrible, terrible lake of fire;
The king of hell told me to look into the lake of fire. I looked and I saw the
saffron colored robes that Buddhist monks wear in Myanmar. I looked closer and
saw the shaven head of a man. When I looked at the man's face I saw it was U
Zadila Kyar Ni Kan Sayadaw [the famous monk who had died in a car accident in
1983]. I asked the king of hell why my former leader was confined to this lake
of torment. I said, "Why is he in this lake of fire? He was a very good teacher.
He even had a teaching tape called 'Are You a Man or a Dog?' which had helped
thousands of people understand that their worth as humans is far greater than
the animals." The king of hell replied, "Yes, he was a good teacher but he did
not believe in Jesus Christ. That's why he is in hell." (footnote 10.)
I was told to look at another person who was in the fire. I saw a man with very
long hair wrapped on the left hand side of his head. He was also wearing a robe.
I asked the king of hell, "Who is this man?" He replied, "This is the one you
worship: Gautama [Buddha]." I was very disturbed to see Gautama in hell. I
protested, "Gautama had good ethnics and good moral character, why is he
suffering in this lake of fire?" The king of hell answered me, "It doesn't
matter how good he was. He is in this place because he did not believe in the
Eternal God."
I then saw another man who looked like he was wearing a soldier's uniform. He
had a large wound on his chest. I asked, "Who is this man?" The king of hell
said, "This is Aung San, the revolutionary leader of Myanmar." I was told, "Aung
San is here because he persecuted and killed Christians, but mostly because he
didn't believe in Jesus Christ." In Myanmar the people have a common saying,
"Soldiers never die, they live on." I was told that the legions of hell have a
saying "Soldiers never die, but they go to hell forever."
I looked and saw another man in the lake of fire. He was a very tall man and he
was dressed in military armor. He was also holding a sword and a shield. This
man had a wound on his forehead. This man was taller than any person I have ever
seen. He was six times the length between a man's elbow and the tips of his
fingers when he stretches his arm out straight, plus one span of a man's fingers
when he spreads out his hand. The king of hell said, "This man's name is
Goliath. He is in hell because he blasphemed the Eternal God and His servant
David." I was confused because I didn't know who either Goliath or David were.
The king of hell said, "Goliath is recorded in the Christian Bible. You don't
know him now, but when you become a Christian you will know who he is."
I was then taken to a place where I saw both rich and poor people preparing to
eat their evening meals. I asked, "Who cooked the food for these people?" The
king of hell replied, "The poor have to prepare their own food, but the rich
people get others to cook for them." When the food had been prepared for the
rich people they sat down to eat. As soon as they started a thick smoke came up.
The rich people ate as fast as they could to ease their consciences. They were
struggling to breath because of the smoke. They had to eat fast because they
were fearful of losing their money. Their money is their god. Another king of
hell then came to me. I also saw a being whose job is to stoke the fires beneath
the lake of fire, to keep it hot. This being asked me, "Are you going into the
lake of fire too?" I replied, "No! I am only here to observe!" The appearance of
this creature stoking the fire was very terrifying. He had ten horns on his head
and a spear in his hand that had seven sharp blades coming from the end.
The creature told me, "You are right. You came here just to observe. I cannot
find your name here." He said, "You must now go back the way you came." He
pointed me toward the desolate plain that I had first walked along before I came
to the lake of fire.
The Road of Decision;
I walked a long time, until I was bleeding. I was hot and in great pain.
Finally, after walking for about three hours I came to a wide road. I walked
along this road for some time until I came to a fork. One road, going off to the
left, was wide. A smaller road went off to the right hand side. There was a
signpost at the fork saying that the road to the left was for those who do not
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. The smaller road to the right was for
believers in Jesus. I was interested to see where the larger road led so I
started down it. There were two men walking about 300 yards ahead of me. I tried
to catch up with them so I could walk with them but no matter how hard I tried I
couldn't catch them up, so I turned around and went back to the fork in the
road. I continued to watch these two men as they walked down the road away from
me. When they reached the end of the road they were suddenly stabbed. These two
men cried out in great pain! I also cried out when I saw what happened to them!
I realized the bigger road ended in great danger for those who traveled down it.
Looking into Heaven
I started walking down the believers' road instead. After traveling for about
one hour the surface of the road turned to pure gold. It was so pure that when I
looked down I could see my own reflection perfectly. I then saw a man
standing in front of me. He was wearing a white robe. I also heard
beautiful singing. Oh, it was so beautiful and pure! It was much better and more
meaningful than the worship we have in churches here on the earth. The man in
the white robe asked me to walk with him. I asked him, "What is your name?" but
he did not answer. After I asked his name six times the man answered, "I am the
one who holds the key to heaven.
Heaven is a very, very beautiful place. You cannot go there now but if you
follow Jesus Christ you can go there after your life has finished on the earth."
The man's name was Peter. Peter then asked me to sit down and he showed me
a place to the north. Peter said, "Look to the north and see God create man." I
saw the Eternal God from a distance. God spoke to an angel, "Let us make man."
The angel pleaded with God and said, "Please don't make man. He will do wrong
and will grieve you." [In Burmese literally: "He will make you lose face."]. But
God created a man named anyway. God blew on the man and the man came to life. He
gave him the name "Adam". [Note: Buddhists do not believe in the Creation
of the world or of man, so this experience had a significant impact on the
monk].
Sent Back with a New Name;
Then Peter said, "Now get up and go back to where you came from. Speak to the
people who worship Buddha and who worship idols. Tell them they must go to hell
if they don't change. Those who build temples and idols will also have to go to
hell. Those who give offerings to the monks to earn merit for themselves with go
to hell. All those who pray to the monks and call them 'Pra' [respectful title
for monks] will go to hell. Those who chant and 'give life' to idols will go to
hell. All those who don't believe in Jesus Christ will go to hell."
Peter told me to go back to the earth and testify about the things I had seen.
He also said, "You must speak in your new name. From now on you are to be called
Athet Pyan Shinthaw Paulu ["Paul who Came Back to Life."]. I didn't want to go
back. I wanted to go to heaven. Angels opened a book. First they looked for my
childhood name (Thitpin) in the book, but they could not find it. They then
looked for the name I had been given when he entered the Buddhist monk hood (U
Nata Pannita Ashinthuriya) but it wasn't written in the book either. Then Peter
said, "Your name is not written here, you must return and testify about Jesus to
the Buddhist people."
I walked back along the gold road. Again I heard beautiful singing, the kind of
which I have never heard before or since. Peter walked with me until the time I
returned to the earth. He showed me a ladder that reached down from the heaven
to the sky. The ladder didn't reach to the earth, but stopped in mid-air. On the
ladder I saw many angels, some going up to heaven and some going down the
ladder. They were very busy. I asked Peter, "Who are they?" Peter answered,
"They are messengers of God. They are reporting to heaven the names of all those
who believe in Jesus Christ and the names of those who don't believe." Peter
then told me it was time to go back.
It is a Ghost?
The next thing I was aware of was the sound of weeping. I heard my own mother
cry out, "My son, why did you leave us now?" I also heard many other people
weeping. I realized I was lying in a box. I started to move. My mother and
father started shouting, "He is alive! He is alive!" Other people who were
farther away did not believe my parents. I then placed my hands on the sides of
the box and sat upright. Many people were struck with terror. They cried out,
"It is a ghost!" and ran away as fast as their legs could carry them.
Those who remained were speechless and trembling. I noticed I was sitting in
smelly liquid and body fluids, enough to fill about three and a half cups. This
was liquid that had come out of my stomach and my insides while my body was
lying in the coffin. This is why people knew I had indeed been dead. Inside the
coffin there was a type of plastic sheet fixed to the wood. This sheet is placed
there to retain a corpse's liquids, because many dead bodies release much fluid
like mine did. I learned later that I was just moments away from being cremated
in the flames. In Myanmar people are placed in a coffin, the lid is then nailed
shut, and the whole coffin is burned. When I came back to life my mother and
father were being allowed to look at my body for the very last time. Moments
later the lid of my coffin would have been nailed shut and I would have been
cremated!
I immediately started to explain the things I had seen and heard. People were
astonished. I told them about the men I had seen in the lake of fire, and told
them that only the Christians know the truth, that our forefathers and us have
been deceived for thousands of years! I told them everything we believe is a
lie. The people were astonished because they knew what kind of a monk I had been
and how zealous I had been for the teachings of Buddha.
In Myanmar when a person dies their name and age is written on the side of the
coffin. When a monk dies, the monk's name, age and the number of years he has
served as a monk are written on the side of the coffin. I had already been
recorded as dead but as you can see, now I am alive!
Epilogue
Since 'Paul who came back to life' experienced the above story he has remained a
faithful witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. Burmese pastors have told us that he
had led hundreds of other monks to faith in Christ. His testimony is obviously
very uncompromising. Because of that, his message has offended many people who
cannot accept there is only one Way to Heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Despite great opposition, his experiences were so real to him that he has not
wavered. After many years in the Buddhist monk hood, as a strict follower of
Buddhist teachings, he immediately proclaimed the Gospel of Christ following his
resurrection and exhorted other monks to forsake all false gods and follow Jesus
Christ with all their hearts. Before the time of his sickness and death he had
no exposure to Christianity at all. Everything he learned during those three
days in the grave was new to his mind.
In a bid to get his message out to as many people as possible, this modern-day
Lazarus began distributing audio and video cassette tapes with his story on
them. The police and Buddhist authorities in Myanmar have done their utmost to
gather these tapes up and destroy them. The testimony you have just read has
been translated from one of those cassette tapes. We are told it is now quite
dangerous for citizens of Myanmar to be in possession of these tapes.
His fearless testimony has landed him in prison at least once, where the
authorities failed in their bid to silence him. Upon his release he continued to
testify of the things he saw and heard. His current whereabouts are uncertain.
One Burmese informant told us he is prison and may have been killed, while
another informant was told he is now released from prison and is continuing his
ministry.