A Century of Wandering: The Spirit of Toowoomba

This is a record of an interview with He Dasheng, a spirit who sought Chao Du at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Goombungee, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. He now aspires to reach the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. This account reflects upon his life approximately 126 years ago. Recorded and transcribed by Namo Amituofo’s disciple, Venerable HaiZe, on February 10, 2026.

He Dasheng speaks:

"Namo Amituofo. My name is He Dasheng, and I am a spirit residing here in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. I have been dead for nearly one hundred and twenty-six years. Back then, this entire area was just vast grasslands—you could say it was a wilderness.

I was a child born to a British father and a local Indigenous mother, which made me quite unique. At the time, I possessed both my father's tall stature and my mother's beauty. If you hear my name, you know I am a man; I was handsome and caught everyone's attention.

A Heritage of Two Worlds

My personality was a blend of my mother's natural love for the outdoors and my father's refined manners, rooted in his foreign cultural background. My father had been invited by a British employer to come to Toowoomba for land development, which is where he met my mother. She was young and beautiful then; in fact, when I passed away, my mother was still very young.

I felt proud of my parents. My father was respected by the local Indigenous people because he always spoke to them with a kind smile. In my memory, some of the British people who came here were not very polite to the Indigenous people; they looked at them with disdain and arrogance. My father was not like that, which is why he caught my mother's eye. At the time, our family was protected by the British, but in truth, we were also protected by the Indigenous people, as my mother was considered a woman of good fortune by them.

A Life Cut Short

I grew up under my father's guidance and followed the Catholic faith, which was our lifelong reliance. I was a gentle and polite child, but I was sickly from a young age. I lived into my twenties but never married, as I was in poor health and did not want to burden the next generation. I died of heart disease. My passing brought sorrow to my parents, but I left with a smile. I had no attachments; instead, I left the human world filled with love.

I bid farewell to the world with Catholic rites. It has been over a hundred years since then. Just now, the number 'one hundred and twenty-six' suddenly appeared in my mind; I know it must have been the kind Namo Amituofo telling me. That is the age of an old man. In truth, my soul has been very clear since I died. I know that later, my father took my mother and left Toowoomba to return to England, as that was his home country. They left me here because I was born here, grew up here, and died here. I spent my life of birth, aging, sickness, and death here; this place is my home.

The Life of a Wandering Spirit

I became a ghost here. Many people who believe in Catholicism are buried in cemeteries after their mourning rites. After many, many years, their families might separate or move away, and they become ghosts of the cemetery—without family, just lonely wandering spirits. That is my current identity!

I have no family here, but I do not live alone, for there are many lonely wandering spirits. We are all companions, carrying the habits and personalities we had while alive. Most ghosts still retain a kind heart and an expectation of God. But to be honest, I have been a ghost for one hundred and twenty-six years, and I have never seen God, nor have I seen any light. I felt a little disappointed in my heart, but I got used to it. I knew this was the life I had to lead, so I settled down with the other spirits. We are all very kind! We do not harm people, nor do we scare them. We can see people's activities, but we do not interfere. I never thought about attaching myself to people.

I know many ghosts, in order to gain energy and survive, must attach themselves to people to suck their 'qi'—that is, to absorb the energy from their bodies to survive. But I feel that natural energy already exists in the air; one does not need that much energy, so I never felt the need to attach myself to anyone.

An Unexpected Connection

But why did I appear on this lady, Ms. Wang Minjie, at this time? This is a very special matter.

One day, my good friend—also a wandering spirit—and I drifted into a hospital. To be honest, it was not pleasant inside; there were so many ghosts! I never intended to go in. But that day, my friend said that a relative from his lifetime was ill, and he wanted to see him. He asked me to accompany him. I told him, 'You are a ghost now, and he is a human. How can you see him? He doesn't know you are there, he cannot see you, and he doesn't recognize you.'

He said, 'It doesn't matter, just come and see.'

As it turned out, there were indeed many ghosts in the hospital, some even stacked upon one another. Many were patients, and there were also the ghosts of doctors and nurses. We passed through their bodies. On the way, I saw a woman with a faint glow on her body. Our sensitivity tells us that only those with a kind heart emit such light, and her light was gentle. I watched her from afar and discovered that she was very good to people; she was a nurse and explained things to patients very patiently. Perhaps it was karmic affinity, so I followed her.

The Light of the Buddha

That was about ten years ago. I was originally staying by her side, but later I discovered that some of the ghosts entering her body were not friendly; they made her easily tired and caused pain in her legs. So, I entered her body and stayed in her legs, wanting to help her drive away these ghosts so she could have more strength to help more patients. Since then, I have never left her legs.

From within her, I learned that her parents were good people, which is why they raised such a kind child. The Practitioner Su I know was her mother. I saw that her mind-capacity was so vast. I saw her raising Ms. Wang Minjie and teaching her many things. I also saw them come to Toowoomba to buy land and build a temple, which became the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. Many people and monastics live here, and everything they do is for the benefit of the spiritual realms and for the benefit of people. They silently do many good deeds, and the most important thing is that the Buddha is here—Namo Amituofo.

There are also many bright, virtuous beings here. They are also in the form of spirits, but their bodies shine with light, completely different from us lonely wandering spirits. We discovered that their hearts are focused on caring for all beings. Because they have such vast mind-capacity, they emit such light, unlike us and ordinary ghost crowds who only care about ourselves. This is a completely different level of mind-capacity.

The Compassion of Practitioner Su

This is what we now respectfully call Practitioner Su. As long as Ms. Wang Minjie is with Practitioner Su, we can feel the compassion radiating from her. Moreover, we have seen scenes of Chao Du at the temple. We had never seen anyone leave the world of darkness through the Chao Du of Practitioner Su and the guidance of Namo Amituofo. In particular, Practitioner Su's skill in delivering demonic beings is something we truly admire. In our world of ghosts, there are also demons—what you call evil spirits. We stay far away from them because encountering them always makes us feel pain. Yet, Practitioner Su has such a vast mind-capacity to encompass them, subdue them, and save them. This is something we had never thought of or encountered. This must be the Buddha-heart.

I once asked my God in my heart if he was also going around saving his children just like Practitioner Su, but I received no response. I also asked other wandering spirits if they had ever seen anyone like Practitioner Su—someone with such great light on their body, like Namo Amituofo, who had the ability to save so many spirits. They all said they had never encountered such a thing.

A New Path to Deliverance

Through Ms. Wang Minjie, we saw how Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su save all beings, and only then did we realize that we ourselves also needed to be saved. That is why, through this opportunity to invite spirits—that is, inviting the spirits on her body to come out—we were willing to leave her body this time. There are many ghosts, what you call attached spirits, as well as ghosts like us, and even local spirits of Toowoomba who were willing to come out. Wherever Ms. Wang Minjie goes, there are some spirits attached to her, and once attached, they do not want to leave. But whenever she attends a Dharma assembly, our hearts are moved because we see many beings and many spirits heading toward the Buddha-light of Namo Amituofo. Gradually, the weight of Namo Amituofo in my heart replaced the weight of God, because we discovered that when the Buddha-light of Namo Amituofo shines on Ms. Wang Minjie, it is equivalent to shining on us, allowing the beings on her body to also obtain light.

I believe that by coming out and following the Buddha-light of Namo Amituofo, we are heading toward our next place of residence, perhaps the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. This is the expectation in my heart.

Gratitude and Hope

I am grateful to Namo Amituofo for giving me the opportunity to speak the words in my heart. I must also be grateful to Practitioner Su; you have saved so many, many beings in the spiritual realms, especially many spirits in Brisbane, Queensland, and local spirits in Toowoomba, ghosts in cemeteries, even more Indigenous spirits, spirits from nursing homes, and the spirits of kangaroos, cows, and horses—they have all been saved by you, and they are all so grateful to you. We have seen Practitioner Su's Chao Du process, where she removes the animal and insect 'clothes' from their bodies, turning them back into their original human forms. Especially many ants—the way they looked after taking off their clothes was actually just like humans! When we first saw it, we were shocked! How could such a thing happen? Because we knew that ants remain ants after death, and cows remain cows. We had never seen ants, cows, kangaroos, snakes, or mice have their clothes removed and turn into human forms. Is this the power of the Buddha's teachings?

If only the whole world and more Australians knew about the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, how wonderful that would be! Their souls would surely be able to obtain light, go to the bright Buddha-land, and have an eternal reliance, rather than being ghosts in a cemetery.

I hope that any Australian or anyone else who has the opportunity to read this interview can come to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Goombungee, Toowoomba, Queensland, to take a look. This place is the spiritual home for everyone. Their website needs to be reorganised, and they are asking Josh from Toowoomba to help. You are truly so lucky to be able to help Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su. If you promote the message 'Namo Amituofo abides at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre' on the internet, allowing Australia and even the whole world to know about Namo Amituofo, the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, and the good deeds done by the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, it could save so many, many people and spirits. What a meaningful thing this is! I believe that one day you will also have the opportunity to come to the bright Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, which is where I want to go now.

Everyone can come and take a look, and you will know many things that Australians do not know. Just like the severe drought caused by lack of water a few years ago, and the subsequent rain that relieved the long-term drought here—this was all brought about by Practitioner Su's prayers for rain. This is something I personally experienced.

There are also the Buddha billboards that Practitioner Su made in Brisbane. Many spirits only knew about the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre because they saw the Buddha billboards, and they came here to receive the Chao Du of Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su. This is truly heart-warming, because I also saw some lonely wandering spirits I knew among them, and they also came here and obtained deliverance.

I carry a smile and a heart full of gratitude, looking forward to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su fulfilling my wish to go to the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss. I also hope that more and more suffering souls can be saved.

Namo Amituofo."