An Interview with Julian McMahon (Renowned Hollywood Actor)

An interview with Julian McMahon, a renowned Hollywood actor (son of former Australian Prime Minister William McMahon), conducted in the Western Land of Dharma Nature. He starred in Nip/Tuck and Charmed, was nominated for a Golden Globe, and played the villain "Doctor Doom" in Fantastic Four.

Interviewer: Venerable Fa Hui

May 30, 2026

Julian McMahon:

I never imagined that I would meet you all again under these circumstances. In this life, as an actor, I achieved some success and gained considerable fame, for which I am very grateful. Being able to pursue what I love, make a living from it, and even achieve some level of success—I think not everyone is blessed with such good fortune.

I am a native Australian. Although I later moved to the United States, I have always been proud of Australia in my heart. In the past, I only knew that Australia was a wonderful country, highly regarded in every aspect among the nations of the world. Even after living in the United States for many years, I still considered myself a true-blue Australian at heart; my soul will always belong to Australia, and that is something that will never change.

However, I never knew that in the past few years, this land, this country of Australia, had become something different—one could say it is extraordinary. The reason for this is that the great Namo Amituofo is currently residing at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Goombungee, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. And now, my soul is currently in the Western Land of Dharma Nature at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. The message you are reading now is being conveyed by me from the Land of Dharma Nature and written down by the Venerable of the temple.

I am deeply grateful that Namo Amituofo has come to Australia; this is a blessing for all Australians. I want to tell all Australians that we are truly, truly fortunate to have Namo Amituofo residing here in Australia. The benefit this brings to our country is immeasurable.

Now, in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I can see that wherever Namo Amituofo is, the light shines everywhere. A vast amount of golden light is constantly blooming in the sky, upon the earth, and throughout space, and this shining golden light nourishes countless suffering souls. I can only say that the benefits of being in the same place as the Buddha are truly too numerous to count.

To say nothing else, if a country has a Buddha present, it will certainly be spared from war, and the people will be better protected from natural and man-made disasters. There are two most obvious examples: the severe drought that previously occurred in Australia and the COVID-19  that caused so many deaths and injuries. These two major events, which had a profound impact on Australia, were both resolved because Namo Amituofo is residing at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia.

Why do I say this? It is because Practitioner Su of Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, together with Namo Amituofo, performed Chao Du (spiritual deliverance) for the many beings who caused these two major events. This includes many spirits of cattle slaughtered by Australians, as well as the Plague God, the spirits of the virus, and even many demon crowds.

This information is recorded in detail on the website of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, so I will not elaborate further here.

Regarding the understanding of the spiritual realms, I believe most Australians, like my past self, still know very little. These concepts were not mentioned in the education and culture we received growing up, so I can understand why many people might find them difficult to accept at first. Therefore, I hope everyone will visit the website of Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre to read the articles there and gain a proper understanding of how the people at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre follow Namo Amituofo to save the world and help people in Australia and even the entire world.

Not only that, the Namo Amituofo salvation team at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre also helps the vast and boundless beings of the spiritual realms. They are beings that we, as humans, cannot see with our eyes, yet they truly exist in this world. Am I not now a member of the spiritual realms that those people cannot see?

Regarding why I appeared in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I must also provide a brief explanation to everyone.

At the end of my life, I suffered greatly from the torment of illness—specifically, the cancer that everyone fears. Once a doctor diagnoses you with cancer, it is as if you have been sentenced to death.

I was shocked by the cancer diagnosis, but I was helpless. Indeed, human life is so impermanent and fragile. Once you contract such a serious illness, you are basically forced to surrender, watching yourself step by step move toward death amidst the torment of pain. This process is not an interesting one; rather, every day and every second is spent in agony.

My personality always carried some optimistic and cheerful elements, and I had once speculated about where one would go after death. Since contracting cancer, while suffering from the pain, I had thought that this might mean the end of a journey, or perhaps the beginning of another beautiful journey. This speculation coincided with what happened later, but there was one detail I missed: I never expected that after I died, my soul would first descend into hell.

This hell is called the "heart-gouging hell." As the name suggests, my heart was constantly being gouged out. The feeling was truly painful; it was a pain that pierced the heart. In hell, because I was suffering as a soul, it was not a case of having my heart gouged out once and being done with it; the heart would be gouged out, heart blood would flow all over the ground, and amidst the wailing, the heart would quickly recover to its complete state, only to be gouged out again.

It was a repetition of such punishment. You must feel horrified and find it very painful just hearing this, right? That is correct; in this hell, I endured these pains incessantly. Every second, my soul endured intense pain, and I could not help but wail.

In this life, I did not have a firm religious faith, but at that moment, I could not help but pray—whether it was God, Jesus, or a Buddha or Bodhisattva, it did not matter who—I hoped someone could save me, because it was simply too painful.

Later, I was very fortunate to be rescued from hell by Practitioner Su, and thus I arrived at the Western Land of Dharma Nature at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, ending the term of the heart-gouging punishment and welcoming a beautiful and surprising transformation. Because the Western Land of Dharma Nature is truly more beautiful than any place I have ever seen in the world. Here, I have my own lotus seat, and from the lotus seat, I can see everything happening in the world, and I can also see the scenes of Practitioner Su’s classes and hear what Practitioner Su says in class. All of this is very wonderful.

When I first arrived here, my suffering soul was repaired within a few days under the bathing of Buddha-light. The energy within the Buddha-light is truly very special; it seems to have a particularly powerful healing effect on the soul.

After attending several classes here, I slowly realised that the reason I went to hell stemmed from the deviations in my mental notes. It turns out that if a person’s heart is not good, they will create negative karma; and the greater the degree of deviation, the greater the negative karma created.

Although I considered myself a cheerful and good person, I had played quite a few negative roles in my acting career. In the past, I thought this was just part of the job and there was no problem; I even felt happy about being able to perform the spirit of these roles well, and I was happy that the roles were loved by the public.

However, I never expected that as an actor, if the image portrayed is negative or evil, as long as it deviates from the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Path, it actually causes no small amount of harm to oneself. The reason is that one’s performance on the screen first harms the hearts of many viewers.

Now I realise a problem: if an actor plays a positive role, the meaning displayed has a good and positive educational effect on the hearts of people in the world, which is a very good thing. Conversely, if the role played is a villain or tends toward evil, carrying an evil mental note, although one is just trying one’s best to fulfil the duties of an actor at the time, if the image displayed by these roles violates moral foundations or carries a bad educational effect, it will actually reflect back onto the actor themselves.

In the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I can see everything that happened in my past. What shocked me more was that when I was doing my best to portray a villain or a role with an evil image, I thought I was being responsible. Although as an actor, one could say I was very responsible and professional, and could gain the affirmation of directors and audiences, from the perspective of the spiritual realms, while performing such roles, one is actually being possessed by related beings because of the psychological activities, values, and images of the roles being studied.

These related beings are those that correspond to the personality set by the role, and they often belong to beings that are biased, evil, and carry negative mental notes. I saw that after these beings entered my body, they left many stains on my originally pure heart. Even if there was no obvious difference on the surface, it cannot be denied that because of playing these roles, my mental notes, thoughts, and even behaviours were interfered with. Deep in my heart, my mental notes were no longer so positive and kind. This is a very serious problem, and it is a subject that every actor should face.

Now, after receiving Buddhist education, I have discovered how important it is to keep this heart in a pure and kind state. The Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Path are the ultimate forces operating in the universe, imposed upon all beings in the vastness of the Dharma Realm, the Milky Way, the Earth, and even any planet, region, or country. Among them, the "Law of Cause and Effect" is a very simple and easy-to-understand concept: when you do Goodness, you will receive good fruits; when you do evil, you will receive bad fruits. Therefore, when a person’s mental notes are no longer pure and kind, but have deviations, negativity, or even a tendency to harm others, this is creating negative karma and sins, which will produce a huge backlash against oneself.

In this life, due to the education I received from a young age, I have always known to help others within my ability, such as donating money and doing charity work, and I have also actively participated in doing good deeds to give back to society. However, at the end of my life, I contracted cancer and even went to hell after death. The biggest reason for this is mainly the bad influence brought about by being an actor.

Oh! If I had received the Buddhist education of Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre earlier, I would certainly not have gone to play any villains or roles with negative images, but would have made strict selections for the roles I was to perform. After all, this is a very serious problem; if you cause a bad influence, you will also be harmed yourself.

Conversely, if your performance has a good and positive effect on the public, it will also be of great help to you. Therefore, when choosing roles to play, if one can have this awareness, one must choose positive, sunny, and kind-hearted roles; this is the most basic thing that should be done.

In fact, at the end of my life, my body and mind were greatly affected by the torment of cancer, and many negative beliefs were produced as a result; but there was always a kindness in my heart, that kindness existed.

So I have been thinking, how can we prevent everyone from suffering from the torment of illness? Because being sick is truly a very painful thing. Whether it is for the patient, or for the patient’s parents, wife, friends, etc., it is a huge torment, and it often lasts for a very long time. Too many people have consumed the rare positive energy and vitality of their lives because of illness.

However, countless medical experts in the world, countless people want to solve the problem of illness, but no one has ever been truly successful. How could I, someone who does not understand medicine, be able to solve it? So the answer to this question was destined to be unanswerable while I was still alive.

However, very surprisingly, after death, I was very fortunate to be transferred to the Western Land of Dharma Nature. Here, I live a carefree life without afflictions, and I have never felt so happy before. It turns out that when a person’s soul is free from the shackles of the body and free from the various pollutions of the world, it is naturally so light, comfortable, and at ease.

I was very surprised to get the answer to the question of illness from Practitioner Su’s lectures. It turns out that as long as you truly do what Namo Amituofo teaches in class, and can truly follow what Namo Amituofo teaches us, then you can obtain the true benefits of the Buddha’s teachings, which is to be able to avoid the pain of ageing, illness, and death. This is the most precious gift the Buddha has given us.

I can briefly share a little of what I have learned over these past few days, including: to be a kind and good person, and to be willing from the bottom of your heart to help others. Beyond human beings in the human world, the Buddha teaches us that we should also be able to cultivate a heart willing to help beings in the spiritual realms. If one can possess such a heart of compassion and be willing from the heart to extend a helping hand to all sentient beings, and sincerely recite this phrase, "Namo Amituofo," it will be of immense help to both others and oneself. This is what I have understood so far.

If I had known earlier that in Australia, a country I love and am proud of, there was already a temple where Namo Amituofo resides, and that in this temple there is Practitioner Su who has realised one's true nature and attained Buddhahood, then perhaps my life would have taken a completely different path, and perhaps I would have chosen to embark on the path of practice. But saying this now is truly too late for me, because I no longer have a body, I no longer have a human form.

In fact, there are still many people in the world who hope to find a solution to the three problems of "ageing, sickness, and death." I want to tell everyone that this solution is at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. Everyone should come here quickly to listen to the lectures given by Namo Amituofo, and attend the classes offered by Namo Amituofo.

Of course, before coming here:

1. If you are not Australian:

You can visit the website of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre to gain a basic understanding of how this place helps humans and beings in the spiritual realms.

1. If you are Australian:

I want to say to my fellow Australians that you must come quickly to Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre to listen to the lectures given by Namo Amituofo, and attend the classes offered by Namo Amituofo.

Because what is taught in these classes is not what one would typically hear in school; rather, it teaches us what is meant by the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Way, and how to align our hearts, words, and actions with the Universal Principle, the Truth, and the Right Path. This is a very important matter.

These precious courses do not require any fees; anyone willing to come and listen can hear this precious content. As for anyone who wishes to learn more, Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is very willing to provide information for them to understand.

Because the purpose of these courses is entirely to hope that everyone in the world, after learning, can obtain the true benefits of the Buddha’s teachings—that is, to be free from ageing, free from sickness, and for the spirit to be free from death. Practitioner Su at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre has already achieved this, and is waiting for more people to come here to study.

To my fellow Australians, if you are planning to come to Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, I suggest you go to the highway in Brisbane and look at the three Namo Amituofo billboards set up by the temple. I believe you will be very moved.

Now, I will reveal a secret to you here: In Australia, there are many lonely wandering spirits drifting in the world with nowhere to go, and many, many sentient beings suffering in various spaces. And these countless suffering beings have many of them obtained deliverance because of the three Namo Amituofo billboards on the Brisbane highway.

These three billboards are not ordinary billboards. Although human eyes cannot see it, I can see on the Dharma-Nature Land that they emit immense golden light at all times, and at any moment, many spirits enter this golden light and obtain deliverance.

They are now just like me, residing on the Western Land of Dharma Nature at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, living a very happy and wonderful life. We have all embarked on a brand-new journey of life, purifying our spirits on the Dharma-Nature Land, looking forward to the day when we have the opportunity to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. That is a pure, happy, and beautiful world, even more wonderful than the Western Land of Dharma Nature where I am now.

A Message to My Daughter

Now, your father is here on the Western Land of Dharma Nature at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, waiting for anyone to come and speak with me. I hope you can come here to meet me.

At the same time, I also hope you can come here to listen to the lectures given by Namo Amituofo; this will give you a completely different perspective on the human body. Being sick is a very painful thing, and I do not want you to follow in your father's footsteps. If you want to avoid such an outcome, only Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre can help you.

Whether it is through the internet, by calling, or by coming in person, it is all fine.

Your father is waiting for you on the Western Land of Dharma Nature at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre.