An Interview with Kerry Greenwood (Renowned Mystery Novelist, Playwright, and Criminal Defence Lawyer)

A highly representative and renowned Australian mystery novelist, playwright, and criminal defence lawyer. She created the globally popular historical detective novel series 'Phryne Fisher' (later adapted into a high-rating television series and film).

Kerry Greenwood:

Hello everyone, I am Kerry.

I would like to share with you where I have been for nearly a year after my death. I believe you are all very curious about this, as everyone is surely curious about what the state of the world of the spirit is like after a person dies.

After death, my spirit actually entered the 'heart-gouging hell'. It was extremely painful. In this hell, my heart was relentlessly and repeatedly gouged out. Because in this hell, your injured spirit automatically recovers, and as my heart was being continuously gouged out, I felt very confused and helpless, because I did not know why I was being subjected to such treatment.

During those days of suffering, I was always searching for hope. I always believed that even in such difficult circumstances, hope exists. Nearly a year after my death, in these past few days, I finally found hope in hell. When the voice of Practitioner Su resonated in hell, and a massive golden light shone upon my spirit, I arrived at the Western Land of Dharma Nature of Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in a very short time.

This is a place that does not exist in the imagination of worldly people, because people's imaginations are often limited by their own cognitive frameworks. And the Western Land of Dharma Nature where I am now represents purity and light; there are no worldly afflictions, no worldly desires, and certainly no worldly deceit, competition, or various discriminations and inequalities between one another.

There are no attachments between family members or partners here, no physical problems, and no need to consider what to eat or spend effort decorating one's dwelling. Here, every resident has their own lotus seat, and every day one only needs to chant 'Namo Amituofo' while on the lotus seat.

Regarding why I went to hell, or even the heart-gouging hell, I have been searching for the answer to this question since I arrived at the Western Land of Dharma Nature.

After listening to Practitioner Su's lectures, I slowly understood that this heart needs to be well cared for, kept from selfishness, and maintained in a state of purity and goodness, because the universal principle and the Truth and the right path are pure and good, and cannot contain even a trace of evil. In the world, the noble virtues that people admire, including selfless dedication, sacrificing oneself, and helping others succeed, all resonate with the universal principle and the Truth and the right path.

And in the Buddha’s teachings, what we are taught is: how to ensure that every word, every action, and every move can completely conform to the universal principle and the Truth and the right path. If one can achieve this, one can attain Buddhahood.

In the past, I had heard of the existence of the Buddha, but I had no great interest in attaining Buddhahood, as I felt it was too far away from me. However, now that I am listening to Practitioner Su's lectures on the lotus seat, I understand that attaining Buddhahood is an aspiration that every spirit should have. Because if one cannot attain Buddhahood, the spirit will wander within the six realms of rebirth, which is extremely painful; if one enters hell after death like I did, it is suffering upon suffering.

Practitioner Su's lectures are very vivid, mainly explaining what the universal principle and the Truth and the right path are, letting everyone know how to adjust their mindset, concepts, and behaviour so that they do not go against the universal principle and the Truth and the right path.

But this is not an easy thing to do, so Namo Amituofo teaches us to chant 'Namo Amituofo'. As long as one keeps chanting the Buddha's name, one can receive the Buddha's blessings and maintain oneself in a state of purity and goodness. I only learned after coming here that this phrase 'Namo Amituofo' possesses such miraculous power.

In my life, I was constantly switching between the roles of a lawyer and a writer. Although I would not say my life was perfect, I was actually quite satisfied with it.

As a lawyer, I used my professional skills to fight for the rights of others, rather than doing things against my conscience for high legal fees. My clients were mostly vulnerable groups at the bottom of society, as well as many young people and many women suffering from domestic violence. I am very grateful to have had the opportunity to serve them. Although they could not afford high legal fees, they gave me a deeper understanding of the suffering in life and gave me the opportunity to use my professional skills to do some good for this world.

For many years, I have adhered to my principles, providing legal defence for these vulnerable people who do not have good financial means. After being a lawyer for many years, one increasingly understands that the real world is very cruel. In this society, there are actually many people experiencing much suffering, and in their lives, there is a great deal of helplessness.

I would not let myself develop a sympathetic mindset towards these clients, because that would prevent me from helping them objectively and rationally; but what I could do was to try to reduce the burden of litigation on them, including the legal fees they had to pay me. If the other party's financial situation was really too poor, I could even charge less or defend them for free. In fact, since I chose these vulnerable groups as my main service targets, like lawyers of my kind, what I pursued in my heart was no longer money, but an ideal in my heart.

Seeing the suffering of these clients actually made me more grateful for everything I had. In this life, I was very fortunate to have a little talent in literature and created some works that were loved by people. I also gained quite a lot of benefits from this, but I did not expect that the price I would have to pay was to enter hell after death.

Yes, the main reason I went to hell was because of the novels I wrote, and even the series and television dramas adapted from them. If a work is to be loved, it must have some attractive elements, but whether these elements correspond to Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, and whether they resonate with the universal principle and the Truth and the right path, is not necessarily certain.

As for the novels I created, I did indeed add some elements that were tempting to people. Perhaps it satisfied people's fantasies, or stirred up desires in people's hearts, or even caused people to think about things they should not, creating negative influences on their thoughts and behaviours. As long as there is any bit of negative influence, I, as the author, must take responsibility.

Reviewing my life on the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I discovered that as a lawyer, I spoke up for vulnerable groups for a long time, and the belief in this process was indeed sincere for these suffering people, hoping to fight for their rights. This heart belongs to the part of Goodness. And as a novelist, although my works provided me with good financial support, because they brought negative influences to people, I created sins. This part belongs to the deviant part. Since I created negative karma, I must pay the price according to the Law of Cause and Effect, which is why I later entered the heart-gouging hell.

Because the most important influence these works had on people lies in 'this heart'. After people read the works I created, what arose in their hearts: satisfaction, stability, peace, and a heart of gratitude, or did it stir up fantasies about the future, or arouse more desires? The difference between these two is huge. If I were to be more specific and go deeper, I should ask: after people have read my works, will they become less selfish and more willing to think for others, dedicate themselves, and help others? Or will they, because of reading my works, pursue the satisfaction of the desires of this body even more, or think more for themselves?

In terms of my works, they often increased the selfish beliefs of the audience after they watched them, rather than making the audience more selfless. So it can be said that although my works were loved by people, they polluted their hearts.

Understanding the universal principle and the Truth and the right path is truly a very important matter. Therefore, receiving the Buddha’s teachings from Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is indeed very important and necessary for everyone. Without the teachings of Namo Amituofo and the explanations of Practitioner Su, it is often difficult for people to have a clearer understanding of the universal principle and the Truth and the righteous path, and they would not know what to do or how to adjust their hearts.

Because I had never received such education, I paid a considerable price while I was alive. The most obvious thing was that my heart would often ache. Now that I am on the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I see that this was because the negative influence my novels had on people's hearts in turn caused damage to my own heart. Later, I learned that from that time on, when my heart ached, a part of my spirit had already entered the heart-gouging hell to suffer. Fortunately, now that I have come to the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I can understand the truth of the facts; otherwise, I might never have known where I went wrong.

I want to say to my personal shaman, thank you for your company in this life. I now understand that human death is just the beginning of another journey. I hope you can go to Brisbane, Australia, and see the Namo Amituofo billboards set up by the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. These billboards have saved many suffering souls in Australia, many of whom are lonely wandering spirits, and many are sentient beings in space; moreover, these billboards emit a massive golden light. Although human eyes cannot see it, if you are a spirit, you can see it very clearly.

In short, after I died in this life, I went to the heart-gouging hell. I think you might be quite surprised by this fact, but I hope you can be happy for me, because I am now in the Western Land of Dharma Nature at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Goombungee, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia, living a very happy and stable life.

I feel as if my spirit has attained true freedom. It seems that after losing this body, many of the afflictions of the human world no longer exist. It must be the special magnetic field of the Western Land of Dharma Nature that is helping me.

In short, I now have a brand new goal, which is to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss. That is the world established by Namo Amituofo, where there is truly no suffering, only pure bliss, and spirits there have an infinitely long life.

I hope you can go there too. To do this, you need to come to Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia and take a good look at what is being taught to people here. I believe you will be very interested and also very pleasantly surprised.

In short, I am waiting for you in the Western Land of Dharma Nature at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre.

Kerry Greenwood