Interview with Bill Leimbach (American-Australian Producer, Director, and Anthropological Documentary Filmmaker)

Interview with Bill Leimbach (76)

Bill Leimbach was an American-Australian producer, director, and anthropological documentary filmmaker. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his Amazonian tribe documentary "Leonnie" and produced the WWI epic "The Lighthorsemen". He is also the father of the two lead singers of the famous Australian indie-pop band Lime Cordiale.

Interviewer: Venerable Shi Fa Ru

June 3, 2026

Bill Leimbach:

My life was quite successful; I accumulated much popularity and knew many dear family members and friends.

I am Bill Leimbach, meeting you all again. This time, I am not bringing you a blockbuster or a special historical epic, but a brand-new topic called "the spirit world". For me, it is best that I explain this subject now, because I have already passed away and truly exist in this world as a "spirit".

This spirit world is actually quite unfamiliar to everyone. I had once thought about how to film this kind of subject matter, but at the time, the available information was quite limited, and there were too few details to verify. I had not truly experienced this before, so I did not have the opportunity to film it. Now, having the chance to be interviewed and speak about this, I have fulfilled my wish from back then.

In the early part of my life, I filmed many documentaries, hoping to present real situations and perspectives to people around the world, letting them know that different customs, cultures, and ethnic groups exist. I delved deeply into this. Later, after moving to Australia, I filmed many subjects related to Australia and created some films that remain fresh in people's memories.

However, I had little contact with religion and the spirit world. After all, such subjects cannot be examined with real materials like documentaries or historical dramas. What I knew in the past was mostly one-sided rhetoric or relied on the explanations of religious figures, which I could not fully trust.

But now that I have become a spirit and am in the midst of it, I can explain everything more clearly. Does the spirit world truly exist? The answer is yes. I am now existing in the spirit world as a "spirit".

Regarding how one becomes a spirit, the human body actually contains this spirit from the beginning. This spirit does not differ because of the life or death of the physical body; it is just that while alive, the spirit can stay within the body. When a person dies and the body's functions are lost, the spirit naturally has to fend for itself, as there is no longer an object to rely on or attach to.

How does a spirit actually exist? In every cell and every structure of the human body, there are densely packed spirits. The number is so vast that you might find it hard to understand, but what I see before me now is exactly that.

Not only that, but many times people think they are acting according to their own free will, but this is not the case. Because there are so many spirits in the human body, they all influence a person's decisions, way of thinking, and behaviour. Therefore, the true relationship between the soul and the body is that this one body is jointly controlled by boundless spirits, which is why it performs various actions. At the moment of physical death, these spirits also leave the body in large numbers.

This is the relationship between humans and spirits.

After I died and my soul left my body, I did not know where to go at first, so I stayed in the space I liked most during my lifetime. In that space were things I liked, including scenes I had explored and the film studio where I often stayed—the office I used to edit films, brainstorm, and write scripts. There, I still felt very active.

Of course, I could also watch my family in my own home, but regardless, I existed as a spirit. I could not make contact with the original material world. Although I could overlap with these spaces and appear to be together, in reality, we could not interact.

This is what is called a "ghost". I became a ghost and began such a life. However, you may not know that after I became a ghost, I could not distinguish between what was real and what was false. I thought I was still alive, I thought I was still working, and I continued to live my life. I thought everything in my life was still continuing and had not stopped. This is the drama I, as a ghost, repeated every day in that space. I always thought I was not dead, but in reality, my physical body had long since disappeared. Yet, I remained in the false illusion constructed by this spirit world, unable to leave.

Am I still in the ghost realm now? No, I have already left the ghost realm. The place where I am now is another spirit world called the "Dharma-Nature Land". This "Dharma-Nature Land" is actually inside a temple. Yes, you heard that correctly; it is inside the "Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia". It is a spirit world within this temple. The reason I am here is that the "Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia" brought me out of the original ghost realm space a week ago, allowing me to enter this world of boundless light, clean and beautiful. The reason for bringing me here is the hope that I can explain the truth of this spirit world to everyone. Because you have not experienced this, you cannot understand what kind of world the spirit world is, nor do you know that you will become a spirit after death.

Therefore, I hope to introduce this truth to you and let you know that everything you do in this life will affect the destination of this spirit after death. Please do not think that you will definitely become a ghost after death. In fact, besides becoming a ghost, there are many other places a spirit can go. Besides the ghost realm, there are also very painful places, and even the hells where one goes to suffer punishment. Of course, there is also what is called heaven, and there are beautiful, pure worlds like this Dharma-Nature Land. However, this is entirely determined by the good and bad deeds one has done while alive. It is somewhat like the concept of judgment. But you may not understand this judgment; it is not determined by your own subjective definition of good or bad. True good and bad depend on whether you are truly selfless for others, or if you are selfish, planning and living for yourself. This is something you must have a correct understanding of to know how to determine your future destination.

Many people think that they have done very well in this life and have achieved great success in their careers and families. But this does not necessarily guarantee that they will reach a good place. The reason is that these worldly achievements do not guarantee that the mental notes taken and used in the process of obtaining these things were correct. Looking back on my own life, entering the ghost realm was surely due to my attachments to these aspects of life. I was too accustomed to these processes and loved my work and life too much. So, after death, I entered this space directly and continued to live my original life. Of course, now that I have left this ghost realm, I can truly move on. Otherwise, once you enter the ghost realm, it could last for thousands or tens of thousands of years. At that point, it would be quite tragic. After all, it is like being locked in a spiritual prison, unable to leave.

Now, the reason I have the opportunity to introduce this to everyone is that after I was saved by the "Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia", I listened to the Venerable explain the principles of this spirit world in the "Dharma-Nature Land". I realised many details and am only now able to introduce this concept of the so-called spirit world to you. Why introduce these concepts? It is because I hope everyone can understand the relationship between humans and spirits, and be able to go to a good place after death, not go to painful places to suffer, and certainly not go to the so-called hells. This is a very important matter. To avoid these problems and to truly help this spirit have a good destination, we must not let this spirit wander blindly in different spaces without an end. That is why you need to learn Buddhist education. This is also the most important goal of my speaking to you and communicating with you again today. Because what I can say to you is limited. I only hope that everyone can recognise the importance of this spirit world and Buddhist education. Without Buddhist education, you cannot understand the true situation of the spirit world. Without knowing the full picture of the spirit world, you are very likely to suffer after death.

So, I want to take this opportunity to let you know about the existence of Buddhist education. Buddhist education is the truth explained by Namo Amituofo in the human world. And the truth explained is the hope that everyone can understand the spirit world, do the right things, let go of oneself, help others, and consider others in everything, truly saving people and spirits, so that one's own spirituality can be elevated. This spiritual elevation means not being restricted by various spaces. Therefore, after death, you will not have to enter a space of suffering or enter the hells to undergo these punishments because of your attachments or the mistakes you made in past lives or this life. Therefore, learning Buddhist education, explaining yourself according to the teachings of Buddhist education, and being careful in how you conduct yourself throughout your life will be of great help to the destination of this spirit after you die.

If you are truly interested and willing to give yourself a chance to learn the Buddhist education of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia, you can search for the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia online. In this temple, a lot of information is also provided on the internet. Moreover, many billboards have been blessed on the highways in Brisbane, all to promote this Buddhist education of Namo Amituofo, so that everyone can be spared from suffering and that your spirits can have a good destination after death.

Bill Leimbach