Interview with Neale Daniher (Former AFL Legendary Player and Coach, 2025 Australian of the Year)

Neale Daniher:

Hello everyone, I am Neale Daniher. You must be very surprised, as many people felt very sad due to my passing, thinking that Neale Daniher had left this world forever. However, you do not know that although my body has died, my spirit never dies.

In the final period of my life, ever since I knew I was suffering from Motor Neurone Disease (MND), I have always chosen to face this illness with the most positive, proactive, and practical mindset.

As I have said before, for me, what inspires me and allows strength to well up from the depths of my heart is never for my own benefit, nor to satisfy my own needs, but to help others. This is not about me, because I have always believed that the true value of a person's life lies not in oneself, but in others.

Regarding death, I have no fear in my heart. Even though I was tormented and affected by MND every single day, I can say with responsibility that I truly did my best. I did not complain, nor did I hold resentment; I did not lament the unfairness of fate, nor did I attempt to seek sympathy from others. Instead, I used all the strength I had to fight against this formidable enemy.

Regarding the actions I later initiated, a large part was through calling upon the public to work together and take practical action, hoping to find a solution for MND. When I first learned that this disease was incurable, I was indeed very devastated, but more than that, I was unwilling to believe that the disease could not be cured. Although there are indeed many incurable diseases in the world, after I truly became one of those suffering, I deeply understood the helplessness, anxiety, and the feeling of losing hope.

For me, what I could not accept was not the fact of being ill, but the fact that my life would be shrouded in dark clouds because I could not see hope. I do not believe that life should wither away because of an incurable disease, because I have always believed that human life should be beautiful and precious. Life should be full of vitality and hope, because life itself is beautiful.

We should respect and be grateful for life. Everything is not taken for granted, but hard-won. Holding this mindset, I have always been very mindful in spending every small moment of my life. Whether encountering smooth or adverse conditions in life, I chose to face them with an optimistic and positive attitude, grateful for everything I possessed and everything I encountered.

In the Catholic faith I received from childhood, the power of God guides and helps us; God is the light of hope. This concept holds a pivotal position in my life.

Although I do not spend all day telling people about the miracles of God or the values of the Catholic faith, I chose to integrate the core values of the Catholic education I received into my life. By expressing them through my words, deeds, and thoughts, allowing everyone to be inspired or receive positive influence and help—to me, this is where the true value of a religion lies.

Therefore, I have always lived every day very diligently. The direction and goal of my efforts were to ensure I was not selfish, not to be a person who puts their own interests before those of others; to allow myself to become a more selfless person willing to contribute. It is not about following the various desires and needs of the body, but knowing how to consider and understand the feelings and needs of others. Most importantly, I believe in putting things into practice, being a person who is willing to take actual action rather than just helping others with words.

In the later stages of my life, although I had MND, I still used all my strength to let my life shine. I chose to do my best to realise my own value, hoping to help others and society. If people could be positively inspired by my experiences and actions, and even have their inner kindness, beauty, and compassion ignited, then I think my life was not in vain.

I originally thought that after I died, my journey had reached its end, but I did not expect that after death, my journey had actually just begun. This is indeed something that surprised me, Neale Daniher, very much.

In fact, while I was still alive, my spirit had already gone to the icy hells to receive retribution. That is a very, very cold, extremely freezing place, where I suffered from the torment of extreme low temperatures. It was also because of this that my body developed the illness known to the world as "MND".

The reason my spirit went to the icy hells to receive retribution is actually because my mental notes and behaviours were contrary to the universal principle and the righteous path of Truth. For the universal principle and the righteous path of Truth, many people are actually very unfamiliar; these are the highest principles operating in the universe. Without receiving the education of the Buddha’s teachings from Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, one cannot truly understand the Universal Truth.

If a person's mental notes and behaviours are contrary to the universal principle, their spirit may go to the hells to receive retribution; this is what I have come to understand.

Until now, I still believe that when I was alive, I was a person who enjoyed helping others. All along, even before I got sick, I could say I was a good person. However, my own spirit went to hell, which is indeed something that surprised me. After all, since I was a good person, how could my spirit go to hell to be punished?

But now, in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, looking back on my life, I have come to understand that the karmic retribution is never wrong.

However, the time frame covered by the laws of karma and cause and effect is not just the present, but also the past and the future. If one understands the concept of "past lives", one should know that in past lives, I had done many good deeds, but I had also harmed many people.

The reason I fell into hell in this life is, as I saw in the Dharma-Nature Land, that it was because in a past life, I was once a cold-hearted person who stood by and watched others die without helping. I turned a blind eye to the suffering of others; when others were in urgent need of help, I stood by and watched. The coldness in my heart was like being in ice, without any warmth or heat.

This is what I saw in the Dharma-Nature Land. That was my situation at the time. After seeing it, I was very surprised in my heart; I never thought that in a past life, I was such a person. This can be said to be completely opposite to my character and conduct in this life.

In this life, there was once a time when I saw others suffering and encountering difficulties, yet I similarly turned a blind eye. Not only that, at that time, there was not the slightest bit of compassion or pity in my heart, not even a little bit of sympathy or empathy.

That one moment of cold-heartedness—of refusing to help someone in need—woke up all the karmic creditors I had harmed in the past. They were furious. They ripped a part of my soul right out of my body, and because of that, my soul was dragged into the Ice Hell.

From this experience, I also learned that all the good and bad things a person does in a lifetime are all recorded in the laws of karma and cause and effect. If the causal conditions are mature and the conditions are sufficient, one must still pay the price for the negative karma one created in the past.

Even for mistakes made in past lives, if in this life one's mental notes, words, and deeds cannot be completely in sync with the universal principle and the Truth—that is, if one cannot maintain complete purity and goodness, without even a little bit of evil or selfishness—then there will always be many opportunities to awaken the spirits of those I harmed in the past.

Understanding this principle, I really cannot help but sigh that the education of the Buddha’s teachings is so important! If a person does not receive the education of the Buddha’s teachings, how can they pass through this life safely?

"Passing through safely" here does not refer to how this body lives well in the world, but how the spirit that originally governs this body can live well within this body.

In this life, due to the Catholic education I received from childhood and the influence of my parents, I can say with responsibility that I was a good person. A so-called good person is someone who is kind, knows how to think for others, is willing to make practical contributions and actions for others to benefit, or is willing to spend time and energy to solve others' problems. These were all things I was very willing to do when I was alive.

However, do good people also have selfish moments? I believe the answer is definitely yes. No matter how good a person is, it is inevitable that they will have moments of considering themselves. We should not condemn a person because there is selfishness in their heart, but we should let people know that even if selfish thoughts and behaviours are tolerated, in terms of the universal principle and the righteous path of Truth, everything that has passed leaves a trace, and one must always pay the price for what one has done.

If one does good deeds, one will naturally get happy results; if one does evil, one will naturally get painful consequences. This is the Law of Cause and Effect.

So now I realise that the perspective of Neale Daniher has a very big difference from the past. That is: when I was alive, I thought that if a person could be a good person, a kind person, that would be enough. Of course, we do not encourage selfish thoughts and behaviours, but at the time I always felt that at least I was willing to contribute and dedicate myself to others, and that should be enough. Now, my spirit in the Western Land of Dharma Nature has indeed had a completely different realisation.

I realise now that just being a good person—or simply living with ordinary kindness—is not quite enough. We must go deeper and strive for absolute goodness—clearing away every last inner impurity until we become a person of truly pure heart and pure kindness.

The difference here is very large. Taking my example, when I was alive, I was a kind and good person, but after I died, my spirit entered the icy hells to be punished, which was very painful.

If you can become a person of pure heart and genuine kindness—someone who has completely let go of all selfishness—you can truly elevate your spirit and attain Buddhahood. Practitioner Su at Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is the best witness.

Here I would like to introduce to you to this Practitioner Su; She is my benefactor. After I died, my spirit went to the icy hells to be punished. Although it was only a short day in the human world, in hell, I felt that I had spent a very long time, because the feeling of being punished in the icy hells was too painful; it was truly so bitter, so bitter.

I do not know how to describe that pain in words—it was a feeling of being frozen from the depths of my spirit, suffering from the torment of extreme low temperatures, which made me feel extreme terror and fear. Even so, I did not give up hope during the process of being punished, and I kept trying to find ways to escape the painful hell, but the results were of no use at all.

Until later, a huge golden light appeared in hell and shone on my spirit; it was the compassionate Practitioner Su who came to hell to save me. In an instant, I was led by Practitioner Su to the Western Land of Dharma Nature where I am now.

I am very happy now because I have a greater goal, which is to attain Buddhahood.

The reason I want to become a Buddha is because Practitioner Su saved me from hell. I admire her very much for having such ability, and I want to learn from Him.

At the Thrice Yearning Ceremonies at the temple, I can clearly see how Practitioner Su saves beings. I clearly saw the spirit of Practitioner Su transform into many, many identical manifestations. The number of these manifestations was so large that it was uncountable; it could be said to be like the ocean. Each manifestation emitted golden light, going to all parts of the world to perform Chao Du, chanting "Namo Amituofo". While Amitabha Buddha shone with great light, many, many suffering spirits were saved because of this.

When I was alive, I always liked helping others very much. When I was helping others, thinking about how to relieve their pain, or helping them solve the problems they encountered, I always felt that I was very motivated. And when I saw that Practitioner Su actually possessed such ability, being able to help immeasurable and boundless suffering spirits, I immediately made up my mind that I must learn the skills of Practitioner Su.

I heard Practitioner Su share with everyone in class that it was through accepting the teachings of Namo Amituofo that she was able to attain Buddhahood and possess these various miraculous and inconceivable abilities. Therefore, it can be said that the many suffering spirits are also, in effect, saved by Namo Amituofo, because without the teachings of Namo Amituofo, there would not be the achievements of Practitioner Su today.

Therefore, I have now completely let go of my past beliefs and have decided to attain Buddhahood, to learn from Namo Amituofo, and to become a student of Namo Amituofo.

Now that I am in the Dharma-Nature Land, I deeply cherish every opportunity to listen to Practitioner Su's classes, because the content of the classes teaches the crystallisation of the wisdom imparted by Namo Amituofo. The essence and core of this is the phrase "Namo Amituofo." I was very surprised to learn this; I never imagined that these six short characters could contain the essence of all the power of Namo Amituofo. Therefore, I am now very diligently reciting "Namo Amituofo" at every moment.

Here, I have also found the treatment method for Motor Neurone Disease that I have been searching for, which is to receive the Buddhist education at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. By doing so, one has the opportunity to attain the true benefits of the Buddha's teachings, which are to "be free from aging and sickness, and to possess an eternal spirit.”

There is currently someone in this world who has already attained these benefits, and that is Practitioner Su of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. He has already attained Buddhahood and is a Buddha in the human world, truly immune to the threats of illness, aging, and all forms of suffering.

I want to tell my wife and children that I am doing very well in the Western Land of Dharma Nature at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre. I hope you can all come here to see me. You should be very happy, because my spirit has not died, and I am now much happier than I was in the past, as I have a goal that is even more worth striving for.

I feel that I am a perfect fit for the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, because I have always hoped to be of greater help and contribution to others. The mission of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is to help all beings be free from the suffering of aging, sickness, and death, and to help everyone be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.

This is a very grand goal and a sacred mission, and I hope you can also participate. Before coming, I hope you can first go to Brisbane to see the Namo Amituofo billboard of the temple. If you could see the situation in the spiritual realms, you would know that this Namo Amituofo billboard is not an ordinary billboard; it emits a tremendous golden light, leading many lonely wandering spirits and suffering beings in Australia.

They are now all saved, just like me, in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, feeling very at peace and happily reciting "Namo Amituofo."

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

Neale Daniher