Interview with Rob Hirst (Founding Member and Drummer of the Legendary Rock Band 'Midnight Oil')

Founding member and drummer of the legendary Australian rock band 'Midnight Oil'. He is known not only for his wild and explosive drumming style, but also as a core songwriter for the band, infusing Australian music with a strong sense of social conscience and environmental awareness.

3 June 2026

Rob Hirst:

Namo Amituofo.

I am now sending this message from the Western Land of Dharma Nature at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia. I am very happy to have the opportunity to be interviewed and to share these words with the world.

In a very short time, less than a few months, I will appear before everyone again. I believe you will be very surprised, but if you knew that the spirit does not die after death, only the body dies, you would not find this so surprising.

At the end of this life, I died of cancer. That was a painful memory and a tremendous torment for both myself and my family. One truly cannot afford to fall ill, because once sickness strikes, one's body, mind, and spirit will bear a heavy burden; one could even say that one gradually becomes less and less like oneself.

I believe many people will notice that after a person becomes seriously ill, their thoughts and personality often change; this is the immense negative impact that pain and illness have on a person. Therefore, illness is indeed a major test for every human body.

And now, I have found the answer to this problem, which is that as long as one comes to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia and receives the Buddha’s teachings, one can resolve this issue. I know that everyone is very pleasantly surprised to hear this news; after all, who does not wish to be liberated from the threat of illness? And as long as one comes to the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre, there is an opportunity to achieve this.

This is indeed a tremendous blessing for us Australians, because Namo Amituofo now abides at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Goombungee, Queensland, Australia. He has not left the temple for twenty-four hours, shining brightly, with that immense golden light enveloping this stretch of the sky.

If anyone could see this with their own eyes, I think they would be deeply moved, for it is a spectacular sight beyond our imagination. This represents the salvation of countless sentient beings; I see many spirits entering the light after being illuminated by the Buddha-light. Now, like me, they are in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, living a very happy and peaceful life.

Regarding the universal principle and the Truth of the righteous path, I only began to understand these after arriving at the Dharma-Nature Land. This has been a completely new learning process for me.

After all, I never knew that it was possible for a person to enter hell after death, nor did I know that there were so many lonely wandering spirits in Australia waiting to be saved.

I also did not know that if a person does even the slightest thing for the sake of their own body, or acts for the benefit of their own body, or pursues the satisfaction of physical desires, or even has the slightest thought of protecting oneself, it is actually already contrary to the universal principle and the Truth of the righteous path.

And the result of violating the universal principle and the Truth of the righteous path means that one day, when the conditions are ripe, one will suffer the painful consequences and endure suffering as a result.

It was because I was attached to the desires of the body, especially the attachment to carnal desire, that deep within my heart, I did not truly and completely let go of the pursuit of such desires.

Therefore, regardless of how my external behaviour appeared, deep within my heart, this erroneous thought—this obsession with carnal desire—was not truly relinquished, which led me to enter the Copper Pillar Hell after death. In the hells, my spirit was in great agony; my lower body was constantly being incinerated and then restored, repeating this painful process.

It was not until Practitioner Su of the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre rescued me from the hells and brought me to where I am now, the Western Land of Dharma Nature. I am very grateful for the salvation by Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su. Without them, I would still be wailing in the hells, not knowing when I would be able to leave.

As for the music I created, which caused those who heard it to experience emotional ups and downs and various fluctuations, or even physical sensations, this was actually contrary to the universal principle and the Truth of the righteous path.

In the past, I did not understand this, but in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, I clearly saw many people whose thoughts, ideas, or behaviours were led astray because they listened to my music. Perhaps they did not necessarily do anything specific, but in the moment they followed the fluctuations of my music, the direction of their hearts was already wrong. It is this wrong direction that has created sins, and the negative influence on them will be borne by me. This is something I must honestly tell everyone now.

Buddhist education at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre is truly too important for us Australians, especially for the children. I have learned here that if one cannot abide by the universal principle and the Truth of the righteous path, it will cause immense harm to one's body and spirit. All of this is self-inflicted. For those who have not received Buddhist education, who do not understand the truth of the human body and the universe, and who are not clear about the universal principle and the Truth of the righteous path, it is truly impossible to avoid the contamination of their bodies and spirits during the process of growing up.

As the thoughts in one's heart, the words spoken from one's mouth, or the actions performed by one's body deviate further from the universal principle and the Truth of the righteous path, every sin created will be added to one's spirit, making one's spirit increasingly turbid, while also causing one's body to bear an increasingly heavy burden. When it becomes severe, it manifests as an obvious illness. Therefore, receiving Buddhist education is a very important matter for every Australian.

I hope my wife and daughter can come here to speak with me; I am waiting for you in the Western Land of Dharma Nature at the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre.

Before you come, I hope you can look at the temple's billboard on the highway in Brisbane. This billboard is truly remarkable because in the spiritual realms, one can clearly see many sentient beings being saved by the golden light emitted from the billboard; so many lonely wandering spirits have happily entered the light.

Led by Namo Amituofo, the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre’s mission is to hope that all Australians, and indeed all humanity, can be free from the suffering of aging, sickness, and death. I am now sharing this good news with you, hoping that you can come here as soon as possible to explore all of this, and you will receive tremendous benefits.

Furthermore, I hope you can understand from my experience that the body is very transient, while the spiritual life is very long-lasting. If you want your spirit to have a good destination after death, receiving Buddhist education will be a very important matter. Therefore, the sooner the better; you should come here quickly to listen to the classes given by Namo Amituofo, as the content of these classes will provide you with immense inspiration.

If one accidentally enters the hells after death, or goes to a place of suffering, not everyone is as fortunate as I am to have the opportunity to be rescued from the hells by Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su.

So now, I also hope you will share this good news with others, so that more people can know that there is a holy site called the 'Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia', which will allow everyone to be free from the suffering of physical ageing, sickness, and spiritual wandering.

Now, in the Dharma-Nature Land, I am reciting 'Namo Amituofo' at every moment. This is the lesson Namo Amituofo has given me now. I am reciting this Buddha-name with great focus at all times, which is of great help to my spirit.

I am grateful for everything, grateful to Namo Amituofo, and grateful to Practitioner Su.

Rob Hirst