Interview with Ross Adler AC (Managing Director of oil and gas giant Santos)

Inviting Ross Adler AC (eighty years old)

Ross Adler is a renowned Australian business leader, having served as Managing Director of oil and gas giant Santos and Chairman of the Australian Trade Commission, making outstanding contributions to the development of Australia's energy and international trade. Furthermore, he has long been deeply involved in higher education and the cultural sector, having served as Chancellor of the University of Adelaide and a member of the Australia Council for the Arts. Due to his outstanding achievements in business, education, and the arts, he was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC).

Ross Adler:

This life has truly been quite busy, and obtaining many titles was actually my interest; this can be considered a form of self-pursuit in the human world.

In life, one always hopes to achieve a successful career and a happy family, and since I happened to possess such abilities, conditions, and blessings, it naturally turned out this way. In fact, such a successful life for me could be said to have been smooth sailing, without major obstacles, and many things fell into place naturally. I now realise that this was what one might call my great blessings!

I have been quite successful in this life, having money, status, and the recognition of the world and the government. Is there really any higher pursuit in life than this? Thinking about it now, it turns out there is. I did not understand before; I did not understand the spiritual world, I did not understand the need for spiritual elevation, nor did I understand the need to learn the Buddha’s teachings. If I had applied my successful experience and blessings to learning the Buddha’s teachings, I would surely have been quite successful. It is a pity that I never encountered the Buddha’s teachings in this life and did not know their importance. Even now that I have become a spirit, I have not yet fully and thoroughly understood them; but as soon as one comes into contact with the Buddha’s teachings, one can see how profound and precious they are.

After I passed away, I went to the heart-gouging hell. But in fact, besides the heart-gouging hell, there were many other hells waiting for me. After all, I was too famous when I was alive, and my career was too large with too broad an influence; all the deviations and wrong decisions made in the process, as long as they harmed others, had to be repaid by myself. The greater the influence, the greater the intensity and scope of the repayment required; this is a natural universal principle.

Now that I have been saved, I am looking at the spiritual world from the Dharma-Nature Land, and I see it quite thoroughly and clearly. No one had ever told me such principles, and when I was alive, I had never seen the existence of spirits. Although I had heard of similar concepts from religions and some spiritual groups, I never truly believed in what a spirit actually was; or rather, I had never delved deeply into the essence of the spirit. I only knew that after a person passes away, the soul might leave the body, but where would it go? I assumed it would be to God, or some kind of wonderful heaven.

I believed that I had made significant contributions in this life, having made outstanding contributions to society and my field, so I should have gone to a very good place as a reward. I did not expect that the place I went to after death was hell, and the heart-gouging hell at that.

I really did not expect that my successful career and my way of conducting myself in this life had such deviations in my heart. I now understand that although I engaged in many businesses and served many people during this life, my true heart was still for myself. The mental notes made for the sake of my own reputation, status, wealth, and family were actually contrary to the universal principle.

This universal principle is quite profound; if Namo Amituofo had not explained it, I would not have been able to understand such truth today. And by listening to Namo Amituofo’s Dharma talks in the Pure Land, I have been able to understand that the spiritual world is vastly different from the human world.

Everything created in the human world is thought to have no retribution, but in reality, it has already begun to take effect on the body. The most direct of these is the change at the spiritual level: once one has negative emotions, thoughts, and beliefs, it naturally awakens many karmic creditors within the body. These spirits and sentient beings are seeking revenge, which is why there is the process of the body being interfered with, leading to ageing, illness, and death.

This is the truth behind illness and death. It turns out that the spiritual world is not so simple. After understanding so many principles, I truly feel that I wasted my life. Although I tried many different fields, why did I never think to learn about the spiritual world? It was truly an oversight and a carelessness.

If I had delved into it back then, I would surely have had a deeper realisation and could have passed these profound principles on to more people. However, now that I have no body, I really cannot do much, but at least I can convey these messages to my family.

I must also first call out to my family, hoping they can come to learn the Buddha’s teachings as soon as possible. In fact, the Buddha’s teachings are not a religion, but a very pragmatic education. Being pragmatic means it is the most authentic teaching that can help people grow steadily. This can help everyone avoid falling into the hells to suffer. Having said this, has everyone begun to understand the importance of the spiritual world?

In fact, these principles are not difficult to understand; it mainly depends on whether you are willing to give yourself a chance to train and learn the essence of Namo Amituofo. Once you have a better understanding of the spiritual essence, everything you do in life will be different: you will no longer act solely for personal gain, nor will you conceive actions that harm others just for your own family or selfish interests. This is also a very important concept in the Buddha’s teachings, which is the view of oneness. Whether it is the Western Land of Dharma Nature, or the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, as far as I understand, they are very pure and equal worlds, with no distinction between high and low, and no unfairness whatsoever.

In the Dharma-Nature Land, one can also see that all the beautiful scenes in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss are myriad and varied. Compared to the various careers I tried and the various scenes I saw in my life, the degree of amazement and surprise in the Pure Land is indescribable. The scenery of the Western Land is beautiful, breathtaking, and difficult to describe in words; it is ever-changing and never repeated.

All kinds of scenes manifest before one's eyes according to one's heart; when one does not wish to see them, they disappear from sight, letting one understand that all of this is illusory.

It is satisfying, yet it makes one not cling; this is one of the methods of the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss to help with spiritual elevation.

Therefore, if you have any interest in the Buddha’s teachings and the Pure Land, or if you can appreciate their importance, you might as well search for the Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia online, where you can see detailed information. Namo Amituofo has compassion for everyone and does not want anyone to suffer or take the wrong path, which is why he actively promotes the Buddha’s teachings to everyone. Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia has put a great deal of information online for you to read at your leisure.

And if you still have some doubts about the temple, you need not worry, because the temple is open to the whole world. They are very actively helping sentient beings from all over the world to be reborn in the Western Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss, and it is all given unconditionally. If you have any questions, you are welcome to come to the temple in person to ask. These billboards are intended to allow more people to come into contact with and learn the Buddha’s teachings, to avoid living life without a goal, wasting a lifetime in vain, creating many sins, and having to enter the hells to suffer after death; it is really not worth it. I hope everyone will learn the Buddha’s teachings early, so as not to encounter the same situation as me one day, for it would be a great pity to regret it then.

If you are still unclear about the temple and have difficulty searching online, if you have the chance to see the billboards on the Brisbane highway, you will know how to find the temple.

There is a statue of a Buddha on the billboard, which is quite eye-catching. As long as you recite "Namo Amituofo" along with the billboard, you will naturally receive the compassionate blessing of the Buddha. This is the original intention of "Namo Amituofo" and the temple’s promotion of the Buddha’s teachings. Therefore, I hope everyone will come into contact with it more often, and if you have any questions, you are welcome to come and find me.

In fact, my life was very short. My dear family and many close friends, I am very grateful for the support you gave me in this life. But I am now a spirit; if you wish to find me, you can come to Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre in Australia to find me.

Ross Adler