John Baker (Chairman of V-Star, a well-known Australian aviation and corporate jet company)

John Baker was the former Chairman of Surf Life Saving Australia and a leader in the advertising industry. He dedicated over forty years to public service, focusing on maritime rescue and community service. He was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and was highly respected by all sectors.

John Baker:

To my business partners, my family, and everyone who knew me—this is the real John Baker. I want you to know that while my physical body has passed, my consciousness lives on as a spirit. I am still here, and I am doing well, so please don't worry about me.

After I passed away, my spirit entered the hells to undergo punishment, only to be rescued later. I am now at a Buddhist temple called "Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre," where there is a spiritual space called the "Western Land of Dharma Nature."

I know many of you will be shocked to hear what I'm about to say. How could someone like me end up in hell? On the surface, my life was bright and successful; I helped countless people and contributed greatly to society. How could someone perceived as so kind fall into the lower realms?

Actually, you may not know, the Hell of Intestine-Digging is where those with evil hearts go. Do you think I had a good heart? In truth, on some occasions, I acted purely out of self-interest. It is not that I never had those bad thoughts or ideas. In truth, I did things behind the scenes that no one ever knew about. I hid my flaws perfectly, which is ultimately why I faced retribution after death.

Now that I am free from my physical body, I have nothing left to hide and am no longer afraid to speak out. During my time on Earth, I worked tirelessly to cultivate a flawless public image, believing I could deceive everyone into thinking I was a genuinely good person. I did not expect that after death, I would fall directly into the hells, which immediately exposed my problems. In fact, I was unable to control my own body.

Although I did many good deeds in this life and helped many people, the good deeds and bad deeds do not simply cancel each other out.

I once served as the CEO of an advertising company, leading it to flourish in that capacity. In reality, we promoted products that never should have been advertised, let alone pushed onto the global stage. These items were actively harmful—they fueled addiction, triggered toxic desires, and trapped people in vicious cycles. They fostered inequality, division, and discrimination, ultimately breeding greed.

But at the time, I didn't care. In my drive for success, I only cared about making the business flourish. I completely disregarded the lives of others, never stopping to think about whether my work was truly helping anyone. I believed that as long as the advertising business could grow, I was willing to execute it; the achievements of the advertising business were my personal achievements.

In my relentless pursuit of personal achievement and corporate growth, I willingly sacrificed the well-being of others. This disregard for humanity is exactly what caused me to descend into the hell realms once my life ended.

Good and bad deeds in life cannot be balanced against each other, and the last thought I had at the end of my life was for my own selfish desires, so I went to the hells to be punished first. I was punished for nearly ten months before I was rescued from the hells by a temple called "Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre." Now I am settled in the Western Land of Dharma Nature, and the punishment of the hells has ceased. I feel very peaceful and at ease now; you do not need to worry about me. At this moment, I am much more stable and no longer suffer any pain.

Looking back on my life from the Dharma-Nature Land, all these honours and achievements involve such a wide range of aspects that one cannot guarantee that every single thing was truly helpful to others. Once mixed with everything created for personal gain, personal achievement, or the improvement of material life, it will lead to suffering in the hells after death.

Everyone must understand this principle. Only because I have become a spirit can I explain the process of being in the hells and later being rescued from them to everyone. I hope you will not repeat my mistakes. Punishment in hell is very painful. I only know that in the human world, there are too many selfish thoughts, personal desires, and memories that lead people away from the righteous path; these are all kinds of tests. If one cannot be honest and down-to-earth, living for others rather than oneself, and letting go of oneself to serve the masses, it is difficult to escape the hells and the space where spirits suffer. This is the result of what your own mental notes have summoned, and you cannot blame anyone else. Therefore, one must have Buddhist education to know what the righteous path is.

Now in the Dharma-Nature Land, I have calmed down and seen the actions of my life. Most of them were "great undertakings" developed in coordination with the spiritual beings within my body and the demon crowds. If not for these beings within me, I could not have exerted myself to the fullest in various industries and businesses, nor could I have reached such a high level.

Now, Buddha’s light shines upon my entire body. I am much clearer and no longer have any fear. After listening to the Dharma talks in the Dharma-Nature Land, I truly understand the vastness of the spirit world and the greatness of the Buddha’s teachings.

Without Buddhist education, everyone is ignorant of the existence of the spirit world and does not know that striving for spiritual elevation is the most important goal in life. Even if you achieve massive success across different industries, look incredibly impressive to the world, and earn both the recognition of the Australian government and the love of the public—none of it matters in the end. You leave it all behind.

No one knew I had gone to the hells, and no one could help me leave the hells. Only Namo Amituofo, and Practitioner Su, who practises according to Buddhist education in the human world, at the "Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre," were able to rescue my spirit from the hells.

From this, everyone can understand that no matter how high one's achievements or how glorious one's past in the human world, it all appears so small and fragile when it comes to the end of life. But if one can know the existence of the "spirit" and strive with spirit elevation as the goal, being able to live for others rather than oneself, letting go of everything, and wholeheartedly giving to others, one can naturally avoid punishment in the hells and even go to a better place.

I have no chance to start over in this life, but for those with whom I share a karmic bond, including my family and friends who hear my story, if you are still young and have the chance to make changes, please do not waste your time.

True transformation isn't just a catchy slogan; it requires deeply absorbing these Buddhist teachings right now and allowing yourself to truly awaken. If you can do that, then sharing my life's regrets on the internet will have been worth the effort. In the human world, I have reached the end of my life, but in the Dharma-Nature, this is my new life.

Dear family and friends, if you want to find me, you might as well come to the "Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre" to see me. You can search for "Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre" online; the temple's information is publicly available and easy to find.

Those who want to further understand the spirit world can also watch the temple’s Dharma talk videos and read the many interview transcripts, which explain the spirit world very thoroughly. If you are curious about me, interested in me, or even interested in my spirit life, you are welcome to come to the temple to find me.

This is a very famous temple, and they have even set up large billboards in Brisbane to promote the Buddha’s teachings. In fact, the Buddha’s teachings have never been a religion, but a very profound education, only it has been ignored by the public for a long time and has not received the attention it deserves.

Now we know that spirits are the true essence of this world, and it is a great pity that the Buddha’s teachings, which can explain this essence thoroughly, are not promoted as higher education. If one does not wake up in this life, such a life will be very empty, ethereal, and aimless. My life's achievements are the best example: after death, I could not take any of it with me, nor could I use these abilities to help people.

But now that I have come to know the "Hsiang Kuang Pure Land Buddhist Centre," if you are willing to come and talk to me, and can recognise and learn the Buddha’s teachings, that can be considered the greatest achievement of my life. Being able to help you recognise the Buddha’s teachings, giving you the chance to avoid suffering in the hells after death and avoid all the mistakes made in life, then all of this is worth it, and this is the greatest and most meaningful thing in my life.

I hope everyone can grasp this precious opportunity to encounter the Buddha’s teachings. Gratitude to Namo Amituofo and Practitioner Su for allowing me to be interviewed.