Mastering Your Direction in Life

— Record of lecture given by Ou, Wen Wei on the Mid-autumn Festival, September, 2005

I am very happy to be in Xiaoshan at this time because I can see that Pan Gu Shengong students here have made progress in the quality of their physical health, and in the quality of their heart and soul.

On behalf of the Pan Gu Shengong students from America, Canada, and Indonesia, I would like to show our appreciation for the hospitality of the Pan Gu Shengong students in Xiaoshan. (Applauding warmly.)

How many years has it been since I last visited? (Audience: 6 years.) Six years! There have been many changes in Xiaoshan, especially the roads, and now they are much better than before. The memory of the land of Xiaoshan has remained deeply etched in my mind, and I know regardless of how many changes are made to the roads and buildings, the directions of the compass remain constant even when the roads are moved. Therefore, I guided my tour bus to arrive here earlier than you (the local students). It seems I’m more familiar with the geography of Xiaoshan than you locals. Doesn’t it?

The most important thing for a person to master is their direction in life, to know the direction they are going in life at any given time. Pan Gu Shengong teaches us the direction to take in life, which is to be kind and benevolent, and to be frank and friendly.

Continue in this direction and you will feel changes in your life—becoming happier, healthier, and more capable. To a certain extent, you can use the landscape as your guide wherever you go, just like I did, and you’re unlikely to get lost. More importantly, we should first make sure not to get lost in our path of life. If you get lost geographically, you can try to return to your started-location, but if you lose your direction in life, you will pay heavily for your mistake. A few of my students have gotten lost and temporarily left our big family. As a result, their health declined and some of them even developed serious illnesses. Don’t you think it’s a very painful lesson? Isn’t it unnecessary to suffer so? Therefore, if you would like to follow me, it means following the path of life of being kind and benevolent, and being frank and friendly.

In fact, did I pick the right way according to the geography? Did you cross the third bridge? What were your thoughts? I knew you thought using the third bridge was the shortest way, but you’re not experienced enough to choose wisely. Going your way, you had to travel a long distance on local roads in Hangzhou, where you couldn’t go fast because of so many cars and traffic lights. If you had chosen to cross the first bridge after leaving Lingyin Temple, you would have been on the new boulevard in Xiaoshan as soon as you got off the bridge, where you could drive much faster. It might have been a longer distance, but it takes a shorter time. Our purpose was to arrive here on time, so I picked out a way that was the shortest in time rather than the shortest in distance. Whenever and whatever we think, we should figure out the best method, and the best way to reach our goal.

While we were driving here, I asked student Ho if he knew the way or not. He said he needed to call another car because he didn’t know the way very well from Hangzhou to Xiaoshan. I told him it wasn’t necessary to call. Just let the other cars follow me. However, the following cars didn’t do that, and they arrived here late. Is there anything worth pondering from this event? How can using the broadest view allow me to figure out the directions accurately? From being open-minded and calm, I could see the highest priority was for the students to arrive here on time. By being open-minded, we can quickly think things through from the big picture to the small details, and then pick out the best path by comparing many different routes.

When I teach you Pan Gu Shengong, I not only teach you the way to improve your health, but more importantly, I teach you the way to conduct yourself. Everything I teach involves the issue of how to conduct oneself. To increase our ability to work, to increase all of our abilities, and to increase our quality of life is our purpose. I want you to take what I say tonight to heart. When you are calm and open-minded, all your abilities will increase more quickly.

Since there are many successful cases, I believe you have no doubts that Pan Gu Shengong can improve your health. The most important question in front of you is no longer whether or not to believe, but how to get the best results. And how do you get that? Just as I told you: to be truly calm and open-minded.

How can you be truly calm and open-minded? You must learn true kindness. What is true kindness? Whatever you do and say, the benefits are not primarily for you, but mainly for others. When you begin practicing true kindness, you may not be willing to work for a stranger’s benefit, so first you should learn to do good things for your family. To improve your family’s life, you should learn how to care for them, let their needs take precedence over your own, control your temper, and put less emphasis on your own desires and feelings. Even if you are misunderstood and blamed without reason, you should still remain calm. This is true kindness that you can offer your family. Afterward, we can give this true kindness to our students, treat people who suffer from illness with this kindness, and guide them patiently. As you do so, your kindness grows wider and deeper. That is the meaning of true kindness.

When a small group lives together, for example, a group of ten or twenty traveling abroad, what should a person do, one who understands true kindness? At all times you should monitor what you say and be careful not to disturb others. For example, you should be on time, and don’t interrupt other people’s schedules. Moreover, whenever and wherever speaking, you should pay attention to your attitude, considering if what you say is disrespectful or makes someone unhappy. If your words make others unhappy, do not speak them. Furthermore, you need to take care of those around you. If traveling, you should be willing to carry the baggage of an elder or someone weaker than you. If we do that for each other, there will be an atmosphere of harmony in our group, and everyone will be happy and live well.

However, many people have been influenced in their daily lives by some bad habits. In Cantonese, the behavior that habitually reveals personal or sensational facts of others is called bah-gwah (gossip). Many people have developed this bad habit, so when learning of someone’s misfortune or mistake, the bah-gwah retells the story again and again. If they don’t tell, it feels like a stone is pressing on their chest. It’s a common problem, isn’t it? This behavior shows a lower level of development in their heart and soul. People think knowing and telling bah-gwah is showing off, and can gain the attention of others. They assume if they tell other’s faults, and point out their shortcomings, it will prove they are wiser for always being correct and in the position to describe other’s weaknesses. This behavior shows their low quality, because to be a person of true kindness, one must get rid of these habits.

Normally, a person with this kind of weakness is opinionated and always shows off. No matter who is around, he brags about himself, begging for their attention. This behavior is like the antics of a hungry child, crying out for his parent’s attention. It’s understandable for a kid to behave this way because they aren’t yet mature, but as an adult, should you still conduct yourself at the level of a child?

Therefore, I have been teaching you how to be a kind and moral person—a person who really cares for others. If you are able to do so, people will accept and respect you. Certainly, we can go further to be moral and kind, but how? If you are able to help others in silence, and not tell them what you did, it is the highest level of kindness.

A couple of months ago, I told my American students the same thing. While I was in China in April, my daughter called me one day to say a Chinese student in San Francisco had an accident and was badly hurt, having already been taken to the hospital. Fortunately, the doctor found my daughter’s phone number and called her. My daughter called me immediately. I gave the student a long distance qi healing and I knew she was in critical condition. In fact, she was near death, but I didn’t tell my daughter. Why? I didn’t want her to worry more, and I kept the anxiety to myself. I didn’t tell anyone her actual condition except my wife. Every day my daughter called and gave me reports, and I gave long distance healing in return.

As soon as I returned to America, I went directly from the airport to the ICU of San Francisco General hospital. Fluid was collecting in her skull, causing pressure on her brain. However, while I gave her qi, the gauge showed her brain and blood pressure falling. I told my daughter the student had just passed the most dangerous period, and she would survive. Naturally, I would help her recover quickly and without sequela or minimize sequela. (Of course, she must cooperate by practicing PGSG with a calm and kind mind when she is able to do the PGSG practice.) Afterwards, the miracles came day by day.

Before returning to America from China, one of my students didn’t know what was best for the patient and told others her condition before reporting it to my daughter or me. This was an example of bah-gwah (gossip), as I just described, and showed the low level of her soul’s development. Her mistake resulted in many people calling the hospital, inquiring about the patient’s condition, and some even asked my daughter why she didn’t report the patient’s condition on the Internet. The hospital complained that too many people called and too many visited the patient. Consider the situation and ask yourself, could you help her by calling and visiting when she is in a coma in the ICU? If you were really able to help the patient recover, you could do it in your own way, without causing such inconvenience and disturbing the hospital. As soon as I came back to the USA and knew what happened, I asked my daughter to inform all the students to temporarily discontinue visiting the hospital, and whoever wanted to visit should ask me first.

As a student of Pan Gu Shengong, what would have been the best method to offer help and care in that situation? With love in your heart, practice Pan Gu Shengong once or twice for her. While practicing, you can immediately send the qi from your practice to her instead of taking it for yourself. You may do that, but there’s no need to tell her. Anyway, you can not tell her because she’s unconscious. Actually, the real motive for visiting the hospital to see the patient was not in order to help, but for fear of being criticized for not going, considering it the obligation of friendship. They went for the purpose of showing off their morality, which is a superficial kindness. The deepest and highest kindness is giving help without telling.

Now I will tell you something to relieve the burden of this bad news. Since mid-June, a period of more than two months, the patient has been able to walk and speak normally. According to what the doctor originally said, she would be a vegetable even if she could survive since she had been so badly hurt by the impact with the bus, especially on the left side of her brain where she was bleeding internally. Comparing her case to patients who were not hurt as badly as she, they are still not able to walk, a fact that amazed the doctors and nurses. I realized the American doctors respected the fact her condition was not solely due to their efforts, and they knew it was me who helped the patient recover. Because of this, when I went to give healings, they would give me priority and re-arrange their schedule until after my qi treatment. The doctors’ behavior shows we should adjust our attitude according to the facts.

I mention this example in order for us to gain a deeper understanding of Pan Gu Shengong, and to gain more confidence. What I teach you is a method to better help those you love by transforming your love, the true love in your heart, to a quiet contribution. You can practice for a patient, but in your heart send the energy you receive from practicing to him. If you are able to do so, you are not going to be too lazy to practice. Many of us are still lazy and don’t practice when in good health. Because of a busy day or an exciting activity, they excuse themselves by saying, “Okay, I won’t practice today and maybe Master Ou will know, but he won’t say anything because he is warm and kind.” (laughing). It is not right. When I am busier, especially when trying to help a seriously ill person, I practice more. As an example, while giving energy to the patient mentioned earlier, I was traveling in Boston, MA and Portland, OR to lecture and teach. Every day was very busy and sometimes I cooked for students when coming home [editor’s note: Master Ou usually stays in a student’s home when traveling in America]. Do you think I am busy or not? (Don’t you think I should do as much as the Master of a big family? I cook for children when coming home, but should I expect the meal to be prepared for me? So, I have often told you the relationship between you and me is reversed: you don’t serve me, but I serve you. However, I serve because my heart is full of love.) I would practice a couple of times at night with my door closed. While practicing, I would calmly sense the patient, experiencing and observing her condition. I needed to learn the extent of her recovery. I would only feel relieved if I did so, which is the love I have toward my students. I never mentioned it to her because it’s not necessary. My only wish is for her quick recovery.

I want you to understand how best to live your life. Be concerned about others, give priority to others, and meanwhile take care of yourself. What is the most important thing in taking care of yourself? Maintain your physical health, for instance, first by continuing to practice Pan Gu Shengong, and second by keeping calm, tolerant, and open-minded. Don’t be over-concerned about your own benefits. These are the two most important methods for taking care of yourself. Meanwhile, ask less for others to help you, and try to reduce the burden you place on others. To reduce other’s burdens is to show love to others. Do you understand? Especially traveling abroad together, you should take care of your own belongings if you are able. Be less reliant on others. Do your best to be prepared, saving your spare time and energy to help others when needed. That is better.

Now let me introduce my students from America, Canada, and Indonesia. Paul and Elizabeth (applause) are my good students. They really care for others and have guided many people to learn Pan Gu Shengong. I am happy to have such excellent students. Robert: he and Vincent have been helping me translate the Path of Life into English. Rod is from Canada. He is my Pan Gu Shengong instructor in Canada, making a great effort to propagate Pan Gu Shengong. He lives in the far North of the country, near the North Pole, one of the best places to watch the northern lights.

Thomas, Trish, Georgia, Kat, Jeniffer, Anisha, Anne, Jeffrey, Zheng Xihe and Lin Hongzhi. They are all my good students. Most of them are Pan Gu Shengong instructors.

The students from Indonesia brought us good news. Two months ago, I went to Indonesia to lecture and met a native woman, a botanist. Unfortunately, she had breast cancer and had sold almost all her belongings to pay for medicine, but, as her illness became more serious, the doctors said there was nothing they could do. Finally, she learned Pan Gu Shengong, and began to get better, and luckily met me. I gave her a qi healing once, encouraging her, “If you keep practicing confidently, you are going to recover.” She said she had confidence, great confidence, and kept practicing Pan Gu Shengong four hours every day. Recently, she went to the hospital for surgery, and as soon as the scalpel cut her skin, a tumor weighing over 20 pounds simply dropped out. It was amazing. Even the doctors were stunned by the ease of removal since they had prepared for a very complicated operation. There were some pictures, but they forgot to bring them here.

There have been more and more examples of people who have recovered from illness successfully and quickly by practicing Pan Gu Shengong. During this trip, I met some Guangdong students in my hometown. Have you watched the tapes? (students: Yes, we finished them.)

I wish through understanding so many examples, you can inspire yourselves and inspire others. For mankind’s happiness and health, let us create greater miracles! It is my wish, trust, and expectation for you! Do you have confidence? (students: We do!)

Translated by: Louie Lei, Michael Udel, and Olivia Ou