Trip to Macau and Hong Kong in October 2012 — Master Ou’s calligraphy exhibition, healing concert and more — by Robert Anderson

First came a thirteen-and-a-half-hour flight (on Cathay Pacific) to Hong Kong. On board were Master Ou, Mandy, and Olivia; Paul and Anisha; Karen; and Rose and Robert. We were lucky: a hundred empty seats, according to one of the flight attendants, which meant room for stretching out, and, blissfully, sleeping.

It was evening when we arrived in Hong Kong, and night after the ferry ride to Macau. Naturally we were tired but our spirits were immediately lifted by our welcome. What a welcome! A large contingent of Macau Pangu practitioners were waiting just outside Customs with big smiles, open hearts, warm greetings, and beautiful flowers for Master Ou. Among the greeters were many that Rose and Robert recognized from their first trip to Macau, this past January, including Fong and Hong (Maggie and her husband); Ling-ling and Sau (Hong’s brother); Fernando; Amy and her daughter, Wisely (both from Hong Kong)—to name but a few. Then we were driven to our hotels.

Paul, Anisha, Karen, Rose, and Robert stayed in Taipa, the island just south of Macau and connected to it by two beautiful bridges. The next day we met up with Amita, Jessica, and Jason, who had arrived by different flights but were staying in the same hotel. Then we were driven to Macau by Fernando, who proved to be invaluable as a driver, a guide, and—most of all—a gracious and generous host at his well-known restaurant, also on Taipa, where we enjoyed several wonderful, huge, delicious, sumptuous, and fun-filled dinners while we were there. Thank you, Fernando! You are a prince and a gentleman.

It was the time of the Mid-autumn Festival (also called the Moon Festival), and there was definitely a festive, holiday atmosphere in Macau. The second night we were there featured a famous fireworks competition—after a day of a delicious lunch, singing, listening to Master Ou’s talk, and a fabulous dinner at “Fernando’s Hideaway”: his restaurant.

The next day we rehearsed, and the day after that proved to be a big one: the opening of Master Ou’s calligraphy exhibit, attended by reporters, television camera crews, VIPs, and, most important, over 500 highly enthusiastic fans of Master Ou and his artwork, most of them PGSG practitioners. The love and appreciation they brought to this exhibit were as moving as the exhibit itself. Indeed, this was no mere “art opening”; it was a “spirit opening” as well: there was a spiritual presence in the artwork itself, in the many messages contained in the calligraphy, and also in the viewers, who both received those messages and brought their own spirituality to the exhibit, making this a rare event. In addition, Master Ou gave a demonstration in which he composed several works of calligraphy special for the occasion. All went smoothly and with a high level of energy at the same time.

On Saturday, of course, occurred The Event: the concert. As the title of the program implied: in traditional, classical Chinese culture music is one of the foundations of a well-run, harmonious, heavenly guided society. And what is the real meaning, the real purpose of music? The program told us that, too: happiness. In this case the music was provided, of course, by Master Ou. Singing in front of a changing backdrop of beautiful scenes, artful calligraphy—the whole show was professionally and efficiently run by PGSG practitioners, including the emcee, Olivia—Master Ou thrilled the audience of 2,000 with a large selection of his songs. Many of those who filled the cavernous auditorium (were there any empty seats?—we didn’t see any) had never seen their beloved teacher and inspirer in person before. How greatly they appreciated his performance! How readily they absorbed the energy he so generously offered to all who were present.

There were others who appeared onstage (giving Master Ou well-earned breaks—although, with his abundant energy, he hardly needed them). Anisha was the first of the foreign students to perform. A solo act, she first recited and chanted “Heavenly Destiny,” one of the selections from Master Ou’s CDs, in a beautiful, polished way. She then gave a beautiful rendition of the song “Surabaya,” radiating love from her heart through both her singing and her smiles—and was she surprised, like the rest of us, when Master Ou came out onstage to join her in singing the last part of “Surabaya”! That part of the performance was definitely not rehearsed, nor did it need to be: the two performers moved the audience greatly by their common spirit. We all agreed, afterward, with Master Ou’s assessment that Anisha’s was the best of all the performances by the foreign students. Way to go, Anisha! We were all tremendously moved and impressed. (And even more so when she revealed, later, that she had previously been a victim of that horrible disease called stage fright—but had been helped greatly by Master Ou’s advice to us all on how to deal with it.)

Paul, too, gave a polished performance, chanting, appropriately, “Mid-autumn Moon,” one of the longer selections on the CDs. With microphone in hand, he commanded the stage like a pro, completely relaxed, bonding with the audience—a Cantonese Sinatra. Clearly Paul has no problems with stage fright.

A particularly touching part of the concert was Master Ou’s relating his experiment in a Burmese prison where, for four months, under incredibly deplorable conditions, he taught Pangu Shengong and gave healing treatments to the inmates, whose health had deteriorated badly during their confinement. It is a narrative that Master Ou has by and large not revealed to the public—even to most of his PGSG students. He told of how well the prisoners responded to the shengong and to his healing treatments. “When you are without hope and you have no alternatives, then you are ready to believe and accept”—this was the message the story gave us. The sense of drama was heightened by Master Ou’s costume change: he had come out on stage for this part of the concert wearing not a jacket and tie but dressed very simply in tee shirt and cargo pants, one leg of which was rolled up. At the end of his narrative, a ten-year-old boy went up onto the stage from the audience to present him with flowers—and unroll the pant leg for Master Ou, who then gave the boy a warm embrace.

Another extremely moving moment occurred when Angel went onstage to be introduced to the audience by Master Ou. Angel’s testimonial has appeared in a previous edition of this newsletter: her recovery from bone cancer by practicing Pangu Shengong. Later, at Fernando’s restaurant, we had a chance to meet and talk with Angel and appreciate what a gentle, sweet, and, yes, angelic individual she is.

Later in the program Dreamland Waltz was sung, part in Mandarin, part in Cantonese, by an “all-star” ensemble: Mandy, Winnie, Jessica, Rose, Melia, Amita, Karen, and, last but certainly not least (and certainly tallest), Jason. It was a soulful performance of one of Master Ou’s favorite songs, and a favorite of the audience’s. The singers also made for a beautiful sight, with their colorful clothes (excepting, of course, Jason).

Also on the program were reciting and chanting by Jason and Robert. Although they appeared onstage together (at Robert’s request: apparently he was afraid to go on by himself—had he missed Master Ou’s advice to the performers about dealing with stage fright?), they performed separately. Jason presented three chants from Master Ou’s CDs, Robert only one. Whereas Jason’s performance was rewarded with much applause, for some reason Robert’s provoked raucous laughter. (Well, at least the audience didn’t go to sleep.)

The concert ended with a rousing rendition of “The Pangu Shengong Song,” performed by the foreign students and accompanied by Master Ou, at first mingling with the audience, microphone in hand, then making it back to the stage just in time to lead the singers in the last lines of this stirring anthem. Then the show was over.

But wait—not yet! On the stage, Master Ou was signing copies of his newly released chanting CDs, purchased by audience members in the lobby, while, also onstage, students assembled in an impromptu fashion to sing various songs and deliver chants. They simply did not want to quit! And neither did the audience, who, after four hours of this incredible concert, seemed ready for four hours more.

And then? Why, another fabulous, scrumptious, over-the-top dinner at Fernando’s, of course, with the noisy, spirited celebrating being led by Singyu, one of Master Ou’s senior students from Guangzhou (doesn’t he always lead the celebrating?), who, along with Fong, another senior student from that city, played an important role in stage-managing the concert.

Then on to Hong Kong!

At the ferry terminal, just as with our arrival, there was a large group of PGSG students, this time to see us off. There were hugs, goodbyes, tears—and lots of smiles! Maggie, the leader of the Macau PGSG students, presented those who were departing with some beautiful, quite large, artificial chrysanthemums: something to remember our visit with.

From the Hong Kong ferry terminal Master Ou, Mandy, and Olivia went off to stay at the home of a PGSG student, while the rest of us were guided by several other students, led by Ha-ha, to our hotel. For the next day and a half we were on our own!

We all took advantage of our free time in different ways. Some took the tramway to the giant statue of Buddha; some went to the jade market and did other shopping; some went to Victoria Park; and some ventured into the New Territories to see an exhibit on the role of the dragon in Chinese art at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. And we all spent some of that time relaxing.

Then on Sunday we were guided by Daniel and Doris, who showed us the way to Kowloon Park via Hong Kong’s clean, efficient, quiet subway for a group practice—right next to a grunting, stomping, enthusiastic class of young kung-fu students. After the practice we gathered for lunch—and lots of spontaneous singing and chanting! At one point Olivia introduced Rose to Fongya, the young girl whose story also appeared in a previous newsletter, the one who had so much trouble sleeping due to horrific nightmares and was greatly helped by listening to Master Ou’s “Dreamland Waltz.” She wanted to sing it with the foreign students—which she proceeded to do, microphone up to her mouth, accompanied by Olivia, Rose, Melia, Amita, and Karen. What a special and sweet rendition it was!

That evening there was another big dinner, and then the next day it was time to leave.

At Hong Kong airport there was another warm send-off, with Amy and Wisely, Ling-ling, and Louis and his wife. Then came an experience of a different sort. Except for Amita, who left earlier for India, and Rose, everyone who had received a giant chrysanthemum managed to pack them in their luggage. Rose was amazed at the smiles and comments that her cloth flower evoked—from security officials, Customs personnel, and airline employees; it brought smiles and joy to those whom travelers usually have no time for. Later she discovered that Amita had a similar experience with her flower. What an appropriate way to end such a wonder-filled journey!