The Bodhi Stand presents

UPASAKA NG HUNG PAO

      Upasaka Ng Hung Pao, President of the Dharma Propagating Delegation of Hoeh Beng Temple, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, started to offer his services to the Triple Jewel even in his college days. Aware of the general decline of Buddhism throughout Southeast Asia, he knew that Buddhism had to develop on an international scale in order to be in tune with the times and cater to living beings' needs. Ng was one of the chief coordinators that arranged for the nationwide tour of the Sino American Buddhist Association and Dharma Realm Buddhist University's Delegation to Malaysia last year. Hoeh Beng Temple became an affiliate of the Sino American Buddhist Association as a result of that visit by the Delegation. 

      Acting as Chief  Secretary of the PROTEM Welcoming Committee, Upasaka Ng lead the

organization in starting to prepare for the 1978 visit back in 1977. It was a year of many tests and hardships. Aside from having to keep in close contact with several hundred Buddhist groups throughout all the states and cities of Malaysia, the committee was constantly under fire and pressed with opposition from many other Buddhist groups. Ng recollects, "There were times we had to withstand heavy resistance, slander, and what seemed to be insurmountable odds. But my faith in the Sino American Buddhist Association under the leadership of the Venerable Abbot sustained me through many tests and trials."
      
      After long hard work, finally, on July 29, at midnight, the Sino American Delegation landed at the Kuala Lumpur airport. The hundreds of well wishers all breathed a sigh of relief and joy. That was the first time Ng Hung Pao met the Abbot face to face. "It was really uncanny. Although I had never met the Abbot before, I had a deep certainty that this was my teacher. I put all my trust in him during those months of struggles and it was as if we had met many lifetimes ago and shared very deep bonds."

After they greeted the Venerable Abbot amidst a massive crowd of eager devotees, Ng and his wife went home that night and couldn't stop crying for the next three days and nights, much to their own utter amazement. With a mixture of grief and joy, like that which many other fellow Buddhists shared at the time, they awoke to deep affinities and causal conditions with the Buddhadharma in this lifetime.  At a record breaking refuge ceremony in Malaysia, Ng Hung Pao and his entire family took refuge with the Venerable Abbot along with fifteen hundred other people. From that moment on, Upasaka Ng was even more assiduous in his work for the Buddhadharma and traveled with the Delegation almost everywhere it went in the rigorous 42 day schedule in Malaysia, and even accompanied the Delegation to Singapore, Thailand, and Hong Kong. The tour was unprecedented and during it, the Venerable Abbot transmitted portions of the Forty two Hands and Eyes, the Great Compassion Dharma of the Thousand Handed, Thousand Eyed Kuan Yin Bodhisattva. The work of the Delegation broke the ground for New Dharma, and heralded the coming of the Orthodox Faith, awakening many from confusion and infusing new hope in Buddhist disciples everywhere.

      Upasaka Ng's work didn't end with the return of the Delegation to the United States, however, for the formal opening of Dharma Realm Buddhist University was planned for fall of 1979, and Ng began preparations to bring disciples and friends of the Dharma to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas to celebrate that occasion. The Venerable Master had predicted to crowds of thousands taking refuge with him in Malaysia that after his departure there would be many who would slander him, and the Master repeatedly told his new disciples that they were not to fight or argue with the slanderers but were to bow to them and assure them they were perfectly right in what they said. The Master’s predictions proved true and Ng Hung Pao had the additional burden to shoulder: the apprehensions and difficulties of the many disciples who wished to attend the Opening in America. In November 1979, one year after the Malaysian tour, Ng succeeded in leading a delegation of nearly a 100 to attend the Opening. That pilgrimage was a test of faith of the disciples who composed it, and due to the unrelenting determination of Upasaka Ng Hung Pao, their sincerity obtained a response: at the request of disciples around the world in attendance at the Opening, the Venerable Abbott transmitted the entire Dharma of the Forty-two Hands and Eyes of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva in an unprecedented Dharma Assembly. Disciple Ng and the delegation were among those kneeling before the 18’ image of Kuan Yin Bodhisattva in the Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas to receive this rare Dharma treasury from the Venerable Abbott.

      In this farewell speech to the fourfold assembly at the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas Upasaka Ng had this to say:

    "Before coming to the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas I had quite a different idea about the City than I do now. Although I had read quite a lot about this temple and about how the people here cultivated, that was all nothing but imagination. When I stepped into this City, I was really surprised to see the magnitude, the size of the buildings and temples, and how the people work so vigorously. Really they are true cultivators! They never waste a minute or a second of their time. So I hope they will continue in this way to show the people all over the world that the people of the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas are a hard working lot, and they are really working towards the cause of world Buddhism for the peace of humankind.

     I wish to take this occasion also to extend our invitation to Buddhists all over the world to come over to our country to see for yourselves how we in Malaysia propagate the Noble Teaching of the Buddha. We also working towards the same cause. Let us all work hand in hand for the peace and prosperity and unity of all humankind. May all be blessed by the Triple Gem."

     As a learned student of Buddhism, fluent in English, Mandarin, Fukien, and Cantonese, Ng has delighted many with his vibrant and animated translations for many Sanghans in Southeast Asia, as well his unending enthusiasm and courageous dedication to the Triple Jewel makes him an outstanding member among the Buddhist Laity. Upasaka Ng is also a Trustee of Dharma Realm Buddhist University.