“I met Sifu Yeung at a time where all the things I thought made a happy life had come together for me; I had begun a job which I enjoyed with good prospects for the future, I had completed my Degree, and I had begun a relationship with a girl I was very close to. Yet despite all this I knew that there was still a void in me which no one could fill, something unsatisfactory about life which I just couldn't put my finger on. After attending a Taiji weekend in Newcastle hosted by Sifu, I knew that I had found someone who had the answers to this unsatisfactoriness and who truly lives by the ideals he teaches. I was overjoyed to be given the chance to attend the Pathgate Summer Retreat that year. By the time I returned from the retreat, my life had completely changed direction and I was at the beginning of a path that has continued to bring me joy, strength and determination. Sifu is like a beacon of sincerity and compassion among a confused and troubled world. Having the good fortune to be taken in as a student, I have come to appreciate just how rare this kind of wisdom and compassion is. All my life I have been living in a world of emotional poverty, closing myself off with pride and self-centeredness, unable to open up to real love and happiness for fear of exposing my insecurities and lack of real sincerity in my thought and action. Sifu teaches us how to break free from this emotional poverty, and live instead with an open heart and an open mind, bringing meaning and direction to our lives, and to bring benefit not only to ourselves but all those around us. Even a short time with Sifu is enough to realise that he is the embodiment of wisdom, compassion, and sincerity - he lives and helps those around him to live with an intensity driven by the single wish to bring happiness and meaning to the lives of everyone who has the good fortune to meet him. He is the only person I have ever met who can accurately reflect to me my own problems and faults, and at the same time offer a solution that is always beneficial both to myself and those around me. The more I open up to his teaching, the deeper my faith and appreciation grows. I find a great peace in his loving refuge, and a growing determination to leave behind every trace of self-centredness, fear and delusion, and make use of each precious moment of time to spend in the presence of our wonderful teacher.”

Nyima Drayang (Bristol)