王超群

1）簡述童年和初到加拿大的狀況 Childhood and Arrival to Canada 4:37

Wai-Ling: Good morning, Dr. Aung again.

Dr. Aung: Good morning.

WL: We are so happy to be here to ask you a few questions.

Dr. Aung: I’ll be happy to answer.

WL: Can you tell us something about your childhood very briefly?

Dr. Aung: My childhood, I would say, was beautiful because I grew up in a very happy and educated family. My grandfather was a Chinese physician, in fact, it has been six generations back that my family has trained as Chinese physicians. We are very familiar with how to prevent illness and how to balance ourselves.

My parents were great teachers, they taught me not only medicine but Buddhism, art, self-regulation, Qi Gong and the understanding of nature. So I grew up in a family, I would say in a wealthy family, not wealthy in a monetary sense, but we had a wealth of education, knowledge, and wisdom.

WL: That’s really amazing with such a long family history of Chinese physicians. When did you get to Canada?

Dr. Aung: I came to Canada in November of 1973. It was Remembrance Day when I arrived at the Immigration Office in British Columbia. Twelve years later I moved to Edmonton.

WL: Do you remember your impression when you first came to Canada, the weather or, how did you feel?

Dr. Aung: I do remember, it was totally different than it is now. Just like in our terminology, we say east and west. The weather was the opposite of where I had come from. As for the nature of people, they were also quite different. I was prepared to work hard to adopt the Western philosophy of medicine and living and I was looking forward to working hard on the challenges of living in a new place.

WL: Before you got to Edmonton did you know anything about Edmonton at all?

Dr. Aung: Yes, I made a point of studying the city, country, and culture before I arrived; what I would be expected to do, what I could contribute and so on. I came here not only for myself but also for the sake of the country. I wanted to contribute to this new place I was calling home, in the present and for the future.

WL: When you came, did you come by yourself or with your family?

Dr. Aung: I came with my wife and this helped me stay strong. We are always together, so I would have been helpless and very lonely without her.

WL: Do you remember the very first year when you were in Edmonton, what experience that you will always remember?

Dr. Aung: I remember thinking that as a young man in a new place I would have to struggle. I needed to remember that I came here to build a future for myself and my family as well as for my professional career as a physician.

（2）重返醫術界 Journey to Medical Practice 4:13

WL: Do you mind telling us what your first job in Canada was, and how long it took you to get back to medical practices?

Dr. Aung: When I first arrived in Canada, I did not expect to get into medicine right away, so I looked for a job which would allow me to earn money quickly. I am married, so I had the responsibility of taking care of my wife and any children we would have, so I started to work. One of the Western sayings that I learned was, “The beggar has no choice.” My first job was a dishwasher at the Skylight Hotel in Richmond, B.C. (British Columbia). When I started working there I had no social insurance number, so they paid me a little bit less, but I was very contented since it was more than I expected.

WL: While you were working at a job that you were not prepared to do but did you always have the vision to work hard and things would get better.

Dr. Aung: Yes, my goal was always to be a physician, not a dishwasher or a janitor. Day and night, this was always on my mind. I studied whenever I had a chance, when I was on the bus and even when I was on the toilet. I memorized the terminology of medicine and tried to do the best I could, so that I could return to medicine and practice. After a year and a half of hard work, I wrote the exam and passed. It was very encouraging.

Afterward, I tried applying for internships, but there were no positions available since each hospital had their own interns and residents. Eventually, I was lucky and received a position in Montreal at McGill University in their residency program. Even though I did not speak French, I knew that this position would work. I worked very hard and was given the best intern award.

Presently, I would say that I have fulfilled all the requirements of being a physician, and to add to that, I feel I gave a little gift to the Canadian medical profession by offering Chinese medicine with the hope of it integrating into Western medicine.

I am currently practicing integrated medicine, and I have been very successful contributing my knowledge and experience to my Canadian colleagues. I am going to continue doing this job until I pass away. Until that time, I will do my utmost best for Canadians and the world.

3）慈悲的薬物Medicine of Compassion 5:09

WL: Here is another question that I have often been thinking, some people may not believe in Eastern medicine and they may not believe in integrated medicine, what would you say to them?

Dr. Aung: This is a beautiful question. Patients come to me and eventually become very trusting of my approach to medicine. The important thing here, whether people believe it or not, is that you have to do your best to approach each patient appropriately. You should treat your patients sincerely, just like how you treat your own family, with good intention. When treated in this way the only outcome is for the patient to get better and to achieve wellness.

Western medicine is very abrupt. It is about a scientific approach coupled with action. Chinese medicine is about self-preservation, self-motivation, and self-care; it is about achieving balance. The two fit well together since one is preventive and one is curative. The two should be combined, should be married together. My main goal when I came to Canada was to marry Eastern and Western medicine. To have them become one unique family of compassion and kindness, a family treatment.

Among all treatments, we should not forget about love and kindness. Buddhists say, “no anger, no jealousy, no sadness.” This is where Buddhism comes from; treating everyone with love. When seeing a patient for the first time, you should greet them with love, this will help them feel comfortable. Then, when you treat the patient, make sure that there are good intentions; this will help ease the patient’s pain and suffering.

Love really has a very, very important role in medicine. I want to teach the next generation of students how to apply love and kindness to every patient and treat them with “Karuna”, this means “with compassion.” I interpret this as treating patients as if they are family; those older than me, I treat like my parents, those my age, I treat like my siblings, and those younger, I treat like my children. This is using medicine from the heart to heal our dear patients.

I think every profession has its own approach. In this life, it is nice to be doing something that has meaning and is useful for humanity. If everyone takes responsibility in this life, then the whole world can become a peaceful and happy place. Human relations are an important thing. We should love each other and take care of each other, otherwise, the world is full of fighting, jealousy, anger, erosion, and pollution; this creates more illness.

The Chinese way of medicine is about preventive health-care, which is very important. We need to be preventive and take care of ourselves before disease takes hold. The Chinese always say, “when you are healthy, come and see me so that I can make you healthier.” Western medicine’s philosophy is more along the lines of, “when you are diseased come to see me, if you have nothing wrong, you don’t need to come see me.”

I think the whole concept of medicine needs to be changed. It needs to utilize preventive treatment in a larger way. Holistic medicine is very powerful. Western medicine is based on scientific reasoning. Chinese medicine, and Eastern medicine in general, uses the heart for healing. Preventative medicine helps everyone live a longer and healthier life so that they may contribute in greater ways.

However, we should never separate Eastern and Western medicine. I am very happy that I am a Chinese physician, and I am also very happy that I am a Western physician. I have to help marry them together to form universal medicine.

（4）宇宙間的醫药Universal Medicine 6:41

WL: Dr. Aung you are very well respected and well known in the world. Have you or maybe you have initiated a conversation with the university hospital and say can we have a course for our future physicians to learn about the marriage of Eastern and Western medicine?

Dr. Aung: Under the leadership of Sunita Vohra, the Integrative Health Institute has been founded to help promote the philosophy of integrated health. The University of Alberta has been quite supportive of the organization.

We should not say Eastern and Western medicine. We should only have universal medicine. Universal medicine takes care of everybody, physical to mental, mental to spiritual and from spiritual to a higher level of wellness. We need to start to teach people how to become healers. People are only learning the techniques, and if a person is trying to treat with only techniques they are missing the art of healing. You need to include love, spirituality, and healing with the techniques.

WL: Dr. Aung, I think you are friends with the Indigenous populations as well. Do you do any joint courses or studies with them?

Dr. Aung: Oh yes, Indigenous peoples are my good friends. I have spent a lot of time with Indigenous healers. I remember that we picked sweet grass together and that I really liked their natural approach to healing. For example, they use the sweat lodges for detoxification and purification, just like the Chinese do.

I am trying to help their community to become more scientific, but I am also trying to learn the Indigenous point of view regarding spiritual healing. I think, just like a house, we should not have only one door. We should have many doors. Sometimes for emergencies, we may have to come out from a window or use the chimney to come into the house. What I am trying to say, is that we are one house, one country, one nation, so we should not only have one form of medicine. We should have many forms, many entrances. In this way, there are many options available. My belief is that a physician should not only learn Western medicine but also learn Chinese medicine, Unani medicine, North American Indigenous medicine, Tibetan medicine, Indian Ayurvedic medicine, etc.

My father would say, “Steven, it is the time for you to practice now. You have learned much about medicine, it is now time for you to contribute. ” I have good intentions to help my colleagues from the west and from the east. When I go to China, I help Chinese medicine practitioners understand Western medicine. Outside of China, when I am with Western colleagues, I try to teach them about Eastern techniques so that we can all understand each other. This is my ultimate objective and dream which I have tried to accomplish up until now. It’s why I have visited so many countries to give talks; to share what I have learned.

（5） 仁愛的神奇力量 Magic of Love 10:52

Paul: Talk about the topic of compassion and love. In medical practice and training, they only train you and talk about sympathy and work ethics. And I don’t think in the medical or nursing school they talk about compassion. So because I don’t think compassion can be taught but it has to be

nurtured. So do you see a kind of different mentality of people they get into medicine they kind of changed, they are losing the sight?

Dr. Aung: I understand what you mean. There are a lot of people studying medicine that only think about money and prestige. If you are focused on these things, your attitude is wrong. When your attitude is wrong, you will never be happy. In medicine, helping patients is the key.

Hypothetically, if I were in a position to influence curriculum changes in a university department somewhere, I would make sure that love, kindness, and compassion were emphasized because I feel it is currently not emphasized enough. If you love your patient, then you are a responsible doctor, that’s it. The second thing we should emphasize is that all practitioners should be healers. You know, everybody can learn how to put a needle in. The real beauty comes when the doctor treats the patient with knowledge, skill, and love. Intention makes the difference.

When I met with his Holiness, the Dalai Lama, I asked him: “Your Holiness, how is your medicine different from the rest of medicine? And how is the rest of medicine different from yours?” His Holiness was laughing as he said, “We have very simple medicine. We cannot even make a tablet to make it stronger, but we give everything with love, even this glass of water. I have it here, I give it to you Dr. Aung, for your throat to get better. I recite a mantra, you take it and you will be better right away.” I drank the water he gave to me and I got better right away.

When I came back after meeting the Dalai Lama, all my patients wondered what the difference was between my treatment method and other doctors. They did not realize that I treated them with love. When I put a needle in I say a mantra, “I wish you will feel better,” and the patient gets better. You may wonder why I get so many patients; it’s because I get good results. When you have good results, people come. If you don’t help people, nobody will come. So, when they come, you do them good. That is the beauty of medicine. The art of medicine is the healing, and the science of medicine is the explanation. This is why we need to have both art and science in medicine. If you only know how to explain, without knowing how to heal, it is not medicine. The most important thing is to heal the patient.

When I was young, I lived in an undeveloped country, so it was difficult to see a doctor when sick. If the illness was not too severe we went to see a monk. The monk would say, “come, come”, then he would give me a glass of water. He chanted while I drank it and I felt better afterward. Dr. Masaru Emoto, a Japanese scientist, conducted an experiment in which he said a mantra to give positive energy to the water and then froze it. Afterward, he would examine the ice with a microscope and see that it had frozen into beautiful patterns. He would do this same thing again, but this time, he would say mean-spirited things to the water. After the water was frozen, he examined it through a microscope and discovered it would be frozen in ugly and distorted ways. This shows that microscopically the water changed according to the energy which it encountered. This helps to illustrate that there is no question that love plays a very, very important role.

To further illustrate this, there is a little boy who would come to see me for treatment. Every time he came to my office, he gave me an orange. He would tell me, “It’s for you because you have a dry mouth. The orange is good for you.” I always peeled and ate it, and it was always very sweet. Other times, the boy’s brother would come in. This boy was told by his brother to also bring me an orange, but this brother always just grunted when he gave it to me. I always ate the orange, but my

goodness, seven, eight or nine times and they were all sour. What I am trying to emphasize is how important intention and love are.

WL: You have a very interesting concept about treating also the family, maybe make them calm, make them relaxed. Indirectly you can help the patient.

Dr. Aung: The Ancient Chinese discovered something called ancestral points. These ancestral points have been mentioned in Chinese history for thousands of years, but not too many people know how to properly use them. It is my belief that the ancestral points should be carefully studied. When I retire, I plan to focus on how to use the ancestral points in a deeply spiritual way. It will be a wonderful contribution for future generations of acupuncturists.

I recently came back from Shenzhen, (a city north of Hong Kong), where I presented a talk on ancestral points and how I treated a baby through the parent. Everyone in attendance was fascinated by this concept. In Western medicine, we are trained to understand that genetically, genes are 50% from the father and 50% from the mother. However, in Chinese medicine, boys’ genes are 60% from the mother and 40% from the father. For girls it is the opposite, 60% from the father and 40% from the mother. This means mother and son share a very close connection and the father and daughter share a very close connection.

To give you an example of this, I treated a boy who was very ill in the ICU (Intensive Care Unit) by treating the mother. The boy got better. It worked because the relationship is there. Had I treated the father, the boy would have responded but to a lesser degree compared to the response the boy showed after treating the mother. Further research needs to be done to prove that human energy can be spiritually transferred.

On this same trip to Shenzhen, I also talked about how to practice preventive treatments in the pediatric department, as well as the Ten Points Touch technique for newborn babies. The Touch technique helps to increase the baby’s intelligence. What a wonderful ancient gift this technique is to the world and the result is even better when you treat using the ancestral points together with the Ten Points Touch Technique.

（6） 華人社群Chinese Community 2:51

WL: Dr. Aung you are very active in the community, not only in the Chinese community, not only in Canada but also in the world. When you first came to Canada, did you get any help from any Chinese organizations or some support?

Dr. Aung: Of course. The Chinese community guided and helped me, gave me support and encouragement, and that’s what I needed. Also, I frequently visited Chinatown to read the Chinese newspaper to update myself about Chinese communities.

I have made some contributions to the Chinese community, and my heart is always there. One good thing I have done for the Chinese community is teach Chinese medicine at a university level. I taught acupuncture in Edmonton at the University of Alberta for 22 years. The U of A was the first university to offer an acupuncture program in Canada.

I also teach Qi Gong exercises for self-care, self-development, and self-cultivation. These workshops are very well received. Several practice groups have been formed by workshop participants in various locations. These groups meet regularly and practice Qi Gong together. So beautiful to see.

Another contribution I have made to the Chinese community is my volunteer work with the Edmonton Chinese Garden Society. We have been working diligently on building the Chinese Garden in Louise McKinney Park. I am also supportive of the Edmonton Chinese Library located in Chinatown. I do my best to be actively involved in activities within the Chinese community.

Overall, I am very happy with what I have accomplished. I did not expect to receive the Order of Canada from her Excellency in 2006, the Physician of the Century Award from the Alberta Medical Association, or the Dr. Rogers Prize Ground Breaker Award for Excellence in Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) which I received last year.

For all those that have and continue to support me, I am not going to stop contributing. I will keep going until I am not here. I will try my best for Canada, for the world, and for whomever else I come in to contact with.

（7） 送給新移民的忠告Advice to Newcomers     2:15

WL: Dr. Aung you are a very visionary and very courageous person. You have good training background before you came to Canada. But for some new immigrants, they may have average education and may not have the language but they want to build a life here, what kind of advice can you give them?

Dr. Aung: My grandfather taught me three things. First, you should take care of yourself so that you are your best self to help other people. Second, you should use your professional knowledge to do the best for other people that you encounter. Third, you should not forget about the next generation. Share your knowledge and experience with them. Teach them how to be strong so that they can carry on taking care of the universe. These are the three things I am always aiming to do, and I will continue to do them. So, the best advice I can give to a newcomer to Canada is, be a responsible and useful person, work hard, be patient, act according to your plan and always do your best for other people.