There are two mistakes along
the way to truth: Not starting the path and not going it all the way. My name is Shi Heng Yi. I am the Headmaster of the
Shaolin Temple Europe. Inside the monastery,
I am also called Shifu. In my perception,
it is questionable to remain in any predominant
state for a too long period. Ultimately – the Kung Fu training
and all practices have one single purpose: to create balance. The reason why
I chose this path, is because i consider it to be
a logical and meaningful path. A way of life. Firstly, it is the decision
to live a monastic way of life, under the regulations
and conditions of a monastery. As an alternative, one could
live in a supposedly life of absolute freedom: to do what you feel like, to wake up and
go to sleep when you want, to eat and to drink,
whatever the heart desires; that is the other possibility
that is available. Here however,
it is waking up at 6am, to work for the monastery,
to work on yourself, to refrain from accumulating
personal belongings and dedicate more for the benefit
of the community, as well as to provide
services for others, without even understanding
in the beginning, what’s the benefit
of doing all of this? This fundamental question
gives rise to the first mental hindrance that one encounters,
when you decide to live in this monastery. The Shaolin Temple Europe
is located in Otterberg, near Kaiserslautern, in
Rhineland Palatinate (Germany). Many masters and monks from
our monastery either grew up in Europe or have a close relationship
to the European mentality. This is the reason why
we named our monastery: Shaolin Temple Europe. Our teachings, philosophies
and traditions originate from the
Mother Temple; the Songshan Shaolin Temple, while also being adapted to
the cultural differences here in Europe. In actual fact,
the reason why a monastery exists within the society, is to provide
alternative ways to relief and give support
for daily human problems. This is the reason
why we decided, to bring, what has
been taught in Asia, also to Europe, and especially to make it
available for European people, where our monastery is located. In China there still are
monasteries with hundreds and thousands of monks, but here in Germany,
these amounts are currently not possible, at least not for
a Buddhist monastery. Within our monastery there are
two main aspects, to put it simply. The spiritual development
and the martial arts practices. For the transmission of
theoretical knowledge just as Buddhism, we have a spiritual guidance. The spiritual leader
of this monastery, actually every spiritual leader
of any monastery, is titled the abbot. The abbot of our monastery
is Shi Heng Zong. Once you have the possibility
to learn from the abbot, and also to spend
some time with him, you will certainly come
to your own realization. There are things
in this lifetime, possible to be
understood and learned intellectually, regardless of
who is teaching you. Regardless if it is a
professor or a master. Knowledge starts to matter
and to have relevance, from the moment,
you’re putting it into action. Ultimately,
you will understand: The master guides the way, but
the student needs to walk it. Buddha means the awakened
or the enlightened one. In this sense,
every enlightened one can be referred to
as a Buddha. To distinguish more easily,
Buddha is the founder of the teaching, and an enlightened one is
either called an Arhat, a being that is leaving
the cylce of birth and death, which doesn’t re-enter the
cycle, or a Bodhisattva an enlightened being remaining
in the realm of birth and death. The well known big-bellied
Buddha actually isn´t a Buddha, or let’s say, not yet a Buddha.
We refer to him as a Mílè Fó. Mílè Fó, that is
the chinese expression for the Maitreya Buddha. The Maitreya Buddha has not
come into existance yet. According to the
Buddhist teachings, when we are
talking about the Buddha, when we are
referring to this Buddha. We are talking about
Prince Siddharta Gautama from the house of Shakya,
also named Shakyamuni, the sage from
the house of Shakya. That is the
historical Buddha. May all sentient beings
be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all sentient beings
abide in equanimity, free from greed
and hatred. May all sentient
beings be happy. We currently have temporary
vistors and volunteers here at the monastery. Volunteers are people who are
provided with food and lodging by us in the monastery. At the same time they have
the opportunity to participate in
our daily routines and in return they
support the monastery in various kinds
of daily tasks. It is not the quantity or
productivity of what people do in the monastery
which is important, but the quality and dedication
that they put into their action. Much more important than
getting caught up in too many things and
therefore not finishing them, is to start a single task
and do it properly. Once you start to understand,
that everything that you’re doing, eventually
means to cultivate yourself, it becomes irrelevant whether
you call it leisure activity or call it work. Because someone who finds
joy in cultivating oneself, and therefore stays
at this monastery, will use this opportunity
regardless of the action. Whether it is gardening,
cooking or cleaning ... no matter what it is. One will understand the purpose
of developing oneself. No student or disciple has an
obligation or duty to earn money. To give all of them who are
living in the monastery the chance to fully concentrate
and study the the teachings: such as Buddhism,
Taoism, Confucianism... ... and to explore ways
to put them into practice, without the worries to think
about what to eat or where to sleep, these aspects are being
provided by the monastery. What is the purpose of getting
to know oneself better? What is the purpose of getting
to know your body better? Simple. In order to know for what you can use your body,
your mind or your skills for, and also for what you
shouldn´t use them for. The most beneficial and
wholesome consequence that can evolve from this, is to find
yourself in an environment, where the cultivation of
positive skills is being encouraged and where your negative traits
are becoming transformed. This is how its working
in the monestary. Everyone shall be deployed
where they can develop best. Everything in life (Samsara)
has two sides. What are the two sides
of a human being? Body and Mind. We know that there are
ways to train the body, ways to change
and transform the body. Likewise, we can change
and transform the mind. To make it more tangible: Buddhism,
Taoism, Confucianism, 3 philosophies, 3 teachings
to guide the mind. And Gongfu,
Taijiquan, Qigong, physical practices
to nourish the body. Ultimately, each aspect
affects an other and the other way around. This is why they
belong together, since these are the ingredients
of a human being. However there are different
approaches to enter. The martial arts and
physical practices that are being taught in the
Shaolin Temple, are named: Gongfu, Taijiquan and Qigong. Understanding a form on paper doesn't mean
that you can do it. Shaolin Gongfu is the practice
of becoming the form, Once you start
to feel it, you will discover the principles
upon which your body is functioning and on what
this nature is based upon. Because... in this life we always have
to balance both aspects. The human being has two sides,
your technique has two sides, your form has two sides. The two sides of the form are:
internal skills, external skills external body structure
- internal alignment. What is the purpose
of fighting? The practice of Martial Arts is
only an instrument. More precisely an instrument
to learn more about yourself and about this life. When I hear the word “fight”, my initial reference is: To conquer yourself. Someone who relates
the word „fight“ to the fight against
another (external) person, might have a different meaning
and connotation than I do. The reason why the
Martial Arts are practiced here
in the monastery is because the final fight,
the most difficult fight, but also the fight that,
if won, leads to the
highest realization, is the fight
against yourself. As far as food preparation
is concerned, there are guidelines
we have set for ourselves
in our monastery. If meat is avoidable,
we avoid it, but if it is served to us,
we won't refuse it. To perceive every moment
the way it is, and many moments
the way they are, to feel the small changes
when they occur, is similar to the way
how we perceive taste, and therefore also perceive
while eating. It means, that in the moment
we are eating, and the moment we
are drinking something, not always we’re succeeding
in paying complete attention to the food, but it is the attempt. The attempt is important. Working on making it
happen is important. This is the reason, why we
usually start every meal with a prayer. With the first bite we vow,
to not do harm anymore, with the second bite we vow,
to only do good, with the third bite we vow,
to save all beings. In this way we can complete
Buddha's way. Bon appetit! Meditation is an instrument that helps to regain
access to oneself and to develop the state
of mind (Samadhi) to be more in
the here and now. In order to find
access to one‘s self, to find the answers
within one‘s self, it is first necessary to
recapture our attention that often has escaped
to the outside world. The methods and instruments
used to recapture our attention are for example known
as meditation practices. Why should someone decide
to practise more intensely to remain in the here
and now? Let’s say you live mindfully
for the next 50 years, you are able to observe
every moment of your life, and see every change
that is happening. If you consider each second
to be unique. Each second, each minute,
each hour, each week,
each month, each year within a period
of 50 years, then I strongly believe
that in these 50 years, you will have gathered an
immensely huge amount of impressions
from your life. You will have valued the most
precious gift in this lifetime that has been given to you
- to live. When is the time
to determine my life? When is the time
to influence my life? It is right now that you are
influencing your life. It is pointless and without
purpose to come to the monastery to settle down for an hour
and say: "Now I am meditating!" Just to realize that this peace
within that one hour of practice, is backed up by 23 hours of
stress that you’re facing on the outside.
Then it is better to relinquish the meditation practice
completely. Because the purpose is not
about having this one hour of peace
during the meditation. Instead it is the attempt
to expand this state of mind into all aspects of our life. The question remains:
How can someone cope with a situation of
loosing someone or something, that is very dear
to his heart? How can such a person
develop the strength to not allow yourself of
being dragged down, without being
emotionally disturbed? This state of mind
to remain in equanimity must be trained for a long,
long, long time. Step by step,
it must be trained. If a family member
was to die - today - it is impossible
to simply say: "I won’t think about it,
this just happens. Existence means life and death.
Everything has two sides." It won’t help you to just
repeat these words in an empty manner. But to start step by step
with the smaller things in life, and to implement these truths
can be a small beginning. As an example: When your car is driving,
you enjoy it, you embrace everything it
can do and enjoy the ride. But once those things
are gone from your life, you won’t let them influence
the way how you feel. People are often
scared off, particularly when I consider
pain to be normal in the Shaolin monastery. There are many
different ways in which someone learns
to perceive this pain. When we speak of pain, we must distinguish
between two things. There is suffering and
there is physical pain. Something that is the same
for everyone in this world, is the acknowledgement
that physical pain exists. Every human being
feels physical pain. The intensity or threshold
might be different, but everyone encounters
physical pain. But suffering is something
we consider to be optional. We also feel physical pain... at some point we also
reach the limit and have physical pain too, but the suffering
has ceased, the psychological, mental aspect
of this pain has disappeared, because it is the part we
consider to be optional. To what purpose? The purpose is to
reduce this pain. What does my body,
what do my feelings want to tell me
with this pain? In the contemplation
of pain you will start to ask
yourself questions that you have not
asked yourself before, that otherwise wouldn’t even
have come to your mind. And exactly these answers
that you will receive, will open doors and allow
you to see the world with different eyes. And in order to perceive
this experience: To sense the difference between
physical pain and suffering. To sense where ones physical
and mental limit lies. Many different methods
are existing. Methods that have their
origin in the Martial Arts. Certainly there are elements
and aspects of this training, that we don’t consider of
being suitable for the masses. Because an immense amount
of discipline is needed, a lot of persistance and
a lot of patience is needed, in order to see
any kind of result. Once it rises
to its highest peak, it will turn and
start to sink again. To leave this cycle, is the core of
monastic life. In each single day and also
as an holistic approach, we are striving
for this cultivation. Everything is embedded
in this cycle. Every moment carries
the seed of this cycle. Just as it is with
all the 4 seasons. After summer follows autumn.
Then winter will come, where we can return
to contemplation once more. The underlying
principle remains: "Everything in life
has two sides", Just now it begins to become
clear and meaningful. Because:
"Everything has two sides" is sometimes – mistakingly -
seen as black and white, but the world is not
black and white. Our conclusion is: Living along the extremes,
won’t bring you balance. Neither being on this side
leads to the right path, nor being
on the other side. The right way
also doesn’t mean to go through
the middle. One might think that is
considered being the middle way. The middle way is not by going
through the middle. The middle way
is the state that connects this extreme (Yin)
and this extreme (Yang) as a whole. That is the middle way. Shaolin Temple Europe
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