But too many people focus on the hammer and nail and not the house.
You got to focus the hammer on the nail to build a house. I think that's the problem with most people today. They buy prebuilt houses. They don't understand hammer and nail. To me, true Shaolin is all about hammer and nail. But that might be a little too metaphoric and garlic doesn't enter into it. I suppose I could counter your wine anecdote with one of mine after working with drug patients at the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic, but I think that would take our discussion on a personal level and skirt the basic issue of what it means to be a monk. There's no doubt in my mind that Shi Yanming could do equally good work without the monk title. It shouldn't be about that at all. There's the attachment. The definition of a monk is one of Shaolin's most tricky concepts, mostly because the definition of wuseng is so soft, but also due to the fallout of the CR. You can look at the dictionary definition, but in English, we don't really have terms to address things like wuseng or even fangtuo seng. In English, a monk is just someone who lives at a monastery and is accepted by his monkish brothers.

Buddhism is about extinction. That's the reaal definition of nirvana. I suppose you could say 'sink below' as much as 'rise above' but the bottom line is you got to get past the attachments. The bottom line is you can't take a good dump without first taking a good meal.

I hope my tone is conversation too, Richard. You know me - we're old Shaolin cousins and I'm always a Shaolin devil's advocate to some degree. I respect Yanming and I miss interacting with him. The last time I saw him was when I was with Martha making Shaolin Ulysses. And the last time I spoke to Sophia was years ago, just prior to one of our Shaolin Specials. Was that the 2003? I can't remember exactly, but it's been a long time.