Shi Hengshan commits suicide

[richard sloan]

Pardon me, but I didn't see where he said that wasn't his interest. It sounded like they never taught him.

You realize China was a bunch of communists, slaughtered the monks, very few survived and those few that did survive passed martial arts on in China, where religion was frowned upon from the communist era?

When they first started practicing martial arts again after the cultural revolution, they didn't teach fighting applications. It was wushu forms.

I give up. Shaolin is Disneyland. It is not a temple, it's a money-making institution, and I'm tired of character assassination arguments as to otherwise.

Anyways, if you want to know where I got the entire Shaolin is martial Disneyland thing, I didn't make it up. I got it from Gene. http://www.wle.com/kungfu/node/34. 24 Shaolin temples. Does that sound like there's just one? No, it's a Franchise.

You admit that some survived. And incredulously, your next supposition is that they would let the dharma die out, and would not transmit the Shaolin dharma because of the Red Guard and the CR. And yet, we miraculously have the transmission. How do you suppose we have this treasure so rich even the word treasure can not denote it's value?

NONE of what you post after that admission, that some survived to teach means sh!t sherlock. And please do not presume to tell me my history, because what you post after your admission, your conclusion, is an insult. To read your post, and to think of Su Xi struggling out of his wheelchair just to taste a little pao chuan and xiao hong again...it practically renders me speechless.

LOL. Of ALL the countless - I mean, the massive body of texts Gene has composed which provide context- that is what you come away with.

Unreal.

Do you realize that Gene is in the family of De Cheng, who received transmission from Su Yuan, whose lineage, like several other monks, predated the 1928 Shi You San attacks? They NEVER stopped, the line is UNBROKEN- Xing Zhen, Su Yun, Su Xi, So Goong, Wan Heng, others...and this becomes obvious if you put the legwork in and pay the dues to the right people. The CH'AN is there. The GONG FU is there- and depending on who you train with it's the same bag, so it only becomes obvious the line is unbroken. It's even intact through folk masters. This does not, and is not meant to, suggest that the stresses under which Shaolin has been yanked into this era has not occluded or shrouded her essence from those such as yourself, and don't take the responses to you as anything other than a heated record correction.

Your analogy is worthless because nobody ever trained you how to think logically or frame an argument, which makes your opinions basically worthless and your Disneyland analogy more than a little off the mark. It's another classic non sequitor. It's like saying that because Disney animators all now use computers it's impossible that any of the animation staff could still draw with pencils, or that because Disney has a theme park they can't animate. And the laugh of it is you're saying it in front of people who ARE still using pencils, to keep with the analogy.

Why don't you get back in your time machine and re-watch the CR as it unfolded at the Temple. Bring your cam corder.

Li Peng had an article in the mag wherein he basically flat out said he was only interested in gong fu, so you're pardoned for being ignorant- my issue is if you care to burn the calories to offer an opinion at least make the attempt to inform yourself, and where you don't really know try and refrain from pretending you do. now please breath through the nose and oxygenate.

I'm tired of mouthbreathing, baseless opinions, frankly.

[richard sloan]

Just to add another nail into your post's coffin, here's the linked article, which Gene, please forgive me cousin, I have italicized some things here which you would do well to absorb and learn more about, capisce?

Gene's essay is full of important context. You seem to have the abillity to automatically strip out all context.

Lazy Dragon Stretches Its Spine

by Gene Ching - Head Shaolin and Tai Chi Chuan Instructor

One of history's greatest warriors and strategists, Napoleon Bonaparte, warned the world not to wake the "sleeping dragon" that is China. He never considered what might happen if China was to rise up on its own. As the Pacific Rim becomes the new economic frontier, the slumber of that dragon called China is being disturbed by its noisy neighbors.

Art reflects culture, and the martial arts are no exception. As martial artists in the Western world, we all have a unique window into the latest developments in Asia. However, it seems that only a few of us are concerned enough to look through that window carefully. Unfortunately, martial arts outside of Asia can be very myopic. Last year was the 1500th anniversary of the founding of the original Shaolin Temple in Henan, which was probably the biggest birthday in the entire history of martial arts so far. Three separate massive celebrations were held around the temple, and martial pilgrims from all over the world travelled to the temple to pay their respects. The coverage of this international and historic event in the West was shamefully small.
For regular readers of my column, exclusive to this publication, I have shared some of my experiences as one of those martial pilgrims at the Temple in Henan last summer. The response to these articles have been overwhelming. There is so little information about the real Shaolin Temple available in the West that the martial community is ravenous for the facts. Many of the responses demonstrate an overwhelming misconception about what the Shaolin Temple is, was, and might be. We are all more willing to believe simple romantic legends than complex truths. This lack of information weakens western martial arts, making us like trees without roots, waiting to be blown down by the next gust of wind.

The truth is that trying to describe China to someone who has never been there is very difficult. Describing the magnitude of martial arts in China to someone who has never experienced it first hand is even more challenging. With a huge percentage of the world's largest population practicing Kung Fu, China is an overwhelming martial arts leviathan. China's Kung Fu is the sleeping dragon in the martial arts world, and the Shaolin Temple is one of the many prize jewels in that Dragon's horde of treasures.

It is important to point out that there are many other places to go for martial arts excellence in China. Beijing is brimming with martial arts, although most of it is modern competitive Wushu. Jinan, the birthplace of mantis style, in the heart of Shandong, has a long reputation for great martial arts as demonstrated on our new video from the Jinan Traditonal Wushu Tournament (see page ??). There are also many other martial monasteries on holy mountains. Wudangshan, Maoshan, Ermeishan, Kunlunshan, are all sacred places known for their legendary martial arts ("shan" means mountain).
Furthermore, there is more than one Shaolin Temple. The Henan Shaolin Temple that I visited was the first one and the most famous one, however, all of the legends about Shaolin cannot be generalized to this singular place. According the senior Shaolin Monk, Shi Yan Ming, there are about 24 Shaolin Temples currently in operation, with about 82 people who can earnestly claim the title of being a Shaolin Monk. Only six of those monks are living outside of China, three in the United States (including Shi Yan Ming, see page ??).

In short, the Henan Shaolin Temple is only one of many places in China to go to study martial arts. If you go there with the expectation of finding the lonely mystic temple we have seen depicted in the movies, you will be sorely disappointed. The Shaolin Temple is more like the "Disneyland" of the martial arts world. Most of the economy of Shaolin village is tourist, and if you go there, you will be one of a million tourists that visit the temple each year. Now you don't have to sit outside of the temple gates in the snow for days to gain entrance, you can just buy a ticket and spend the whole day there. You don't have to spy on the monks training yard to see demonstrations or steal techniques, you can just arrange a demonstration in the demonstration hall and even receive private lessons at your hotel courtyard. Most of these demonstrations are modern Wushu instead of traditional Shaolin, since it is more entertaining for tourists. There are even gift shops inside the temple!

Now before you get thouroughly disgusted with the concept of the Shaolin Temple as a tourist trap, almost every temple in China that is open to the public has gift shops inside.

*******and here let me interject this is no different than St Mark's Cathedral either, but nobody thinks the Catholic Church is fake***************

This actually has some historical precendence, since many temples would support themselves through the sale of incense, beads, and good luck trinkets. It is just a little shocking at first, but you get used to it. According to our new title The Spring and Autumn of Chinese Martial Arts - 5000 years (B216), Shaolin Temple monks often performed martial arts for tourists as far back as 1573 CE (The Spring and Autumn of Chinese Martial Arts - 5000 years).

So why go to Shaolin? It seems so overrated. Well, one might just as well ask why go to Disneyland. Imagine a place where everyone wears training uniforms all the time because everyone is training all the time. Imagine everyone carrying martial arts weapons casually down the streets or up in the mountains on their way to practice. Imagine thousands of students, dozens of schools and martial arts equipment stores residing on about two miles of road. It is like "Valhalla", the warrior's "heaven", where you can fight and train every day and party every night with drinking contests, martial arts movies and karaoke (!). You can hike stunningly beautiful mount Song, or play the latest bootlegged martial arts videogame with some of the local young students. You can meditate at the very spot where Ta Mo spent his nine years, or you can hustle the tourists who speak your language. If you are a martial artist who likes really intense training, the Shaolin Temple is constant and relentless fun. It's the never-never land of the martial arts world.

I enjoyed my journey to Shaolin Temple so much that I am endevouring to return soon. I think about what's happening in the Western martial arts world all the time since this is where I live. And yet, I am continually drawn back to the East, back to the land of the sleeping dragon.

[GeneChing]

I'm actually impressed by that LHS. I wish I could claim that I made up the 'Shaolin Disneyland' thing, but I was really only relating a comment that had been floating around the martial circles. That being said, I stand behind that particular old article. As for the 24 temples, that's Yanming's quote. It's not an official count. And that is rather dated now since that article was published many years ago.

Here's our cover story on Lipeng: Transformation of a Monk: Shaolin Star Zhang Li Peng(aka Shi Xing Peng) Comes to Brooklyn by Martha Burr. I also mention him in my coverage of our 10 year anniversary (see The 10 Year Anniversary of Kungfu Qigong Gala Benefit Hangover: A Shaolin Side-Trip) and in the opening of my first Shaolin Trip piece (Shaolin Trips - Episode One: Open Two Doors).

Shaolin Monk Suicide Shocks New York Chinese Community
Sing Tao Daily, News Digest, Joe Xia and Crystal Feng, Translation by Eugenia Chien, Posted: Dec 01, 2006 Review it on NewsTrust

NEW YORK – The suicide of a Shaolin temple monk has shocked the Chinese community in New York, who are now questioning the treatment of monks by their temples.

Heng Shan, a 27-year-old Buddhist monk, hung himself in the backyard of a New York residence on Nov. 24. Heng Shan had been ill and fell into depression when he lost his legal status in the United States. The New York Police Department 109th Precinct has ruled Heng Shan’s death as suicide.

Heng Shan immigrated to the United States in 2003 on an H1 work visa sponsored by the New York Shaolin Temple Abbot Guo Lin in Flushing to teach martial arts. But like many monks, Heng Shan received no pay or spending money from the temple, which provided the monks with room and board.

Heng Shan’s death stunned the Buddhist community, some of whom hold Abbot Guo Lin responsible, according to Abbot Heng Lin of the Queens Shaolin Temple. She told the Sing Tao Daily that though Abbot Guo Lin sponsored H1 work visas for monks like Heng Shan, the temple did not continue filing the paperwork required for the monks to legally stay in the United States. Monks like Heng Shan came to the United States legally but became undocumented immigrants when the temples fail to file their paperwork.

The Shaolin monastery is the only Buddhist temple combining martial arts and Buddhism. It is one of the most famous schools of martial arts in the world. Monks in the Shaolin temples traditionally go through strict training and meditation. But as branches of the Shaolin Monastery developed throughout the world, people attempted to make profit from the school. The Shaolin temple has become controversial as some practitioners criticize that Buddhist discipline has been lost and others fight for the claim of being the authentic Shaolin monastery.

A woman who had donated money to the Flushing Shaolin Temple said that she had offered to help Heng Shan apply for Medicaid, which would be available even to undocumented immigrants. But Abbot Guo Lin stopped her because he felt it might attract too much trouble. She said that Abbot Guo Lin never paid the monks, who lived in poverty. With no money, family, or legal documentation, the monks could not survive outside the temples. She said that nearby residents would sometimes give the monks money so that they can send money home at the end of the year. She asked the Sing Tao Daily to withhold her name.

In response to the community’s criticism, Abbot Guo Lin said that Heng Shan was important to the temple and that the temple had been nurturing his potential. He said that he wouldn’t mistreat one of his favorite pupils and that the public should not believe rumors. At a press conference on Nov. 28, Abbot Guo Lin said that the temple does not owe Heng Shan back pay. He said that the temple had offered to mail money to Heng Shan’s parents but Heng Shan refused the offer.

According to the Sing Tao Daily, the New York Shaolin temple is registered as a non-profit organization. As a non-profit organization, the temple is bound by U.S. labor laws when it hired martial monks to teach martial arts at its temples. Immigration lawyer Zhang Zhong-yuan told the Sing Tao Daily that as an employer, the temple must honor its agreement with the monks. But Abbot Guo Lin said that monks typically are not paid by their temples, but that the Shaolin temple provided food, shelter, and medical expenses.

Zhang said that food and shelter can account for only a part of the monks’ pay. He said that payment dispute between employers and employees is prevalent in the Chinese community. If the government pursues the situation, Zhang said, there is a high possibility that employers will be sued.

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in New York said that the embassy has contacted Heng Shan’s parents in Anhui province but they have not made plans to come to the United States for funeral arrangements. New York Citycouncilman John Liu said that his office has received many letters about the monk’s death, but it is still too early to say whether anyone was at fault or whether a crime has been committed.

[lunghushan]

Well, I'm going to take a TKO on the Shaolin thread because I don't have time to rebut any more arguments. So you win the argument, Richard.

[Songshan]

It's not a TKO. It's just some of you need to understand what you read. There are some that will absolutely debunk Shaolin and there some of us who feel like Shaolin changed our lives. To each their own.

[richard sloan]

I fail to see how you could possibly rebut the existence of actual people.

[lunghushan]

I think it's a TKO. It's a submission. I'm tired of arguing about it. Kindof like arguing with my dad about the Bible. Or kicking a brick wall. LOL

[GeneChing]

That deserves a hand. Maybe a thousand hands.

Perhaps Kwan Yin will smile upon poor Hengxin's fate.

[Royal Dragon]

I fail to see how you could possibly rebut the existence of actual people.

Reply]
I'm not fully sure you exist. Infact, I am sure you don't.



















See, wasn't that easy?

[Songshan]

You can't rebut the existence of actual people. There will always be some that will say the sky is purple when you know its blue. I hate to say it but it's human nature. I see it everyday.

It just blows my mind that so many have this animosity against Shaolin Temple and the modern day monks. I don't believe any organization or institution is godly perfect. Take the Catholic church by all means with all the priest scandals. We see "church" as being perfect but yet they have their share of negative publicity. It Doesn't mean all Catholic priests are perverts. We see Shaolin Temple as a religious perfect institution. Yet, for some of us we know it's not all perfect and by the latest tradegy creates a negative image of Shaolin. I think the latest tradegy is a bandwagon that some decided to jump in and use to support their claims.

[B-Rad]

The Shaolin Temple has a lot of different monks, all with different experiences.

A couple facts about the Shaolin Temple:
1. It's often been under government control of some sort.
2. It's hard to say that it's been a continuous unbroken lineage since its creation with the multiple times it's been burned to the ground.

While I probably wouldn't trust the abbot any further than I could throw him, and there are certainly some official monks I wouldn't agree with on much of anything, I don't see what makes this particular group of monks any less legitimate than before.

"Zhang Lipeng, who became a Shaolin disciple when he was five and had been following the disciplines until he moved to Europe in 1996 when he was 22, now believes that he was never a true monk.
"I am not a monk and I have never been one," he said. Mr Zhang said a real Shaolin monk had to know both kung fu and Buddhist scripts, but he only learned kung fu. "I was at most a bodyguard for the Shaolin temple," he said."

I think while this might be true for a number of the monks there, I don't think it's fair to use this as a blanket statement for the entire order. Some don't know anything about Buddihsm, some know scripture but don't take it seriously or might even try to twist it to justify their own behavior, while others are really serious about being the "ideal" Shaolin monk.

[B-Rad]

It just blows my mind that so many have this animosity against Shaolin Temple and the modern day monks. I don't believe any organization or institution is godly perfect. Take the Catholic church by all means with all the priest scandals. We see "church" as being perfect but yet they have their share of negative publicity. It Doesn't mean all Catholic priests are perverts. We see Shaolin Temple as a religious perfect institution. Yet, for some of us we know it's not all perfect and by the latest tradegy creates a negative image of Shaolin. I think the latest tradegy is a bandwagon that some decided to jump in and use to support their claims.

I think the real problem with Shaolin today (or at least with Shaolin supporters and detractors) is extremists. Too many people jumping on the bandwagon as you say, and also too many people on the other side wanting to ignore many of the legitimate complaints about the monks.

[GeneChing]

We ran an article in our 2004 Shaolin Special that introduced Hengshan as one of the new monks: Shi Hengshan & Shi Zihao of New York By Jonathan Oh. Here's the first half of that article, the part of that article that addresses Hengshan.

Due to the growing number of martial arts students and the goal of spreading Chan Buddhism, Venerable Shi Guolin of New York decided to invite a few more instructors from China. Two of the new monks are Shi Hengshan and Dharma Master Zihao.

Disciple: Shi Hengshan
Shi Hengshan came from a poor family, one of three sons, from Lingquan city in the Anhui province. At the age of 12, he was sent to the Shaolin Temple to learn martial arts. He worked as a wood-gatherer and fire-stoker in the kitchen in order to stay and train at the temple.

Venerable Shi Guolin went back to Songshan Shaolin Temple in 2000. Hengshan was learning from Shi Yanzhang. Shi Guolin was looking for a disciple, and Yanzhang introduced Hengshan to Guolin. At that time, Hengshan was a cook’s helper, stoking the fire for the woks in the kitchen. Yanzhang told Guolin that Hengshan was very honest and had a very pure mind and would make a good candidate for a disciple. Guolin asked him if he wanted to be a monk (chu jia ren) and his disciple. Hengshan didn’t know what a chu jia ren was, so Guolin told him that it consisted of devoting his body to Buddhism and passing down the theory, thoughts, knowledge, etc. - basically the whole essence of Buddhism. The difference between chu jia ren and inside disciple (zai jia ren) is zai jia ren can learn Buddhism during his or her lifetime but cannot necessarily pass it down to his next generations.

Guolin spent three years trying to get Hengshan into the country. He sent an application in 2001, but due to 9/11, it was not until 2003 that Hengshan was allowed to enter the country.

P.S. B-Rad, if you research Shaolin, you'll find that this is not a problem limited to 'today' In fact, for centuries, Shaolin has had detractors, wayward 'monks', tourist complaints and issues of inauthenticity. So the problem isn't today's extremists. The problem is that few people really know Shaolin's history. They make assumptions based on legends and movies. But that's not quite the way it was at all, so why would it be the way it is? Few consider the fact that monks are humans, replete with human strengths and weaknesses.

[kyklos]

wow



I started my first ever martial arts training at Guolin's place in flushing.

My first reactions were it seemed "authentic" and relatively welcoming if you don't know any chinese and only communicate with bows and such.

When i first started training there Hengshan was my only instructor. I actually "leveled up" with him per say. When i took the level 2 exam and made it he became the level 2 teacher. When i started learning staff form(the only weapon i learned and still my favorite) he was my teacher. I found him to be the brightest aspect of that place. He always had a smile on his face and was always willing to help me on the side. Correcting my stance or just saying really the only word he knew "faster, faster". He motivated everybody with his sheer energy and unspoken charisma. I will truly miss him.

The only other instructor that came close to having the same aura as Hengshan was the Sanda instructor who came much later from china.

Guolin was always very unaproachable and so was the Yi Jin Jing instructor who would take my money every three months (i can't rememeber his name for the life of me). I actually havent been practicing for almost 2 years now and was seriously considering going back mainly because i had the funds again. My poor staff is gathering dust and i've been aching to practice my forms again. But this all has thrown me. I admit i never really did the research before going the first time you could say i was blinded by the light.

Its very sad to learn about all these things that i truthfully had no clue about the temple's darker past and present. I'm glad i know about them but I don't want that to overshadow what this is really about. The world has lost a fine human being and he will truly be missed.

Peace be with you Shi Hengshan

[shaolinboxer]

It's sad, about this kid.

I was one of yan ming's students for about 2 years, around 97-99 I think....I was on the original "demo team" or whatever.

I think the conversation I had with a fellow ex-student of his, that I happened to run into on a train a couple years after his girlfriend made him ask me to leave sums it up: "after you left things got really f'ed up. the place is a messed up cult".

Fit in or get out should be the shaolin motto ! Really, it's all a bit of a cruel joke. Kids lessons for grown-ups and all.

But it is fun for a while.

The monks are "working" those who haven't figured them out yet. But they provide a sense of importance for those who chose to ignore the good people they fool and hurt. Like this kid who offed himself.