Translation assistance by Miao Hui

For Rebuilding the Northern Shaolin Temple: Part 12, click here.

It was an unusually busy year for me with visits to interview the Kung Fu masters and Silk Road sites in Afghanistan, Xian, Urumqi, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, and I’d transferred to the bigger of the two high schools at my empire-like school in Beijing which was and still is undergoing a number of transformations involving a huge amount of time and energy. Yet still I managed a few visits to North Shaolin Monastery in its own state of endless transformation, specifically rebuilding some 70+ years after its destruction during what Westerners call WWII but what was part of a much longer series of wars here in China. What follows are some ultra-brief recaps.

May 17th, 2015 – September 5th, 2015

Work on the second story of the Great Meditation Hall (Chan Tang – Zen Hall) had just begun. Shi Yan Pei (Head Monk of the North Shaolin) was there kindly bringing me up to speed on news, making exquisite tea, and peacefully coordinating the 10,000 things that make up his job at this time, however Shi Yen Wan was away visiting university friends. Shi Yan Kong was there, for he is really the primary Shaolin Kung Fu Shifu (pronounced “sure-fu” and meaning “Master”) there for the past few years teaching the young trainee monks that live there as well.

I was also happy to hear that the construction of three huge bronze Buddhas (and five smaller ones) for Buddha Hall were nearing completion in Thailand and should arrive at North Shaolin around the end of September of early October.

As my school in Beijing was still in session, this visit was all too short.

September 5, 2015

It was a rainy day – a cool blessed relief after the hot summer when I visited North Shaolin again. All the senior monks were away – Shi Yan Pei at Songshan Shaolin, and Shi Yan Wan and Shi Yan Kong at their small Panshan urban temple coordinating chanting, prayer and meditation for the residents there. However, four monk trainees were there and I know though young, their expertise at Shaolin Taolu is extraordinary. How fortunate am I!

So I (and translator/friend Miao who had returned from a prolonged stay in Sri Lanka learning gem cutting and polishing) practiced with the monk trainees for a couple of hours in the veranda that spans the front part of the courtyard apartments where they live adjacent to the North Shaolin Monastery. Their favorite Taolu I found out is called Qixingquan (Seven Star Fist) and they performed this Taolu with amazing precision, strength and power. Oh! Did I mention, speed? Yes, lots of speed. Pure speed. Too fast for me speed. Fortunately the youngest of the boys there hadn’t learned this Taolu either so at least I wasn’t alone lagging behind a bit. Fortunately the youngest of the boys there hadn’t learned this Taolu either so at least I wasn’t alone lagging behind a bit.

After that we played with the heavy bag for a while, a useful training companion with which I fortunately had the upper hand and we also played with some simple attack and defense moves as I was curious what they’d been taught to prepare them for sparring and fighting. It seemed to me their primary response to most attacks was trapping the attacking limb, with and without locking and in most cases instant counterattacks. It reminded me a bit of a line from the old Kung Fu TV series: “The only way to beat a Shaolin monk is: Don’t attack him.”

By the time we’d about finished all that the rain had more or less stopped temporarily and we all walked over to the ancient (or new) monastery and explored developments which were amazing to me, shining as they were in the sweet smelling serenity of the early fall mountain after the rain. This is a mountain of wild flowers and fruit after all, not to mention the world’s most delicious chestnuts and well, the whole cornucopia of nature’s most grand and precious gifts.

Arriving at the construction site I was immediately gripped by the splendid Chan Tang for meditation which in spring was but one story high, but now a majestic four stories tall and nearing completion.

A few hundred meters in front of the Chan Tang was the Annex building for the Seng Liao – Monks’ quarters or dormitory. (Checking a dictionary after getting home I found the ancient meaning of the “Liao” character used for the monk’s sleeping quarters usually means: “hut,” and “shack” as historically monks quarters were rather simple; “Seng,” means “monk,” as in “Seng Bing” or soldier monk and also “Sangha,” the Buddhist monastic order.)

 

The Seng Liao proper will be between the Annex Building and the Chan Tang, however construction hasn’t started yet. It’s expected that after completion of the Chan Tang, monks may live on the lower floors at least temporarily. Also interesting to note, though maintaining Song Dynasty design, the new buildings are being constructed of cement with steel reinforcements, as the rather dry climate in North China these days makes fire a genuine concern.

Work was also going on in the Buddha Hall (Da Xiong Baodian), patching here and there, some painting and so on in preparation for the arrival of the huge Buddhas late this month or early next month.

After exploration of all these beautiful developments, and dozens of photos we all strolled back to the current monks’ quarters to find Shi Yan Wan and Shi Yan Kong had returned.

Though usually it would be Shi Yan Wan as the senior on-site monk making tea and chatting, Shi Yan Kong stepped up and we spent another delightful hour chatting about things, developments on the mountain, various friends, etc. I also told him about my travels in Central Asia, and gave him a poster/calendar very kindly given to me at the Buddhist Monastery in Tashkent Uzbekistan, along with some (Muslim brand) scented oil from Sri Lanka, herbal soap from Beijing, incense from India (and some fruits and almonds too).

I tried to explain to Shi Yan Kong my dream of Buddhists playing a greater role helping foster world peace, by building bridges between nations and the major religions. Operating from a base of centered inner stillness in harmony with nature, these Chan people seem to observe and realize far more than most people would ever guess In contrast, how blind and deaf are we people of the “modern” material world in comparison endless locked into and blinded by ephemeral desires.

 

Then, as always, all too soon, it was time to go. But, before leaving Panshan we had to stop at Wei Ming’s Guest House first, as he and his family are dear old friends now and also integral parts of the Panshan family. Upon arrival we were happy to find Wei Ming and his lovely wife well. We also found out grandmom Wang Xiu Lan, now in her 90s is still perky and getting around just fine. (I interviewed Grandmother Wang for the fifth installment of my Rebuilding the North Shaolin Temple series, North Shaolin Reconstruction Full-Speed Ahead! Rebuilding the North Shaolin Temple in the January+February 2013 issue of Kung Fu Tai Chi).

But, when I asked about Mr. Yao, (interviewed in Rebuilding the North Shaolin Temple: Part 8: Spirit of the Masters), the real name of the Taiwanese American gentleman who worked tirelessly every summer for twelve years rebuilding the Talin (Pagoda Forest, the monk’s graveyard) of Zhong Fa Si Temple stone by stone, just a few hundred meters above North Shaolin on Panshan, we found out he had passed away last October at the age of 65.

His delightful stories of the mountain were transmitted to him over many years from old villagers many of whom have also passed away. Mr. Yao was a treasure trove of mountain and Daoist lore and a fine, loving gentleman that sure will be missed by all of us whose lives he touched.

Talking with Wei Ming about him, I also learned that the first time Mr. Yao visited China was in 1972 working as a translator with the entourage of then President Nixon. I found out the first time he’d visited Panshan was in 1989, due to a friend his, a famous movie actor that wanted to buy a house on this even more famous mountain. Panshan is famous not only for North Shaolin, but also many emperors for nearly 2,000 years visited here; it had and still has part of the “Royal Road,” and for example Emperor Qianlong visited Panshan some thirty-two times during his reign for such is the beauty and majesty of this awesome and some would say sacred place. Though Mr. Yao was by profession a real estate broker in Texas, Wei Ming, his family and many others here know his heart and spirit lived on Panshan. The summer of 2014 was the first time in twelve years that he didn’t come here to work through the hottest months of the year on the ancient Talin. He better than any other foreigner, and even better than most Panshan folk, knew the secrets of this mountain, its people and the Spirits of the Masters, past and present here.

Wei Ming told us several other stories about Mr. Yao. For example, one time many, many years ago he was shopping at an old market in Beijing and bought an ancient painting of monks. Afterwards he had a dream that one of the old monks in the painting told him he had a very special mission in life. Wei Ming told us that during his last visit in the summer of 2013, Mr. Yao told him he’d had a realization: Rebuilding the Talin, was his very special mission. My feeling is he had other missions too, for he was an amazing collector of folk stories and lore, and I’m forever grateful to him for sharing some of them with us.

After some time of reminiscing we had to go as the night was well on and the work I have to do in Beijing without end.

Bidding fond farewells we were off into the rainy night, down the dark mountain side with hairpin switchbacks, through Panshan town, onto the highway, through Pingu and other historically famous ancient places and into Beijing proper.

But, something was missing, or not? Could I still hear the merry chortle of Mr. Yao’s humor, or the solemnity of his speech when talking of the ancients?

Here belongs a short quote from Part 8 of this series , with his correct name where it should be:

“As we walked up the Royal Road through the middle of the Talin, Mr. Yao explained many details of the reconstruction work. When we got to the top front and center Ta, we stopped.

“Feel the Spirits of the Master Monks,” Mr. Yao intoned solemnly. He asked us to close our eyes and relax, to feel the spirit of the place and those within. Mr. Yao believes the place is alive. When he first came here eleven years ago he was in very poor health, and believes the spirit of Panshan, the air, the water, the herbs, vegetables… the qi, and the Masters together restored his health and vitality…”

And the rain kept falling until just before dawn, which was unusually bright and clear.

January 3, 2016

In Putonghua (Mandarin Chinese) there’s a commonly used phrase: “mang, mang, tai mang le,” which means, “busy, busy, too busy!” So I couldn’t get back until this day. “Zhe shi seng huo,” which means, “that’s life.”

I got to the apartments rented by Shaolin, adjacent to the quickly rebuilding monastery around 2:00 PM, and at first it seemed no one was there. But from the corner of my eye I saw a movement in one window and I called out: “Heshang!” which means “monk.”

A moment later a pleasant looking young man emerged and I introduced myself, thinking perhaps the monks had moved into the Chan Tang building as he wasn’t dressed like a monk. But, no, I quickly learned, this was Yan Lu, a Shaolin Kung Fu Shifu, from the Shaolin now teaching at North Shaolin. And, to my further surprise and delight I found out his English is reasonably good too! Oh joy!

 

And, as if that wasn’t happiness enough, a few moments later Shi Yan Pei showed up. He’d been spending a lot of time at Songshan Shaolin lately and I haven’t seen him in a long time. Fortunately he’d arrived just the day before. I found out were Shi Yan Wan and Shi Yan Kong in Hong Kong for a few days but the younger apprentice monks, Xiao Qi (the older) and Xiao Hao were at the monastery. Well, most of the family together again. Of course I’d heard of the arrival of the huge Buddhas for the Buddha Hall, and could see the amazing construction developments when I drove up, but…

But, first I got to know my new friend and soon to be teacher Yan Lu a bit. He’d really started at Shaolin around the year 2000, and expressed his desire to become a monk to Shi Yongxin who advised him to finish his education first as he was only a senior in high school at that time. So Yan Lu continued study of Shaolin Kung in his hometown of Hebi, in Henan, very close to Songshan Shaolin. After high school he went to Henan University of Technology, specializing in communications. Then in 2006 he went back to Songshan Shaolin and began training as a monk, meeting among other people Shi Yan Pei, with whom he studied. I asked his specialty and he said: Xiaohongquan. I found out that there are five main styles of this – the Shaolin “introductory” taolu. I also found out that he visited the U.S. and President Obama with Shi Yongxin in 2009, meeting quite a number of world leaders, including then Pilipino President Aquino, then President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, and others. “There were people from all different religions there, it was most amazing,” he said. He also had a photo of him with former American heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield.

 

After coming back to China, he said he still wanted to be a good monk, but felt there were some parts of life he needed to explore outside of the monastic rules. And when visiting some friends he met a young lady and became friends. When he asked his Shifu about this, his teacher was “very supportive,” and “I took off my robes in 2011,” he concluded. He said this with a straight face, being a sincere person I believe. Yet, even married he continued to work as a Shaolin Kung Fu master at Shaolin. Only a couple of weeks ago did he arrive at North Shaolin. His longstanding friendship with Shi Yen Pei helped make a lively and sometimes funny interview, but for the sake of brevity I’m writing the “abridged edition” here.

Shortly after Yan Lu and I went to the monastery to see the amazing developments. First – in chronological order - I marveled that the Chan Tang was completed and even painted. It’s serene majestic Song Dynasty architectural beauty graced the mountain alongside the Buddha Hall (see photos). It was and is a breathtaking vision of loveliness. One cannot undo the past, but rebuilding brings its own kind of unique healing and enlightenment. There is an organic nature to classical Chinese architecture that can’t simply be defined, though I’m sure if I had better software skills, I could take a nautilus outline, lay it over a traditional monastery design and prove some intrinsic organic features.

Walking a little more we entered the Great Buddha Hall and beheld the immense Buddhas and Bodhisattvas that had only recently arrived from Thailand. Their eternal serenity was/is awesomely inspiring – stillness of mind, centered, relaxed in perfect sitting form – timeless.

Click, click, click went the camera and soon or not I’m not sure which we went outside and I persuaded Yan Lu to perform his favorite version of Xiaohongquan. I took videos and then practiced with him, greatly honored that he’d do so with a fellow with such little skill as I. Xiao Qi looked on, probably amused at my lack of skill, but he betrayed nothing of this, good natured young man that he is.

Then, down the mountain we went returning to the apartments where everyone together ate a truly natural and delicious vegetarian dinner. Ah! Such a wonder filled day, but it was quite dark and cold at 6:30 and I had to drive back to Beijing before too late. Farewell to friends and family, never goodbye just “see ya later.”

It would be unjust to finish this story without a tip of the hat to the mountain itself. Yes, Panshan has an amazing history with visits by emperors for around two thousand years. Who knows why, except, there is an energy – a qi – a vibrancy – electromagnetic plus “X” that one feels there. Most or all of the great prophets went to mountains to pray and communicate with God. A visit to a mountain is a good, healthy, and in some cases holy thing well recommended to all.

 

The Elephant

Finally, in response to the elephant in the living room, even in China I have heard rumors about Shi Yongxin. Though I am not privy to the inner workings of the police and government, I heard a story from the Chan House a month or so ago by someone who is far better connected than I. He said a thorough investigation had been made into those allegations by the religious affairs bureau under the Dengfeng city government in coordination with other government appointed corruption investigators and the Abbot was cleared. Though it’s just a rumor which I hesitate to report, it appears there may be a corporation in Hong Kong that has put a great deal of pressure on the good Abbot to “go public” with the Shaolin and sell shares. Unwilling to do this – basically relinquish control of the monasteries under his guidance - the Abbot has according to some, been subjected to a disinformation campaign designed to either have him replaced or change his attitudes regarding incorporation. However, because of an ongoing investigation into the sources of those rumors, the report remains sealed. Not many people here doubt the sincerity of President Xi Jinping’s pledge to wipe out corruption at all levels, “from the tigers to the flies.”

My own feelings are this: In a fair system a person is innocent until proven guilty and I have yet to see or hear of a single shred of solid evidence against Abbot Shi Yongxin. I think if someone represents good in this world they will have enemies who try to make themselves look big by diminishing others. I strongly advise reading the book: Shaolin Temple in my Heart by Abbot Shi Yongxin. When he became abbot, Shaolin was in ruins. During his time as abbot, Shaolin has grown to be a worldwide organization that has helped, directly or indirectly, hundreds of thousands - perhaps even millions of people - live a better life.

As for the rumors about me, whereas it is true I’m an alien, I’m only part robot and any theories to the contrary are entirely without merit and only spread by jealous vicious competitors.

Finally, in honor of the 2016 Chinese New Year, I can only say: “Gongxi, Gongxi Fa Cai” in respect of the Year of the Fire Monkey 2560 celebrated February 8 this year.