Legacy of Bodhidharma: 10 Questions for Grandmaster

[Markus Kahila]

Answer to Question 3

Not all complete answers have to be long - this one is short and sweet, but no less inspiring.


Check back tomorrow for another Q&A!

Question 3:

"If the Great Bodhidharma were alive today, rather than 1500 years ago, how and what do you think his teaching would be?"

- Andrew

Answer to question 3:

"
I think the teaching of the great Bodhidharma would be similar to what we teach in our school.

This is so because both Bodhidharma and we use he same principles, or more correctly we follow Bodhidharma’s principles, namely being simple, direct and effective.
"

- Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

(Text emphasis added)

Best wishes,

[Markus Kahila]

Answer to question 4

This next answer is a real treasure for those interested in different kinds of kungfu force training! Enjoy!

Question 4:

I was just wondering did great and famous masters in the past such as Lam Sai Wing or Wong Fei Hung practice any of these arts you are so kindly going to teach at this historical Legacy of Bodhidharma -course?

- Jani

Answer to question 4:

The chi kung courses I shall teach in the Legacy of Bodhidharma courses will be the Eighteen Lohan Hands, Sinew Metamorphosis and Bone Marrow Cleansing.

I believe the two great masters, Wong Fei Hoong and Lam Sai Weng, did not practice these arts. They practiced the Iron-Wire Set which made them very powerful.


Bodhidharma taught these arts in the 6th century.  Wong Fei Hoong and Lam Sai Weng lived in the 20th century. There was a wide gap of 1400 years between them, during which time the arts would have evolved greatly.

I believe Yuan Zhong and the other twelve Shaolin monks who helped Li Shi Ming to established the Tang Dynasty, practiced these arts.


By the time of the next dynasty, the Song Dynasty, the Eighteen-Lohan Art would have evolved from the Eighteen Lohan Hands.  But the Eighteen-Lohan Art did not replaced the Eighteen Lohan Hands.  Those who focused on health practiced the Eighteen Lohan Hands, whereas those who focused on martial art practiced the Eighteen-Lohan Art.


It was probably during this time that the first eight exercises of the Eighteen Lohan Hands were practiced as Ba Duan Jin or the Eight Pieces of Brocade. Interestingly, the Eight Pieces of Brocade were popular amongst Taoist cultivators to the extent that it is now regarded as a Taoist art.


The First Emperor of the Song Dynasty, who was a Shaolin master, practiced the Eighteen-Lohan Art. The Eighteen-Lohan Art became the main method for force training in Taizuquan, or First Emperor Kungfu, the style of Northern Shaolin Kungfu developed by and named after the First Song Emperor.


Yue Fei, a Shaolin master and great Song Dynasty general probably practiced all the chi kung exercises of Bodhidharma’s legacy, though he was well known for the Eight Pieces of Brocade and Sinew Metamorphosis. Three styles of kungfu issued from him, namely Xingyiquan, Eagle Claw Kungfu and Ngok Ka Kungfu (Kungfu of Yue Family).


The internal force of Xingyiquan probably came from the Eighteen lohan Hands and stance training. The special internal force training of Eagle Claw Kungfu came from a particular pattern in the Eighteen-Lohan Art. Ngok Ka Kungfu is famous for Tiu Harng Kung, which literally means the Art of Suspension. It was developed from Sinew Metamorphosis.



Zhang San Feng, the First Patriarch of Internal Arts, practiced all styles of Shaolin chi kung and developed a new methodology of internal force training using continuous graceful movement. No special name was given to this methodology at his time, but now it is generally known as Taijigong, or Taiji Art.  Our “form-flow-force” approach or “flow method” is close to it.


Eighteen-Lohan Art was widely practiced during the subsequent Ming Dynasty, and was the principal internal force training method in Praying Mantis and other northern Shaolin styles like Lohanquan, Huaquan, Hongquan and Chaquan.


Southern Shaolin styles like Hoong Ka and Wing Choon used the “triple-stretch” method derived from Sinew Metamorphosis.  The force training method of the Iron-Wire Set pf Wong Fei Hoong and Lam Sei Weng was developed from the “triple-stretch” method.  Nevertheless, Dragon Style Kungfu and Pak Mei Kungfu from Pak Mei, Wudang Kungfu from Fung Tou Tuck, as well as Choy-Li-Fatt used the Eighteen-Lohan Art.


It is interesting to trace the different modes of force training employed by different masters at different times. We in Shaolin Wahnam are very lucky. We have collected these different force training methods and made them available to those who are interested in them.
"

- Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

(text emphasis added)

Best wishes,

[Andy]

Dear Markus Sihing,

Thanks for making this QnA session available to us all.

It is interesting to trace the different modes of force training employed by different masters at different times. We in Shaolin Wahnam are very lucky. We have collected these different force training methods and made them available to those who are interested in them.

The last answer in particular demonstrates just how amazingly fortunate and privileged we are to be students of the Shaolin Wahnam Institute!!!


Dear Sifu,

Thank you for your answers, and for your teaching.

WSS,

Andy

[LeeWeiJoo]

We are indeed blessed to be born at this time and to have experienced Sifu's generosity and teachings

Thank you Siheng Markus for making this opportunity available to us.

Thank you Sifu for your wise answers

With Shaolin Salute,
Lee Wei Joo

[Jani]

Dear Sifu,

I would also like to thank you for the answer(s) and sharing all these gems with us! And big thanks to Sihing for this thread

Now, off to work!

Warm regards,
Jani

[veenie]

It is amazing that we have access to these profound arts.

Thank you Sifu and Shaolin Wahnam instructors for sharing and spreading the teachings.

Warm wishes

Parveen

[Matt F.]

I always find Sifu's knowledge fascinating! It is very humbling to stop and think about what Sifu actually transmits to us during courses. To think of all those in the past that have trained the same methods, and even more through the ages that have missed out on these methods...

It is mind blowing how lucky we are!

-Matt

[Markus Kahila]

Answer to Question 5

Dear family and visitors,


Thanks for the feedback! This next answer is my favorite so far, but this is not to say it's the best one - there are some truly excellent ones on the way.

Can you guess which question gets answered next?

The Zen circle symbolizing ultimate reality

Question 5:

Given that many Buddhists feel that the phenomenal realm is an illusion, why is there also emphasis on mindfulness in Zen? What benefit comes from being so keenly aware of an illusion?

- Chiahua

Answer to question 5:

"
By “illusion” we do not mean we imagine something to be there when it is actually not there.  Illusion means appearance.  The same thing appears differently to different being.

If you look at your hand, you see your hand.  But a scientist looking at your hand through a gigantic electron-microscope will not see your hand; he sees a pattern of sub-atomic particles.  A fairy passing by may not see your hand or you at all.

Your hand is an illusion.  All the other things, living and non-living, in our phenomenal world are illusions.  They appear differently to different beings.


To be gently mindful of the present, which is an important taspect of Zen training, brings us a lot of benefits.  Instead of lamenting over the past or worrying about the future, we live our present as best as we can, wholesomely enjoying every moment of it.

This does not mean we do not care about our past or future, we just do not lament or worry over them.  If you release that you have done something wrong in the past, which can ne manifested in the present, correct the mistake if you can and don’t repeat it.  If you are doubtful about your future, which can also ne manifested in the present, make appropriate changes in the present so that your future will unfold the way you would like it to be, taking care that whatever you do will not bring any harm to yourself and others.


But why should we be mindful of the present, despite the many benefits it brings, when the present (as well as the past and future0 is an illusion. Unless you are enlightened or in moments of spiritual awakening, describing the present as illusory is a process of intellectualization.

In practical terms, as long as you live in the phenomenal world, the present (as well as the past and future) is real – subjectively real, subjected to how universal energy, the stuff that makes up the universe, enters your six entries, i.e. how you perceive everything around you and beyond through your eyes, ears, mouth, nose, skin and mind.

When you look at your hand, no matter how you intellectualize that it is just a mass of energy not separated from all the energy around, which is actually true, you will still perceive your hand as your hand and not something else.

If you wrote a cheque, no matter how you intellectualize about it now as being an illusion, the reality remains that you wrote a cheque.  If you do not have enough money in the bank to honour the cheque, no matter how you intellectualize about the bank being an illusion, the reality remains that your cheque will bounce.


The reality is subjective – subject to the types of six entries of the people involved with the cheque and the bank.  Millions of micro-orgamisms in the ink of your pen would perceive the same interaction of energy differently.  They may perceive reality – subjected to their six entries – as being transport from (what we call) your pen to a cheque to a distant land for vacation.


Living in the phenomenal world, being mindful of the present enables you to live your life to the full.  If you are ready, being mindful may help you to break through the illusion and have a glimpse of Ultimate Reality, even for a momentless moment, to attain a spiritual awakening.
"

- Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

(Text emphasis added)

Best wishes,

[Chiahua]

Thank you Sifu, and thank you Sihing Markus for highlighting some key points.

Warmly,
Chia-Hua

[veenie]

Thank you Sifu for revealing the incredible teachings.

Thank you Chiahua for asking the question.

Thank you Siheng Markus for posting the thread.

Warm wishes

Parveen

[Markus Kahila]

Answer to question 6

Dear all,


Since the Legacy of Bodhidharma -course at the next Winter Camp aims to transmit the essence of the great Bodhidharma's teaching, it is fitting that this answer deals directly with its ultimate aim, which enlightenment.

A group of students practicing Sinew Metamorphosis (Yi Jin Jing),
one of the crucial arts in Bodhidharma's legacy

Question 6:

Considering that there were already prior Buddhas ( e.g Lao Tse ) with lineage in China , why did Bodhidharma go East ?

- Damian

Answer to question 6:

"
The Zen answer is to enjoy a cup of tea.

Depending on your realization, it can be Bodhidharma enjoying a cup of tea, you enjoying a cup of tea, I enjoying a cup of tea, everybody or nobody enjoying a cup of tea.


An intellectual answer is to spread Zen, i.e. to teach people in the East attain Enlightenment.


There are different ways to attain Enlightenment, called by different names by different peoples of different cultures.  People in China at that time, both followers of Taoism and Confucianism called it attaining the Way or attaining the Tao.  Yoga practitioners in India called it union with Brahman, and people in the West today call it returning to God the Holy spirit.


As people are different there are countless different ways to achieve the same supreme goal, though it may be called by different names.  So, although there were already enlightened beings in China, like Lao Tzu, Zhuang Tzu, Confucius and Mencius, teaching deserving students how to attain the highest spiritual fulfilment, Bodhidharma still went there to contribute to the rich and extensive repertoire of spiritual cultivation methods.

Judging from the number of aspirants attaining the highest spiritual fulfilment documented in historical records, Bodhidharma’s method was the most successful.  There were more adepts attaining the highest spiritual fulfilment using Zen than any other methods.


We in Shaolin Wahnam certainly have benefited from Bodhidharma coming to the East.  Even when we are not ready to attain Enlightenment now, his teaching has enriched our lives in so many ways.
"

- Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit

(Text emphasis added)

Best wishes,

[Zach]

The Zen answer is to enjoy a cup of tea.

Thank you Sifu, and thank you Markus for your contributions to this thread. What a perfect Zen answer!

I was not near a computer for an extended period and missed the beginnings of the post. I have had a question about Bodhidharma for a long time. Perhaps someone can answer my question, if they have a clue.

Why is Bodhidharma almost always depicted as a wild-eyed, crazy looking character?

I am very curious.

Zach

[Markus Kahila]

Dear Zach,

Why is Bodhidharma almost always depicted as a wild-eyed, crazy looking character?

- Good question. I haven't done much scholarly research on the subject, but here is an explanation I've come across:

The traditional sternness of his expression is to reflect his unswerving determination to become enlightened.

Furthermore, I think the style of depiction you're referring to is distinctly Japanese; most "stern" looking portraits of Bodhidharma (Daruma in Japanese) I've seen are of Japanese origin, and the Daruma-painting is a quite popular topic in classical Japanese painting.

Therefore, I would attribute a part of the reason to cultural emphasis and characteristics in artistic depiction.


However, as I said, I'm no expert in the topic. If anyone has more information, post away!


Best wishes,

[Damian Kissey]

Bodhidharma went East and returned to the West

Thank You very much Sifu and Markus Kahila for the answer and the vehicle

The Great Indian taught the Chinese

..now our beloved Chinese Grandmaster wil transmit the torch to Caucasian Masters like Markus

[Damian Kissey]

Truth and Perception

......Why is Bodhidharma almost always depicted as a wild-eyed, crazy looking character?

Zen answer