Questions to Grandmaster on Wudang Kungfu/Taijiquan & Zhang San Feng

[Tim]

Over the years Sifu has devised some incredible sets using his vast knowledge and experience in Kungfu. Some of these sets are long, some shorter and some very short, yet all are profound. At last years summer camp participants came away from the Wudang Cotton Palm simply amazed at the depth and profundity. For many it was life changing!

This year Sifu created a short Taijiquan set - The Abridged San Feng Set. As Sifu states in this answer the set was created after we requested a shorter set for people to learn, whereby the person could focus on developing skills, and have the opportunity to go deeper into the understanding of how to practice, apply and benefit from the set.

As it is with the Wudang Cotton Palm, I have been loving practicing this set. Even if you don't intend to come to the Summer Camp this year, I would wholly recommend you spend a few weeks training this set.

Question 8

With so many beautiful Taijiquan patterns to choose from, what is the significance of the patterns you chose for the Abridged San Feng Set? How do they relate to the 10 Essentials and Cultivating Spirit Training Energy?

Sifu Tim Franklin, Shaolin Wahnam UK



Answer

When I composed the Abridge San Feng Set, I considered three important factors:

1. The patterns must come from the original set.
2. The abridged set must be significantly shorter than the original set.
3. The abridged set must express the philosophy of the original set.

All these three factors are met in the abridged set.

All the patterns from the abridged set come from the original set. For example, One-Finger Shoot Zen, the treasure of our school, is a wonderful pattern, but it is not in the original set.

The San Feng Set has 80 patterns whereas the abridged set has only 16. It is significantly shorter, being less than one quarter the length of the original set.

The San Feng Set is actually the abridge version of the Wudang Taijiquan Set. The Wudang Taijiquan Set has 140 patterns, whereas the San Feng Set has 80. I remember that you mentioned the Wudang Taijiquan is too long, and you requested that I abridged it.

The abridged set expresses the philosophy of the original set. Both sets relate to the 10 Essentials of Taijiquan. How the abridged set relates to the 10 essentials will become clear when I discuss each of the essentials as follows.

Here are the 10 Essentials of Taijiquan.

1. Empty the mind of all thoughts
2. Do not tense any muscles
3. Loosen the waist
4. Apply the principle of false-real
5. Apply the principle of sinking and pressing
6. Use intention, not strength
7. Co-ordinate the top and bottom part of the body
8. Integrate internal and external aspects of training
9. Perform patterns continuously in one gentle, graceful flow without any break
10. Movement in stillness and stillness in movement

When we practice the Abridged San Feng Set, we must clear our mind of all thoughts. We must also not tense any muscles. The waist must be loosened so that we can rotate the waist easily.

The principle of false-real is important. In “Wild Horse Charges at Stable”, for example, if an opponent is slow or cannot defend against the attack, the attack becomes real. If he wards off or avoids the attack, it becomes false.

The abridged set applies the principle of sinking and pressing. “Play the Lute” is an example of this principle. If an opponent attacks with a thrust punch, we need not move our legs but sink our body to avoid his full force, and at the same time break his arm. “Receive Wind Push Door” is an example of pressing. We press in with a palm strike. If the opponent wards off or avoid the palm strike, we press in with another palm strike.

It is necessary to use intention, not strength. It is using chi flow to perform the abridged set, or to employ patterns from the set for attack and defence. We can be fast and powerful without being tired and without panting for breaths.

We need to co-ordinate the top and the bottom part of our body. In “Cosmos First Emerges”, for example, if co-ordination is bad, we would not be able to perform the pattern well.

The internal and external aspects of training are always integrated. Whatever pattern we perform, there is internal force, which is the internal aspect. The internal force is generated by its form, which is external.

We perform the whole set, or use patterns of the set in application, in one continuous movement without any break. We may, for relative beginners or when it is suitable, break down the set into sequences, but we perform a sequence in one continuous flow.

There is stillness in movement, and movement in stillness. When we perform any sequence, our mind is still, which means calm and clear. When we are still, like observing an opponent, our chi flow and we are ready for action.

The Abridge San Feng Set can be used to cultivate spirit and train energy at different levels, which may be conveniently classified into basic, intermediate and advanced.

At the Cultivating Spirit Training Energy course, we may also use the methods of Five Dan Tians, or Five Energy Fields, and from Dragon Strength.

As a result, participants at the courses in the UK Summer Camp, Puerto Rico and Penang, will have better spirit and energy. It will be multiple-teaching, i.e. participants will benefit according to their individual levels.

<End>
Reply With Quote Reply to Private Message

[Tim]

Uniting Energy and Spirit

Thank you Santi for this question. This is an important question, as it helps us understand how to apply these high level arts to everyday life - which is one of the aims of the school, and why we asked Sifu if he would further pass on the wisdom and application of Zhang San Feng's teachings..

As many of you would have seen, at the December course in Malaysia- Cultivating Spirit and Training Energy, Sifu will be teaching aspects of Cotton Palm as one of the skills being taught.

As a reminder, here is the course content:

1. From Wuji to Taiji to Wuji - Entering the Way of Freedom and Happiness

2. Nourishing Heart, Stabilising Nature / 5 Dantien training - Enhancing Energy Fields for Stability and Connection

3. Accumulating energy, focusing mind / Circulating Dragon Strength - Accumulating and Spreading Energy with Clarity of Mind

4. Cultivating Spirit / Cotton Palm - Developing and applying powerful and smooth energy flows for uniting spirit and energy

In London and Madrid we have been teaching these series of special courses with the overall title of Cultivating Spirit, Training Energy. We designed them to build and develop skills progressively, and prepare people to get the most out of the course in Penang with Sifu in December 2018.

The next course being taught in London is course 4, Cotton Palm. This focusses on the Unity of Spirit and Energy. Students in Madrid will be getting course 3 & 4 in October.

Santi's question helps bring it all together in how to apply it to enrich our lives and live wholesomely...

Question 9

In the Treatise of Zhang San Feng you mention: "When you have the unity of spirit and energy, you have accomplished the essential practice of Taijiquan and in life. It is a sign showing that you have practiced correctly and live your life well. It is a sign that you have attained the essence of Taijiquan and have a meaningful, rewarding life".

I remember that in Ireland you also mentioned to us to live our lives wholesomely.

Can you please explain what are the most important aspects for leading a meaningful, rewarding and wholesome life?

Santi


Answer

To lead a meaningful, rewarding and wholesome life, we need to know what we mean by “meaningful”, “rewarding” and “wholesome”. Then we select some guidelines that contribute to leading a meaningful, rewarding and wholesome life.

To be meaningful implies that our life has a meaning. To be rewarding implies that our life brings us benefit. To be wholesome implies that we successfully develop every part of our life.

Different people, obviously, have different interpretations. To many people the meaning of life is to get a good job, get married or have a partner, and carry on living as healthily and long as they can.

If they are successful in living their life in this way, their life is rewarding. If, for example, they have to work very hard but are badly paid, they quarrel frequently with their spouses, they die young or are often sick, their life is not rewarding.

There are numerous ways to classify the different parts of our life. We may, for example, classify our life as being physical and intellectual, or being private and social. We may classify the different stages of our life, like childhood, adulthood and old age. If a person is physically healthy but intellectually weak, or being successful in public but leads a miserable private life, or has a happy childhood but is pathetic in old age, we may not call his life wholesome.

Next, it is helpful to select some guidelines. As the Treatise of Zhang San Feng concerns practicing a great martial art, which includes spiritual cultivation, it may not be suitable for leading a meaningful, rewarding and wholesome life. It does not mean that the Treatise is unsuitable. We may select certain aspects of the Treatise to help us in our life.

The Treatise focuses on cultivating spirit and nourishing energy. We can use these two aspects to make our life more meaningful, rewarding and wholesome.

A good set of guidelines is our Ten Shaolin Laws, which are as follows:
1. Required to respect the master, honour the Moral Way and love fellow disciples as brothers and sisters.
2. Required to train the Shaolin arts diligently, and as a pre-requisite, to be physically and mentally healthy.
3. Required to be filial to parents, be respectful to the elderly, and protective of the young.
4. Required to uphold righteousness, and to be both wise and courageous.
5. Forbidden to be ungrateful and unscrupulous, ignoring the Laws of man and heaven.
6. Forbidden to rape, molest, do evil, steal, rob, abduct or cheat.
7. Forbidden to associate with wicked people; forbidden to do any sorts of wickedness.
8. Forbidden to abuse power, be it official or physical; forbidden to oppress the good and bully the kind.
9. Obliged to be humane, compassionate and spread love, and to realize everlasting peace and happiness for all people.
10. Obliged to be chivalrous and generous, to nurture talents and pass on the Shaolin arts to deserving disciples.
These ten laws transcend all race, culture and religion. They are not prohibitive but are a practical guide to high moral values. These laws will surely make our life meaningful, rewarding and wholesome.

Whenever we practice our arts, we smile from the heart. Smiling from the heart is spiritual cultivation. It makes us peaceful and happy. When we are peaceful and happy our life, irrespective of different interpretations, will be meaningful, rewarding and wholesome.

The aims of our school will contribute to making our life meaningful, rewarding and wholesome. The aims are as follows:

1. Good health.
2. Vitality.
3. Longevity.
4. Mental clarity.
5. Spiritual joys.

To realize the aims, we just have to practice any of our arts at a level suitable to us.

Hence, the most important aspects leading to a meaningful, rewarding and wholesome life are

1. High moral values, like our Ten Shaolin Laws
2. Spiritual cultivation, like smiling from the heart
3. Practicing our arts

<End>

[Tim]

Question 10...

Here is question 10...and there are several more to go

Question 10

Classically, there were four types of Shaolin monks: administrative, scholar, warrior (or martial) and service monks.

As Sifu taught today in Shaolin Wahnam, we do not really need go to war to be warriors or shave our heads to be monks or write classics to be scholars. We aspire to their ideals, such as the clarity of thought and intellectual depth of a scholar, the courage and righteousness of a warrior, and the compassion and cosmic wisdom of a monk.

The Partriarch of Internal Arts, Zhang San Feng, was adept at Confucian scholarship, wrote treatises, a master of Shaolin Kungfu and a Taoist immortal. We may generally say that he is a Scholar-Warrior-Monk

The Taoist Sage Lao Tze was a royal librarian and author of Tao Te Ching who eventually rode on a buffalo, disappearing into the western mountains to be a hermit. We can generally say that he is a Scholar-Monk.

The 1st Zen Patriarch in China and Originator of The Shaolin Arts, the Venerable Bodhidharma, was a southern Indian prince who received training in the arts of war and Buddhist meditation at the king’s palace. We may generally say that he is Warrior-Monk .

The 6th Zen Patriarch, the Venerable Hui Neng, despite being illiterate, was famous for an enlightening winning poem in a temple competition and whose teachings were recorded in the famous Platform Sutra. We can say he was purely a service monk (i.e. neither a Scholar nor a Warrior Monk) who became an Enlightened Monk.

Sigung Ho Fatt Nam was a Taoist master, Zen master, Shaolin qigong-kungfu master, master healer and avid photographer. Sigung is certainly a Scholar-Warrior-Monk.

Sifu, if Zhang San Feng taught four un-Enlightened students (each a lay scholar, a lay warrior, a monk, a lay scholar-warrior respectively) aiming to become Immortals (i.e. still in the phenomenal realm) and if all other things were equal, how will the four rank in descending order of relative speed (i.e. 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th ) to attain the above mentioned aim? Perhaps also possible ranking in absolute time frame (i.e. months, years, decades, lifetimes, etc)?

Would the ranking be the same if the aim is to become an Enlightened Monks (i.e. attained Zen or merged with the Tao)?

Dr Damian Kissey


Answer

As the term “scholar-warrior” is figurative, i.e. we do not really have to write classics to be scholars, and we do not have to go to wars to be warriors, I would say that Zhang San Feng, Lao Tze, Boidhidharma, Hui Neng, my sifu Ho Fatt Nam were all scholar-warriors. There is no doubt about their wisdom and courage.

If Zhang San Feng were to teach four students – a scholar, a warrior, a monk and a scholar-warrior -- to become immortals, presuming all other things were equal and also presuming that we have a real monk dedicated to the highest spiritual cultivation, not one who just shaves his head, what would their ranking in descending order be?

I would rank them as follows:

1st – the monk
2nd – the scholar-warrior
3rd – the warrior
4th – the scholar

My justification is as follows.

A monk has qualities that even a prime minister and a general cannot measure to. A monk is therefore higher than a scholar-warrior.

A scholar-warrior is higher than a scholar or a warrior.

Both a scholar and a warrior need wisdom and courage, but the need of a warrior is greater. One who aspires to be a scholar but has neither wisdom nor courage, will fail as a scholar. One who aspires to be a warrior but has neither wisdom nor courage will be dead.

Although the monk ranks first in becoming an immortal, which is still in the phenomenal realm, the question is whether he will be contented to be an immortal. He may aim to merge with the Great Void, which is transcendental.

When we have a teacher in Zhang San Feng, and students who are a scholar, a warrior, a monk and a scholar-warrior, we have the best teacher and students. But becoming immortals still take time.

My estimate in descending order is as follows:

The monk – 10 years.
The scholar-warrior – 12 years.
The warrior – 15 years.
The scholar – 18 years.

All students in Shaolin Wahnam aspire to be scholar-warriors. Many, like our masters, already are. But we don’t aim to become immortals. We aim to have good health, vitality, longevity, mental clarity and spiritual joys, and those who practice kungfu, combat efficiency.

<End>

[veenie]

Thank you Sifu for the wonderful answers it's such a pleasure to read. Thank you for the great questions brothers and sisters. Thank you Tim Siheng for starting this thread.

Thank you Sifu for teaching the Wudang courses this year, it feels like a very rare opportunity to be alive here and now to practice so many wonderful arts.

I was going to go to the courses with an 'empty cup' but as you pointed out Tim Siheng this is a great opportunity to ask questions...

How will Zhang San Feng's courses benefit in 'realizing the way' and how will they contribute to longevity in our human form?

How will the inner arts develop our elixir and how may we apply this to our daily life? When we develop our inner alchemy (microcosm) how does this affect the cosmos (macrocosm)?

Sifu, when we practice all these incredible energy arts and develop our heart/mind do we develop the heart/mind of other beings and can we help in alleviating some of the suffering in the world?

Sifu, do you think that Zhang San Feng practiced the Heart Sutra? As a Taoist priest do you think he blended the Buddhist with the Taoist teachings due to his former training at the Shaolin Temple?

Sifu, what healing did Zhang San Feng practice and is it relevant today?

Why were many masters drawn to the Wudang mountains to 'realize the way'?

Are the arts connected to Laozi and was he the embodiment of MahaKasyapa? If so is that why our school is so special as the transmission from both Wudang and Shaolin are direct from Buddha?

It feels like it will be a very special year and I am eternally grateful to you Sifu, Past Masters, Higher Beings and to our beautiful Shaolin Wahnam family

With Love & Peace,
Parveen
OM MANI PADME HUM

[Damian Kissey]

Grateful thanks to our dear Sifu for transmitting Teachings .

Much thanks to Tim and all schoolmates for the noble efforts

[sancrica]

Dear Shaolin Wahnam Family,

I would like to thank Sifu for taking the time to answer my question and for always being there for all of us.

Thank you again to Tim Siheng, to the Fully Alive team and to all the participants of this thread.

With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,

Santi

[Tim]

Thank you James for this question. It is something that came up in Legacy of Zhang San Feng summer camp, but we didn't get time to really explore it. This really helps with that.

Question 11

In the treatise of Zhang San Feng it mentions the 5 Elements of Wuxing, the 8 Bagua, the 10 Essentials and the 13 techniques. From my limited experience it seems the full 72-pattern Zhang San Feng set integrates all of the above principles. It is also apparent that to learn all of the above could potentially take a lifetime to master, or even many lifetimes.

With regard to the Tajiquan course this year at the UK Summer Camp do some or all of these principles apply in the short form Abridged San Feng Set, and would Sigung be teaching us any of them in detail on the summer Camp course and what would be the best way to learn and master those above principles?

James


Answer

The 5 Elements of Wuxing are usually translated as “metal”, “water”, “wood”, “fire” and “earth”.

Bagua, or 8 trigrams, are (or is, the funny thing about English grammar) “qian”, “kun”,”kan”, “li”, “sun”, “zhen”. “dui” and “gen”, which are symbolized as heaven, earth, water, fire, wind, thunder, marsh and mountain.

The 10 Essential of Taijiquan (called Shaolin Kungfu at the time of Zhang San Feng, the inventor), are as follows:

1. Empty the mind of all thoughts
2. Do not tense any muscles
3. Loosen the waist
4. Principle of false-real
5. Principle of sinking and pressing
6. Using intention and not using strength
7. Co-ordination of top and bottom
8. Integration of internal and external
9. One gentle, graceful flow without any break
10. Movement in stillness, stillness in movement

The 13 Techniques are as follows:

1. Peng, or ward off
2. Lu, or roll back
3. Qi, or press forward
4. An, or in contact.
5. Cai, or grip
6. Lie, or spread
7. Zhou, or elbow
8. Kao, or anchor
9. Jin, or move forward
10. Tui, or move backward
11. Gu, or step to the left
12. Pan, or step to the right
13. Ding, or remain at the centre

These terms are often met, especially in Taijiquan, but seldom understood. Philosophers and writers who translate the terms, like “wuxing” and “bagua” as well as “yin-yang” (not mentioned in the question) from Chinese into English or any Western language, are confused. Most Chinese themselves have no idea of what they means.

In Five Elements, when a translator mentions that the Chinese believe the world is made up of five elements, or that the kidneys are “water”, many people may interpret it to mean that the Chinese believe the world is made of five substances, namely metal, water, wood, fire and earth, and that the kidneys are made of water. This is wrong!

What the Chinese say is that there are countless processes in the world, but all these processes can be generalized into five types, symbolized as metal processes, wood processes, water processes, fire processes and earth processes, and that the process of the kidneys is symbolized as water process.

“Wuxing” means “five movements” or “five processes”, but the term “Five Elements” have been established.

It is worthy of note that the Chinese character “xing” in “wuxing” is different form the Chinese character “xing” in Xingyiquan, though in Romanized spelling they are the same. “Xing” in “wuxing” means “movements”, and “xing” in Xingyiquan means “form”.

While “wuxing” refers to processes, “bagua” refers to form. The Chinese believe that while there may be countless forms, all these countless forms can be classified into 8 main types, symbolized by the eight trigrams.

The father in a family is symbolized as “qian”, represented as “heaven”. This does not mean that the father is heaven. It means that in the concept of bagua, or 8 trigrams, the father is symbolized as “heaven”. “Heaven” or “qian” is symbolized as having majesty and authority. Hence, the father is symbolized as having majesty and authority.

“Bagua” is in Romanized Chinese. In English it is usually written as “Pakua”. Please note that “Bagua” is pronounced as /p’a kua/, and not as /ba gua/. If you think that this is funny, it is because we are familiar with English. Please be reminded that English is very unphonetic, whereas Romanized Chinese is very phonetic.
Please also note that “Bagua” is different from “Baguazhang”, which is usually written in English as “Pakua Chang”, and pronounced in Chinese, English or in any way Baguazhang should be pronounced as /p’a kua chang/.

Personally, I do not find much connection between Bagua and Baguazhang, except a few common factors like Baguazhang Walking uses the Bagua symbol, there are 8 sequences in Baguazhang which correspond to the 8 trigrams in Bagua, and there are 64 main techniques in Baguazhang which mirror the 64 hexagrams in the Book of Change which in turn is derived from Bagua.

(Part 2 follows)

[Tim]

continued from question 11.

(Continued from Part 1)

Zhang San Feng specifically mentioned that the 10 Essentials were very important in Taijiquan. Those who did not follow the 10 Essentials, did not practice Taijiquan, though they might use Taijiquan external forms. This, indeed, is what is happening now. More than 90% of Taiji practitioners today do not follow the 10 Essentials, though they may perform external Taijiquan forms. Some of them are very important in Taijiquan association and federations.

When I composed the Wudang Taijiquan Set, I used the 72 patterns of Taijiquan mentioned in Wudang classics. These 72 patterns were also mentioned in the Treatise of Zhang San Feng. These 72 patterns manifest the 13 Techniques.

San Feng Wudang Set is an abridged version of our Wudang Taijiquan Set. The San Feng Wudang Set is further shortened to the Abridge San Feng Set. Hence all the three Wudang sets – Wudang Taijiquan Set, San Feng Wudang Set and Abridged San Feng Wudang Set – manifest the 13 techniques.

At first I was puzzled by “ding”, or remaining at the centre, of the 13 Techniques. I understood all the other 12 Techniques. Then, in a flash of inspiration, I discovered what “ding” meant. It referred to body-movement.

The principles of Wuxing, Bagua, 10 Essentials and 13 Techniques can be found not only in the 72-pattern Wudang Taijiquan Set, the San Feng Wudang Set and the Abridged San Feng Set, but in all kungfu sets. In fact the principles can be used to explain anything in the universe.

We may take any Karate kata and use Wuxing to explain what the kata is. We may, for example, say that the thrust punch in Karate is like the process of fire. We may also say that the continuous attack patterns in Karate is like a smooth flow without any break as explain in one of the 10 Essentials.

We may take any everyday activity, like typing at a computer, and employ Wuxing, Bagua, 10 Essentials and 13 Techniques to explain its movement or stillness. When we type a sentence, we may explain this as an integration of the internal and the external, like thinking of the sentence and typing it with the fingers. When we have completed typing, we may say it is stillness in movement, as we are not typing with our fingers but the mind is thinking of the next sentence.

Except for 10 Essentials and 13 Techniques which are particularly concerned with Taijiquan, Wuzing and Bagua are used by people, especially Chinese masters of various arts, to explain everything in the universe.

But this does not mean that certain arts, like Taijiquan, will be particularly useful if we apply Wuxing, Bagua, 10 Essentials and 13 Techniques on them. When we understand the principles of Wuzing, Bagua, 10 Essentials and 13 Techniques, we can greatly enrich our arts and our life.

Whether it will take a lifetime or many lifetimes to learn the principles of Wuxing, Bagua, 10 Essentials and 13 Techniques is relative. It also depends on whether we have the opportunity to learn these principles.

Most people will not have the opportunity. Many may not really understand what Wuxing, Bagua, 10 Essentials and 13 Techniques mean. To them it will take a lifetime or many lifetimes until the opportunity arises.

But those who have read the answer here will know the principles. Those who attend any one of the Wudang courses this year will have practical introduction to application of these principles.

I have not actually decided on what to teach at the UK Summer Camp this year, because it depends much on the level and progress of course participants. Nevertheless, some or even all of these principles will be taught – at an level that participants can understand and to their best benefit.

The best way to learn and master these principles is to study this answer and apply these principles, at a level within your understanding and ability, to the patterns in the Abridged San Feng Set.

<End>

[Matthew]

Thank you Sifu

Thank you Sifu for answering my specific questions and all the questions you will answer by the time this thread is complete. I learn so much from these exchanges. They are a treasure trove of knowledge, information and insight.

Thank you Tim Siheng for creating this thread, and the questioners for their questions.

[James L]

Thank You Sigung

Thanks to Sigung as always for answering our questions with extended and concise knowledge!

Truly inspiring!

Thanks to Siheng Tim for getting this out there!

Many Thanks and Gratitude,
James
O\

[Tim]

You're welcome James. This is a collective effort between Fully Alive and Sifu Angel Pérez from Costa Rica.

Question 12

I would like to understand better the union between energy and spirit.

We cultivate energy and spirit but the concepts may be very different to other disciplines.

What is understood, or what is the concept of "spirit" in Shaoling Wahnam?
What is understood, or what is the concept of "energy" in Shaoling Wahnam?

Juan Antonio


Answer

Energy and spirit are different, though at times they may be used interchangeably. For example, according to science everything is energy, which is universal and undifferentiated. However, sometimes this universal and undifferentiated spread of energy may be regarded as consciousness, which is spirit.

This universal and undifferentiated spread of energy in science is regarded as God the Holy Spirit in Christianity and Islam. God the Holy Spirit is infinite and eternal. There is nothing else but God.

It is called by a few different terms in Buddhism, like the spiritual body of the Buddha, Tathagata, or Suchness, and Emptiness. In Taoism it is called Tao or the Great Void. In Hinduism it is Brahman. All these terms are infinite and eternal.

In Shaolin Wahnam we practice triple-cultivation, which means we differentiate between the physical body, energy and spirit. In Chinese, they are “jin”, “qi” and “shen”.

Sometimes we refer to spirit as mind. This is influenced by Buddhist culture as much of Shaolin culture is Buddhist.

It must be emphasized that the word “Buddhist’ carries no religions implications. There were many Taoists, Confucians, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and people of any religion as well as people of no religion at all the three Shaolin monasteries. Similarly in Shaolin Wahnam, anyone of any religion or no religion can join our school as long as he (or she) is deserving. Shaolin Wahnam is non-religious.

“Jin”, or the physical body, is the visible aspect. “Qi”, or energy, is invisible and works the body. “Shen”, or spirit, is also invisible, and is the real person. It is “shen”, or spirit, that possesses a body, not a body that possesses a spirit. “Jin” and “qi”, or the physical body and energy, are changing all the time, but “shen” remains the same.

When we breathe out, for example, we dispose millions of used cells. We exchange energy all the time with the environment. But our spirit remain the same. Our spirit develops, and when the time is right, we merge with the Universal Spirit, described in different terms by different religions and cultures.

Although we may cultivate our body, energy and spirit differently, they are integrated. This can be seen in everyday life. When a person is sick, his physical body is weak, his energy is low, and is spirit is feeble. When he becomes well, his body is strong, his energy high and his spirit robust.

Hence, there is a clear relation between energy and spirit.

<End>

[barrys]

Dear Sifu,

thank you for all of your wonderful answers in this Q&A series. It is the last day for questions so I have a few myself:

You have talked about the realisations you had regarding your Kung Fu & Chi Kung practice when you translated the Treatise of Zhang San Feng. Could you say something about any realisations you had about living a healthy, happy and meaningful life. Did it change the way you approached anything in your everyday life or help you to crystallise anything that had already been working well?

How, if at all, did the Treatise affect the way you taught or practiced Chi Kung or Kung Fu?

You are teaching Five Dan Tien Training for the first time. What skills will someone practising this art gain, what holistic effects will the practice have and what aspects of life can these skills be used to enhance?

How have the experiences of "Taiji originates from Wuji" and "experiencing Cosmic and Phenomenal reality at the same time" affected the way you look at other people and the world around you. What would you say has been the most practically useful outcome of these experiences.

Hopefully we will get a chance to talk about these things during our road trip to the Lake District later this week. But I thought I would ask them here so that, if you have time, other people get a chance to share in the answers.

With metta,

Barry

[James L]

Extended Thanks...

Shaolin Salute and Thanks also to Sifu Angel Pérez.

O\

You're welcome James. This is a collective effort between Fully Alive and Sifu Angel Pérez from Costa Rica.

[Tim]

Thank you everyone for the excellent questions. Like Taijiquan can be... it got off to a slow start...but was truly wonderful during the process and at the end!

There are more answers to come. The questions however have now come to a graceful end.

[Tim]

Interesting...

Question 13


Wasn’t Immortal Zhang San Feng referring to sitting meditation when he wrote "not miss hit-sittng" on the Treatise?

Why and how did you find becoming so powerful to be a burden to yourself and others?

Sifu Angel Guillermo, Shaolin Wahnam Puerto Ricue



Answer

Yes, the great Zhang San Feng was referring to sitting meditation in a lotus position when he mentioned “hit-sitting” in the Treatise.

“Hit-sitting” was my literal translation. In Romanized Chinese it is “da zuo”.
It means sitting in a lotus position or a semi-lotus position in spiritual cultivation. Sitting meditation is the paramount path to attaining the Great Void.

I practiced sitting meditation every night, and I became very powerful. One day while waiting in a bank I tried to test my mind power. I chose a Malay gentleman whom I believed would not have practiced meditation formally.

I used my mind to will him to stand up, walk three steps to his right side, look around, walk to the entrance of the bank, walk away to his left side so that he could not be visible from where I was waiting, walk back to the entrance and walk to the place where he was sitting, stand there for some time, stretch his left ear with his right hand, then sit down.

These were not exactly the things I asked him to do with my mind, but it gave a good picture. Imagine my utter surprise that he did exactly what I asked him to do! I blessed him and decided not to practice sitting meditation any more.

My mind became so powerful. I knew that I would never abuse this mind power, but I did not want to teach others to have the possibility of this burden.

The above episode is mentioned in my autobiography, “The Way of the Master”. Have fun finding out where it occurs and reading it.

<End>