The Shaolin Journey - Part 1

[sancrica]

The Shaolin Journey - Part 30

20/02/2014

"Everything will be all right in the end... if it's not all right then it's not yet the end". - Patel, Hotel Manager, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The courses are officially over. I can confirm from direct experience that when Sifu is here time and space run in a different way. To be honest, I don’t feel that I have been in Killarney for a week. It seems just a flash but at the same time it seems that I have been in contact with a place where nothing of all these things actually matters.

Honestly, I cannot believe Sifu’s generosity. How can it be possible that I am always having more than what I expected?

Sifu’s Transmission - Transmission in these courses has been very different to the transmission that I have been experiencing in the past years. My heart is closer to Sifu than any other year. I can feel how his heart communicates with my heart and I could feel that transmission really clear this year. Many times I cannot understand what Sifu means when he explain me things. Though I don’t understand all of them now I know that what Sifu is teaching me is in my heart and it will come alive when I am ready for it.

Opening my heart to Sifu is an experience beyond words. Feeling that connection cures my fears and brings confidence into my life. I feel always very grateful for his patience as he has to explain me the same thing many times and many times I am not able to follow his instructions.

I have detected an incredible amount of weaknesses in all these 7 days. I feel happy about it because it keeps me humble and it gives me homework for a really long time. Having the chance to improve it is probably one of the best things in life. Having the chance of being corrected by Sifu it is a blessing because I feel safe with his guidance. It has been really a long way of search and trust and the journey has not always been easy. Finding Sifu was the best of that search.

Yang set in the Yang Spirit - I honestly did not know what the difference was between Yang and Chen style. After this course I not only know the difference but I am also able to apply that skill to any set! That is because Sifu has taught us not only the set but also the “Spirit” of the style. In my opinion, feeling the “Spirit” of a style has brought me more benefits and a deeper and faster understanding than just merely practicing the set. Without this “Spirit” transmission I would not be able to understand the difference between different Taijiquan styles.

Yang set in the Chen Spirit - As I learned “Flowing Water Floating Clouds Set” with Sifu the past year, I had an understanding of what Chen style was. What I did not have was an understanding of Chen Spirit. As I did not learned the Yang Style, I could not compare and feel the difference. In consequence, as mentioned before I thought that all Taijiquan styles had the same spirit. I love to be proved wrong! it really makes me happy when I am proved wrong as I can get a deep understanding by direct experience.

24-Pattern Simplified Taijiquan Set - I really didn’t expect learning this set in the 108 pattern Yang set course! This is another unexpected gift that Sifu gave us and another proof of his endless generosity.

Working in groups - My last Taijiquan course was “Flowing Water Floating Clouds” in the previous Saint Valentines Festival. It is amazing to see how different the teaching methodology was from this 108 Pattern Yang Set course. I found it particularly enriching and very cost effective. For example, Sifu separated us in groups so we could find applications for every single pattern of the set. I learned a lot with this way of teaching as we had to think, discuss and use all our resources for finding applications in patterns assigned. This does not only deepen my skills on "patterns application" but also improves my "application" skills for any other thing that I learn in my life!

This skill is really useful for daily life as I often learned things that I didn’t use because I was unable to apply them. How can learning be useful if I was unable to apply it in daily life? I never thought about that until I met Sifu. I had a lot of information in my head that I could not use and that was really frustrating. Now I understand the importance of “applying” what I learn.

Picture perfect form - When training “perfect form” it was easy for me to focus on form. The difficulty came when I had to explode force or to flow without neglecting the form. It was really easy for me to forget the form when focusing on flow or force. Thank you Sifu for insisting so much in this aspect. I finally understood that form gives us many benefits. Combat advantages and the flow of chi are some examples of it.

In fact, Sifu mentioned a very important aspect of exploding force. Many participants, including me, were having breaks when exploding force in patterns. This was stopping the flow. I must admit that it was really difficult to explode force without stopping. In fact, Sifu taught us how to use any kind of pattern for exploding force without sacrificing the flow. I must say that I was really impressed every time that Sifu made "Exploding Force" demonstrations.

Ah, Spiral force should not be forgotten! We are practicing Taijiquan. It was very enriching to deepen in that skill through Sifu’s transmission. In fact, it was in this course were I really understood what spiral force meant.

Performing the set really really slow - I have never practiced sets that slow. The experience was incredibly enriching. I don’t think that I have ever had the feeling that I had when performing the full set at that speed. There was a moment where the time had no time and the space had no space. Performing the set in such a slow way made me go incredibly deep and the feeling that I had was like if I was moving but not moving. I was going so slow that I felt that I was not moving but at the same time I could see that I was moving. These kind of experiences are very hard to explain as I don’t think that words make justice when describing them. One perfect sentence to define what I felt would be by saying that “I was moving without moving”.

Kung Fu is alive - A pattern can be modified to find the most effective approach - Before, I used to try to apply what I learned in a rigid way.

This is a very important lesson for all the teachings that I have received so far. In fact, understanding this concept and receiving this skill from Sifu has allowed me to apply what I have learned in Shaolin Wahnam for daily life. Not only that, I have been able to apply this skill in many other teachings outside Wahnam. For example, I was able to apply the 36 strategies for playing music, or using music education for improving my “hearing force” skill or using my “hearing force” skill for dealing with managers and customers.

The Skill of Chi Flow - Sifu has often mentioned that in other schools training, for example, “Iron Wire” and “108 Yang Set” would be detrimental as they are opposed sides. In Shaolin Wahnam, because of the Chi Flow is not only the opposite but also advised as they will complement each other and enhance results.

The skill of Chi Flow also brings me a lot of benefits in many other aspects of life. That gives me an incredible freedom as all my learnings become alive and nourish each other. No matter what I learn, it always complement and enhance with other areas of my life.

Because Chi Flow has an holistic approach, any learning of any area that I include in my life will also have an holistic approach and enhance whatever I do or learn. It was not long time ago that I have understood this important cosmic truth and I am very happy that it has happened as that has led me to the next level in this incredible journey.

White Crane Flaps Wings.jpg

(Picture taken from shaolin.org)

To be continued...

[wooden shoes]

Dear Brother,

Thanks for your accounts of your journey. I enjoyed reading them!

Best wishes,
Roeland

[Andy]

Dear Brothe
Thanks for your accounts of your journey. I enjoyed reading them!

+1!

[sancrica]

Thank you :-)

Dear Brother,

Thanks for your accounts of your journey. I enjoyed reading them!


Best wishes,
Roeland

Thanks for your kind words Sifu Roeland. I am glad that you enjoyed reading them. :-)

+1!

Thanks Siheng Andy. :-)

With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,


Santiago

[sancrica]

The Shaolin Journey - Part 31

24/02/2014

"The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls". - Pablo Picasso

“Rounding” the patterns - This was another magnificent lesson while on the course. To be honest, I never practiced Taijiquan in this way before. I remember practicing “There is no beginning there is no end” before this course but “Rounding the Patterns” took me to the next level. I felt like a wave in the ocean.

Applications in daily live for this skill just came straight away. At work, this skill is going to be very useful as it is a way to keep the flow and to smooth relationships between colleagues, managers and team leaders. Sometimes managers, colleagues or team leaders could be quite direct and aggressive as they receive a lot of pressure from management. If they come in that way I used to just freeze and do nothing. That made situation really uncomfortable for both parts. Now I am going to be able to “round” the situation, keep the flow and direct the proper response according to needs.

This might sound easy but it is not easy. It might be simple but not necessarily easy. In fact, Wahnam Taijiquan has given me the advantage of turning an unfavourable situation into a favorable one. Being able to turn around the situation is something that I have learned in Shaolin Wahnam and has been incredibly useful for me when dealing with angry customers. I have learned it from Sifu. I am still not able to apply it for combat but I am already able to apply it in daily life and it has saved me from a lot of trouble. Honestly, it has made my life incredibly easier as I use this skill to bring the best side in people. I am most part of the times able to turn the situation into a win-win situation. That not only enriches my life but also the life of others.

One big movement - That is other skill that I have deepened in this amazing course. In daily life this skill has allowed me to complete tasks at work in a more efficient manner as I don’t stop the flow of work by other distractions. Also, I am able to link one task after another and keep a smooth flow not only in professional but also in personal life.

Being able to perform a task at work without breaking the flow gives me the best use of energy and time management. I can understand now why I haven’t been successful in many parts of my life. I have been stopping the flow again and again.

Time and spacing - I am still not very skilful using it for combat but I have become very skilful in daily life. I am able to calculate how much time should I dedicate to my tasks at work just by looking at them. 95% of the times I am correct in my calculations so I am never late when submitting my work.

Building sequences/sets to meet expedient needs - I am still not very skilful in building combat sequences and applying them for combat situations but I have become very skilful building sequences for my daily life. For example, when I am at work, before I start the week I order all my weekly tasks in a way that brings me the best benefits and the best advantage. Other colleagues do not plan that well and if there are any “surprises” within that week they might not be able to complete all their weekly tasks.

Teaching methodology - Sifu was incredibly generous and gave us many unexpected presents in this Taijiquan course. For example, he was teaching us how to teach Taijiquan to elder, to children and composing sets for different teaching approaches (meeting expedient needs). Though I don’t teach Taijiquan, the skill that Sifu has transmitted me can be used straight away in my daily life. At work, I have to train new people all the time so having the skill to build trainings for meeting expedient needs is of incredible value.

Using Taijiquan for healing - I have learned an invaluable lesson when Sifu was showing us how to use Taijiquan patterns for healing. How important is to bring confidence to the patient! Whenever I have to teach new starters in my company, my mission is to transmit them the necessary skills so they can successfully perform their role. The heart of confidence has proved to be one of the most, if not the most, important skills for that transmission. They often shared with me that they felt very happy to learn from me as I made it very easy and simple when others were making it complicated and very confusing.

Sifu insisted in the importance of chi flow at the end of every teaching for not missing the healing. Sifu also mentioned to keep it simple. Having had the chance of learning the “18 Jewels” in this Saint Valentines Festival I understand what Sifu meant. Thought this exercises were easy to perform they were incredibly powerful, generated really vigorous Chi Flows and offered wonderful results.

Grand Finale - As Sifu mentioned: "We have practiced the Yang and Chen Spirit. Now we are going to practice the best Taijiquan using the mind level". The last performance of the 108 patterns Yang Set was the best experience that I have had practicing Taijiquan so far. It reached a moment where I could feel the spirit of the Dragon. I have often felt the spirit of the Tiger and sometimes the spirit of the Monkey but never the spirit of the Dragon.

As mentioned before, words usually don’t make justice when explaining Sifu’s courses. All I could feel was like waves in all parts of my body. I am very happy that the Dragon spirit let me taste a glimpse of his grace and majesty. My body was so charged of energy that I thought that I was not going to be able to complete the set. After the "closing pattern" I let go and Chi was so strong that pushed me down to the floor like if I was a puppet controlled by some force. Though the crash was quite violent I felt like if I was landing in a bed of feathers. I can understand now why Taijiquan is used for spiritual cultivation.

That was the Grand Finale that Sifu had prepared for this very special course. After that Chi Flow I was coughing a lot and I could not stop. The coughing was really deep and came from the stomach. It reached a point that I started vomiting chi. As I was a bit afraid of really vomiting I went to the toilet and let the Chi finish its work there. Being in the toilet I started vomiting chi from the stomach mixed with the real one (sorry for being so explicit). I felt a big karmic blockage going down that toilet.

I am so happy to have this amazing tools and skills. Life really make sense now. I always felt my life as incomplete and missing a very important piece. I was missing the key to open the door of wonders and marvellous. Now that I have the key I have opened that door and the real adventure has truly started.

When Sifu asked us to send blessings today I sent them to a very special person in my life. To my surprise, I just read in Facebook later today that this person updated her status with this sentence: “Feeling some powerful and intensely positive auras today …” She did not know anything about the blessings in today’s course but it is obvious that she could feel them.

All these transmissions of skills explained above have been shared with me in a heart to heart transmission. I thank Sifu for that. I find Sifu’s teachings the best approach that I know for living my life. Millions of decisions have been made with the help of Sifu’s teachings. For that I am forever grateful because I know that if Sifu’s teachings are involved in those decisions they were good decisions.

One last thought that I had in the train when coming back to Dublin from this unforgettable Saint Valentines Festival:

Water is not worried about being dirtied, about being carried against its will, about being taken by animals, plants, humans, wood, earth, fire, wind, metal or clouds. Water is not worried about time or even space as water knows that it belongs to the ocean and it will inevitably return home.

Water Returns to Ocean.jpg

(Picture taken from picsora)

To be continued...

[sancrica]

The Shaolin Journey - Part 32

01/03/2014

“We all have that inner voice that is wise, even if we don't always follow it. It's that voice I'm trying to listen to”. - Ray LaMontagne

It is interesting to see past with perspective. I remember that my life has always been full of dreams and faith… until I finished college. After finishing college I faced very challenging times.

College was a very joyful period in my life. I was traveling, feeling happy, free, healthy, strong and believing that I was going to be able to achieve whatever I wanted in life.

College was a moment for sharing, for learning, for living enriching experiences. I felt a zest for life that I never felt before. I felt so free and complete that I thought this feeling was going to last forever.

When I took my first job I remember being inside an office for 8 hours and feeling really trapped. It was like being in jail and away from everything that I loved most. I was waiting for the end of my shift like the thirsty searches for an oasis in the desert. I was dreaming with the weekend like the plants wait for the sun to arrive after a long winter.

I had imagined a very different life for myself but I just couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. Sifu is very right when he often mentions that “identifying the problem is already 50% of the solution”.

I wasn’t able to last for a long time at any work. I was feeling like a racehorse trapped in the barn. All I wanted to do was running, experience joy, fully live and see the world with my own eyes. All I wanted was to experience back that feeling of freedom and joy that I had in college. I knew that this feeling was going to lead me to where I wanted to get in life.

As I couldn’t understand why I felt so bad at work, I asked the people I knew and they often told me that feeling this way at work was normal and precisely for that reason work was being called work. Inside of me I just couldn’t understand why work couldn’t be fun and full of joy and passion.

In my first jobs I remember that most of my managers came to check if I was working whenever I had fun or was smiling. They could not associate work with fun or smiles. Few by few I stopped smiling at work as I didn't want trouble and I started believing that smiling and having fun while working was unprofessional.

It was only when working for Google that I experienced that fun and great results could coexist in business. This realisation came through Sifu’s teachings. Sifu demonstrated me that the fun part greatly enhanced results in any aspect of life.

I think that Google has always had such amazing results because of the fun, the passion and the joy to work in an environment where people can have great laughs, great time and feel like in college. In fact, founders specifically designed offices like a college campus in order to promote the culture that a college has. I have the same feeling in all Sifu's courses and always amazing results are being achieved.

In Google offices, you can often see many different kind of games everywhere, sofas and beautiful colours in walls. You even have a room for playing music or massage chairs for relaxing when you feel stressed. That promotes socialisation, creativity and great ideas are born when having fun and being relaxed. Many successful projects start this way.

Though Google might not know much about Shaolin, Chi Kung or Zen, I have seen that it applies many of the things that Sifu often mentions in his teachings. Companies following those principles are achieving great success at all levels.

I consider this realisation inspiring for two reasons. The first one shows me how powerful and universal Sifu’s teachings are as they can be applied to any aspect of life and enhance it. The second one shows me that Sifu is guiding me towards my own heart, where all the magic happens. Sifu is bringing me the courage that I need for living my life upon what my heart dictates.

I have never been able to betray my heart for a long time even if I tried. If I was going against the will of my heart life was becoming so painful that I always had to change something in order to please my heart. It was like if all deviations were magically corrected by some powerful help.

This feeling has saved me countless times. I have been able to understand what it meant thanks to Sifu’s teachings.

When I was facing frustration in my life I tended to ask others for opinion. I wanted to know many opinions in order to see if what I was feeling was normal. Most of them told me to follow my reasoning or intellect instead of my heart.

As I was feeling desperate I tried to take decisions with the intellect and tried to chose the things that made sense and see if things were improving this way. Far from that, things were getting much worse as that voice coming from the heart was always present and pushing me. The more I neglected that voice the louder and annoying it was.

I always felt that I had a purpose in life. I always felt that I was going to do something important, something really meaningful but that feeling was disappearing few by few until it was gone and forgotten.

I remember that heart became my enemy. How different from today that is! my heart is now my best friend. I listen to my heart like a mother to her child. It has become my advisor, my guide. I feel connected. My heart does not scream to me anymore. My heart now whispers and shares with me many secrets. My heart pleases me with countless presents.

By practicing "Smiling from the Heart" every time that I have the chance, I get that “college” feeling back. I now follow the things that bring joy to my heart. I please my heart and my heart pleases me back. The more I satisfy my heart the more my heart satisfies me. It is like a win-win relationship. I feed my heart and my heart feeds me. I take take care of my heart and my heart takes care of me.

My heart connects me with the source. It is like a "Wifi" signal. The more I "Smile from the Heart" the more I open my heart. The more I open my heart the stronger this “Wifi” signal is. The stronger this “Wifi” signal is the faster the connection with the source is. The faster the connection the faster I can “download” what I need from the source.

I don’t think that I would have ever been capable of enjoying at work without Sifu. Sifu taught me that joy can be present no matter what we do. As he often says: “If you cannot do what you like, at least you must like what you do”. I am fortunate enough to now do what I like but I have also learned to like what I do.

I am now more able to enjoy present moment no matter what I do or where I am. I do not wait for the weekends or for the next holidays. That has greatly enriched my life because I do not only enjoy holidays or weekend but I enjoy everyday. I now have that "college feeling" back.

Joy, Fun and Passion at Work.jpg

(Picture taken from businessinsider)

To be continued...

[Andy]

When I took my first job I remember being inside an office for 8 hours and feeling really trapped. It was like being in jail and away from everything that I loved most. I was waiting for the end of my shift like the thirsty searches for an oasis in the desert. I was dreaming with the weekend like the plants wait for the sun to arrive after a long winter.

Now those are words I can identify with!

Thanks for sharing your realisations and solutions with us

[sancrica]

Now those are words I can identify with!

Thanks for sharing your realisations and solutions with us

Thank you Andy Sidai! :-)

With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,

Santiago

[sancrica]

The Shaolin Journey - Part 33

15/03/2014

“You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother.” - Albert Einstein

I always loved this quote. I think that it perfectly defines the capability that one has for transferring skills into other matters of life. It is a fun way to explain if one has reached the essence of what he has learned.

Usually, I measure how well I have understood Sifu’s teachings by my capability of applying or transferring those skills into daily life.

I remember that Sifu often mentioned about practicing “Elite Taijiquan”. It was only in Malaysia, when attending the Intensive Taijiquan Course, that I better understood what he meant.

I remember Sifu mentioning that in “Elite Taijiquan” one should reduce the amount of movements, use defence and attack at the same time or even do everything in just one move.

I then thought on how this skill could be applied to my work. I was also thinking of the benefits that I could achieve when working this way.

In my job, I usually do a lot of tasks in bulk. That means that if I can save one step every once in a while I can save a lot of time. I then started thinking on how could I reduce the amount of steps in a task. If I was doing it in 5, I wanted to be able to do it in 4. If I was able to do it in 4, I was trying to do it in 3.

I then discovered that I was doing a lot of unnecessary steps and that I could make use of the “Defence and Attack” skill for shortening many of the necessary steps.

I sometimes tend to work in a mechanic way and that leads me to more steps. With the “Elite Taijiquan” skill applied I now have more time for doing other things at work. I also have more fun as I enjoy shortening processes, keeps me motivated and makes meaningful the repetitive tasks.

The “Elite Taijiquan” skill leads me to a better quality of life as I can have more free time for doing other things.

While deepening on this skill I could realise that Zen was always present in Sifu’s teachings by bringing alive the “simple, direct and effective” principles. Everything that Sifu does has always a purpose.

At work, whenever I was not able to complete any of my tasks in the designated time I was arriving to two conclusions:

1) I was not being effective enough.
2) It was too much workload for the designated time.

If option 2 was not the case I was making use of the “Elite Taijiquan” skill. Most of my colleagues just spent more time at work which contributed to burning themselves out as they were working too many hours and under a lot of stress.

I always rejected the idea of having to work more just because I was not being able to finish on time. If I was meant to finish in 8 hours I did not want to spend 10 or 12. My target was to become more effective so I could be able to complete everything on time.

Before learning from Sifu, even if I was chasing that goal, I did not have the skills to achieve it. No matter how hard I tried, I wasn’t able to effectively shorten processes. Now, it is quite easy even if I have not been specifically trained at work for that purpose. The transfer of skills into my daily life is actually astonishing.

I got this from Sifu. He demonstrated me that less could be more and that these arts are alive so they could be applied into other aspects of my life. This has saved me from a lot of trouble and I have received incredible benefits.

In fact, the more I apply these skills, the more time I get. The more I apply these skills, the more quality my work has. The more I apply these skills, the more relaxed I can be at work.

Sifu is always improving. I think that this is one of the reasons why Sifu has become so cost-effective and that greatly enhances the cost-effectiveness of all his students. He perfectly applies the “Elite Taijiquan” skill in everything he does.

The 15 minutes practice is a perfect example of this skill. He demonstrated that 15 minutes practice was far more effective than 1 hour in other schools. When I started in this school, I could not understand why less was often more. Before, I often believed that more was more and less was less. I could not understand how less could be more and how more could be less.

I also remember when Chun Yian Siheng came to Ireland and taught us the incredible game of “Chinese Chess”. He was using the skills of “reducing unnecessary steps” and “simultaneous defence and attack” for winning a game. In fact, I could experience how wasting movements was leading me to a clear and fast defeat.

Chun Yian Siheng was an excellent teacher and I still apply many of his teachings in my daily life. Playing Chinese Chess that weekend uncovered many weaknesses and provided me very good and meaningful lessons.

When playing with him I was losing all the time and I realised how important strategies, tactics and tricks were for achieving goals in my life. He was easily winning and I was easily losing. In real life I was also easily losing too. Very often, when I encountered a situation of winning or losing I ended up losing and the opponent ended up winning.

Being able to apply what I learn from Sifu in my daily life is one of main reasons why I love learning from Sifu.

Einstein Having Fun.jpeg

(Picture taken from simplementefisicaynadamas)

To be continued...

[sancrica]

The Shaolin Journey - Part 34

25/03/2014

“When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” - Paulo Coelho

Since the moment I was willing to be happy, the whole Universe was there to help me to accomplish this noble goal. Since the moment I decided that I wanted to be happy in my life I have seen an amazing progress as a human being.

As soon as I sincerely told to Heaven and Earth that I was ready to be happy and that I was going to need all the help that I could get, Universe started bringing me an immense variety of ways to pursue my goal, my dream and my destiny.

For example, before I decided to heal myself, before I decided that I wanted to be really happy in this life I used to watch many movies that did not help me to accomplish this noble task. I didn’t feel them nourishing my spirit but the other way around. I felt sad, frustrated and depressed. For some reason I’ve been keeping that habit in many aspects of my life. Though many things weren’t bringing me any good, I kept them doing them.

Soon, I realised that every movie was leaving a print on my spirit. Why not watching movies that were inspiring? Why not watching movies that were bringing alive the child that I have inside? Why not watching movies that were lifting my spirit and filling me with dreams, faith, courage and happiness?

I also discovered that Chi Kung was erasing the negative effects that those movies brought into my life. I then thought: What if I save Chi Kung from doing that work? I can do it myself. I can stop doing things that I know that aren’t good for me. I am not even enjoying those kind of movies.

Something really special happens every time I nourish my heart with the good things. Everyday it passes I focus more and more in bringing to my heart the good and avoid the bad.

I think that this is what Sifu have mentioned many times and what the Buddha himself taught. If it brings good I keep doing it. If it does not bring any good I do my best to stop doing it. If I cultivate my mind I can see more clearly what brings benefit and what brings harm.

Once I was capable of practicing “doing good” with movies I saw an immediate effect in my life. I felt happier, uplifted. That is why I decided to keep that practice and to extend it to other areas of my life.

Another great example were the news. I used to read news every single day. I remember that I was feeling depressed after reading them. Not only that, I was feeling anger, worry, hate, frustration, anxiety and many other negative emotions. Having experienced the wonderful benefits of this practice with the movies I decided to stop watching or reading the news for a while and see what happened. After a while I was feeling incredibly good, greatly liberated.

I then decided to focus in reading things that were inspiring me. I read successful or inspiring stories of people that did something great for themselves and/or for others. I started reading the things that were leading me to become better and to feel better.

After the success with the news I decided to apply it to music, to photography and to everything else I was doing in my life. I kept what made me feel good and let go from what did not make me feel good. I am not saying with this that it is a model to be followed. This is a direct experience practice that works for my life and made me realise how many negative things I was unconsciously bringing to my life.

After some time using this practice, the world is still there and important news, if they are relevant, they arrive to my life in one way or another. Therefore, I saved myself from a lot of trouble by focusing on what makes me feel good and on the things that enrich my life and/or the life of others.

I also apply this practice with people around me. I now spend more time with the ones that make me feel good and enrich my life. I spend more time with people that also values me and the things that I share with them.

I have learned that when I live my live doing what is beneficial for me and for others life gets exponentially good. It is where all the magic happens. God keeps helping me to succeed and gives me his strength.

Because of this practice, more and more good things keep coming to my life. I keep asking for more good things to come into my life. It has been a switch in the way I used to think. I remember Sifu’s saying many times this inspiring quote: “There are only two ways to do anything: The negative way and the Shaolin Wahnam Way”.

At the end of my day I always make a review of all of the things that were good in that day and give thanks to God for being so generous with me. The more I continue with this practice, the more I realise how many good things I have always had in my life but failed to appreciate. I just couldn’t see how bless I have always been. That reminds me of one verse mentioned in The Bible: “I was blind and now I see”.

For example, I now give thanks for having my loved ones alive. Though my relationship with them is not always perfect, I feel very grateful for having them around because they greatly enrich my life.

Before, I used to take for granted having my loved ones alive but it is much later that I realised how I lucky I was for having them next to me. That has caused a shift in the way I spend my time with them. Though it is not always easy, I always try to give them my best and to forgive them frequently if I am disappointed at any point.

Shaolin Arts has a very mysterious way of changing a man and bringing the best that is in him. The change happens so gentle as the transition between seasons. But, where there was winter and cold there is now summer and warm and I didn’t even noticed how it happened but it happened.

I would like to think that this is because the Shaolin Arts copied the Universe on how to get the things done. This might also be the reason why, the more I practice them, the closer I feel to God.

Galaxy.jpg

(Picture taken from wonderfulengineering)

To be continued...

[sancrica]

The Shaolin Journey - Part 35

05/04/2014

“The most important decision we make is whether we believe we live in a friendly or hostile universe.” - Albert Einstein

More than a month has passed since the St. Valentines Courses. Though the cleansing has been very smooth and gentle in comparison with other courses I feel that this is the most significant cleansing that I have ever had. Could it be that gentle is often stronger than what it seems?

There is another interesting reaction that I am having after the courses: hiccup. I must say that this is not a normal hiccup that starts and cannot be stopped. It just happens once per time and then it goes away. This peculiar hiccup might manifest many times during the day and it never happens more than once at a time.

I have never had in my life this kind of hiccup. It started just after the 108-Pattern Yang Set Course. Specifically, after the last Chi Flow which also was the last Chi Flow in St. Valentines Courses and also the Grand Finale Chi Flow. I am unsure of what happened there but it seems that something really deep in me changed. It was like if a new stage was starting from there.

I am very happy that this hiccup is happening as I know that there is a cleansing behind. It feels like if it was coming from my stomach. My colleagues at work laugh at it because it is really funny when it happens.

One thing that I have tried practicing after the courses was performing the set/patterns in real slow motion (now called "Black Tortoise Method"). When I read in the forum (Wudang Course posts) about it I had a call and I really wanted to learn it. As I didn’t wanna practice something that I hadn’t learned from Sifu or Sije I waited for the opportunity to arise.

My hopes were that Sifu would include it in the 108 Pattern Yang Set Course. I was very happy that he was so generous and taught it in the course. I felt as if I was meeting an old friend of mine when practicing it. It is very difficult to explain what I felt when I practiced it but I will do my best in order to describe it. I understand in a deeper way why recordings from these arts might be so difficult to understand to the uninitiated and even to the initiated ones. How could one explain these kind of incredible experiences?

Performing in such a slow motion allowed me to feel every part of my body, made me feel aware of every tension that I might had, made me feel the transfer of weight, the circular movements, the force traveling from the back leg to the hand, the balance, the harmony, the silence, the slightly blow of the wind and all my surroundings.

Such a slow motion allowed me to focus in whatever I needed to focus. For example, if I wanted to picture perfect form, going in such a slow motion allowed me to prepare for the next move much before I even started the movement and I could do it in perfect form without having to stop for checking the form. That gave me the opportunity to follow the flow without sacrificing corrections in the form.

If for example I wanted to focus on "energy leads form" I found that it was also much easier as by going slower I was much more relaxed and energy flowed better. When going fast, I had to check so many things that I made more mistakes.

I also found easier to practice the “mind leads form”. As I was more relaxed and energy was flowing better I could guide my movements with my mind in an easier manner. I also found it more effective than going fast because when I was going fast my mind didn’t have time to guide the form. I guess that “mind leads form” in a fast manner might be easier in more advance stages. In my stage I have only been able to properly lead the form through mind by using this method.

By going in slow motion I was able to understand in a deeper way the transitions between patterns and even why there were linked in that way. It allowed me to deeper in the skill of “there is no beginning there is no end”. I was going so slow that I could feel a beat creating the moves that I was performing. I think that this could be what Sifu means when he says that “we are pulsating with the cosmos”.

I have also noted a deeper level of peace and feeling much stronger at all levels (physically, emotionally and spiritually). Also more open hearted. I realised that balance lies in the flow. Experiencing this flow made me feel more physically, emotionally and spiritually balanced.

Movement lied in the flow. I found that transitions from one pattern to another were smooth but also very solid when following that flow. As an analogy that comes to my mind, the experience resembles to the way movies are made. There are just pictures linked one to another, in perfect order and then reproduced at certain speed. The pictures by themselves are just pictures but when linked and played at a certain speed they create a beautiful movie.

I did not practiced this method many times. Just a couple of times. I realised that it is incredibly strong and it brought an immense amount of energy. It is a very powerful practice and my heart told me that I was not ready and that it was too strong for me so after this realisations I stopped practicing it.

If practicing only twice brought me such an amount of realisations I can only imagine what would it be to practice it more often. I gained a much deeper understanding on why Taijiquan brings Spiritual Cultivation and also why it perfectly integrates the “Triple Cultivation”.

Black Tortoise Method.jpg

(Picture taken from buy-fengshui)

To be continued...

[sancrica]

Smile from the Heart Harvest Festival 2015

Dear Shaolin Wahnam Family,

I am not attending this year to the courses in Ireland though I was meant to do so.

If any instructor consider that what I post is not in the right place I please kindly ask them to move it into the appropriate one. Though I have not attended to the courses, I have had a tremendous lesson because of it and that is why, if you allow me, I would like to start this thread myself. I really hope that my story helps others to do the things better than myself.

I also present my deepest apologies to Sije. I feel that I have failed her as she has so kindly assisted me in all the preparation towards the Harvest Festival and I did not attend because a lack of courage. That is not living by the Shaolin teachings.

Please find below a piece of my journal regarding the courses in Ireland this year:

22/08/2015

I am sitting on a bus that will take me to Salamanca, my hometown. I wasn’t meant to take this bus until the 30th of August. I feel that I have failed. I have failed to many things and this is probably the hardest time that I have experienced this year.

My flight to Ireland was taking off yesterday at 10:30 am. I just couldn’t take it. I panicked. I still don’t know the reason. As the time was approaching I just couldn’t get into that flight. That is the first time that something like this has ever happened to me. I am still thinking to myself what just happened as I am not able to find a reason why I did that.

As I write these words I feel a deep pain inside of me because I feel that I was meant to be there. I have been preparing for the Taijiquan courses for many months and I am now facing the feeling of missing the wonderful opportunity of learning those skills from Sifu.

It is hard to describe the pain I feel. It feels deep in the heart and it feels like if I have failed not only to myself but to Sifu, Sije and God. God is always so generous with me. For some reason I keep pushing away many of the good things that He sends me.

I can see it now. I can see it very clear in my heart. I can see how I have been closing my heart to many of the wonderful things that God always offers me. It hurts. It feels a deep pain to discover this, to discover that it has always been me the one blocking the blessings that God sends me. I cannot blame others any more. It is like if I was now in front of God, in front of myself and there is no places to hide. There are no more excuses, there are no more people to blame to.

It is only me and God and I have to make the choice. Do I want to live a meaningful, wholesome and rewarding life? Do I want the blessings that God is willing to give me? I understand now Sifu’s words: “God is all compassionate. He gives His blessings to everybody. Then, why are many people sick and suffer? Don't blame God. It is they who close themselves and block the blessings of God”.

I can see now what blocks my heart and it hurts. It hurts because it is very hard to realise that it has always been me the one stopping all the good things coming to my life.

When I communicated Sije that I was not going to be able to attend the courses I felt myself blocking those blessings. I felt terrible. It has been the hardest thing for me these year as Sije and Sifu are ones of the people that I love most in my life and not attending to the courses in Ireland makes me feel that I have failed them.

Sije always makes a tremendous effort in order to bring Sifu to Ireland so its lovely people can receive his blessings. She is always so good to everyone. Not having attended the courses when I had the chance, when everything was already booked makes me feel very ungrateful to God, to her and to Sifu. I am really sorry for that and I deeply apologise for having acted this way.

I want God to feel proud of me. I want Sifu and Sije to feel proud of me. I ask for God’s strength everyday in the morning as I wake up. It is so hard to make God proud. He gives me His strength but I still feel that I am failing Him and that I can do much better.

The 2 nights before the flight I could not sleep. I felt very anxious about the trip. One year has passed since I suddenly left Ireland. I left the place that I so much loved, the place that changed me, the place that I once called home, the place that gave me so much love and blessings.

I wasn’t ready to come back, to meet with the land that once made me feel loved. I wasn’t ready to see my beloved Shaolin Wahnam Irish Family as I couldn’t offer them my best side. I didn’t want them to see that I am going through hard times and that I am not able to give them my entire heart and all the love contained in it.

The Shaolin Wahnam Family feels as important as my biological family and I want to only offer them nothing but the best. I want to give them my entire heart and make our time wholesome and meaningful but this time I didn’t have the strength to do so.

I know that a family is there for the good and for the bad. I just want them to feel proud of me as I feel very proud of every single one of them. Specially Sije and Sifu as they have always given me the best that is in them. This time I couldn’t give the best of me and I didn’t know how to face that.

Sije saw me leaving Ireland last year breaking in tears and I wanted to show her that I was fully recovered, that I had passed my most difficult test. But I know that I wasn’t going to be able to show her that because I am yet overcoming it.

Coming back to my hometown without the blessings and all the wonderful benefits that I was meant to get in Ireland feels like the hardest lesson that I have had to go through in many years. I feel an emptiness hard to explain.

I cannot keep blocking the so many blessings that God so compassionately sends me. I cannot keep escaping from progressing just because I am afraid.

After waiting for more than a year to enjoy the Harvest Festival, it doesn’t feel the Harvest but the Hardest Festival of all the ones that I have attended in Ireland.

Being in front of God with no more places to hide scares me. I know that I shouldn’t be afraid at all as God will always do what is best for me and He is all compassionate. I know that after this big test awaits a great life for me. I have to be able to overcome these fears of mine even when it’s hard.

Realising that I have been blocking God’s blessings is very hard. It is the hardest lesson that I have ever encountered. My lack of gratitude created that situation. I feel ashamed as even when I was having a total lack of gratitude God has always been protecting me and sending His blessings. I feel ashamed of not having been able to see that until now.

Not feeling grateful for the things that I have has totally blocked all the opportunities for me to succeed, to recover. God is incredibly generous with me even when I have totally ignored Him and even when I did many wrong things that did not make Him proud of me.

I have gained a significant amount of internal force in the past 5 years though I never trained for it as I didn’t feel ready. I can see that internal force has worked as a magnifying glass. It has intensified everything that I had inside. If I had feelings of love, I could feel them with more intensity. If I had arrogance inside I could experience how that arrogance was intensifying inside of me. If I had hate I could also feel that hate with more intensity.

I understand now in a deeper level why one has to be careful with internal force before being totally healthy. When the body still hosts many blocked negative emotions or still have many perverted views, I experienced that internal force also feeds those emotions, those perverted views. There is a stage where arrogance wants to take over and the progress seems to get blocked. I am experiencing this stage now.

I asked God for help and He told me to use gratitude for fighting it. Sifu clearly states how important gratitude is in his article “Developmental Stages in Training to Become a Master” but I have failed to realise until now.

I have been cultivating gratitude for the past month. I practice gratitude for everything that has happened, that happens and that will happen to me. If I feel that it is a good thing I feel grateful for it. If I feel that it is not a good thing I make the effort and and find a way to feel grateful for the lesson and learning that brings me.

I experienced a previous stage where arrogance manifested in the way that Sifu mentioned in his profound and inspiring article “Developmental Stages in Training to Become a Master”. I was talking to others with authority. I felt that I wanted to separate myself from the bad. I started seeing many wrong in people. I started judging them. Even when I didn’t tell them I still had those thoughts.

After practicing Gratitude for this month healing has started to happen. Seeing the bad that is in people has been decreasing and seeing the good in people has been increasing. My relationships have started to heal. My relationship with God has started to heal. The more I practice gratitude the more I see how much I have deviated from God’s way. It hurts to experience it but I feel that it is a good and necessary pain this time.

Making the special effort on finding always the good side of everything I can see how negative I have been all these years. I can see how focusing on the negative side has blocked me from the positive, from the blessings, from having a rewarding life.

It has been very hard to start feeling grateful. Specially with my loved ones. It has been hard to say a simple thank you. It was hard but it was necessary. When I was saying thank you I could feel how this miraculous medicine was working in my heart.

It is a medicine with many benefits. It is a medicine that heals the past, that heals the worry and the anxiety for an uncertain future. it is a medicine that made me forgive as I cannot hate and feel grateful to someone at the same time. It opens me to the blessings of God. It heals others as their hearts open every time that I feel grateful for what they give me. It is a medicine that makes me feel peace in my heart for the first time in a decade.

The more I train my mind to see the blessings that are in my life the more blessings that come to my life. It is not easy to let go from the past but I have found that feeling grateful for all the lessons that I have recieved, for all the experiences and for all the people that passed over my life makes the healing real.

I feel ashamed. It has always been my lack of gratitude what was missing. Even with the lack of it God always gave me a wonderful life. I just missed it and failed to realise the wonderful gifts that I am constantly receiving from Him.

I found this to be the most profound and meaningful lesson that I have ever received.

I promise to myself to be always grateful from now on. Everything that comes to my life comes for a good reason, with a lesson. I shall be thankful to everyone, to everything as they are giving me lessons that bring me closer to God. How couldn’t I feel grateful towards something that brings me closer to God?

I have felt for the past 2 years a lack of progress. It hasn’t really been so but I have been failing to appreciate the fact that I have changed enormously. The main ingredient for continuing in my journey without getting hurt was “gratitude” and God wanted to make sure that I was understanding this before I was continuing with what will be given to me in my Shaolin Journey.

There is still a long way to go. I am just starting to cultivate gratitude in my life. It is not easy as I haven’t done this before. It feels good. It feels peace and it makes me feel closer to where I want to go. Cultivating gratitude makes me feel in harmony with everything that is. Only seeing the good things keep me away from trouble and opens me to a new stage.

I still feel that my gratitude feelings can be greatly improved. I still don’t feel them pure. I don’t feel them totally sincere. My heart seems to show some resistance as feeling gratitude means giving up the past and the future. Feeling grateful seems to be an attribute of the present and that feeling forces me to trust and stay in the moment, in the now.

It is hard because feeling grateful obliges me to give up on my fears, to stop my wandering, to be alive and to forgive the wrong in others. It is hard because it is a feeling that I have never nourished and I can see in me a resistance to change, to let go.

I promise to cultivate gratitude from now on. I don’t mind if it is hard at the beginning. I want the best for my life even if that means to leave behind many beliefs that I have always had.

Maybe this was the lesson that God had ready for me for not attending to the courses in Ireland this year. I can see how compassionate God is always with me even when I don’t do what I suppose to do; even when I don’t behave as I was meant to behave; even when my actions don’t make Him proud He still gives me endless opportunities and always helps me no matter what I do. I love Him for that and feel enormously grateful for that. For always giving me a chance to change, for giving me every day a new start.

Thank you Sifu and Sije for always being so good to me, for always being so patient, so compassionate and so forgiving.

With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,

Santi

[barrys]

Hi Santiago,

Good wishes to you. You could now simply jump on a plane and enjoy the rest of the course. Then you would have learned a lesson and get to do the course as well.

All the best,

Barry

[sancrica]

Dear Barry Siheng,

Thank you very much for your kind and supporting answer. I totally agree with you.

It has been a tremendous lesson for me though I finally haven't attended to the courses.

With Love, Care and Shaolin Salute,

Santi

[Joan]

Dear Santiago,

You are a wonderful brother and I love you whether you have attended the Harvest Festival or not.

We have all missed courses with Sifu due to various reasons. We know that we are missing a wonderful and special opportunity in deepening our skill and receiving transmission from Sifu but we have to let the sadness and guilt go. Sifu is so kind, patient and compassionate I am sure he would much prefer you to be happy than sad over this situation.

So would I! and so would the other five harmonies!!!

I am sure we will see you again in the near future, so don't worry, be happy!

You will always be the sixth harmony!!!

Many Blessings to you my Shaolin Brother,
Sije