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Discussions with Sifu - Some lessons from France

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  • Discussions with Sifu - Some lessons from France

    Dear Shaolin Family and guests,

    I have just come back from France where my Shaolin Brother Maxime and I had the privilege to host Sifu for his very first public course in France. The course was wonderful, and it was litteraly a dream come true to see Sifu teaching our priceless Arts to a group of french students.

    We also had the opportunity to drive with Sifu throughout France, and enjoyed a lot of quite extraordinary discussions. Sifu often says that he received some of his own Sifu's best teachings over a meal or tea. We would like to share with you some of the great discussions we've had in this forthcoming series of posts.

    In no particular order, we'll talk about things to know regarding the culture in a traditional kwoon and how it can apply to our own virtual kwoon, the "good old times" syndrome, sitting meditation, good and bad energy, hard and soft force, and road signs.

    I will start tomorrow with an enlightening discussion regarding sitting meditation, while enjoying some good "Quenelles" and good wine.

    I hope you will enjoy the discussion

    Warmest regards,

    Hubert.
    Last edited by Hubert; 1 June 2009, 04:16 AM.
    Hubert Razack
    www.shaolinwahnam.fr
    www.sourireducoeur.fr

  • #2
    Thank you

    Dear Hubert Sisuk,

    Thank you for your above post. I very much look forward to reading what you have to share with us in the coming days.

    Best wishes

    Martin

    Comment


    • #3
      Why Sitting Meditation is not Taught in Shaolin Wahnam

      Why Sitting Meditation is not Taught in Shaolin Wahnam

      Arriving in France

      After a smooth flight from Toronto, I landed in Paris on a Thursday morning. Overjoyed at the thought of seeing my Sifu and my Shaolin brother Maxime, I embarked on the train to Lyon (lots of people seemed not so happy as I think it was the train that many people take to go to work). Once I arrived at the train station, I started to look for Maxime, and while walking around, stumbled across... Sifu, waving happily at me!

      Well, that's a good way to start a trip. As we walked, I noticed a Haagen Dazs stand in the station, so I asked Sifu if he wanted a scoop, but of course he had already had one with Maxime earlier on. Silly me.


      “Maxime, Hubert, you should find a wife!”

      The following day, Maxime took us to a beautiful park inside the city where we enjoyed a nice walk. We strolled past a newly-married couple who was posing for photographs. Maxime and I looked at each other, knowing quite well what was about to happen. Sifu didn't miss a beat and said, "Ah, Maxime, Hubert, you should take some notes! Maybe next year it will be one of you! Ah, ah!" (If you know Sifu, you will know he is actually very serious. )


      Lunch time

      We then took Sifu to a typical French restaurant in the old part of the city. Sifu's magic worked as always: although all the restaurants were completely packed, we ended up at the best table in the best spot.

      After ordering some delicious "quenelles" (a kind of French fish-cake in the shape of a sausage), we entered "question time". Most of you will know that unless you have prepared a good list, usually at question time the thousands of questions you had while training on your own suddenly disappear, leaving an awkward silence and sentences like, "Mmm... Let's see... Errr… Aaahhh... How are the quenelles?"

      Thankfully, Maxime and I had our lists.


      The Spiritual Teachings of Sifu and Sigung Ho

      For various reasons, I have always been fascinated by Sigung Ho. I can't quite say why exactly, but I find him to be a constant inspiration, and always love to hear Sifu's stories about his training with Sigung.

      "Sifu", I asked, "How were the spiritual teachings of Sigung Ho?"

      Sifu paused, then replied, "I think our Shaolin Wahnam members will be very happy to hear this".

      (I silently agreed, even though I had no idea yet what we would be happy to hear.)

      Sifu continued on. "The spiritual teaching that they receive is of a much higher level and in a much faster speed than what I and I believe what earlier Shaolin disciples received at the Shaolin temple. In our case, even students who have learnt for only three years have a satori. It is incredible! Even for monks who have been cultivating in a monastery, like Zen monks, who are supposed to be the fastest, it would be an amazing achievement if they had a satori after 5 years."

      The passion with which Sifu was talking made me realize how much we often underestimate what we have been given. What Sifu gives us in the very first session we take with him - the chi kung state of mind - is the crystallisation of everything he has learnt - including sitting meditation!

      Sifu carried on by saying, "So, that's the background. Now, let's get to the answer to your question".

      (I've always liked Sifu's "background information" )


      Sifu's Gift to his Students

      Sifu then went on to explain that Sigung Ho did not teach spiritual lessons by themselves, and that even meditation itself was not so common. The students had their experiences incidentally. Sifu received his teaching regarding spiritual cultivation from Sigung during informal conversations over meals or a tea. These lessons were mostly on zen meditation.

      Sifu mentioned that he believes that so many people, including those in Shaolin Wahnam, want to do sitting meditation because they know that he himself learnt it. But they have forgotten that what Sifu teaches now has sped up their progress by many many times! So by doing just standing meditation (without needing to do sitting meditation), the students in Shaolin Wahnam are able to achieve what other people are not able achieve even when these other people do sitting meditation.

      He carried on by explaining that what most people believe is true. If they want to progress in their spiritual development, they must do sitting meditation. But in the case of Shaolin Wahnam students, our methodology has improved so much that by just doing standing meditation, instead of sitting meditation, it is possible to surpass people who do sitting meditation - both in terms of results and in terms of the time needed!

      “What our students experience in the first session,” Sifu went on, “would take an earlier Shaolin disciple, including me, about 5 years, providing they have a good teacher. Many people would not even achieve it in their whole life.”

      In Sifu's case it took only 5 years to achieve such results, which was very fast, and was thanks to Sigung Ho’s high level.

      Sifu went even further and said that, "Many people would think we are presumptuous when we say this, but we are not. We are sincere".

      Sifu believes our rate of attainment is even better than in the Shaolin temple. He explained, "Their standard would be higher, because they spend much much more time, but we achieve in 3 years what they would need 10 or 20 years. Of course during their 10 years they spend 5 or 6 hours a day. We spend only 15 minutes. Lots of people are not aware of the high standard they have achieved. We are already above the need for all the various sitting meditation techniques...”


      Why Don't We do Sitting Meditation?

      Sifu gave a wonderful summary to the conversation. "So, many people are asking: why don’t we do sitting meditation? It’s true that other people need sitting meditation. Just like it’s true for other people that they need to spend many years on external form before learning about internal force. For us we do not have to do any special exercises to get internal force, because our practice itself is internal force – straightaway."

      Then I had a profound realization: just as “we do not have to do any special exercises to get internal force”, similarly, we do not need to do sitting meditation, because our practice itself is meditation at the highest level - straightaway.

      At that point, our "quenelles" arrived. Of course, Sifu had ordered his favorite wine - the "Coca Cola - year 2009”.
      A very good year, I hear.



      ***
      Note: all the quotes from Sifu are a direct transcription from the recording we made of the conversation.

      Thank you Sifu for this illuminating conversation and for clarifying this very fascinating subject!

      Warmest regards,

      Hubert.
      Hubert Razack
      www.shaolinwahnam.fr
      www.sourireducoeur.fr

      Comment


      • #4
        Thank you!

        Thank you Sifu for all your teachings!
        And thank you Hubert, for sharing this experience.
        Just the thing for a not-so-good day at work...

        Now it's getting much better.

        Diego

        Comment


        • #5
          Sihing Hubert,

          Thank you for taking the time to share this with everyone here
          on our virtual kwoon.

          I too, take great inspiration from Sigung Ho.

          And thank you, Sifu, for sharing your answers, insights, and stories.
          I could listen all day long.

          Best wishes from sunny Alaska,


          Zach
          .

          Comment


          • #6
            Dear Shaolin Wahnam Family

            I think a lot can be learned from this wonderful thread by Siheng Hubert. For me reading this thread this morning has made my vision and path so much clearer.

            Thank you to Sifu for sharring his wisdom.
            Thank you Hubert for sharring this with us all.

            Best wishes
            Mark

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Hubert View Post
              Thankfully, Maxime and I had our lists.
              Thankfully indeed!

              Thank you both for this magical thread.

              Thank you Sigung for generously sharing your wisdom with us. We are wonderfully lucky to have this opportunity.

              Comment


              • #8
                Thank you for sharing, Siheng!
                The teachings from Sifu are priceless, we are all so blessed to be alive and experience these Great Teachings!!!

                Thank You!

                Tim

                Comment


                • #9
                  Thank you

                  Dear Hubert Sisuk,

                  Thank you for sharing with us the wonderful lessons whilst in Sigung's company. I look forward to reading more .

                  I will start tomorrow with an enlightening discussion regarding sitting meditation, while enjoying some good "Quenelles" and good wine.
                  I hope you enjoyed your Quenelles and wine as much as I enjoyed reading your post .

                  Best wishes

                  Martin

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Thank you for sharing these lessons with us all, its very kind and generous.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Thank you for sharing Sihing!
                      So... how were the quenelles?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Zen is as profound as it is simple

                        I am glad that you all enjoy this thread. Probably, Hubert and I will keep a few gems for ourselves (well, you had to be there, drive Sifu and treat him with good food and ice cream. We did ).

                        Below is one of these countless gems, so sit back, relax and enjoy ...

                        A short discussion while driving across a region of France famous for its beautiful old (and extinguisghed ) volcanos:

                        Hubert: Sifu, is the chi around the volcano good?
                        Sifu: yes, it is good.
                        Maxime: Sifu, why is it good?
                        Sifu: Because it is good.

                        Unfortunately, we didn’t recorded the 5 minutes of full laughter that followed that Zen sword cutting masterpiece.

                        Maxime Citerne, Chinese Medicine, Qigong Healing & Internal Arts

                        Frankfurt - Paris - Alsace


                        France: www.institut-anicca.com

                        Germany: www.anicca-institute.com

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Thank you

                          Dear Maxime Sisuk,

                          I took your adviced:

                          sit back, relax and enjoy ...
                          Then I laughed upon reading:

                          Hubert: Sifu, is the chi around the volcano good?
                          Sifu: yes, it is good.
                          Maxime: Sifu, why is it good?
                          Sifu: Because it is good.
                          ...and laughed some more when I read:

                          Unfortunately, we didn’t recorded the 5 minutes of full laughter that followed that Zen sword cutting masterpiece.
                          Thank you

                          Best wishes

                          Martin

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Thank you again

                            Dear Maxime Sisuk,

                            Yesterday I too had laughed at the quote below and enjoyed it very much as well as understanding the essence of it .

                            Originally posted by Maxime View Post
                            Hubert: Sifu, is the chi around the volcano good?
                            Sifu: yes, it is good.
                            Maxime: Sifu, why is it good?
                            Sifu: Because it is good.
                            I had written a question to Hubert Sisuk regarding his post (No.3) above. This morning, somehow your quote above just poped into my head and answered the question I had for Hubert Sisuk . Therefore, weather it was intended by you, or by the Cosmos, thank you all .

                            Best wishes and kindest regards

                            Martin

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Dear Martin,

                              I swear I didn't planned it. Not guilty your honour

                              Warmest regards from Sunny France

                              Maxime Citerne, Chinese Medicine, Qigong Healing & Internal Arts

                              Frankfurt - Paris - Alsace


                              France: www.institut-anicca.com

                              Germany: www.anicca-institute.com

                              Comment

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