The New Bodhidharma
When the 28th Patriarch of Buddhism left India to meet the Chinese Emperor, he probably wasn't intending to start a new religion.
Just as the followers of Jesus, turned some of his words into a new religion, so also did the followers of Bodhidharma transform his words and final years at the Shaolin Temple into a new religion.
Unfortunately, just as people have transformed Christianity into many flavors and mistakes, so have the Buddhists also transformed Bodhidharma's concepts and words into many religions that have little relationship to their founder's goals.
Master Zhen's life since 1980 has been a path of reconnecting the Buddhist teachings that evolved from Bodhidharma's thoughts with the Kung Fu he also started in the 6th Century AD.
Bodhidharma created the first Kung Fu exercises, "The 18 Hands of Luohan," which grew into today's Shaolin Kung Fu. Bodhidharma's original manuscripts were destroyed by the Manuchurian government, but the concepts and beliefs have spawned a new flavor of Buddhism.
The Zen Buddhism of Japan was imported from the Shaolin Temple, but the Japanese Monks didn't stay long enough to learn much Kung Fu. Only a few Japanese Temples kept their Shaolin Kung Fu drills alive and passed them down to each successive generation of Japanese Buddhist Monks. However, most of the Japanese Buddhists eliminated the exercises entirely and substituted sitting meditation instead. Some heard of the Shaolin Zen Monks using staffs in their training. Unfortunately, the closest they got to staff training was beating each other in the back with a stick if the meditating monk fell asleep.
The Kung Fu of the Shaolin Temple has also mutated into a violent martial art that usually does not include any Buddhist religious information. People travel to the Shaolin Temple to learn the fighting, not the Buddhism.
Master Zhen is living proof that the combination of Zen Buddhism PLUS Shaolin Kung Fu is the ultimate Buddhist religion. His power to transform lives, cure diseases, improve the characters and personalities of his students is testimony of his spiritual success.
Now, with the publication of the BUDDHA KUNG FU STUDENT MANUAL, Master Zhen has provided a convenient manner for persons to experience Master Zhen's teachings and see the awards and photos of his Kung Fu schools in Utah and California.
Zhen Shen-Lang, the "Spirit Wolf of Truth," is the "New Bodhidharma."
