Our Grandfather,
Bodhidharma
Who is Bodhidharma?
Bodhi, was the tree under which the first Buddha found his enlightenment.
Dharma, are the Buddhist spiritual writings, quotes of the Buddhas...
So, who was Bodhidharma?
Who is Bodhidharma?
When my disciples are accepted into Shaolin Chi Mantis, they also receive a Buddhist or "Dharma Name." Without knowing what their previous name was -- it is as if they were born that day.
I've not yet been able to find out what Bodhidharma's born name was, so his life has only been known since his trip to China and only by his Buddhist name.
This was very typical of Indian Buddhists. Many of the original Buddha's followers, the first generation of Buddhists, gave up their lives for Buddhism, anxious to leave behind their past lives, their businesses, and their families. Don't misunderstand this. Buddha never required this as some religions do. From many of the biographies and stories I've read, many of these first Disciples of Buddha were anxious to give up their past lives. After 20 years or 30 years or 40 years of being a slave to a job, dealing with family problems, being victimized by politics, or struggling to survive and support ungrateful relatives...Buddhism became a nomadic vacation in search of something more noble and spiritually fulfilling.
Buddhism requires 3 basic dedications:
- Dedicate yourself to applying The Buddha's teachings to your life.
- Discover how to live and interact successfully utilizing the Buddha's teachings.
- Share this wisdom with others.
With all these Disciples struggling to improve themselves, be happy and content (living successfully), and striving to help others to be happy, content, and successful in all their endeavors -- Buddhism spread like daisies in a meadow.
So back to who was Bodhidharma: we know him from his Buddhist life only. His Buddhist life inspired him to go enlighten the Emperor of China. This was a very long walk. There were bandits back then. There were starving families who accosted travellers for their survival. There were warlords who did what ever they felt like. There were lots of wild animals. There were tigers, and humans were quite tasty -- once the tiger realized not to eat their clothing -- probably easier to take a human shirt off than eat the hair of a wild animal...
And there were few places to stop for food and water. As a Buddhist Monk, Bodhidharma ate, slept, and lived by the generosity of the strangers he met. Also not a very easy accomplishment
Yet, Bodhidharma decided to walk to see the Emperor of China. From all the stories I've read, not one story has referred to him having a travelling companion. He walked alone.
I'm 53 years old as I write this today, and I have discovered what Bodhidharma discovered, that despite all the loyalty, dedication, and hard work I have expended on my family and relatives, I am alone in the world. My children no longer desire my supervision or attention. My wife has left me for another man. My business has been thousands and thousands of days of my life -- and I have little to show for my hard work as I struggle to pay my bills. My parents stopped being my parents decades ago and besides a Christmas card -- have no interest in communicating with me.
I don't point this out to just complain, I point this out as an example. I have lived the best life I could live and worked hard to be a good man, do a good job, and do good things for people. I've saved lives, improved lives, and helped many people make a lot of money that they did not share with me. Sadly, if I could live my life again, even with what I know, I would still live the same life and probably be in the same position I am now.
Bodhidharma seems to have had a similar life to mine, because he stopped saying what people wanted to hear and lived by what he knew was right even if it was unprofitable. He realized that no matter how hard he tried to connect to other people, he was still alone.
This is very unappealing information to most people. Perhaps half the world lives in a more communal structure with parents checking on them, kids remaining in their daily life, and friends being more financially supportive of each other. I do not fault this or the repercussions that result from these dependencies and slaveries. Like animals, some live in herds and some hunt alone.
Bodhidharma was definitely a lone wolf. He travelled alone, he faced the Emperor alone, and when he retired at the Shaolin Buddhist Temple, he lived alone for seven years in a cave on the nearby hill.
However, Bodhidharma appears to have never given up on humanity, even if he shunned them. During the seven years he spent "meditating." I think this word, meditating, may be incorrect. Somehow, during these seven years of "staring at wall," Bodhidharma wrote several books, and invented Kung Fu. Doesn't sound like idle sitting to me. When I look up the word, meditate, in the dictionary it states: "Think carefully or deeply about something."
This fundamental concept of meditation has been lost in the last centuries as misguided religions have changed this into, "Think of nothing." How a religion could go from one concept to its' complete opposite is a weird human nature. Look what the Christians did to Christ's teachings: they developed an Inquisition to torture and kill anyone that wouldn't swear allegiance to evil. Hardly what Christ intended.
And the new Buddhism is hardly what Buddha intended. Even in the 6th Century AD, when Bodhidharma arrived at the Shaolin Temple, he criticized the monks for being lazy and unworthy of even being his disciples.
Master Zhen Meditates to the Wall
"Utah was Master Zhen's cave. Full time Kung Fu for a decade. By teaching day and night, dragging his kids to all his classes, and rehabilitating many teenagers, Master Zhen wrote his Tai Chi books, Kung Fu manuals, practiced his Chinese weapons daily and became known from Governor to Mayor as, "that Kung Fu Monk.""
Yep, that was me. A decade of complete devotion to Buddhism, Tai Chi, and Shaolin Kung Fu. Most all Kung Fu Masters support themselves with a regular day job. Dr. Kam Yuen was a chiropractor, Grandmaster Wong Jack Man is an engineer, Shifu Stamps was computer programmer, Shifu G.D. French a draftsman, and me, Master Zhen, I supported myself by being a Mr. Mom. Unlike my contemporaries and masters, I could still practice and pursue my Buddhism and Kung Fu while doing my day job. In fact, my kids and wife became my guinea pigs as I applied my teachings and dragged them around to all my classes and lectures.
I had to 'give up' my prior aspirations of movie directing, and running a record company, due to my moving to Utah where these careers had as Daoism teaches, "improper ground to sow such seeds."
This full-time dedication to Zen Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu enabled me to accomplish thousands of tasks and attain enlightenments that would require most people 200 years to achieve in their limited part-time dedication to Zen and Kung Fu. I am blessed. Despite my wife abandoning my world and leaving me to take care of the kids, this turned out to be a blessing (in some ways). As roommates, she paid the bills and I took care of the kids for a decade. This is similar to what "Patrons of the arts" used to be. They would support a talented artist, like Van Gogh, so he could spend as much time as possible pursuing their artistic and creative natures. Of course, a real patron would not have required me to live with and take car of the kids..."I wouldn't support you if you weren't working so hard to take care of the kids." However, I try to see my past marriage with as few resentments as possible.
Oddly, my daughter got more attention from me than my son who was born seven years after our marriage had ended. My daughter became a true example of how Buddhism and Kung Fu can improve and enhance a person's life. She has been an "A" student, a leader, artistically gifted, very friendly, gregarious, and compassionate.
My exwife decided that, "I want our son to be a normal boy." So she pulled him out of my music classes, and homeschooling. Despite living with me and having the same opportunities as my daughter, he received much less Buddhism, much less Kung Fu, and much less of my influence. According to my exwife, "the kids in his school are rowdy, dishonest, they lie, cheat and steal, they are violent and bad mannered, but that's normal now." Accordingly, my son fits into this world very well and has attained all those "normal" attributes. For me, this has been very disturbing and enlightening. I have an enlightened daughter and a normal son.
This has also enlightened me to the weaknesses of Buddhism and Kung Fu. You cannot paint someone with Buddhism and Kung Fu and expect them to remain that color. Buddhism and Kung Fu must be nurtured from within by the student, or the benefits and effects of enlightenment only last until the paint washes off.
My daughter used to draw pictures in elementary school with cute phrases explaining, "When I grow up I want to teach Kung Fu like my Daddy." The passion for enlightenment must come from within. On the other hand, my son has never made that statement and after five years of attending classes is still trying to achieve his first Belt Rank advancement.
Even my exwife, who was my student when I married her, and who promised to always be a part of my Kung Fu and Buddhist life, quit my school, quit my life, and quit our love when she decided, "I love you, but I'm leaving you for financial reasons." I point this out to illustrate how perhaps Bodhidharma had been disappointed by investing his life into a family that only took what they wanted and gave nothing back that they had promised or he had hoped for.
This has led many people to accuse monks and priests of "abandoning the real world" to live in a monastery. They're right. The real world is full of normal people. Like living in a zoo, you could choose to live in the monkey grotto where you'd never be alone, pace your cage like the lonely lion. Or you can be the zoo keeper, who visits the animals, helps them to survive, then returns to his world -- that none of the animals in the zoo are aware of.
No matter how hard I have tried to live amongst the "normal" animals, I still always end up being The Zookeeper.
Shaolin Chi Mantis Follows Path of Bodhidharma
In the creation of the manuals and handbooks of Shaolin Chi Mantis, I selected appropriate Buddhist lessons that somehow correlated or could be symbolic of the physical moves being taught in the Kung Fu class. The basics of my Tai Chi program are to teach people to control their breathing and their movements. In my Kung Fu program I strive to teach people to control their minds and their movements. That's why I don't like teaching any just Tai Chi or just Shaolin Kung Fu. In order to balance the body + mind + spirit, I need to balance their body + mind + breathing.
Despite complaints from some students and praise from others, I proved that the READING ALOUD of the book materials was a major factor in the development of my students. Dharma is necessary for Kung Fu to attain its' original goals of increasing spiritual awareness.
Just as Christians believe the Holy Bible is as important as going to church, Buddhists have always known that the words were more important than the place you here them. The original Buddhists were trained to visit people and share their wisdom from home to home, just like Christ did a couple hundred years later. Buddha and his Disciples would travel from home to home, village to village, and city to city. The sermons were held anywhere comfortable. Buddha travelled and gave sermons for many years more than Christ did. Most fortuantely of all, Buddha's words were appreciated and written down by scholars and students. These became "The Dharma" of Buddhism. Perhaps this would translate to "gospel" but I've yet to pursue this since Christianity has a monopoly on the word, gospel, just as Buddhism seems to have coined the word, dharma.
Any group of Buddhists gathering together could be a Sangha, or Buddhist church. A coffee shop, living room, classroom. I tend to think of a Sangha as being a recurring event, but it could just happen once.
Bodhidharma seems to have even quit teaching when he retired at the Buddhist Monastery. The monks of Shaolin probably shunned him as much as modern priests would shun me if I tried to make them attend my Kung Fu classes. There were evidently a few monks who pursued Bodhidharma to be their spiritual guide and master, but he turned them all away. Probably due to the lack of commitment he'd experienced in previous disciples. Finally, a monk was persistent. Bodhidharma said something like, "I'll teach you and take you on as my disciple when the snow turns red." This was probably his way of saying, "when pigs fly."
Rightly or wrongly, this aspiring Disciple cut his left arm off at the entrance to Bodhidharma's cave. The snow was definitely red, and Bodhidharma took him as his Disciple.
I also usually discourage those who seek me as their spiritual or Kung Fu Master. I've discouraged students from shaving their heads. The most persistent and dedicated students still seem to emerge from my discouragement. Then, I am anxious to teach them everything I know. In recent years I have tried to be more lenient and let students into Shaolin Chi Mantis instead of training them in Tai Chi Youth first. This was selfish of me. I enjoy teaching Kung Fu and without higher level students, I don't get the opportunity to teach many lessons that are exciting, challenging, and beneficial to me also.
Still no matter how many students I invite in my life, their are very few that can be trained. The cats are good for a moderate amount of lessons. The birds last less than a month. The snakes never make it past my first semester because of the spiritual requirements of Shaolin Chi Mantis. The rabbits will stay until it's not fun any more. Only the horses, dogs, and dragons can graduate my SCM Beginner Program. The horses are the hardworking laborers of life who accept physical demands as normal. The dogs are loyal and accept whatever you give them. The dragons will pursue power, but they may desire shortcuts.
No matter who they are, or how good they are at learning, I really enjoy teaching everyone. The changes I make in an unhealthy person are clearly evident, but the changes of an intelligent and physically fit person are also significant, even if less noticeable. It is this vicarious satisfaction of helping others that has always fueled my teaching and kept me from pursuing more profitable activities. No matter how much someone pays me per hour, my fondest memories and feelings of accomplishment come from the people I have helped and improved.
Shaolin Zen Springs from SCM
From 1992 to 1994 I fine-tuned my teaching curriculums by teaching hundreds of students of all ages from 8 to 87, from blind to chemotherapy recoveries, and was able to help everyone by finding many ways to apply Kung Fu to each person. Each week's lessons were detailed with a Kung Fu lesson, a Tai Chi lesson, and some Buddhist Dharma of the Chan (Zen) style.
Like a doctor applying a medicine to a wound, I saw how many of the words and movements and concepts helped some students and didn't help others. This led me to experiment and add words and teaching techniques to make the student's assimilation or enlightenment easier for them. Realizing that what was immediately beneficial for one student was another student's major complaint. "I came here for Kung Fu, not Buddhism!" or "We need more Buddhism and less Kung Fu..."
I also realized that what a student complained about was often the best medicine they could take. My sensitive compassionate nature was often being tugged on to provide what each student wanted. By the end of the decade I realized that my curriculums were perfected and could not be improved at all. (That sounds terrible but it's true.) Like an apple, you could complain, "I want an orange." Like a sunny day you could complain, "We need more rain." Like a good husband, "I'm moving in with F___ because he makes even more money than I do and by combining our incomes..."
So, in 1999, before leaving Utah, I created the DHARMA DIRECTORY OF SHAOLIN CHI MANTIS to locate and cross-reference the many Buddhism lessons and insure that some spiritual lessons are taught more than once per year. This was my final proof to myself that Shaolin Chi Mantis contained more Buddhism than any other religion or church or monk that I had ever known.
Since 1993, I had been offereing free Zen seminars at the Salt Lake City, YWCA. These seminars and lectures became the foundation of my Shaolin Chi Mantis Kung Fu school offshoot of SHAOLIN ZEN.
I contacted the original Shaolin Monastery on Mt. Songshan and apologized for not naming my new Buddhist sect, Shaolin Chan, as I had originally intended. The problem was that everyone thought it was another Jackie Chan movie. Americans don't realize that "Chan" is the original word for Zen. "Zen" is a Japanese word for "Chan."
Realizing that to communicate effectively, I needed to name my Buddhist religion, Shaolin Zen, I was concerned that the monastery would be offended.
Ironically, they liked my name so much that when they got their own website to promote the Shaolin Temple, they named their website, www.shaolinZEN.com Leaving me with the choices of www.shaolinZEN.net and www.shaolinZEN.org, I obviously chose www.shaolinZEN.org since I was now a religion. The original Shaolin Temple had become a business more than a religion due to government domination, so they were now more of a Kung Fu college than a Buddhist Temple.
A new Abbot presided over the temple and has tried to reclaim the reputation and identity of Shaolin Temple being a Buddhist Church, not a warrior school. This may be why they gave up their website and now it is just a search engine that only provides links to websites that pay a fee or advertisement rates. Too bad.
So, shaolinZEN.org is a website striving to achieve the goals of Bodhidharma, promote Kung Fu as a spiritual discipline, and inspire people to be better animals in the zoo.
Shaolin Podcasting
Soon?
If you're interested in PODCASTS by MASTER ZHEN -- email me -- Let me know!
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