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The Silent Master
A Living Buddha
M
y training in Chinese martial arts has brought me from the crowded noisy
streets of New York to the silent halls of Buddhist Temples. My first
encounter with Buddhism came many years ago in the early days of my
training. When I was a young boy attending Kung fu classes in
Chinatown, New York, I would always see a small shrine of a Chinese deity
ingratiated with flowers and incense as
I entered the Kwoon. I paid little attention to this as my only
concern at the time was with martial arts and I saw no connection to
my training. However, as time passed I began to see that there was
a significant connection between martial arts and the philosophy of
Buddhism and Taoism. I asked my teacher about this, and he
elaborated on some of the more obvious connections (such as
having a clear mind and controlling the body). However, I knew that
to learn more about this I would have to take a hard look for
myself.
It would seem I was in the right place to start my search as I lived
next to Chinatown. I asked some of my martial arts classmates who
were Chinese to direct me to a good teacher. This is how I met my
first teacher (see Fig 1) , Rev. Chung Tsai. He had a Temple in the
basement of an old five-story building in Chinatown. I found the
building my classmates directed me to and entered the main hall. I
noticed a sign directing those who were interested in the Buddhist
temple to go downstairs to the basement. I entered a darkened
room and was met by a monk who greeted me warmly and asked if
he could help me. This was the start of my long journey into the
world of Buddhism. I was young and raised as a Catholic and had
little understanding of Chinese beliefs. In fact, I had never even
heard of Buddhism or the Buddha until that day.
I explained to the monk that I was studying the martial arts and was
curious to find out what Buddhism had to do with this study. He told me of
the Shao-lin Temple in China, a Buddhist Temple centuries old where Kung
Fu originated. He also said he to liked to play various martial arts. He
had experience in PaKua, and Tai Chi. He was also an expert at taking the
three pulses. This is a way the Chinese can diagnose various ailments
within the body. From that day on, I spent many months visiting the
Temple and learning all I could about his martial arts and
Buddhism. This came to a quick end when Chung Tsai had to leave.
Where he went is a mystery to me to this day. The temple was
closed and I was left with many unanswered questions, until
I found another Temple which would lead me to my greatest
teacher (fig. 2), Ven. Litt. D Master Change Sheng-yen.
The Temple was, and still is, located in The Bronx, New York. It is
called the Temple of Enlightenment. It was a small but well built
Temple where various classes were held for those eager to learn
about Buddhism. In fact, this is where I met another great teacher,
Franklin Kwong (see article "The Professor of Shadow Boxing" for
details of Master Kwong's history) who was also a practicing
Buddhist and Taoist. The Temple became my home away from
home and I spent all my free time studying various Buddhist
concepts, learning sutra, and studying the Chinese language with
Loretta Pan (the teacher who gave me my Chinese name, Ma For
Ren).
Master Sheng-yen came to the Temple of Enlightenment a year or
two after I began going there, around 1977. I and a few of my students
were among the few Americans who attended the Temple. At
that time, it was mainly attended by Chinese. I was lucky to be one
of the first American students in his meditation class. Master
Sheng-yen changed all of that.
Because of his background, he soon
became head abbot of the Temple and started to teach in his own
special way. He was a different kind of monk. He had innovative
ideas. He wanted to open the Temple up for anybody who was
eager to learn. As soon as he took over as Abbot, he started new
programs for the American people. Of course, many Chinese also
attended his programs in Buddhist training.
These classes continued for a number of years before the Master
decided to move on his own way. The Master however, could not
run the Temple in full control, as it was not his own Temple, so he
decided to move on and establish his own Temple in Elmhurst,
NY.
For more on his life, see Background of Sheng-yen.
Master Sheng-yen's training at The Temple of Enlightenment
began each day between 5:30 and 6:00
AM with sitting meditation. Then, we would have a light breakfast, and
proceed to have an in-depth lecture on the Buddhist Sutra, such as
the Diamond Sutra. He would teach us how to chant the sutra and
explain its deeper meanings. We would then do some maintenance
work around the Temple grounds, cleaning or fixing things in
need of repairs. This was done as meditative work, in complete
silence with total attention to the tasks at hand.
The morning went
by quickly and we were soon on our way to start a normal day at
our various jobs in the world -- only to come back the next day and
start again.
The Master gave me a Buddhist name, Ch'ang Tao, as he did
with each of his students. Periodically, he would call us in to private
chambers and explain how he viewed our progress in Meditation
and answer any questions we had, or offer his solutions to any
problems we might be having. On the weekends, after the standard
Buddhist ceremonies, he would gather all his students and have a
round table lecture where he would further elaborate on Buddhists
teachings.
The study of Meditation is not easy. Some may think that just sitting
quietly is an easy task. But the truth of the matter is that it is one of
the most difficult tasks I have ever undertaken. The human mind is
most devious. It will trick you, discourage you, and at times
encourage you, so you will think you have attained something and
foolishly quit the training.
For those who may not have a great deal
of limberness in the legs the physical pain of sitting in a full lotus
position is at times more than the body can stand. This was one of
the most common complaints of the students, as their legs would
go numb or scream out in pain. Sitting without any movement is
without question a monumental task. Students often gave up and
started to move in their sitting postures. They would feel an itch
that had to be scratched or a pain that had to be attended to. The
Master often warned this would happen and that when it did happen
we should ignore it. But alas, the itch or pain usually overcame the
best of students.
At times I would glance at the Master and notice he was like a
dead man sitting. There was no movement at all, no facial
expression, and even his breath seemed to have stopped. He
looked so peaceful you would think he could sit there the entire day
and night and love every minute of it. This would drive the students
crazy, as we struggled with the agony of maintaining the posture
and fighting the mind. The Master would tell us not to fight, but
simply to let it all go and observe the mind, without being caught up in
its ramblings. This may sound easy, but anyone who has tried it
knows that it is not. It was quite something to realize how much
control the Master had over his mind and body. It took me years of
study to attain some degree of body and mind control.
The Master had taught many methods of meditation. Watching the breath
and freezing the thought are among the many he taught. However, any
method is but a tool to
use in attempting to come closer to the practice of pure
Ch'an mediation, which is a method-less technique. Until a student
attains some kind of control, this method is hard to understand and
utilize.
The Master understood what we all felt, the pain and
disappointment of failure with methods, but he always encouraged
us to continue. He was a kind Master, always smiling,
with a face that almost seemed to shine with enlightenment.
When you saw the inner peace and spiritual awakening he had
attained, it drove you to train even harder so that you could share in
the wonderful feeling of peace that we all want in this world of
hardship, suffering, and pain.
Understanding the root of suffering will not alleviate it. However
we can learn to stop creating illusions that amplify that pain and
cause further suffering. Buddhism advocates the Eight-fold Path as
a way to lessen our pain: Right Speech, Right Action, Right
Livelihood, Right Concentration, Right Mindfulness, Right Effort,
Right Understanding, and Right Thought.
Buddhism teaches us to
live in a world filled with pain and sorrow. It gives us a way to deal
with our everyday lives and to become better able to live in peace and
harmony with others. It makes us aware of the impermanence of
everything and lessens our desires to attempt to attain anything of
lasting value in this life. With an attitude like this we don't take
matters of the world too seriously. With this viewpoint nothing is
taken to the heart, where it causes pain. We simply learn to live and
let live, love our follow man, and share all we can to help others.
This same code is contained within the martial arts experience, for
the study of the arts contains Buddhist and Taoist concepts of
harmony with self and harmony with the world.
But what is Buddhism? In simple terms Buddhism advocates the
Four Noble Truths. Let us look at two and see how they pertain to
martial arts.
1. Life is suffering -- Pain, old age, sickness and death.
Buddhism existentially looks at how life is not
perfect, because of the disappointments we suffer, as well as
dissatisfactions we experience. By understanding all this we
are able to overcome and persevere in our undertakings,
including martial arts training.
2. Suffering is Caused by Attachment -- Everything is in a
constant state of flux. By understanding change we come to
deal with Impermanence. Attachment brings with it a
continuous cycle of craving, jealously, ill will, and
anxiety. Those in the martial arts know all too well teachers
who crave fame. They create and impose ill will on others.
The word 'Buddha' means "enlightened" or "awakened." It was applied
to the Sakyamuni which means "he who will accomplish."
Sakyamuni was not unlike us. He suffered, grew old and died.
The difference is that he understood the reason for all of his suffering and
did something to change the outcome of his life. Because he
understood, life became a chance to evolve and grow. Life became
a means to help others see truth. Life became a means to transform
his old ways into that of a sage.
In our martial arts training we too have the same goals. We may
not be monks, but we are aware of the Buddha's truths and the
consequence of not correcting our ways. We train to better
understand ourselves, and hopefully, find the same Way the Buddha
found. This is called the Middle Way, not taking anything to
extremes.
It is true I have no desire to be a monk, but by studying with monks such as
Master Sheng-yen I was able to understand the deepest meaning of my
life and what to expect from it. Through my studies with this Master, I was able
to calm the storm of emotions, troubles and doubts that rage within the human
essence. He, like all the enlightened beings in this world, has a great task
set before him. That task is to let all who would listen know that there is a
Way out.
By moving within the Middle Way we can come to learn truth, and, as
they say, the truth will set you free. We can live out our life content with the
fact that we
are making the best of the situation in which life has placed us. We can live in
harmony with this ever changing world and go through our lives
prepared for the many changes we will experience. Once the
reasons are given for all our suffering we can then understand its
causes, and thereby deal with it.
It is my opinion that those who truly love the Chinese Martial Arts
have little choice but to study the spiritual aspects. Only those who
have studied know what I am talking about when I say you can not
fully understand the total meaning of Chinese Martial Arts without
a deep understanding of the underlying forces at work in our lives.
Allow me to paraphrase something the Rev Master Guo Lin of the
Shao-lin Temple of mainland China once said:
"Without Chan meditation we are not really practicing
true Shao-lin Kung Fu, we are only practicing moves.
Moves come from the memory, Chan comes from the
heart."
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