Dear Gillian

For me, it is cultivating the method of "seeing through" the veil which obscures the divine (or the "substantive"). Some people can see it just as they are from their default place of standing - but I have needed to create or cultivate this vision - so as to remove the obscuring block. I have got quite far in this quest over the decades - to the point where I can see how other paths work. Indeed, other paths are now useful to me - where once I pushed them away. Now, I can see the "divine" ("void") in the "ordinary" ("form"). The dross of life - that which we accrue in life and leave behind in death - often means it is never easy. But effort is divine, as you already know. 

From July 27th to August 1st, 2016, at the invitation of the Naha City Cultural Association of Japan and the Okinawa (International) Goju Ryu Karate-Do Federation, a group of Buddhist monks from the Putian (莆田) Chan Wu (禅武) - or ‘Meditative Martial Arts’ - Southern Shaolin Temple visited Japan to give a demonstration of their ancient martial arts skills! This was part of a mutual exchange programme which promotes music, dance and the arts - to build friendship and closer ties between the two countries.  ​

During the visit, the Putian Southern Shaolin Temple group first went to the "Okinawa Traditional Ancient Martial Arts Preservation Association" to visit the President Nakamoto Masabu (仲本政傅). Nakamoto Masabu visited Fujian in 1988 to study under ‘Chen Yijiu’ (陈依九) - the Fourth Generation Master of the ‘Ground Method Fist’ (地术拳 - Di Shu Quan) - also termed ‘Dog Fist’ (狗拳 - Gou Quan)! In 1995, he led a Japanese team that participated in the China (Putian) Southern Shaolin International Martial Arts Competition. ​

Afterwards, the Putian Southern Shaolin group next visited the Okinawa Prefectural Budokan to participate in the "Okinawa (International) Goju Ryu Karate-Do Federation World Budo Festival" which is held every four years. The Putian Southern Shaolin Temple group showed their skills at the opening ceremony of the Martial Arts Conference. On display was the Shaolin ‘Stick’ (棍 - Gun), Closed-Fist Arts (拳术 - Quan Shu), Broad Sword (刀 - Dao), Long Swords (剑 - Jian) and all kinds of ancient military weapons! There was also various other performances of endurance, strength and power, etc, that impressed the crowd and attracted warm-hearted applause! The monks of the Putian Southern Shaolin Temple were praised for their calm state of mind, technical expertise and fierceness during combat! ​

The Head Monk of the Putian Southern Shaolin Temple - ‘Kong Xing’ (空性) said that ‘Okinawan Goju Ryu is a Southern style of Chinese martial arts defined as being a combination of the “Southern Boat and Northern Horse”, and which developed through the White Crane Gate of the Southern Shaolin Temple!’ The name of the style derives from a once secret book associated with the White Crane Gate entitled the ‘Martial Preparation Records’  (武备志 - Wu Bei Zhi) - where this text states ‘The methodology involves the continuous interchange of hard and soft whilst the body absorbs (like swallowing) and emits (like spitting)!’  ​

The Putian Southern Shaolin Temple has a special relationship with the Okinawan martial arts community and is very happy to facilitate cultural exchanges between China and Japan! The Head Monk went on to explain that a Special Research Department is active at his temple which assists groups and individuals to visit and stay at the temple to study Ch’an meditation and ‘Southern Fist’ (南拳 - Nan Quan) - whilst an Administrative Section carries-out historical and cultural research involving martial arts and associative subjects. Together, the Putian Southern Shaolin Temple and Naha City Cultural Association share a common (non-political), martial arts history that can only benefit the people of China and Japan! This friendship is facilitated by the Okinawa (International) Goju Ryu Karate-Do Federation, which continuously offers its support, guidance and encouragement!  ​

The Putian Southern Shaolin Temple adheres to the spiritual and physical teachings as taught by the ancient Indian Buddhist monk – the Great Master Bodhidharma (达摩 - Da Mo)! Through hours of sitting in Ch’an meditation he calmed, stilled and expanded his mind (eradicating greed, hatred and delusion and cultivated loving kindness, compassion and wisdom), whilst through martial arts practice of various kinds, he eradicated illnesses, healed wounds and extended his longevity! By emulating this practice, we can live healthy and wise lives and benefit the entire world! This is why the Head Monk - Kong Xing - further stated the Southern Shaolin Temple invites friends from all over the world and welcome everyone who comes to the Putian Southern Shaolin Temple to experience the charm of its meditative and martial Buddhist culture! At the same time, Kong Xing invited friends from all over the world to jointly promote the spirit of peace, compassion and altruism, and contribute toward the happiness and stability of human society by cultivating harmony between human beings and nature! ​

It is understood that also attending this conference - in addition to the staff of the Karate-Do Headquarters in Japan – was more than 1,500 participants from 52 national Karate-Do organisations, including the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Australia! The Head Monk of the Putian Southern Shaolin Temple – Kong Xing – then presented special calligraphy to his Japanese hosts! The monks from the Putian Southern Shaolin Temple performed various ‘Southern Fist’ (南拳 - Nan Quan) routines during their exchange visit in Japan. ​

Source: Meizhou Daily ​

Chinese Language Source:

http://www.hinews.cn/news/system/2016/08/05/030593828.shtml?wscckey=70d51dc7d4f29072_1470363283 ​

冲绳刚柔流空手道源自南少林拳白鹤门 
来源：湄洲日报 作者： 时间：2016-08-05 08:22:36 
本报讯7月27日至8月1日，应日本那霸市文化协会和冲绳（国际）刚柔流空手道联盟的邀请，莆田南少林寺禅武团前往日本进行武术、音乐、艺术等方面的交流，共同推动两地的文化交流与友好往来。　 
访问期间，莆田南少林寺禅武团首先前往“冲绳传统古武道保存会”，拜访会长仲本政傅。仲本政傅曾于1988年来福建向地术拳第四代传人陈依九学艺，1995年带队前来参加中国（莆田）南少林国际武术大赛。之后，禅武团一行前往冲绳县立武道馆，参加四年一届的“冲绳（国际）刚柔流空手道联盟世界武道祭”演武大会。 
南少林寺禅武团在演武大会开幕式上大展身手，少林棍、拳术、刀剑兵器类等表演，引得现场一阵阵热烈的掌声，大家直夸南少林寺武僧们武术功底扎实，打得虎虎生威。　　莆田南少林寺方丈空性说，冲绳刚柔流空手道系中国“南舟北马”中的南派功夫，源自南少林拳白鹤门，其流派的名称来源于白鹤门流传秘书《武备志》中“法刚柔吞吐，身随时应变”。此 
次民间武术交流活动，对加强莆田南少林寺与那霸市文化协会、冲绳国际刚柔流空手道联盟的友好关系，增进文化交流与武术互鉴、深化合作具有积极意义。　　南少林寺一贯秉承达摩大师的宗风，以武术强健体魄，以禅法静心明智，以慈悲利益世间，进而成就自他圆满的智慧人生。 
空性说，南少林寺向世界各国的朋友发出邀请，欢迎大家来莆田南少林寺，体验南少林禅武文化的魅力，感受佛教的人文艺术。同时，还邀请世界各国的朋友共同弘扬和平、慈悲、利他的精神，为人类社会的幸福安定、人类与自然的和谐奉献一份力量。 
据了解，此次大会，除了日本刚柔流空手道本部人员外，有来自美国、俄罗斯、英国、西班牙、澳大利亚等52个国家的空手道组织共1500余人参加。　　南少林寺方丈空性赠送书法给日本友人。　　莆田南少林寺武僧在日本交流期间表演各种南拳。原标题:冲绳刚柔流空手道源自南少林拳白鹤门 ​

This ability is the product of a lifetime of a) suffering, and b) the transcendence of suffering. In other words, it is a product of experiencing ordinary life on the one-hand – and practicing (in my case) the Ch’an method of ‘stilling’ the inner mind. Stilling the inner mind is not the same as ‘stilling’ the outer environment. Stilling the outer environment is nothing less than wilfully ‘stilling’ the perception of the outer environment. Stilling the outer environment is a manifestation of the Dharmakaya (which is already there) but which is usually obscured by the ordinary mind and its habit of turning everything into a ‘subject-object’ dichotomy (duality). Within martial arts practice, this sudden manifestation of wisdom, compassion and loving kindness immediately takes away any option an opponent might have who insists upon using greed, hatred and delusion as the prime motivators of martial movement. Just as time appears to ‘stand still’ – the concept of ‘space’ seems to contract and becomes restrictive in the mind of the opponent. Within ordinary life outside of martial practice – the manifestation of this being reduces and disarms potentially o actively violent situations so the peace permeates the minute fabric of time and space. Those who are caught in this manifestation (which is very similar to ‘darshan’ found within Indian spirituality), lifts ordinary beings to new levels of inspire being, and quite often changes personalities and situations for the better! Advanced meditators within Buddhism are capable of manifesting this spiritual reality that has inherent within it the ability to alter the base frequency through which matter is resonating. This is an extension of the physical body (and brain) of the advanced practitioner whose mind is filtering (and protecting) this ability out into the environment through correct position and exact timing. The onus is on healing through wholeness, completeness and objectiveless love and profound understanding. As a function of the highest human spirituality, as an experience the recipient experiences a dissolving of greed, hatred and delusion – and all the conditioning premised upon the personal history experienced through this process. As ‘time’ is altered (slowed for the Master – speeded-up for the opponent) – the martial artist can move wherever is safest – whilst the opponent remains bewildered and unable to think clearly. This state of being can be manifest into any situation within life, as there is no preference or limit on human learning and human healing.  ​

Advanced martial arts practice is ethereal even though it involves the movement of the body. In fact, moving the body is basic gongfu training, a mastery of which should be gained in one’s youth if possible. When the body ‘ages’ - a practitioner does not want the problem of mastering martial technique whilst coming to terms with how ‘ageing’ changes the mind and body. Knowing how to stand, fall, get-up, moving, kick, punch, block and evade, etc, are foundational issues that must be thoroughly absorbed into the deepest levels of the mind and body well before middle-age is reached. Of course, this is not always the case, as some people take-up the practice of traditional Chinese martial arts late in life – but with regards the more robust and rugged ‘external’ techniques – youthful practice is preferred. This is why many older people (with no previous experience) start their martial arts training through one of the ‘internal’ arts – which are a product of an ‘advanced’ and ‘mature’ mind-set. ​

On the other hand, if an individual is able to build 20-30 years of training prior to hitting 40-50 years of age – then the bones, joints, muscles, ligaments, tendons and inner organs have all had time to experience a ‘hardening’ process over-time - and are far more ‘robust’ whilst the individual traverses into older age. Probably the greater reason for early martial arts practice is that the ability to produce massive (internal and external) impact power (with minimum) effort must be mastered before the body transitions into older age. This observation does not mean that older people cannot achieve this ability later in their life – but to already possess this devastating power is one less burden – particularly as we may also have far more responsibilities as mature people than the average young person. However, with the right type of instruction from a genuine Master, anyone of any age can ‘master’ gongfu regardless of circumstances. Motivation is the key to it all. ​

The mind must be ‘still’ and ‘expansive’. Its psychic fabric must be simultaneously ‘empty’ and yet ‘envelop’ all things without exception! Although there is much experimentation in the West with the physical techniques of the many (and varied) gongfu styles – very few practitioners are interested in the spiritual or higher psychological aspects of traditional Chinese martial arts. This is because gongfu has been taught the wrong way around in the West to suit the cultural bias of the fee-paying audience. Whereas in China kicking is learned before punching – in the West punching is taught before kicking (because of the influence of Western Boxing). Whereas in China a gongfu practitioner learns to stand still and to stand ‘solid’ whilst defending the ten directions – in the West students are taught to move around before being taught how to ‘stand still’ (this is because Western students do not understand the important of achieving inner and outer ‘stillness’). Whereas in China gongfu student learn to ‘relax’ before assuming postures – in the West students are taught to ‘stretch’ using yoga-like techniques (mostly unknown in China). Whereas students in China learn to ‘strike’ various wooden objects to condition the bones of the hands and feet – in the West, students are encouraged to hit ‘soft’ pads that give a false impression of what it is like to hit a ‘real’ body! In the West, the mind is ‘entertained’ as a means to secure continued fee-paying through class attendance – whilst in China the Master continuously looks for new ways of ‘testing’ the virtue of the student and for any reason to ‘expel’ them from the training hall!  ​

All this ‘inversion’ must be remedied if the highest levels of spiritual and physical mastery are to be achieved. This has nothing to do with rolling around on a padded floor wearing padded-gloves – and everything to do with ‘looking within’ to refine the flow of internal energy. The awareness of the mind must permeate every cell of the physical body whilst the practitioner sits correctly in the meditation posture. What else is there? When advanced practitioners ascend to a certain age of maturity, reality has nothing to do with the ego pursuit of ‘winning’ or ‘losing’ in petty disputes that ultimately mean nothing. Most of the combat sports of the moment are fleeting and exist merely to make money – and they are ineffective on the modern battlefield and not practiced by the military! The final lesson is to ‘leave the body’ with the minimum of fuss when the time presents itself. In a very real sense, a genuine Master of martial arts has ‘already’ transcended the boundaries of material limitation whilst still living. This sense of ‘completion’ and ‘transcendence’ is what draws the already perceptive into his or her presence to receive instruction... ​

I was recently asked (by a prominent [British] Muay Thai practitioner) to write a short text about the cultural differences between ‘Western’ Thai Boxers when compared with ethnic ‘Thai’ Muay Thai counter-parts. He was particularly interested in the different cultural patterns of ‘effort’ that are in effect in the Thai Boxing ring in Thailand. He explained to me that he knows full well that many dedicated and very respectful Westerners travel to Thailand to compete in ethnic Thai Boxing competitions (not ‘adjusted’ to the sensitivities of the international community) - and as soon as they step-off the aeroplane suffer the beginnings of a psychological collapse and the development of tremendous feelings of doubt!  ​

Furthermore, despite bravery and stoicism – as soon as the ‘smiling’ Muay Thai Warriors the ring and being the traditional ‘Ram Muay Wai Kru’ - an ancient ritual of respect that praise the Hindu God – Rama – as well as the Buddha, Dharma and Sangha – a very strong sense of ‘alienation’ manifests. This sense of ‘cultural’ distinction is made even more pronounced as the Thai practitioner also ‘praises’ his or her family ancestors, parents, teachers and fellow students, etc. Perhaps this is one of its main purposes. This ‘dance’ is in fact a ‘secret’ martial art that only true Muay Thai Masters know how to interpret and use in combat. Muay Thai Masters have told me that it is a Thai manifestation of ‘internal’ martial art similar to the Taijiquan of China – which is often performed nowadays to ‘music’ as is the ‘Ram Muay’ (this is the shortened title my ethnic Thai friends us who live in the Warwick area of the UK).  ​

I have had the privilege to train in the UK with students of Master Sken and Master Toddy over the years – despite never meeting these two experts in person. When some of these practitioners have passed through Sutton (South London) - they have come into our gongfu training hall on Sunday mornings and we have worked together. They have always been respectful, tough and very dedicated. Other than this contact with Muay Thai, my family frequent the Buddhapadipa Temple in Wimbledon, and on occasion, the Forest Hermitage (Wat Santidhamma) in Warwickshire – both of which serve the British ethnic Thai population and the Theravada Buddhism they practice. Years ago, when I lived in Hereford, I sparred full-on with ethnic Thai visitors and I was impressed with their ‘relaxed’ attitude and ‘fierce’ manifestation when fighting! I was inspired by how they live and breathe Buddhism first and foremost – and throw punches and kicks only after they have learned the Buddha’s Teaching fully! This is why I often seek-out special Theravada Bhikkhus living in the Buddhist temples in the UK. Unlike in the Thai villages and forests – this is not a common occurrence in the UK – but occasionally I get lucky! ​

The deep-rooted foundation of Muay Thai – or ‘Thai Boxing’ - do not lie in the brightly and well-funded gymnasia of the modern Thai city, but exist in the poorest areas of the jungles and the remotest of Thai villages. Depending on where the art is still practiced, Muay Thai is often linked to an ancient local Buddhist Temple – with esteemed Buddhist bhikkhus (monks) acting as the instructors and preservers of the tradition. The cultural basis of Muay Thai represents the psychological and physical reality of what it historically means to be born ‘Thai’. Thai Boxing is form of ritual veneration for the Buddha, the Dhamma and Sangha – as well as the King of Thailand, the government and the Thai people. As a consequence, Muay Thai has no other purpose in its most traditional form. ​

Muay Thai is much more than preparing a fighter to compete in the modern ring. Muay Thai is a fully-fledged medieval military art designed to train Asian infantrymen as they advance into battle escorting battle-elephants (the infantry ‘protects’ the vulnerable underbellies of the elephant from enemy attack, etc). The male and female warriors are psychologically and physically ‘toughened’ so to produce effective and hardened soldiers fit to fight in prolonged hand-to-hand engagements on the battlefield. Through harsh and brutal training all day long – the mind is ‘calmed’ and ‘purified’ so that all greed, hatred and delusion are uprooted and eradicated in accordance with the Buddhist Vinaya Discipline. This is why a Muay Thai warrior is a ‘Buddhist’ warrior to venerates and applied the Buddha’s Teachings (‘Dhamma’) in every facet of his or her life. This activity is regulated by the educated eyes of the Sangha (or the ‘community of ordained Buddhist monks’).  
​
We Take Refuge in the Buddha! 
We Take Refuge in the Dhamma! 
We Take Refuge in the Sangha!  
We Take Refuge in the Triple Gem! ​

This is the ritualistic vow that every Muay Thai warrior repeats with a total and complete devotion early every morning as they rise from their simple straw mat which they use as a ‘bed’. After toileting and drinking a little water – the daily training begins by running two or three miles at a steady pace around the temple and local villages. The pace is slow but steady. Speed is not the purpose – but rather stamina, strength and endurance. Rubbing the shins and fore-arms with wooden rolling-pin type devices slowly develops into the anatomical weapons being sharply ‘struck’ by these heavy objects (at the advanced level – this includes striking different parts of the skull). This leads to rope-work (or ‘skipping) to work-up a sweat before body-conditioning begins. ​

After working on the strengthening of the bones it is time to strengthen the muscles, tendons and ligaments. Different Masters use different types of sit-ups, squat-kicks, back-raises, press-ups and loosening and stretching exercises. Relaxation coupled with strength and endurance is emphasised. All this voluntary suffering is designed to ‘burn-off’ the bad Kamma produced in the endless previous lives that have been lived by these Buddhist warriors. Next is the technique of striking, blocking, kicking, punching, head-butting and elbowing, etc. This includes groin-kicking and how to defend against groin-attacks. Devastating knee-attacks delivered at various (and unpredictable angles) are used to break ribs and paralyse the diaphragm of an opponent. This progresses to many different kinds of pad-work and bag-striking. Some bags are full of sand and others of small stones and the fighters must learn to punch and kick each with no injury or loss of stamina or will-power.  ​

This leads to various forms of ‘sparring’ in the ring either with or without gloves. Nowadays, even the most traditional Muay Thai training temples usually ‘wrap’ the fighter’s hands early in the morning – although there are some traditional ‘hand-toughening’ exercises that involve punching trees, blocks of wood and various other objects. The hands are then treated with special (traditional) medicine. As violence is prohibited within Buddhism – greed. Hatred and delusion must be uprooted through long hours of seated mediation (usually in the evenings) and the reading of the Buddha’s Suttas. This distinctly ‘Buddhist’ training is the true foundation of Muay Thai and is the hidden conditioning ingredient to all the martial technique that this art involves.  ​

Most people outside of Thailand only encounter the kick-boxing element of Muay Thai performed in a modern boxing ring. Traditional Muay Thai is fought on a raised stone disc or dais (after each performs a ritualised martial dance to the Hindu God Rama and the and the Buddha) Fighters have their hands wrapped by a thin and course rope (not Western bandage-wraps). Sometimes the hand-wraps are dip in a type of glue and then dipped into broken-glass – depending on the purpose of the fight. A rattan ring is worn around the top of the head as a form of skull-protection from the powerful round-kicks delivered with bare-feet, etc.  For the King of Thailand, not only are his most trusted bodyguards all advanced Muay Thai warriors – but at least two specialise in the technique of double-swordsmanship incase a traditional ‘beheading’ is required of a convicted criminal.  ​

As the Muay Thai warriors hold the status of ordained Buddhist monks – all are ‘celibate’ whilst they live and train in the Muay Thai Temple. There is no mixing with females allowed and certainly no girlfriends, or wives, etc. When not engaged in the actual physical training of Muay Thai – such a warrior-monk is expected to engage in studying the Buddhist Suttas, meditating, cleaning the temple and humbly serving the monks, etc. As they start training and fighting as young as 5 or 6-years old, a Muay Thai fighter could well in excess of two-hundred fights by the time he or she is 25-years old! Unless a Muay Thai fighter ‘retires’ and leaves his or her status as a Buddhist warrior monk – there can be no relationships with the opposite sex allowed.  ​

Muay Thai is an ancient martial art that has been adapted to the modern, Western-boxing ring very well. I am of the opinion that it is one of the best all-round striking, grappling and throwing martial arts in the world today, that has retained its deep spiritual roots in modern times. Westerners, by comparison, possess a psychology and physicality that is all incorrect for Muay Thai. They do not possess the deep Thai cultural connection to the Buddha or to Buddhist culture. They have no understanding of Buddhism or any respect for the Dhamma, the Sangha or the Thai King. They know nothing about quietening the mind and uprooting greed, hatred and delusion. They think and move like a Western-boxer from a Judeo-Christian culture that has ‘secularised’.  ​

This mentality is shot-through with the capitalist ideology and a one-sided effort defeats a multisided foundation. Westerners place all their and determination in the wrong place (as can be seen from the above video). When confronted with the best Muay Thai Masters – they incorrectly believe that if they just try harder – their inappropriate manifestation will somehow ‘work’ despite never working in the past during similar situations. They employ a lateral determination against the ‘deep’ and ‘profound’ training of a celibate Muay Thai warrior monk – as this is the case – why should they win? Why should this disrespectful and entirely incorrect interpretation of the Asian martial art of Muay Thai be allowed to succeed? This is where Western notions of ‘effort’ fall flat on their face – with no sympathy from me! ​

My personal preference is inner development through the life of a hermit (i.e., ‘eremite’) – rather than through the ‘coenobitic’ (i.e., ‘community-based’) life of a monk living in a cloistered - but interacting community. This may stem from my upbringing as a Chinese-Buddhist and my experience of being a Buddhist monastic attached to a Ch’an lineage in Hong Kong – but ordered to spend hours, days, weeks, months and years sitting alone in the local Name Temple of a Hakka village in the New Territories. This also included a period of some months sat in the isolation of the Devonshire moors in the UK – where the weather (and culture) was very different! The details do not really matter – what matters is the quality of the ‘inner gazing’. Whilst experiencing further and higher education in the UK, for reasons I cannot fathom, I was befriended by a number of Irish Roman Catholic priests and at least one Anglican vicar. As I do not believe in a theistic god – this was something of a surprise to me and them! Those I knew were good people – despite others not being so good (due to their conditioning) – such is life and there is no judgement on my part. People are human-beings and life does not always unfold slowly or as we would like it to. ​

I would say that what is important is the ‘quality’ of the ‘gaze’ as it is turned within. Many have endless problems perfecting the ‘gaze’ and so cannot ‘look within’ clearly. This is a common problem – East and West. Once the ‘gaze’ is perfected – it becomes vast and all-inclusive like a wide wall! Bodhidharma spoke of this but it is a concept often mistranslated or misunderstood. A mature mind is expansive like the surface of a wall-face that never ends – as if a practitioner is sat meditating with ‘open-eyes’ in-front of a wall – the edges of which cannot be perceived when the gaze does not ‘wobble’! An external wall (that does not ‘move’) is like the ‘empty mind ground’ that lies deep within! If a practitioner spends hours contemplating an external object that stands as a metaphor for an internal level of attainment – then eventually the internal level will spontaneously ‘materialise’! This is why Bodhidharma came from the West – at least this is what the Caodong (Japanese: ‘Soto’) Masters say.  ​

I was taught Chinese martial arts from a young child as a cultural pursuit which equated to the necessity of ‘communal defence’. This was the ancient Hakka tradition – with our Great Master Chan Tin Sang (1924-1993) - being the son of the Chan Family Name Clan Leader. He – and the Chan Family Clan – fought the Imperial Japanese invaders of Hong Kong from 1941-1945 – after the British Army was over-run in the region. The Sikhs in the Hong Kong Police changed sides and joined the Japanese and assisted in the massacre of ethnic Chinese and Europeans. For this treachery the Sikhs were forever expelled from the British Police and Military! Japanese soldiers stormed through hospitals raping nurses and bayonetting the ill and the wounded in their beds! At least 10,000 Hakka men, women and children died as a consequence of those years of resistance! The returning British even raised a monument praising the bravery of the Hakka people! I do not support warfare and would prefer a world without it – but as long as some humans use force to persecute other groups of humans – we must defend ourselves or die-out. ​

Master Chan Tin Sang possessed a progressive mind-set and believed in developing a better world – this is why he decided to bring his family to the UK in 1956. It was a difficult time of transition – but transition he did. Coping with the very real problems of the outer world is a skill a true spiritual martial artist must acquire. In this regard, this path is very much like that of Vimalakirti – the enlightened lay-man who was a contemporary of the Buddha. He had four wives and plenty of children – and yet never broke the vow demanding celibacy! He taught that the ‘Mind Precept’ is the essence of ALL monastic and Bodhisattva vows (a Chinese monastic must take and uphold the Vinaya and Bodhisattva Vows)! This is the penetrating and realising the ‘empty mind ground’ or that part of perception – non-perception that is the basis of all human ‘awareness’. The ‘empty mind ground’ is what the ancient Greeks refer to as the ‘psyche’ - or ‘breath of life’. It is interesting that the ancient Greeks understood that ‘breath’ and the ‘essence of conscious awareness’ are one and the same at the deepest level of perceptual attainment. Later, the Christian theologians re-interpreted the Greek term ‘psyche’ to mean ‘soul’ (possibly of Germanic origin) to refer to a movable spiritual entity that enters the mind and body at conception – and leaves the body at the point of death, etc. ​

As I get older it becomes ever clearer to me that martial arts mastery is not ‘physical’ but rather conceptual. It is a mind-body nexus of permanent and intimate association. Such an attainment is no longer limited to designated periods of physical training – but is present whether awake or asleep. It exists as the backdrop to everyday life and influences opinions and behaviour. It is an innate awareness of the ‘position’, ‘alignment’ and ‘interaction’ of the joints, the long bone-shafts and the solid ground. Every position and movement are permanently ‘powerful’ with no hesitation, fore-thought or doubt present. The seated meditation position is as combatively perfect as standing in stance, sat in chair or lifting up a weight, etc. The consciousness is calm, vast and unruffled like a perfect seascape at sunset! Always available bodyweight grants instant ‘power’ without any sense of weakness or problem with attitude. Each moment naturally folds into the next and there is no worry, contradiction or complication. There is only the eternal perfected moment of being – clear and vast for all to see! ​

Being a hermit means that a spiritual practitioner does not get entangled in the world he or she happens to exist within. Sitting ‘still’ and ‘clear’ means that the essence of being in the world is understood to be nothing but an all-embracing ‘void’ of reality that has no beginning and end. The material body exists within this ‘void’ and seems to be ‘nothing’ when it is required to ‘disappear’ in an instant. This happens when an opponent cannot ‘perceive’ your presence when stood in-front of them. On the other hand, when the ‘void’ needs to manifest with the heaviness of a mountain – then the body becomes ‘solid’ and ‘immovable’ for all concerned. This has to be the case as there is no longer any duality to befuddle understanding and certainly nowhere for ‘hatred’ or ‘anger’ to manifest and sully the situation. Indeed, the underlying frequency of human love continues to ‘colour’ the entire situation regardless of the nature of the encounter. This is what happens when the seated meditation posture is assumed correctly and the empty mind ground penetrated. This is what it means to be a monastic who practices the hermetic path of self-development and material transcendence!   ​