Derek Padula at the Shaolin Summit 2011

I attended the 1st Shaolin Summit as a reporter for The Epoch Times Newspaper and interviewed the Head Abbot of the Shaolin Temple, Shi Yongxin.

As a practitioner of Shaolin Gong Fu for over 12 years, and a student of East Asian studies, I thought it would be a lot of fun to go there, learn some new things and meet some good people.

The result was mixed.

The summit took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center on May 21. The day was a combination of Shaolin culture and business motives, indirectly fueled by the Chinese Communist Party’s religious affairs and tourism departments, as well as American martial artists and businessmen who admire Shaolin martial arts.

Aside from the standard Shaolin Gong Fu demo’s, there were also two panel discussions.

The first was called “Zen, the Power of the Mind and Martial Arts.”

The panel was moderated by Jonathan Blank and guests included Mark Dacascos (actor and host of Iron Chef), Lucia Rijker (world champion kick boxer), Shi Yanfan (a Caucasian Shaolin monk and head of the Shaolin Temple Los Angeles), Gene Ching (Associate Publisher of Kung Fu Tai Chi Magazine), and Dr. David Rapkin (Director of the Mind-Body Medicine Group at UCLA). They talked about the importance of proper breathing and mind-intent, and how they can heal the body or lead to different outcomes in life.

The second panel included the Head Abbot and 5 master Shaolin monks. The monks talked about traditional Chinese medicine, proper breathing techniques, Shaolin culture, and what it means to be enlightened and live properly.

These were the most interesting parts of the day for me, even though they were fairly shallow. However, it’s understandable, given that the casual guest to the summit might not be an expert in these fields. Still, it would have been nice to hear a discussion with more substance.

Underlying the entire event however, was business and finance.

You can read the details in my Epoch Times article on the CEO Monk, Shi Yongxin.

Culture or Commercialism?

Abbot Shi Yongxin - Photo by Deborah Yun (www.deborahyun.com)

In short, the Shaolin Temple has become a monetized external shell of its former self. The current abbot has commercialized the temple and transformed it into a den of tourism and profit seeking financiers.

I traveled to the Shaolin Temple in 2003 while studying abroad in China. I was heartbroken to see such a stark contrast between the Shaolin Temple I read about in books and the reality that lay before me. The true cultivators of that temple were gone.

Unfortunately it has only become worse with the passage of time. The head of the United Studios of Self Defense, the largest branch of martial arts schools in the country, told me so while at the summit. He visits the temple with his students on a semi-yearly basis.

It saddens me to say this, but the Shaolin Temple and the martial arts I loved have been corrupted at the source.

The Cultural Revolution of the 1960′s and 70′s caused irreparable damage to not only the temple walls, but more importantly, the Shaolin culture. The true monks fled the temple so that they would not be polluted by Communism and politics, and those who stayed were the younger monks that are now the older generation. The higher level teachings were lost.

The head abbot that replaced the former is so focused on profiting from the interest in Shaolin that he is blind to this important principle: No matter how much he rebuilds the walls or adds new gymnasiums to support the influx of fresh students, he can never buy back the true Shaolin spirit!

The traditional teachings and the current reality could not be any further apart then they are right now.

My hope is that the CCP affiliated abbot that they have installed at the head of the temple is replaced by a genuine cultivator that can restore the reputation of Shaolin. They need to return to the true teachings.

You can see here a powerful comparison between Shi Yongxin and the monk’s of the Dabei Temple. The Dabei monks are another Buddhist sect in China. But they have chosen to follow their traditional ways of life, while the Shaolin have become business oriented.

What do you think of this issue? It’s by no means simple, and I can understand the perspective of both sides. Without proliferation of the art, then perhaps less people would be aware of it or have a chance to practice. On the other hand, what exactly is it they are buying into? In the end, where it will lead them?

When it comes down to it I have to take sides with being genuine and true, because no amount of money can buy you the truth.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

Shaolin Summit 2011

SSJ4 Gohan

I recently started reading a book called The 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time Management, by Hyrum Smith.  So far it has been very engaging and informative.

I’m only on the 4th chapter, but I’ve already learned (or re-learned) some of the reasons why I procrastinate on my writing for the DBZ book, or any of my other various projects.

The essential point I’ve understood is that if I don’t prioritize my life according to my own intrinsic values, and live according to those values in everything I do, that I’ll never make progress on my projects or find satisfaction in my work.  In a larger scope…  I won’t find happiness in life.  So determining what my core values are is really important.

To that end I spent some time looking within and came up with a list of core values, a law or principle I wish to live by and live up to, including what each value means to me:

• Truthfulness: The embodiment of honesty, to be true, do true actions, be upright, youthful, noble and open, to seek the truth and become a true man, my real self.
• Compassion: The embodiment of kindness, to be compassionate and merciful, genuinely aware of others in mind, speech, and body, to think of how to ease the suffering of others and take active steps toward that direction.
• Forbearance: The embodiment of forbearance, to be tolerant and enduring, to walk the middle road of temperance, be disciplined, focused, and centered in both passive and active states of life.

1. Ideals: To strive toward a higher ideal and become that which I believe is better.  To continually defeat my current self so that a greater and more true self can be revealed, to be broad minded while still attending to details, and to endure the hardships of a fool while becoming a sage.
2. Integrity: Once an ideal or standard has been met, to maintain that standard in the face of all adversity, temptations or conflicts.
3. Accomplishment: A sense of triumph, satisfaction and contentedness with life and work, grateful for the valleys that accompany the hills.  An inner harmony that is expressed outwardly and subsequently reflected back, to bask in the warmth and glow of my own existence and self-worth yet without any sense of ego.
4. Spirituality: To practice and embody my spiritual beliefs in an open, kind and respectful way.
5. Health: To maintain my state of health, be fit and free of illness.
6. Financial Independence: To be free of debt, with sources of primary and secondary income, both active and passive, using generated funds to further worthwhile endeavors within the guidelines of my other values.

What do you think?  I kept it concise and simple so as to create a constitution of my life.

The items in this list are ranked according to their priority in relation to one another.

The top 3, Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance are the highest ideals and are equal in priority and value, and I can’t just live up to one without living up to the other.

Truth contains Truth, Compassion and Forbearance.  Compassion contains Truth, Compassion and Forbearance, and Forbearance contains Truth, Compassion, and Forbearance.  To the best of my ability I have to embody all three simultaneously.

The other values are important to me as well but are numbered in order of their priority and sequence of action.  For example, I believe that financial independence is something I need to achieve and maintain, but not at the expense of my integrity or health.

What do you guys think of these values?  What are your personal values?  Do you have any personal values that you would add to this list or feel are missing?

Perhaps you’ll spend some time looking within and create a list of your own personal values to live by.  If you do, that’s awesome!  Please share it by leaving a comment below.

Post from: The Dao of Dragonball Blog

A List of 9 Personal Values I will Live By