120-Beginning part 3 - Buddhism in daily life

Beginning part 3

With due respect (and shaking knees) I waited for a reaction from the monk Shi Yan Zi regarding my question whether I could learn martial arts here (in the Shaolin Temple), the time just wouldn't pass.

Then his hand reached for my arm, he felt the muscles, then the shoulders, then the upper body, finally the leg muscles. The procedure was quite "rough", but I could tell that he knew what he was doing, the pain went through my limbs again and again. He seemed to be hitting specific acupuncture points, probably wanting to test my physique and stamina.

After what felt like an eternity, he straightened up and looked deeply into my eyes. He didn't make a face, more minutes passed, and the whole thing seemed to me like a scan of my thoughts.

After what seemed like an eternity, he nodded at me, a "heave" came from his lips, he gestured for me to follow him. The path went through courtyards, temple doors, buildings, cloisters, rooms and side rooms, past statues and steles, up and down I trotted behind him with my backpack.

When we finally arrived in front of a simple wooden door, the monk opened the door and kindly waved me in. The room was simple and spartan, there was no glass in the windows, the furniture was made of nailed-together wood, the door actually consisted only of two crossbars and boards nailed on top, the sun shone through everywhere, you could lock it, but with a huge key.

The bed was also homemade, which immediately caught the eye. And although it was already noticeably warmer in the mountains (in April), there was clearly no heating, the room was freezing cold.

Everywhere there were weights carved out of stone, large and smaller ones, pulleys attached to the ceiling, surely for strength training, the monk looked like a walking wall unit after all. The situation was somehow reminiscent of the US comics "The Flintstones", looked at closely, the furnishings were very very simple.

The only seats were two stools (also homemade) without backrests, one of which my new friend pushed towards me, indicating that I should sit down.

The monk made tea, woo long, an unforgettable delicacy that I still can't get enough of. As there was only one bed in the large room, Shi Yan Zi set out to organise another mattress, offering the bed to me.

Everything looked old and scuffed, but it was evening, I was tired, didn't understand much anyway, then better make arrangements. The sheet was thin, the light was a lone bulb without a lampshade.

The Shaolin Temple is high up in the sacred Song Shan mountains, here it gets really cold at night, which is why the monks only take off their clothes to wash, otherwise they stay fully dressed day and night, in their rooms, in the religious buildings, just everywhere.

When I dreamt of the Shaolin Temple, I had imagined it all quite differently, more glamorous, more sublime, also more well-kept. Certainly not accommodation that we would use for animals, without glass in the windows, without heating, without any comfort.

You can read about how things went on in one of my next posts in the next few days.

The way is the goal!

He who gathers his thinking seriously, free of all desire for pleasure, who dwells beyond good and evil, also dwells beyond all anxiety.

- Buddha - honorary name of Siddharta Gautama - 560 to 480 before the year zero

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