The Shaolin Approach To Wellness and Personal Development

Years ago I trained in a traditional, American martial arts school that emphasized a family style of Kung Fu that dated back over four hundred years.

A typical class involved a period of meditation, calisthenics, stretching, forms work, and then application of fighting technique.

I trained for a solid eight years before I decided to pursue a side hustle as a golf instructor and recognized I would not have time to train.

Looking back, I wish I had stuck with it.

As I’ve gotten older, I recognize how important that training is to maintaining health, so I incorporate some of the training into my own daily routine.

In fact, in recent years, I’ve focused more attention on the aspects of the training that did not involve fighting technique as a means of personal development and health maintenance.

The Shaolin Tradition

A while back, I picked up a copy of the Shaolin Temple Kung Fu Manual written by Sifu Thomas Smith.

This book describes the Shaolin Tradition of training as it was taught to Sifu Smith, and it provides a bit of history.

I found that the focus on personal development was the most valuable content in the book and recommend it just for that.

Otherwise, it is not a great resource if you are more interested in learning kung fu technique and forms.

In any event, what is The Shaolin Tradition?  The following discussion is derived from Sifu Smith’s book.

The Shaolin Tradition dates back to the 6^th century AD when a Buddhist priest by the name of Bodhidharma traveled from India to teach at the Shaolin Temple in China.

Without going into details regarding his teachings, it is noted that Bodhidharma emphasized the integration of physical, mental and spiritual development to optimize personal development.

Thus, the purpose of traditional Shaolin training is holistic personal growth in an effort to improve the quality of one’s life.

The body, mind and spiritual awareness are believed to be interrelated.  A healthy body and mind assist in the development of spiritual awareness.

Learning Methods and Goals of the Shaolin Tradition

The teachings of Bodhidharma form the foundation of the Shaolin Tradition.  Some of the foundational precepts of these teachings are:

• At our core, we are immortal spiritual beings
• Stress and suffering are rooted in the ignorance of the awareness that we are Spirit
• That movement, meditation and consciousness energization exercises can be used to develop the awareness of Spirit, a direct experience of Spirit.

Why Learn

Creation, its maintenance, its evolution and everything in it is based on change.  Living and life presuppose change.

Change produces stress, and without full knowledge of Reality, it can produce stress and suffering.  Change in everything is inevitable.

The path of the Shaolin Tradition is for those who decide they want to change for the better and solve the problems of stress and suffering with full knowledge of Reality.

Goals

The purpose of this training is holistic personal growth to improve the quality of one’s life.  The body, mind and spirit are interrelated.  A healthy body and mind assist in the cultivation of Spirit.

Benefits of this training include improved physical fitness, more energy, heightened awareness and improved mental capacities.

As our spiritual awareness evolves we have a more positive influence on those around us and our communities.

Learning Methods

Self Discovery – Within the classic Shaolin Tradition, answers are not given.  Instead, principles are presented for self-analysis, testing and experimentation.  Nothing is accepted as Truth until it is completely self-tested; until Truth is experienced.

Meditation – our five senses evolved to give us information about our material environment.  These senses have limitations.

The only sense that can give us information that exists beyond the material environment is intuition (our sixth sense).  Meditation is the only efficient method for developing our intuition.

Qi Gong – Qi Qong, or Chi Kung, are methods for improving our energy and internal health.

Forms – The Chinese word for form is hsing and the Japanese word is kata.  Forms training involves prearranged sequences of movement typically involving martial technique that mimics the movements of animals.

Forms training is a method self examination, exercise, Qi Gong, mental focus and meditation.  Mental abilities developed through forms practice include will, self confidence, improved memory, discipline, perseverance, determination, concentration and focus.

Physical abilities developed through forms training include precision of movement, proprioceptive ability, agility, strength, speed, coordination, mobility, balance and stamina.

Bodhidharma introduced this training to the Shaolin Monks to enhance their spiritual training.

Areas of Self Development

Spiritual – Awareness of Spirit through a direct experience of its aspects (see below)

Physical – Improved health, strength, balance, flexibility, stamina, agility, coordination

Mental – Ability to concentrate, self-discipline, objectivity, intuitional ability, memory

Aspects of Spirit

Love, Truth, Peace, Reality, Omnipresent, Light, Wisdom, Bliss, Immortality, Omnipotent, Life, Joy, Freedom, Omniscient, Infinite, Om, Creator, Ultimate All

Virtues to Cultivate

Concentration – the ability to focus on the task at hand

Objectivity – the ability to think logically, elimination of rationalization, projection, repression, denial

Discipline

Patience – be patient with yourself and others

Faith – in yourself and your abilities

Courage – the ability to take a risk even in the face of disappointment and pain

Ultimate Concern – self development must be a matter of ultimate concern requiring disciplined active pursuit

The Buddha Mind

The Buddha Mind is complete awareness of Spirit.  Spirit is synonymous with God, the Infinite.

No-mindedness is the meditational state in which a direct experience with Spirit can be obtained.

A direct experience with Spirit results in complete awareness of Spirit, the Buddha Mind and Total Clarity.

The Rule of No Extremes

The requirement of balance in the yin and yang polarities has resulted in the Rule of No Extremes.  This rule requires us to never take thoughts or behaviors to an extreme.

Eating is a good example.  If we eat too much we get fat and may have to deal with negative issues associated with that.  If we eat too little, we will get weak and eventually die.

We also must find a balance in our training.  If we train too hard, we risk injury, which will slow our progress.  If we don’t train enough, we will get limited results.

A Modern Approach to Wellness

I highly encourage everyone to train in a martial art for at least a few years at some point in their lives.

With that said, achieving improved overall health can be more efficiently achieved through modern fitness training.

However, incorporating some kung fu in a fitness program can be fun, and keep things more interesting.

To train for strength, I personally focus more attention on barbell training and related exercises trained with dumbbells and other gym equipment.

I also train for cardiovascular health through a mix of riding an exercise bike, jogging, HIIT training and plyometrics.

I then intersperse this training with a stretching routine I learned training in kung fu, some yoga and kung fu forms practice.

A couple areas area where I have concentrated more of my efforts are meditation and personality development.

In the modern world, it is easy to get caught up in on all of the negativity, especially if you participate on social media.

It’s my view that social media is the best source for legitimate news.  However, it is necessary to read through considerable negativity in order to learn.

This can clearly have a negative impact on personal growth.

Therefore, personal cultivation through continuous study and meditation can go a long way toward helping to deal with the stresses of modern society.

Thanks for reading!