WU LIFE 307

WU LIFE 307


THE JOURNEY WEST

i can still remember rushing home after primary school with my best friend mark to watch my favorite series on chinese television, 'the journey west,' starring the ever popular 'sun wu kong,' or, 'the monkey king.' mark, the smart and clever one, would always be the monkey king.. and i, the chubby, clumsy one, would always be 'zhu ba jie,' the pig. we had such fun. later, in college, when i was interested in rediscovering my cultural roots, 'the journey west' was the very first book i picked up. i read it front to back countless times, highlighting every fight scene and clever jewel of wisdom. my favorite part of the book, however, would be at the end of each chapter, where it would have a kind of batman ending.. 'and if you don't know what happens to our heros next, then you should read on to the next chapter..'

now, so that we can all on the same page, 'the journey west' is the story of a peaceful monk, a hungry pig, a hairy monster, and of course, the monkey king. the tale depicts their mission to retrieve buddhist scriptures from india so that they can return them to china for the people to study and practice. along their journey, they faced 81 obstacles, but they eventually made it to their destination. much to their dismay, once they arrived, the text they intended to retrieve was blank.. and when they went to get another copy, the sacred sutra was accidentally dropped into a river, which consequently washed the ink clean off the paper. wa waaaaa.

so that's the gist of the story.. my apologies if i ruined the ending for any of you. i'm bringing this up because a few weeks ago i had the pleasure of sharing dinner with master yuan and my kung fu brother derek.. and along the course of this dinner, shifu shared some really cool insight into the classic story.. please allow me to paraphrase..

'the story of the monkey king and the journey west is a metaphor for the transformational path of a spiritual seeker. in taoism, there is a principle of three treasures,.. and within man, those three treasures are jing, qi, and shen (vitality, energy, spirit). jing, which is the raw, foundational force of internal cultivation is represented by the monster.. a strong, but unrefined character. on the other end of the spectrum is shen, or spirit/mind.. this is represented by the monkey king. the monkey king, or spirit/mind, is incredibly strong, mischievous, and very hard to control,.. but once tamed, he proves to be a powerful ally. in between is the pig, or qi. in practice, the qi simply follows the strongest force or intention.. and this is illustrated in the story when the pig constantly runs back and forth for the comradery of either the monster or the monkey depending on their situation. these three characters, or treasures, all serve the monk.. and the monk represents the body. this dynamic illustrates the interdependent relationship of the body and its treasures.. true, the three characters serve the monk,. but the monk, or body, would be helpless without the security and strength of his three protectors, or treasures.

'the next part of the story is the journey itself.. just as the sun travels from east to west along the course of the day, a journey west is symbolic of growth, change, and evolution.. moreover, to have 81 obstacles is just simple numerology.. 9, the highest single digit, is multiplied by itself, resulting in 81.. this represents the countless hardships a seeker must face along the road to realization. when our heros finally get the sacred text and find it to be blank.. this represents the success of their journey and the realization of ultimate consciousness - for once one has reached that state, the experience is beyond words. then, when they go back for another set of scriptures only to have them ruined in the water, this is just a clever way to illustrate that the spiritual path must be tread, not read.. for true realization is in the journey.' ..word.


KUNG FU COCOON

as a dedicated martial artist, i have witnessed so many breath taking transformations.. not only my own, but i have been blessed to witness the growth and evolution of so many others that have committed their time to developing the entirety of their beings - mind, body, and soul. thing is.. though we have all evolved and transformed, we all started relatively young and healthy.. we all had good bodies and strong constitution, and none of us really had any life threatening, terminal illness, or anything like that.. so of course a little exercise will benefit our health.. so how can we really say that it was the kung fu that helped us? well.. since i started this journey, i've had the opportunity to meet some really remarkable people that have some really amazing stories of personal growth and transformation.

now, of course you have the people that want to train for little stuff like,.. 'i wanna stand up to that bully,' or 'i wanna lose weight,' or 'i wanna develop strength and coordination,' ..and, for some, these are legitimate goals.. with just a little time and effort, these goals can be easily accomplished through martial training,.. then when realized, often times such a person can gain much more than just the surface level satisfaction of a few battle scars and a stronger, fitter physique.. they also build confidence, they are empowered, they feel better able to tackle bigger projects, and so on,.. so what starts off as a little goal can actually turn into something much greater. but, again.. there really isn't anything too remarkable about a little weight loss and more self confidence.. the transformative powers of martial training are much, much stronger.

about five or six years ago, i met my first remarkable being, we'll call him rod. rod was a younger gentleman, around the same age as me, but he was once diagnosed with OCD and had severe social disfunction. granted, i never knew him when he was in the thick of his condition,.. in fact, he was one of my kung fu instructors, so as far as i could tell, he was just a regular dude with good kung fu.. but when i got a job at a special education school, i came to find out that rod was a student there once. in utter disbelief, i checked out the yearbooks, and sure enough, there he was. i began to hear stories of his old behaviors from long term teachers, and then i would hear more and more stories from older students at my kung fu school. i couldn't believe it. but, with all the crazy stories, came all the amazing accounts of how meditation and kung fu turned his life around. even to this day, my eyes well up when i think of my dear friend rod,.. he played such an important role in my personal transformation.. but he was just the first of my many miracle meetings.

two years ago, here in wudang, i had a chance to meet a weird french dude, we'll call him le' peu. he was kind of funky and dirty, but his kung fu was really good. i came to find out that he lived in the mountains with a hermit monk and he would just do chores and cook for the monk to earn his keep.. pretty cool. well, it turns out that le' peu once had a severe case of epilepsy, and he would go into these violent seizures quite frequently. now, again with my special education experience, i've had a chance to see a few kids have epileptic seizures, and it is a scary thing - but these kids were all treated with chemical medications that only sedated them and made them all groggy and drowsy,.. and beyond that, those drugs probably had all kinds of negative effects on their young and developing bodies.. thing is, the medication didn't CURE the symptoms, it only kept them in check. right? well.. the funky french dude CURED himself of epilepsy. meditation, kung fu, diet, and fasting - the regiment i live by - proved to be just the remedy he needed. now, no more seizures.. he is completely cured.

more recently, i met another gentleman, also from somewhere in europe, we'll call him check. check also had severe epilepsy. now, check is a little more comfortable in the financial field, so he was better able to try all the newest treatments, but nothing worked. then, by some random chance, he met a crazy, radical doctor from canada with a revoked license and an illegal, underground practice that suggested he try a new regiment.. meditation, kung fu, diet, and fasting. eager to try anything, check gave the treatment a shot, and after three months on an extreme program, he found himself cured of his condition! that was 20 years ago,.. now check is well into his fifties, jumping, kicking, and punching harder than any of us young bucks here at the academy. truly unbelievable!

the most amazing case, however, has to be of my martial brother, we'll call him lee. lee had practiced martial arts his entire life and had developed remarkable skill under the instruction of legendary modern masters. then, one day while crossing the street in japan, he was struck by a speeding car. the accident left him paralyzed from the chest down with a broken back and a shattered right leg. in just a single instant, his body was totaled. i can only imagine the trauma he had to go through,.. but again, with kung fu and meditation, over time, lee made a complete miracle recovery. the doctors said he'd never walk again.. let alone train.. but now, five years later, you would have no idea that he went through such an accident.. he has full function of his once shattered right leg, and aside from a little stiffness, he can bend and twist his back in every which way. amazing!

you know, you always read about these miracle stories of growth and transformation, but to meet these people, and train with them in person is really something else.. but the fact is, everyone i know that practices has had some sort of transformation. just the dedication and commitment it takes to take on such a difficult practice like kung fu is transforming in itself. even if you don't dig kung fu.. say you prefer yoga, pillates, dance,.. whatever.. personal transformation is within your grasp. dive into the kung fu cocoon and realize your full potential as a living, growing being.. and through your own growth and evolution, may you inspire others to do the same.

may all beings realize their full potential.


ALOHA ALL

whooo.. this week was tough. i was hit with a nasty case of the runny buns mid week and had to miss about four days of class. but.. despite my slush butt, i was able to get a lot of writing done. i also gave a lot of massage this week too. i touched five fellow students, two coaches, and the cook,.. then on top of that, i taught seven brothers the basics of tui na massage therapy. busy body. what else.. oh, i also got a cell phone this week! i feel so tech now that i can send text messages and receive calls. if any of you feel like sending me a text message or making a long-long distance phone call.. hit me up. (86) 1-587-273-1717.. i think skype (skype.com) would be the best way to make that happen, just keep the 16 hour time difference in mind.

well.. that concludes this edition of wu life.. 'and if you want to know what happens to our hero next, then you should stay tuned for the next chapter..'

i love and miss you all.


see you on the other shore,
-zi rong



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May all beings be happy.