The Shaolin Way to Enlightenment

Attaining a Focused

Mind The highest attainment in the training of Shaolin Kung Fu is spiritual ful- filment. Because of linguistic, cultural and historical differences, teachers of different religions have described their highest spiritual fulfilment in different terms, although they all refer to the same achievement.' In the Shaolin tradition, it is known as Zen, and sometimes as nirvana, bodhi, or Buddhahood. In English, it is translated as 'enlightenment'.
Zen or enlightenment is the majestic, sublime experience of cosmic reality in its transcendental dimension, where all dualism has disappeared, where the enlightened being is emancipated from the illusory prison of the physical body and becomes the infinite, eternal universe as he or she realizes that the personal mind is in reality the Universal Mind. The essen- tial path to enlightenment is meditation.
The kind of meditation practised in the Shaolin tradition is the one taught by Bodhidharma. It is known as Patriarch Zen, and emphasizes focusing on the void. However, for those with little or no meditation experience, or without any training in Shaolin Kung Fu or Shaolin Chi Kung, it is not easy to focus on the void. It is therefore advisable for them to start with Tathagata Zen, which is the kind of meditation taught by the Buddha himself, and which aims to attain a focused mind.
Tathagata is a Sanskrit term meaning 'suchness', ie cosmic reality with- out conditions, and it is how the Buddha often referred to himself after he had attained enlightenment, indicating that an enlightened being is in reality the Cosmos as he or she has transcended the illusory boundary of the physical body to which ordinary people confine themselves because of the limitation of their senses. Tathagata isju Iai in classical Chinese and ru Iai in modern Romanized Chinese;Tathagata Zen is ru Iai chan.
The following is a famous meditation technique in Tathagata Zen. It is known as anapanasati, and was originally taught by the Buddha himself, and described in the Satipatthana Sutra (Scripture on the Foundation of Mindfulness).
Sit comfortably in a single or double lotus position in a secluded place where you will not be disturbed throughout the training session. Support your buttocks with a firm pad or pillow if needed. Place your palms on your knees in what is known as the Lohan poise This poise will help to keep your spine straight, which is a very important fac- tor in meditation training. When you have become used to sitting comfortably upright, you can progress to placing one palm on your legs in front of you, and the other on it with the thumbs touching slightly – figure 16.1 (b).This is known as the Buddha poise.

Sitting in a simple cross-legged position or upright on a chair may be suitable for meditation with a lesser aim, such as for relaxation, stress man- agement, chi training or even developing psychic powers. But for the supreme aim of spiritual fulfilment, you must sit in either the single or the double lotus position. Ifyou legs are too stiffto do so, you need to prac- tise leg stretching exercises to loosen them.
Your body must be upright but relaxed. Ifyour back slumps, you are likely to cause an energy blockage at that spot, which will result in pain or discomfort. Your head must be slightly tilted forward so that ifyou look ahead, your eyes rest on an extension of your nose level. If you tilt your head backwards, which you might unconsciously do after meditating for some time, the rush of chi up the spine, which may occur in those who have consistently trained for some time, may enter your head at a vital point called nao-hu ('house of the brain'), and this may cause deviations such as giddiness, nervousness, pain and hallucination. Ifyour head is tilt- ed forwards slightly forming a smooth curve, the rising chi will flow round your head in a pleasant, beneficial manner. You can, if you wish, place the tip of your tongue against your upper gum; this is helpful for those who are familiar with this position, but might be distracting to others. Your eyes can be gently closed or half-closed, focusing at the tip of your nose.
When you are correctly and comfortably seated, clear your mind of an thoughts. Then gently focus on your breathing. You need not conscious- ly regulate you breath, but just be gently aware of it. Silently count your breath as you breathe out. Count from one to I0, then repeat the count- ing in sets of 10. In other words, silently count 'one' as you breathe out the first time, count 'two' the second time, until you reach 10, then count 'one' again as you breathe our the eleventh rime, 'two' the twelfth time, and so on.
If you miss or lose count, it does not matter; just continue from the first mmlber (between one and 10) that comes to mind. Ifyou find your- selfcounting to 15, for example, it means you have lost concentration or awareness; continue the next count as 'six'.
/fyou can perform Abdominal Breathing, you may use it in place of spontaneous breathing, and proceed the same way. Complete the medita- tion practice by rubbing your palms, warming your eyes with your palms as you open your eyes, loosen your body, then walk about briskly.
This technique of counting breaths is a very effective way of achiev- ing a focused mind. Practise daily for about three months before pro- ceeding to the next stage of anapanasati.

Meditation to Train Awareness

After training the mind to be well focused, the next stage is to develop sharp awareness. Use the same method as in counting breaths, except that now, instead of counting you JblIow the breath. You can start your meditation by first counting your breaths a few times, or you can proceed straight to following the breath.
When you breathe in, spontaneously or regulated as part of Abdominal Breathing, be gently aware that you breathe in. When you breathe out, be gently aware that your breathe out. If you are occasionally hesitant, or pause in your breathing, or breathe more quickly than usual, be aware that you are hesitant, pause or breathe more quickly. If your awareness wan- ders, as often happens, bring it back gendy but immediately without fuss or question, and resume your practice.
Later, when you have developed a keen sense of awareness, you can progress to a deeper level of training. As you breathe in, follow your whole in-breath from its entry into your nostril right to where it settles in your lungs, abdomen or other parts of your body. Similarly, as you breathe out, follow your whole out-breath from where it starts its jour- ney right through your body to its exit from your mouth or nose.
In our school, Shaofin Wahnam, we believe in quality rather than quantity in training. We recommend only five minutes of counting or following the breath. Ifyou can successfully count or follow your breath with full awareness for a total of three minutes in your five-minute med- itation, you would have done well. It is certainly better than sitting in a meditation position for half an hour, with hardly a minute of full aware- ness and 29 minutes of myriad thoughts arising. As you progress you can gradually increase the length of each meditation session. But irrespective of whether you meditate for five minutes or 50, your counting or foil owing of the breath must be done gently; any forced concentration is likely to result in deviation.
If you practise the above meditation daily for six months, you will be amazed at the benefits you will get. Not only will your mind be focused and your awareness sharp and fresh, but you will also attain clarity of thought and inner peace. Ifyou practise daily for six years, you will obtain benefits that you may not have dreamed of before. However, if you feel uncomfortable, giddy, nauseous, nervous or frightened, or ifyou develop a headache or hallucinations, your practise is wrong. Stop and consult a master immediately for remedial action. On the other hand, if you prac tise for years and do not experience the benefits mentioned above, you should review your training with reference to the Three Requirements for Attainment explained in Chapter 5.

Investigating Cosmic Reality

Buddhism is exceedingly rich in meditation methods, but all of them can be divided into two main groups: samadha or tranquil meditation and vipassyana or insight meditation. Samadha meditation is aimed at taming the mind to attain tranquility, while vipassyana meditation is employed to expand the mind, to investigate the true nature of reality.
Anapanasati, the method described in the last section, is a form of samadha meditation. When the mind is focused, it can then be employed to investigate ultimate reality in vipassyana meditation. There are many ways to approach cosmic investigation. One effective way is to look stra- ight into the mind and ask, while in deep meditation, what that mind is, or where it is located. Another Zen question you can investigate in your vipassyana or insight meditation is whether you and your mind are the same. Do not jump from question to question; you need only one ques- tion, which if properly asked will lead you to a Zen awakening when you can answer all the other questions, but you must ask the one question as ifyour whole life depended on its answer.
You may reason and speculate, but you will never get the answer you seek by any intellectual means, because it must be directly experienced. Using the simple analogy mentioned in the previous chapter, the answer to the question of what a mango tastes like cannot be obtained by rea- soning and speculation, but only by directly experiencing it. Ifyou per- sist, over many years or even lifetimes, prajna or transcendental wisdom will blossom, and the answer will be right in front of your mind's eye.
Asking awakened people how they know they have the right answer to a Zen question is like asking someone eating a mango how he or she knows what the taste of a mango is. If the teacher asks a seemingly sim- ple question like 'Have you taken a meal?', they may give a seemingly illogical reply like 'That donkey is swimming in the lake'.Yet both they and the teacher find the answer meaningful. Such Zen encounters in the past are now recorded as gong-ans, or koans in Japanese.
While it is not impossible to achieve awakening from practising insight meditation on one's own, it is obviously a tremendous advantage to train under a master. But if a student, or even the instructor, does not even know what cosmic reality is, or what insight he or she expects to get, but merely calls sitting in a lotus position vipassyana meditation because it is fashionable to do so, it is hardly surprising that such a student gains little or no result.

The approach to enlightenment through tranquil and insight medita- tion, where the mind is trained to be focused and then employed to investigate ultimate reality, is known as Tathagata Zen. This is also the approach employed by most schools of Buddhism, although the types of question they use as a catalyst for their cosmic investigation is different. Theravada Buddhists, for example, frequently derive their questions from the doctrine of dependent origination, investigating such topics as what causes birth and death, what the physical body is made of, and why karma is perpetuated. Mahayana Buddhists often derive their questions from aspects of cosmic reality, investigating topics like what conditions phenomena, what dharmas or subatomic particles are, and what lies beyond mind.

The Zen of Bodhidharma and Hui Neng

Patriarch Zen, or zu shi than, is the form of Zen taught by the first Patriarch and explained in some detail by the sixth Patriarch. Zen was first transmitted by the Buddha to Mahakasyapa, who was the first patriarch of the Indian tradition and who transmitted Zen to the second patriarch, and so on until Bodhidharma, the 28th Indian patriarch. When Bodhidharma brought Zen from India to China, he was regarded by the Chinese and subsequent Zen practitioners of the world as the first Patriarch of the Chinese tradition.
It will normally take a very long time to achieve enlightenment, usu- ally over many reincarnations. In Theravada Buddhism, followers improve their karma by cultivating moral purity so that, hopefully, they will one day be born as monks, to devote all their time to attaining nirvana. In Mahayana Buddhism, followers may take upon themselves the great com- passionate Bodhisattva's task, vowing to come back to phenomenal worlds again and again to help others. In a way, Zen Buddhism is a reaction against this long journey towards enlightenment; it seeks to attain it here and now, and accomplishes this aim by experiencing ultimate reality directly through meditation. In Zen terms this is pointing directly at the mind and attaining enlightenment in an instant.
Why and how this can be done is explained by the sixth Patriarch Hui Neng in his Tan Jing or Platform Sutra. Hui Neng is regarded as the Chinese Buddha, and his Plat/brm Sutra, together with the Heart Sutra, the Diamond Sutra and the Lankavatara Sutra, constitutes the most important text in Zen Buddhism. The Platform Sutra is very clear in its presentation, but those not familiar with concise Buddhist terms may find it difficult to understand. See if you can make sense of the following very important passage, which contains the gist of Zen Buddhism.
Non-thought constitutes the basic doctrine, non-characteristics constitutes the basic body, and non-ab/ding constitutes the basic foundation. What is non-characteristics? Non-characteristics is to be in the midst of characteristics yet free from them. Non-thought is to be in the midst of thoughts yet free from thoughts. Non-abiding is the original nature of man. Thought after thought arises, yet they do not abide. Past thoughts, present thoughts, future thoughts-thought after thought is connected, without breaking off, without end. If a thought is broken off, the spiritual body is free from the physical body.
The meaning is as follows. The basic doctrine of Zen is to realize ultimate reality (described in Zen jargon above as non-thought), which is tranquil and void (described as non-characteristics). The fundamental way to achieve this is to attain a state where no thoughts abide (because the illu- sory external world is a creation of mind).
What is meant by saying that ultimate reality is tranquil and void? It means that when you are awakened or enlightened, you will realize that ultimately there is no dualism, ie there is no differentiation between you and anything else, although ordinary people observing you will see you as a separate person sitting in meditation and all other objects as different entities.
Reality can manifest in two dimensions: the same reality that manifests as the phenomenal world to ordinary people, is transcendental to the enlightened. When an enlightened being does not abide with any thoughts that arise, ultimate reality (described as original nature) is mani- fested. Countless thoughts may arise but if they are not attached to the being, he or she remains in a state of enlightenment.
The thoughts of ordinary people are continuously connected, from the past to the present to the future; there is not an instant when they are without thoughts. If you can break of this train of continuous thoughts just for an instant, then at that instant you become a buddha, as you lib- erate your illusory personal mind from your illusory physical body and attain the realization that you are in reality the Universal Mind (described as the spiritual body).
If you understand the above explanation, you will understand why Dogen Eihei (1200-1253), the great Japanese master who founded Soto Zen in Japan, said that when you attain the meditation of no-mind, you are not practising to become a buddha; you are a buddha. This reminds us of Hui Neng's famous statement:
When an ordinary person is enlightened he becomes a buddha;
When a buddha is unenlightened be becomes an ordinary person.
Soto Zen and Kinzai Zen, or cao dong than and linji chan in Chinese, are the two most popular schools of Zen in the world today, and both gen- erally employ Patriarch Zen. While Soto Zen emphasizes the meditation of no-mind, Rinzai Zen makes extensive use ofkoans (or seemingly illog- ical Zen stories) in their spiritual cultivation. Various schools have been practised in Shaolin Monastery, but the most important throughout Shaolin history has been cao dong chan or Soto Zen.
The following method of meditation to attain the state of no-mind is so bafflingly simple that people often wonder whether it works. It is the highest meditation taught in the Shaolin tradition. It is the method taught by the greatest of Zen masters, the sixth Patriarch Hui Neng and the first Patriarch Bodhidharma. It can actually be described in one short sen- tence: go into deep meditation in a lotus position and keep your mind free from all thoughts.
But when you practise this method, unless you have had previous meditation training, or training in Shaolin Kung Fu and Shaolin Chi Kung, you will find it one of the most difficult tasks you have ever tried. For many people, it is helpful to start with counting or following the breath. Only when you have tamed your mind, should you attempt to expand to mo mind, which actually means all mind.
Zen seeks to attain enlightenment in an instant, but you must remem- ber that this instant normally takes many years of diligent, conscientious training to achieve. If you are ready, you will first have an awakening, which will be the most beautiful,joyful and amazing experience you will ever have. Your whole perspective towards life and the universe will change after this spiritual experience.You will love all beings, and have no fear of anything, not even death, because you will experience the evi- dence of your own immortality in this spiritual awakening. You will accept the teachings of the Enlightened Ones not because they are enlightened but because of your own direct experience of their truth.
The awakening is an inspiring confirmation that your path towards enlightenment is correct. The journey from awakening to enhghtenment is still long, but you will know it is worth taking. You must also remem- ber that meditation training to achieve a spiritual awakening is the third step, not the first, in the cultivation of enlightenment. The first and second are avoiding all evil and doing good. If you neglect these earlier steps, it is unlikely that you will make much progress in your meditation. This is not moralizing but a universal truth, which you can perceive when you are awakened. If you acquire psychic powers, which will normally happen as you progress in meditation, but use them for selfish or evil pur- poses, you will inevitably ruin yourself, and end up leading a miserable life or even developing mental problems, as is evident from the stories of some psychics without strong spiritual foundation.

Shaolin Kung Fu for Spiritual Development

You may ask, 'If Zen training or meditation is the path to enlightenment, why bother to practise Shaolin Kung Fu or Shaolin Chi Kung for spiri- tual fulfilment?' The answer is that ifyou are not ready, you will achieve little, even if you meditate for years. Shaolin Kung Fu and Shaolin Chi Kung are excellent ways of preparing yourself. Sometimes, even without formal Zen practice, a disciple training in Shaolin Kung Fu or Chi Kung may achieve a high degree of spiritual development, because Zen or med- itation is ah'eady incorporated in the other two Shaolln arts.
You will achieve the full benefits of meditation training only ifyou are physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually fit. If you are sick, emo- tionally disturbed, mentally dull or spiritually unsettled, you are unlikely to make such progress, and you may sometimes suffer unwanted side- effects. Indeed, it was in order to make the Shaolin monks physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually fit for the demanding discipline of meditation practice that Bodhidharma introduced the Eighteen Lohan Hands and the Sinew Metamorphosis, which later developed into Shaolin Kung Fu and Shaolin Chi Kung.
The holistic training of Shaolin Kung Fu with Chi Kung makes one physically fit, emotionally stable and mentally fresh: if one is not physical- ly fit, one can hardly fight; if one is not emotionally stable, one cannot apply one's combat skills; if one is not mentally fresh, one cannot make split-second decisions. In the past, when fighting was commonplace, the lack of any one of these qualities might mean the difference between life and death. Fights to the death are fortunately very rare today, but these invaluable qualities, produced by a training system that has been acknowl- edged as 'the best beneath heaven', can be used to promote spiritual cultivation
Moreover, a Shaolin Kung Fu disciple is generally spiritually stronger than most other people. This is because one's spirit is direcdy related to one's state of physical health and energy level. Essence, energy and spirit, orjing, chi and shen, are closely related: ifa our essence is weak (which is manifested as poor health), we will lack energy; ifwe lack energy, our spir- it will be infirm. Some symptoms of a person whose spirit is infirm include being afraid of the dark, nervous of the future, easily frightened by slight movements, and fearful of ghosts. A person who is weak spiritu- ally can be knowledgeable in religious matters, but is usually slow in spiri- tual cultivation.

Different Attainments for Different Needs

Shaolin Kung Fu, therefore, leads to the greatest achievement any person can ever attain, ie the highest spiritual fulfilment. Nevertheless, some peo- ple may not be ready for or interested in this highest spiritual training. In Buddhism there are methods to meet the various needs and aspirations of different people, which can be divided into the following three generalized levels:
1 Live healthily and happily to a ripe old age.
2 Go to heaven in the next life.
3 Attain the greatest, highest achievement, described variously as attaining enlightenment, achieving Buddhahood, returning to God, union with Allah, unity with the Cosmos, becoming one with Brahman, seeing ultimate reality, or finding the Absolute Truth.
Shaolin Kung Fu, in conjunction with the teaching of Buddhism, can help us to achieve any or all of these aims. Practising Shaolin Kung Fu daily can ensure that we live healthily to a ripe old age. And to ensure that our healthy, long life is also happy, we practise the basic teaching of the Buddha, namely avoiding evil, doing good and purifying the mind.
Numerous writers have been impressed by the fact that in many Asian countries where the dominant religion is Buddhism, the people are always cheerful and courteous. It is obvious, even to the most sceptical, that those who do not cheat or steal, but are always kind and helpful to others irre- spective of whether they are kings or paupers, have every reason to be happy. Their feeling of being at peace with themselves and with others is further enhanced if they also spend a few minutes a day meditating.
For those who want to go to heaven in their next life, Buddhism provides the best guarantee. There are good reasons for this claim. While there is only one heaven in most other religions, in Buddhism even in our world system alone, known as the Saha World, there are 22; there are literally countless heavens in countless other world systems in countless galaxies in the known universe where we can go to ifwe wish and if we qualify and Buddhism shows the way.
In Buddhism it is comparatively easy to go to heaven. The main qualification is to accumulate good karma by avoiding evil and doing good. A rebirth in heaven is not a reward by the Buddha or any divine being, but the result of karmic effect. All one's thoughts, words and deeds, both good and bad, are imprinted in one's mind, and after the disintegration of the physical body at death, one's mental vibrations will attract appropriate dharmas (or subatomic particles and forces) for rebirth at an appropriate place according to the karmic effect of the vibrations.
One's thought at the moment of death has a great influence over one's next rebirth. If, owing to bad karma, one dies a violent death, the impres- sion of pain and fear in one's mind is not likely to give one a good rebirth. On the other hand, if one dies serenely, satisfied that one has led a good life, the feeling of peace and satisfaction in one's consciousness at the very moment of his passing away will probably lead to a rebirth in heaven. Masters who have attained a high level of meditation can not only tell when they will leave this world, but also decide where they want to go in their next. They do so by an intense concentration on the heaven of their choice at the moment of their transmigration.
But going to heaven is not the highest aim in Buddhism. Heavens, like hells and other worlds, are still in the phenomenal realm; they are still cre- ations of mind. The supreme aim of Buddhism is Buddhahood or enlightenment, where the enlightened one goes nowhere but breaks down all illusory boundaries and differentiation, and transcends the phe- nomenal realm. One realizes that one is the infinite, eternal Cosmos, or the omnipresent, omniscient ultimate reality, which is described by some as God.
Zen, the highest level to which Shaolin Kung Fu leads, aims to achieve this sublime, unsurpassed attainment here and now. It is, of course, a for- midable task, but if you are determined, and have fulfilled the prerequi- sites of avoiding evil and doing good, you too can succeed by purifying your mind using the methods taught by the Enlightened Ones themselves as explained in this book. The result is inexplicable, but as a poor analogy may be described as eternal, infinite bliss. If you can comprehend the magnitude of the opportunity facing you, you will appreciate why great princes and kings, like the Buddha, Bodhidharma, King Subhakarasinha of Orissa, Padmasambhava, Mahindra and King Tran-Thai-Ton of Vietnam, renounced their luxurious palace lives to seek and help others to seek the greatest, highest attainment.