123-Start part 4 - Buddhism in daily life

Start part 4

So first of all I unpacked my backpack, I would still be able to think about the connections later. Nevertheless, a queasy feeling remained, what had driven me here to the Shaolin Temple China? Wasn't that much too ambitious for a recreational athlete? On the way here I passed countless martial arts schools, saw surely tens of thousands (if not more) of students, lined up for training, flexible and fast, with a completely different physique than me, small and nimble, me big and strong.

The young men trained all day, I watched them for hours, up and down they ran lanes, practicing punches, kicks, sweeps, holds, strength and endurance. And now here I come, a typical German recreational athlete, training three times a week, between school, university and work, more time just wasn't in it. The hard-working Chinese were completely different, they trained for about 9 hours a day, I couldn't even manage that once a week. What had gotten me into this? How did I get the stupid idea to go to the Shaolin Temple to learn Kung Fu from the monks? What an overconfidence.

What I did not know at that time was that the temple was actually taboo for all "normal" students, that only monks and novices found (and find) admission here. I was to find this out much later, at the time of my "admission" to the temple I was not aware of this at all. What honor was bestowed upon me here, I was not at all aware of. According to the normal rules I should have been accepted "only" in one of the schools, not at all in the temple. However, after a long period of isolation, I was one of the first people interested, so I seemed unusual and interesting.

I had quickly stowed my few things, when my new friend asked me to come with him. It went out through the main entrance onto the temple path, which was packed over and over with stalls. Mile after mile of small stores, mainly food and souvenirs, it was noisy and full of foreign smells. Shi Yan Zi bought sweet potatoes at one stall, a sticky candy at another, we devoured everything hungrily as we walked. Then we walked around the area, stopping here and there, the monk talked to many people, he seemed to be very well known, clearly, he was the only one with such clothing. The tourists were also long gone, the area now seemed quiet and peaceful, in some corners you could still hear Buddhist songs from the tape, there was a magical mood, almost magical, so my first evening seemed to me. Slowly we strolled back to the temple, the simple bulb in the room barely gave light, we quickly went to bed. I into my sleeping bag, which I packed on the rack, the monk put on a tracksuit, lay down fully dressed on his mattress, covered himself with all kinds of things, it was bitterly cold, the monk's hermitage was without windows, only some newspaper replaced a glass, we slept almost "outside", visibly with a few degrees in the minus.

The way was and is my goal!

Long lasts the night to the awake, long the way to the wandering tired.

Long wanders through the worlds, to whom knowledge is not granted

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

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