Good Thoughts Words and Deeds: The Shaolin Arts and Daily Life
Part 2 of 6
In this article I will discuss one of Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit’
's most profound teachings on daily life, to have Good Thoughts, Words and Deeds. The article goes on to discuss other aspects of Shaolin Wahnam philosophy and their application in daily life.
Good Words
Another quote from Grandmaster Wong demonstrating the importance of this teaching is the following:
We are what we say, do and think; when our words, deeds and thoughts are noble, we are noble
What does it mean to have noble words? Grandmaster Wong in “The Complete Book of Zen” describes part of this concept:
Right Speech, which means to abstain from telling lies, backbiting, slandering, using abusive language, and indulging in foolish gossip
So part of Good Words is to identify the areas in our lives where we may be guilty of any of the above, and letting go of the blockages which cause this to happen. In Western culture it is very common for people to indulge in these negative words, practices such as gossiping often being the cultural norm. We can cultivate good words through different means:
One is that from our training we feel the negative energy associated with, for example slandering, and naturally progress away from this energy.
The other way is being mindful of our speech and observing when we may drift away from Good Words. Then we can either replace bad words with good, or smile from the heart and let go.
Inspiration can also be found within the 10 Shaolin Laws to manifest Good Words. For example:
3. Required to be filial to parents, be respectful to the elderly, and protective of the young.
From this law we ensure that we manifest respect towards family, friends and especially the elderly.
5. Forbidden to be ungrateful and unscrupulous, ignoring the Laws of man and heaven.
Which inspires us to feel and express genuine gratitude when someone helps us in some way.9. Obliged to be humane, compassionate and spread love, and to realize everlasting peace and happiness for all people.
Our words should manifest compassion and love from an open heart.10. Obliged to be chivalrous and generous, to nurture talents and pass on the Shaolin arts to deserving disciples.
We can be very generous with words if we say compliments that we really feel, these words will nurture the talents of our friends and family, spreading love to all. Good Words can be seen as a manifestation of Good Thoughts.
In the words of Gautama Buddha:
Words Have The Power To Both Destroy And Heal. When Words Are Both True And Kind, They Can Change Our World
Good Deeds
This part of the principle can be incredibly rewarding and greatly help us in our practice. It can bring us joy and wonder, enrich our day-to-day, take us away from our "perceived" problems, greatly enhance our Karma amongst many other benefits.
When trying to implement this practice it can be a struggled to be consistent. We may "turn on" this type of attitude one day and then get consumed with ourselves on others. To overcome this the following practice is very useful:
Every day/week think of all the good deeds that you can do, then just do them. Simple as it seems, just the act of continually shifting focus on to this daily enables us to enact this teaching.
One can further categorise Good Deeds into relevant areas such as for Family and Friends, Shaolin Wahnam Family and people we meet day-to-day. Grandmaster Wong’s questions and answers are very helpful on these matters, for example:
Now that their children are grown up, all they want is to have their children visit them often, hold their hands and talk to them.
This sentence provides profound insight in reference to doing Good Deeds for our parents.
It is relevant to mention that Good Deeds or charity are categorised in Buddhist teachings.
Grandmaster Wong describes this:
Should you want to do something, it is best to further increase your blessings by being charitable.
Charity is of three levels. The lowest level is the giving of material benefits, like monetary donation. The second level is the giving of service, like taking care of elderly people, especially your own parents if you are so blessed still to have them living with you. The highest level of charity is the giving of teaching, especially spiritual teaching. One should give teaching only if he is qualified to do so. Giving false teaching, in whatever field, is being uncharitable.
So sharing teaching is the highest level. There is a balance to find here, if you continuously try to teach people then no one will listen. Also we must first "heal ourselves" then others. We can share books, websites, lessons but we must be sensitive to other people’s views and needs. Sometimes the best teaching is to let our Shaolin Arts radiate from our hearts to those around us, that is what really inspires people.
The teaching of Good Thoughts, Words and Deeds are closely related to the 10 Shaolin Laws.
For example doing Good Deeds as described above is closely related to:
3. Required to be filial to parents, be respectful to the elderly, and protective of the young.
9. Obliged to be humane, compassionate and spread love, and to realize everlasting peace and happiness for all people.
10. Obliged to be chivalrous and generous, to nurture talents and pass on the Shaolin arts to deserving disciples.
Grandmaster Wong gives us great inspiration teaching us:
When you give, you open your heart and your spirit expands
Part 3 of this article will be available 14th November 2007
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