Good Thoughts Words and Deeds: The Shaolin Arts and Daily Life
Part 4 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.
Living Skilfully
A fundamental part of our practice is learning to use the skills we develop to enrich our daily lives. If one trains twice a day but spends the rest of the day tense and stressed with a myriad of thoughts and worries bombarding us then we are not going to improve swiftly.
Living skilfully also means learning to use our Kung Fu tactics and strategies to enrich our lives and the lives of others.
It may be useful for us to discuss examples of using our skills in daily life.
Smile from the heart this is the ultimate skill in our school. As with all our skills it just gets deeper and deeper, it is amazing when smiling from the heart reaches a deeper level. Another important part is learning and cultivating this ability in our daily lives when times get harder. We should ensure we practice this skill to help us when stressed, in conflicts or if any blockages surface in our day-to-day lives. It is intimately connected to Good Thoughts, in that our thoughts will be inherently good if we are smiling from our hearts.
Just relax is so relevant day-to-day, and there is very little to say other than as we practice this daily it grows and grows until those around us feel it also. Anyone having spent time with a genuine Master such as Grandmaster Wong will know how relaxation spreads to others.
Chi Kung State of Mind at the simplest level to be relaxed and focussed is such a blessing to our lives. It gives us the clarity to read daily events with insight, the ability to work effectively for longer periods of time without tiring and deepens our sense of joy in simple things. When we are relaxed and focussed flowers are more beautiful, the sound of the wind is heavenly and we feel connected to whomever we talk to. It helps to remember to come back to this state if we ever feel tense in anyway.
Dan Tien (an energy point just below your navel) as our Zhang Zuang (stance practice) skills improve we become more and more focussed at our dan tiens and this resonates into our day to day. We can feel centred at any time and use this skill to help us in difficult times.
Just let go this skill enriches our lives in wondrous ways. To be able to let go of incidences that may have bothered us for days, to not be overpowered by negative emotions, to be able to let go of cares and worries day to day is simply incredible.
Don't worry about anything just enjoy your practice this teaches us that deepening joy helps us to overcome worries. We can extend this statement to "don't worry about anything just enjoy your life". So if we experience any worries we relax, smile from our hearts and enjoy whatever we are doing in that moment.
It is useful to remind ourselves now and again of these skills and to use them in daily life.
The Ultimate Skill
Smile from the heart is the ultimate skill, it is one of the greatest gifts in our school. One easily notices how often this skill is emphasised and praised, and as we deepen our practice we begin to realise why.
In "Chi Kung for Health and Vitality" Sigung gives us some wonderful guidance on this practice:
Give yourself a few seconds to feel relaxed. Then smile from your heart. Don't worry how you do it; just do it. Just smile from your heart and feel, really feel, how relaxed, cheerful and happy you are. It is a big mistake to think I am being farcical. But I can tell you, in my capacity as a chi kung grandmaster, that this feeling of relaxation and cheerfulness from your heart may possibly be the best benefit of this exercise.
When we begin our practice we may seldom use this skill in daily life, keeping it just to our training sessions. But as we keep going we realise that we can use it many times throughout the day to bring joy and peace.
We should use this skill to help us clear away any negative emotions we may experience daily, and to enhance the joy and bliss we experience.
Grandmaster Wong tells us:
A useful technique is as follows. Whenever you feel anxious or tense during Standing Meditation or any practice or activity, just relax and smile from your heart. Don't worry how you may smile from your heart, or why not smile from your lungs, or ask any question. Just smile from your heart.
"Any practice or activity" teaches us that we can use this skill in any situation throughout our lives.
Grandmaster Wong tells us the secrets of his joy and happiness:
Many people have asked me when I was last sick, why I am always happy, and what the secrets of my health and happiness are. The so-called secrets are as follows.
I practice chi kung or kungfu everyday.
I smile from my heart.
I always have good thoughts
Three beautiful lines that summarise the essence of this article.
So we can use smile from the heart to help us when needed or to let the joy from our hearts blossom out to the world.
Part 5 of this article will be available 28th November 2007
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