Mushypea

You got rocks on your head

All is not quiet in one monastery hidden from view high up in the forested mountains of Yunnan.  The sound of cracking can be heard as spines are stretched, legs & arms are contorted and the constant hum of chanting above the patter of monsoon rains send me adrift.  There is no electricity here, my head torch begins to fade, and so do I.

Buddhism strongly promotes the use of non-violence in any form, after all, peace and compassion are at its core.  In this mountain monastery however, the monks are focussed on physical as well as spiritual training, oh and round the clock chanting which begins in pitch darkness at 5 am to the sound of banging drums.

The senior monk, or Shifu, wanders silently among the Kung Fu and Tai Chi students on the monastery’s front courtyard, massaging his rosary beads as he walks.  This all reminds me of a James Bond film, dozens of Kung Fu students flying, kicking, punching and whipping through the air.  I am curious to learn if the teachings of Shambhala have made it to this remote monastery.

Over the course of a few days, I want to find out what’s driving the students here, living a strict vegetarian diet, early curfews, earlier starts and balancing rocks on their heads at 6:30 am each day before a breakfast of steamed dumplings and soup.  Martial Arts implies some sort of combative instruction which, from my understanding at least, seems to go against the grain of non-violence promoted by the Buddhism I’ve observed in other parts of Yunnan and Sichuan.

I can’t say I’m at all suited to Tai Chi, but I did give it a go!  I was constantly getting the practice wrong, my mind wanders too easily during the routines – everything is slow, slow, slow – I just don’t have the concentration.  My teacher keeps telling me to slow down, slow down.

In the end I’m told with a wry smile that may be my “heart is not quiet enough for Tai Chi”, however, I did manage to pick up some of the basic leg moves – it’s when the arms got involved that it all went pear shaped.

Living with these very different kind of monks was a great experience, waking up to the chanting from the monastery was the best alarm clock I ever had, and balancing a rock on your head first thing – don’t knock it – it’s a great way to start the day, breakfast rush hour has never been so civilised!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 at 22:09 and is filed under General and tagged with China, GXR, Kona, KungFu, Ricoh, TaiChi. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.