On my journey from the place of my birth to the temples of Wu Dang Mountain we would sometimes sleep in run down temples, other times we would sleep outdoors, sometimes under a roof and sometimes we would sleep right on the mountain or right on the hillside. At times we received an act of kindness and would be invited into somebody’s house, then we would just take a corner and lay down, or we would gather some grass or straw and make a bed and lie down and rest. We never had to worry about what to eat. We always trusted that there would be food available from nature or from people who gave it to us. Sometimes we didn’t have food and then we would just not eat for a day or two. This was in China during the Cultural Revolution when people were starving. When we had nothing to eat, occasionally we would eat grass roots, or we’d pick wild fruit and wild vegetables. We managed to cook, and we may not have eaten much, but people are kind and they would share some soup or some sweet potato with us as we traveled through the towns. You know, your shoes would break and you’d have bruises and calluses all over the feet. I never felt bad or worried because my teacher was strict and kind at the same time. He was very strict with me, but kind, teaching me and encouraging me. I felt secure. We traveled like this for over three months and it was fun! I was young and so my mind or intelligent spirit had not come to rule my original childlike spirit. My spirit allowed me to be free and have fun because my mind had not learned to fear the unknown.

The Yuan Shen is original spirit; it does not recognize time or place. The Shi Shen is intelligent spirit. At the beginning of human life there is no existence of a Shi Shen or intelligent self. When humans learn the access to the material world this gives birth to the Shi Shen. Humans are meant to evolve from the innocence of a newborn baby, to the intelligence of youth, and on to the wisdom of the peak power of the Shi Shen. At the same time Shi Shen is evolving, Yuan Shen starts from a birth of spooky capabilities and evolves towards numbness or unawareness of its true ability in most people. Yuan Shen and Shi Shen are like master and servant living in the same room with their position and power changing all the time. The wise man learns to be a dummy and the intelligent man fights for an empty statue of “self.”

Sometimes Shi Shen says things that may conflict with the Yuan Shen. That is, the mind conflicts with the original spirit. The Yuan Shen however, never gives up on the pursuit for purity. The original spirit is kindness, which we never give up. However; the Shi Shen sometimes contradicts this original spirit. The Shi Shen may not allow the Yuan Shen to speak or act freely. We must learn to live and let live! Live and let live is equal to unconditional love. Once you are able to love unconditionally then you will break out of the cycle of living in the expectations of others. Learn to forgive yourself of being a victim. Only then can you overpower your pains and aches. Stupid people look for perfection in themselves, others and the world. Life is not perfect! If you always try to defend yourself for being a victim, then you are already a victim again. There is no need to defend yourself! Give up the will or desire to “win.” Give up the fear of death. There is no need for offense or defense. Life is merely a puzzle. Welcome your opportunity to solve this puzzle. Always look for the other side, the dialectic side of “me". If you can know one side of “me” then you can know other side of “me". Strive to understand the opposite of what you are feeling. However, always be consistent to what you believe. Walk The Talk! What you believe can change but until then, walk the talk for what you believe today! Do not blame and become a victim.

In the beginning of my cross-country journey to the temple, I had a few early nights of regret, but during the daytime I always said, “I’ll be okay, I’ll be fine.” The desire to learn overcame my fear. And I trusted that I would be brought to this mystical place, this mystical mountain to meet this mystical person who chose me to learn something spooky. I could learn Kung Fu from this mystical old man. So you know, just even that desire, that motivation kept me going. We traveled three months to come to this mountain.

You must follow your head, heart and gut. The root of knowing comes from the gut. This is where instinct is born, in the Dan Tian, located about an inch below the navel. This is the furnace where Jing and Qi are purified to be transmuted to Shen. In China they say we have become stupid because at birth we are cut off at the gut, our umbilical cord is cut there. In today’s world our external environment influences us too much and as a result we are working only from our head and heart. You need to go deeper, to your original condition, your Xing or essential nature. You need to find your eternal life or Ming. You were once one with eternal life. Separation comes with the separation of Xing and Ming. Separation from eternal life makes us a slave of our emotions. Vulnerability is created from this separation.

Right now the master within is your intelligence. This is a fake master. You need to find the original true dragon, merge the black and the white of Yin and Yang to find the mystical dragon. This comes from the pre-heaven stage before birth mother and father merge. The true dragon has to come from the Yuan Shen, from the original spirit. This is the dragon that creates your life. Before birth you spend nine months in darkness and stillness to nurture your true spirit. Then birth happens.