COVID

 

It is a sneaky thing.  This thing that we all call Chinese.  It lays in wait and as you pass by, pounces sinking in its venomous claws.  You have just been attacked by the Sars Corona Virus 19, aka: Covid.  

I joke, I jest, I make fun of things that sometimes are best left alone.  Covid is a serious event.  It has painted the globe in it's vile hues of red and mauve.  I, in my infinite wisdom, figured I was going to get through this pandemic without having acquired an introduction to Covid.  My wisdom, of course, falters and I find myself in the throws of battle with an invisible Dragon.  And how do you kill a dragon? You wrestle the creature to the ground and choke it tightly until all life has slid from within it's core.  When the dragon is dead do not let go until it's mythical body disintegrates and it no longer has a trace of existence in your reality.   

Fortunately old wrestlers like I have the help of modern medical technology.  I was given the magical anti-viral that will help me dispel this beast forever.   Our medical community has become the new Titan, the new champion to protect humanity from our own folly.  Sars Corona Virus 19 is an example of this folly.  It doesn't matter who created it, or where, or why, what matters is that it was done.  After it was spoiled into existence either by greed or sabotage it was released and the dragon found it as a vessel to spread evil across creation. 

My eyes gaze then to the North, to the Mountain called Karuna, to the home of Hunan, the monks of Shaolin.  I look North to the mystical WuDang the home of wizards, and I look North to the center of the sky around which all other stars travel.  I listen carefully, I close my eyes and hear ominously the vibrations that I can feel in my heart.  I hear the Roar so loud that all, and none, are willing to perceive.  The Roar, is the death of Covid 19.  AUM

Peace and Balance,

John

Lohan

 The question has occasionally been asked, "Why, John do you call your routines of practice, Lohan?" Here is a possible answer, you can formulate your own.

A Lohan is an individual who has attained a state of Enlightenment and was a true follower of the Buddha. There is a story that has followed Buddhism from it's inception in Deli to it's eventual home in Sil Lum (Shaolin).  

In it's early beginnings there were 18 of the original monks of the Buddha that deviated from his original teachings and became solitary wanderers of the wilderness.  These were the original 18 Lohan.  The original 18 first enlightened monks of Buddha.  Bodhidharma was one of these monks.  

The story loosely goes that in or about 520 AD Bodhidharma traveled from India south into the regions of south central Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.  At this point he turned north and headed up into the regions of the mountains of China.  Bodhidharma was an aristocrat and physician.  He became a follower of Gautama the Buddha after listening to his liturgy in front of the city wall of Deli, or what would become Deli in India.  It is said that Bodhidharma was instantly struck with enlightenment after hearing the talk and walked away from his material life and became one of the original 18 Lohan. He finely found the Monks in the small forest above the mountains of Shantung in China in the province of Hunan.  

The Monks there called themselves Sil Lum (Shaolin), The Monks of the Small Forest and devoted most of their time to the pursuits of meditation, contemplation, and chanting.  In hoping to attain their own levels of enlightenment.  At this point they were not Buddhist yet.  They were a sect of Cha and Taoism. The birthplace of Zen. 

The monks recognized Bodhidharma as an enlightened one and bestowed upon him the title name, Tamo, Great Teacher, or more specific, "Great Giver of Knowledge." 

Tamo found the Sil Lum in a state of disrepair, and slovenly state of body.  They did not care for themselves only spent time trying to achieve the states of enlightenment that they could not achieve in their present state of being.  Tamo was angry. 

He retreated to a cave that was poised in the mountain above the temple and began meditating.  He thought of himself, he thought of the monks, he thought of the mountain, and he contemplated his cave.  For 9 years Tamo meditated and contemplated his existence and his place in the universe and observed all he could from nature and his surroundings and began creating his original 18 Lohan.  These were 18 exercises designed to strengthen, lengthen, and create levels of awareness and focus.  He then left his cave and presented the Lohan to the monks.  After 9 years he began teaching the monks and 9 years from that time he had his own 18 original students.  This was the birth of the warrior monks of Sil Lum.  

From that point forward when a Monk attains a certain level of expertise and has walked through the room of a thousand tests he can choose to stay in the monetary and become a religious monk or he can travel and become a Lohan, a wandering monk.  One who gains knowledge and experience from the world around him, and teaches that knowledge to those around him.  This is Shaolin. 

To answer the question, Why Lohan?  To pay homage to all Lohan before me, to all the Masters of the arts that have come before, from which I teach my students.

Peace and Balance,

John