GUAN YIN BODHISATTVA AND HER CONNECTION WITH SHAOLIN WAHNAM
Guan Yin, Golden Boy and Jade Girl
Question
Could Sigung kindly explain the story and connection between Guan Yin and Shaolin Wahnam? I have read many stories from different instructors and students over the years about personally connecting with this great Bodhisattva of Compassion.
As I progress with Small Universe training, I also find myself connecting closer to Guan Yin during standing meditation.
Could Sigung also share some personal experiences and advice with Guan Yin?
— Stephen, USA
Answer
Guan Yin Bodh Satt, the Bodhisattva of Great Compassion, is closely related to our school. She often comes to our courses all over the world to bestow blessings to us. On numerous occasions, not only me but many other course participants felt her presence distinctly.
One particular occasion was very memorable. I was teaching Cosmic Breathing or Sinew Metamorphosis (later called Merging with the Cosmos) at the Guan Yin Temple on the Blue Mountain in Costa Rica many years ago. More than 75% of the course participants had a spiritual awakening where they clearly felt their spirit beyond their physical body.
It was already incredible if only 2 or 3 participants had a spiritual awakening, but when more than 20 participants had a spiritual awakening it was just miraculous. After the course many cried out of joy and gratitude. A few participants embraced one another. I honestly believed that I was only a conduit during the course. It was Guan Yin Bodh Satt who conducted it, or at least during the part of the satori or spiritual awakening.
I am going to share a secret. It was a secret, but now I feel it is time to reveal it to our Shaolin Wahnam members. If some of our family members and others outside our school do not believe it, it is their choice and their right. No one needs to believe what I am going to say if he (or she) does not want to.
The secret was told to me by my sifu himself, Sifu Ho Fatt Nam. I am not sure whether my sifu told the secret to anyone else. My sifu was a reincarnation of Golden Boy, the personal attendant of Guan Yin Bodh Satt, the other personal attendant was Jade Girl. It suddenly made sense to me why Guan Yin Bodh Satt is so closely connect with our school.
I would also like to take this opportunity to categorically declare again that our school is non-religious, that any deserving student regardless of his (or her) religion can practice and benefit from our arts without any adverse effect on his religious beliefs. In fact our arts will strengthen his religious beliefs and make him a better follower of his own chosen religion, as is evident in many of our family members. Guan Yin Bodh Satt herself is non-religious. She will answer the prayers of sincere seekers irrespective of his religion.
My own introduction to Guan Yin Bodh Satt occured when I was just a little boy. My mother took me to the famous Guan Yin Temple at Pitt Street, Penang, Malaysia to pray. Even since then, Guan Yin Bodh Satt has guided and protected me, my family, our Shaolin Wahnam Family at all times, for which I am forever grateful.
The two pillars of Guan Yin Bodh Satt's teaching are wisdom and compassion. They are also the two pillars of the teaching in our school. We are wise enough to realize, both in theory and in practice, that the training in our arts is to enrich our daily life. This realization is of particular importance today when most chi kung practitioners do not get much benefit from their training because they, usually without their conscious knowing, practice gentle physical exercise instead of genuine chi kung, and most martial artists routinely hurt themselves and therefore their training is detrimental to their daily life.
We are compassionate in being generous to deserving students, and forgiving to those who may have wronged us. On the other hand, we are wise enough not to waste our time on those who do not want our help. Being forgiving to others also brings much benefit to ourselves as we do not let negative energy abide in us, though we did not crave for such benefit in the first place.
The above is taken from Question 1 of April 2015 Part 2 of the Selection of Questions and Answers.
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