ZEN APPLICATION IN PROBLEM SOLVING AND IN DAILY LIFE
Solving problems becomes surprisingly easy with a Zen mind
Question 15
When I was in the Intensive Chi Kung Course this past April, you were so kind to show us an application for Zen. That was problem solving. It was only 5 minutes but really impressive for me. I never felt like that before. Everything disappeared. There remained only the question and the answer. Why was it so easy to find a solution for my problem?
What are the main applications for Zen in our daily living? Can it be applied to everything we do in life? Why is Zen often described as Simple, Direct and Effective?
I can't wait to attend a Zen course with Sifu. If 5 minutes helped me so much in the Chi Kung Intensive Course I can't wait to see what a full course is capable of.
Santiago
Answer
I am very happy of your results. Attaining mental clarity that you can solve problems easily is one of the many benefits of the Intensive Chi Kung Course.
Though the benefits are the norm, which means that it is really nothing special for course participants to have the expected benefits of the course, like being able to generate an energy flow that will overcome illness and provide good health, vitality and longevity, tap energy from the Cosmos that will strengthen the practitioners physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, and expand our spirit beyond our physical body to have a satori or to be connected with the Supreme, it is kind of you to mention them here and elsewhere in our Discussion Forum.
Your comments verify that what we claim to achieve in our courses is true. It gives confidence and aspirations to deserving students.
While these benefits are normal to us, they are incredible to many people, including those who have practiced chi kung or Zen for many years. Why is this so? There are two main reasons.
Much of chi kung and Zen practiced today has been so debased that they are no longer genuine chi kung and Zen. Hence, no matter for how long these practitioners have practiced, they will not get even basic chi kung and Zen benefits.
But why do we in Shaolin Wahnam get not just basic benefits but what to many people are fantastic benefits, and in such a short time? The answer lies with the second reason, which is two-fold. We teach high-level chi kung and Zen, and we transmit the arts to our students from heart to heart. Hence we get high-level benefits in a very short time.
The short answer to your question why it was so easy for you to solve your problem in just five minutes when similar problems might have troubled other people for months is that you saw your problem and solution in a Zen state of mind.
A longer answer is as follows. Many people may be aware that they have a problem, but do not really know what their problem is. This is because their mind is constantly troubled by countless wandering thoughts that smother their problem. In other words, because of the countless thoughts going through their mind all the time, they cannot see their problem clearly.
When they cannot see their problem clearly, they cannot have a solution no matter how long they may intellectualize on their problem. Actually the more they intellectualize on their problem, the more confused the problem becomes, and the more stressful they are. Eventually they become worn out and dread facing their problem.
But you and those who have attended my Intensive Chi Kung Course or a Zen course are different. You can be relaxed and clear your mind of all thoughts within a minute. When your mind is cleared of all thoughts, you have pristine mental clarity. So when you placed your problem in your mind, you could see your problem very clearly.
More that this, you were tuned into the Universal Mind with universal wisdom. Hence a solution, usually the best solution amongst other possibilities, just emerged. You did not have to think about the solution. In fact, you should not intellectualize at all. The solution just shone out.
It was easy for you to find a solution to your problem because you had been well trained for it. Other people would not be able to do so, even when they know the philosophy as explained above, because they do not have the skills. In the same way, it is easy for those who have been trained, to ride a bicycle, swim or drive a car easily, but other people who are not trained in these skills would be unable to do so.
This highlights an important fact many people are unaware of. They mistakenly think that if they know the method, they would be able to perform the task the method is purported to do. They mistakenly think that if they know, in theory, that by clearing their mind of all thoughts, they can solve their problems in five minutes, or by performing a suitable chi kung exercise to generate a chi flow, they can overcome their illness.
They can’t, even when they know the method because they lack the skills. In the same way, they may know the methods of riding a bicycle, swimming or driving a car by reading a book a watching a video, but they still can’t ride a bicycle, swim or drive a car if they lack the skills.
Usually skills need to be learnt from a competent teacher, and acquired after some diligent practice. But our students are special. They have the skills transmitted to them from heart to heart.
There are countless applications of Zen in our daily living. Yes, Zen can be applied to everything we do. The countless Zen applications can be divided into two main categories, the mundane and the supra-mundane.
We still need the techniques and the required skills, but irrespective of whether they are of the mundane or supra-mundane level, we can accomplish better result and in shorter time if we have undergone Zen training.
For example, you may want to cook a meal, read a book, sell a product, manage a company, marry a wife, raise children, win free sparring competitions, feel tremendous freedom, enjoy inner peace, be connected with the Supreme, or perform any mundane or supra-mundane activity, you still need the required techniques and skills, but with Zen training you will accomplish your task faster and with better result.
Zen is often described as being simple, direct and effective because that is what Zen is. If you want to cook a meal, for example, you get the necessary ingredients and cook them. You do not intellectualize why you should cook a meal and not buy one from a restaurant, or why you and not your brother should cook it. You do not read up where the ingredients originated, what food value they have, and intellectualize why these ingredients and not others are used, and what will happen to them if they are only half cooked. You just cook a meal, and preferably enjoy it.
Yes, if one can benefit so much in just 5 minutes of applying Zen in an Intensive Chi Kung Course, the benefits will be more in a full Zen course. Amongst other benefits, course participants will learn how to evaluate any solutions or actions to test whether they are simple, direct and effective. They will also expand their spirit into the Cosmos and be connected with the Supreme.
Being happy and healthy is one of the benefits of Zen cultivation
The above is reproduced from the thread 10 Questions to the Grandmaster about Zen in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum
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