A VERY SPECIAL ZEN EXPERIENCE
Binia (front, centre)
Dear family,
Sitting on a chair and mainly listening to Sigung for almost 8 hours during our Zen course was a very special experience for me. I felt extremely rooted and alert. My upper body felt so light and somehow open and in my legs it seemed as energy would constantly flow through to the ground. At one point I closed my eyes because it was so intense. It then felt as my hands wouldn't belong anymore to me, they were just somehow lying in front of me. This was a new feeling for me and I decided to open my eyes again in order not to get distracted and be able to follow Sigung's teaching. I could have been sitting there for another 8 hours. I felt in constant bliss.
What did we do? We entered Zen and did better whatever we did. And at the end of the day after the Graduation Dinner (which was a Zen course by itself) I felt like my cup got emptied already again like one of my KungFu brother put it to the point. If this is a skill, then I guess Sigung kindly transmitted it to us. After 12 hours full of information I felt incredible fresh.
I find it hard to write down my experiences this time. Somehow it is a course beyond words. In a telegraphically way I can mention some of it: yes there was a lot of deep philosophy, wisdom about Buddhism and life. Strategies on how to get married (smile) that we can easily adapt to our working life too. There were some repetitions of Lifting the Sky suddenly followed by Sigung's simple words: Now enjoy the Cosmic Shower. We "put" questions into the Cosmos and received solutions for ourselves or someone else within the next minutes. We realized how crucial it is to express ourselfs properly and to listen and to respond to what we were asked to. We learned about the importance to make a decision instead of worrying about the "outcome" already. In the end Sigung took us on a journey, on a journey back to our very existence.
When I afterwards walked to the venue of the Graduation Dinner I felt surrounded by peace and warmth and Bern never felt so still and tender before.
Well, and the Graduation dinner was just another wonderful Zen course: thank you to everyone for the questions and thank you to Sigung for answering them with so much patience, wisdom and generosity. It was simply beautiful to hear about the book Shukhavati, to learn about the significance of the Monkey God for our school and it was not only inspiring but also lots of fun to see Sigung doing some famous KungFu pattern by Fong Sai Yuk in the middle of the restaurant! It was just truly a special event.
For me two parts of my life somehow melted together: my many, many travels to the Himalaya and my training of the Shaolin Arts. Three-four years ago I stopped going there because whatever pulled me there I wanted to find it here in Switzerland. Indeed I wanted to find it within me, wherever I would be.
If you were not attending the course, I suggest this:
http://wongkiewkit.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10776&page=3
And just look forward to the next opportunity to attend a Zen course.
May we all have a happy and fulfilling life. Thank you Sigung for accepting us as your students and for teaching us.
Binia
A Zen class in London
The above discussion is reproduced from the thread Zen Course in Bern, Switzerland in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum.
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