In fact, when it comes to work, it is nothing more than going to and from work. Just as confused as going back and forth, there are occasional surprises, and life will continue tomorrow. Perhaps the most unusual thing is its working place-Shaolin Temple in Songshan, Henan.

To say what kind of job this is, I want to share a job advertisement first:

Basic information:

Work location: Dengfeng, Henan

Industry: Hammer Spectrum Museum

Reporting target: prison

Treatment: higher than the average salary of the same industry;

Benefits: five insurances and one gold, job promotion, skills training, performance bonus, holiday gifts, team dinners;

Job responsibilities:

1. Be able to adapt to the changing laws of spring, summer, autumn and winter and the twenty-four solar terms, and formulate corresponding life strategies;

Maintain physical and mental balance through training in Zen, martial arts and medicine;

3. Due to work needs, Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism are required, and papers, history and philosophy can be retired;

4. Take a bath regularly, chant and burn incense, and wear linen clothes to work;

5. Able to climb primitive mountain roads, with strong sense of direction, and accept climbing frequency three times a week;

6. Be able to identify basic herbs and their growth characteristics;

Requirements:

1. Born as a man, you need to be awed;

2. Be proficient in at least one foreign language;

3. Knowledge of farming, brewing, tea ceremony and other handicraft skills is preferred;

4. Those who have expertise in piano, chess, calligraphy and painting are preferred;

5. Be familiar with the national religious policy;

6. Irregular life will not be considered;

Company profile:

Shaoshi Mountain dense forest.

This atypical job advertisement was written when I was looking for a successor after working in Shaolin Temple for two years. Seemingly ridiculous, in fact, full of sincerity, about the fundamental work of Shaolin Temple, roughly so.

To sum up, I have been a foreign cultural communicator in Shaolin, receiving diplomatic missions from different countries, exporting Chinese studies and Shaolin culture, and studying martial arts, meditation and Chinese medicine in my spare time.

Many friends often ask me why I went to Shaolin. How can I enter Shaolin? ?

Personally, I think that many times a job choice itself doesn't make much sense. Just like some people rush to investment banks or McKinsey after graduation, or join the Internet BAT, or start a business in Shenzhen Silicon Valley, it is a comprehensive decision. The key is certainty and how your thinking extends in your work.

This boy (I) has been preparing for this job for half a year, if all the planning and preparation are counted, at least three years. The preparation process is rational, rigorous and monotonous. Relatively speaking, what is more exciting is what kind of life he experienced in the four seasons of Shaolin Temple.

Long summer is usually around May 5 in the solar calendar. According to the Book of Changes, May is sunny and cloudy. I ching said, "hey, when you meet, you will meet softness." Heaven and earth intersect and taste salty; Just met Chiang Kai-shek, the world is big. "

The hexagrams say that everything has hope, just like Shaolin in summer.

This is the busiest time. Under the influence of the "One Belt, One Road" policy, Shaolin undertook a series of cultural exchange projects, and various groups from Vienna, Switzerland, North Africa and other five countries signed up one after another. Our job is to formulate and implement systematic martial arts and Chinese studies training.

sky

Get up at 5 o'clock every morning, accompany a group of foreigners to start morning exercises, and after breakfast, from grasping hands and five-step boxing to one-on-one hitting sticks and plum blossoms. I often tell my friends that practicing martial arts is extremely hard, which is about 2.5 times that of normal military training.

In the afternoon, it's time for culture class. In the Shaolin Cultural College in the west of the temple, there are a lot of pens, ink, paper and inkstones in the classroom, and the hands of various colors are flying. However, before the ink was dry, the Zen master began to explain the meridians, acupoints and acupuncture techniques to them. Every day.

I like to stay with that group of African students and experience that primitive vitality. One person laughs happily, and others laugh with him; When practicing martial arts, one person shouts, and others shout together. This is a very close relationship between people, belonging to the spiritual level or higher level.

I remember that on the night of parting, the African group and Shaolin monks danced local African dances and sang ancient songs around the bonfire. Every note and drum comes from the beating of life. Farewell can also be vigorous.

night

However, the most interesting time of Shaolin in summer is at night, and meditation after meals. To meditate in meditation, the premise is to let go of karma and not think about life. The so-called:

Practice empty flowers and spend thousands of lines, and feast on the Shuiyue Dojo.

Surrender to the magic army in the mirror and make a masterpiece of Buddha's dream,

This is a lifelong practice. Meditation is actually a kind of recovery and healing.

After that, I will be full of energy and invite friends who can chat to have tea together. It is often like this: on the left side of the coffee table, there are a few foreign friends with questions and a bunch of questions, and on the right side, there are three or two old monks pointing at each other with a smile. Then everyone plays chess while drinking tea, and I sit in the middle as an interpreter. The beauty of this day-to-day collision between China and the West is self-evident.

Most foreigners sitting here are not ordinary tourists, but special officials of some government departments or university professors. The old monk on the right also has a good idea. Everyone talks about everything in different places, including Freud, Sartre, Camus, Wilde, Hegel, Rembrandt, Weber, Woody Allen, Hanshan, Laozi, Qian Mu, Cao Xueqin and Li Yu.

Of course it's not so noisy every night. Shaolin is a platform or carrier, which can constantly attract artists from some traditional cultures to gather. One night, I was chatting with a Guqin teacher. Apart from tea and piano, only candlelight keeps flashing in the silent mountain night.

One night, Teacher Cai Zhizhong said, "Zen is not only a moment of enlightenment, but also a life before and after enlightenment." I understood in an instant. I used to emphasize the peak time too much and forgot to think about it. What should I do after I get it? What should I do after I get rid of it? Is it to maintain, or to put it down slowly? No one can avoid these problems.

In fact, just like this job, the author regards it as an adventure and a redefinition of the work framework.

This job requires hard work, hard work and monetary reward. Learn culture, spread culture, and then inherit culture, be a vegetarian, practice calligraphy, martial arts, meditate, and collect herbs. The daily work and the ideal lifestyle in your heart confirm each other. This is a kind of perfection in itself.

But more importantly, this job is not so linear. There are not many linear promotions and salary increases or buying a house or a car, and there are not many similar comparisons or competitions. Its peak may depend on every day and every moment. It is nonlinear and can peak every day.

The winter in Shaolin is simple, clean and subtle. What needs to be done is to study and prepare for the coming year.

Once a mountain was blocked by heavy snow. On a boring morning, I went to the prison room and found him writing in Chinese calligraphy. So they each wrote a few strokes, and then had tea and chatted. Suddenly the wind blew outside the window, and when I went out, I saw snowflakes flying. The two of them watched it all morning.

Salt flies and butterflies dance, and flowers fall and float.

The powder falls, and the butterfly flies salt.

Another snowy night, when Alphago played against Li Shishi, I went to an old monk in the fourth stage of Go every night to make a comeback. It snowed heavily that night, and we took Dai Quan's Wukong back to the fourth episode. That game of chess, Li Shishi is almost losing ground, a bit bleak.

Back in the back, the old monk sighed: Afa dog's chess is very Zen! My eyes turned red as I spoke, and the song just sang the sentence "Great hoop comes first, I want to say it."

It is conceivable that Shaolin has no heating. It's freezing, so we have to compete with pine and cypress to see who withers first.

The ancients said: frost in the door can wake up the bones, and the sunset in the window is good for reading. Therefore, we do some grooming every winter. Shaolin has three treasures, here is a brief introduction:

Deep meditation

Zen is an interesting branch of Buddhism. It does not emphasize chanting, meditation and all forms of practice. It pays attention to daily necessities, epiphany and life before and after epiphany.

In fact, the goal of various schools of Buddhism is mostly the same, that is, liberation theory. In order to achieve liberation, we must practice for a long time, be pious and persistent. But Zen has always been, a word and a half of enlightenment, and then liberation.

Shaolin is the ancestral home of Zen Buddhism, with a cave with a Dharma wall and two snow pavilions with broken arms for dharma. People keep coming for these stories, but the last thing I expected was that there were few large-scale Buddhist ceremonies and few chanting. Most monks write about drinking tea, farming and raising flowers, and doing some cleaning from time to time. They are also very happy to chat, and two or three sentences can always make people laugh.

Sometimes, laughter is an enlightenment.

Just like the teaching method of Zen, it has actually explained everything: that is, the situation shows people, the topic is used for fun, the next conversation is stopped, the slap in the face, and the gestures are self-evident.

Mr. Feng Youlan once said that Zen originated from the end of Han Dynasty to Wei and Jin Dynasties. Buddhist monks, as outsiders, often communicate with local Taoist priests. This Wei and Jin demeanor, known as "speaking freely", later evolved into Zen. This is a pleasant religion, and this is its goodwill.

Hanshan once wrote a poem, which I like very much. Let me share it here:

"High on the top of the mountain, finding endless. Sit quietly, nobody knows, and the solitary moon shines on Joan Hinton. There is no moon in spring, and the moon is in the blue sky. Singing this song is not Zen. "

martial arts

This topic is too big, but I have to say it. Because we all have too many misunderstandings about Wushu.

First of all, Wushu is a science, not a sport or physical education. Profound and exquisite, it is often missed by thousands of miles. Secondly, the purpose of martial arts is not to fly in the sky, nor to float on the water, but to attack-to knock down the enemy (including Tai Chi) at the first time; Finally, the martial arts system originated in the Han Dynasty. Its theoretical basis is mostly Chinese medicine, that is, the meridian theory in Huangdi Neijing. Its manifestation is routine, which developed in Tang and Song Dynasties and declined in Ming and Qing Dynasties.

This is a real world, and countless geniuses and masters devote their lives to martial arts. Even in 20 17, there are at least 100 schools and types of boxing in China, whether it is Shaolin Boxing, Taiji Boxing, Bajiquan Boxing, Bagua Boxing, Italian Boxing, Soft Boxing, Xingyiquan Boxing and Wing Chun Boxing. It is found all over the country, but mainly in Henan, Shanxi, Tianjin and Hebei.

Qualified fighters of any sect, as long as they make moves, are fatal to ordinary people. This is also an important reason why martial arts must keep a low profile. In ancient times, you had to practice martial arts at night, and you had to find a courtyard with four high walls, because you were afraid that others would steal learning, because real kung fu was extremely dangerous.

On the other hand, it is not so mysterious, that is, through a lot of repeated training, people can quickly and effectively attack the most deadly acupoints of others, but it is basically impossible for those who have not practiced to avoid them, and in a sense, a blow will be fatal, otherwise they have not practiced at home. Therefore, the master needs to be very cautious in accepting apprentices, with bones second and character first. This is another important reason why Wushu system can't flourish.

I practice martial arts in Shaolin, and practice more external skills in summer, such as standing piles, stone locks, sandbags, piling and splashing water. The so-called external training of bones and muscles, as well as routines, such as Little Red Boxing, Five-Step Boxing and Seven-Star Boxing, are basically practiced during the day and taken medicine at night; Winter is mainly internal work, such as Yijing and marrow washing. Most of them practice qi, and sometimes they can sweat when they sit and practice at night in winter. These are basic skills, and it takes at least 100 days to get started, commonly known as "100 days to lay the foundation".

About martial arts, in the final analysis, you still have to teach yourself. Only when you get started can you know the weight and authenticity. If you have friends who are really interested, you can also trust me privately. In fact, there are many people interested in traditional Wushu in China at present. I declare that I am not a soldier, I am only half a martial artist.

doctor

There is an old saying in Wushu, "Boxing begins with ease, and reasoning is based on medicine".

Wushu has developed from a kind of fighting to a science, which is inseparable from Chinese medicine. For example, where to fight and how to fight need medical guidance; Injuries during practice or confrontation need Chinese medicine to heal and set bones; Some martial arts, such as iron sand palm, must be practiced with ancestral prescriptions, otherwise the more you practice, the more painful it will be.

This urgent demand has contributed to the Shaolin medical school with Chinese medicine as the main body. I simply learned the common sense of acupuncture pharmacology, and occasionally went up the mountain to collect herbs, which was mainly used for health preservation in the four seasons. Later, relatives and friends had some minor illnesses, which could be simply treated and nursed back to health. Y was already satisfied.

In fact, Zen, martial arts and medicine, in the eyes of Shaolin Temple monks, are the same concept and are interlinked. The so-called reason lies in medicine, martial arts enter Zen, and Zen transports martial arts, which are indispensable. Shaolin boxing has been practiced for a long time, and only a wise person can gradually understand a kind of Zen.

These are not jokes.

The above is a summary of my working experience in Shaolin Temple.

Finally, I want to say:

There is a life where you can't see the past and the future, because you live in the depths of the season.

The fruits of winter will be sown in spring. The taste of summer is at night, now how to make the night in the field wide and long. Don't look at geese in autumn, make wine, store grain and collect herbs, otherwise Xiaosuo's lonely mood will grow easily and it will be difficult to spend the winter. Winter is a battle. In ancient times, wintering was a matter of life and death. Everything in the world is killed when it is cold, so the mentality should be warm, supplemented by diet and guidance. Bathed in the spring, walking in the green, singing, its happiness is a gift given by winter, making spring lovely.

Some people say they live somewhere else. I don't agree. Every moment of life is not always like this. Looking out is sometimes a kind of fatigue. It is better to learn to cherish the present with your heart.

Forget the past and the future, and life will be broad. This is our wind.

End.