The Shaolin Temple Part #2 of 3 (Please share with a Friend)

The Shaolin Temple Part #2 of 3

Shi Yanti the New face of Shaolin

By Don Warrener

Then it is time for them to have free time or to take care of their duties around the temple, be it washing clothes or personal hygiene or maybe gardening or another areas which are divvied up to keep the Temple in good repair.

Then it is time for afternoon training again, which ends around 3:00 pm. Then they are again given free time to do as they like until dinner at 5:00pm and this is a small meal. It is then time to go back to the study of Sutras and their recital which ends at around 7:00pm.

Then they are free to do what ever they like whether it be training, climbing the surrounding mountains, Internet or studying more Sutras or whatever they like. Shi Yanti said he loved the Internet so he spent much time learning the Internet and how it all works.

We just had to ask if there were any woman monks and he said “yes but they live at another Temple but their training is the same”.

We asked him to share with us a story about something that happened to him while staying at the Shaolin Temple that he has never told anyone before. This caught him off guard and he said let me think please for a few moments and then he came back at us with this story. My very first night that I stayed at the Temple was very strange for me. It was right after I was accepted as a monk. Throughout the night I kept waking up and completely covered in sweat head to toe and yet it was the winter time and then I would get very cold and this happened all night long yet I was not sick at all. To this day I cannot explain this but I will never forget my first night at the Temple.

Our next question was one I kind of already knew the answer to but I wanted the answer from the horses mouth himself. What is the difference between western martial arts schools and the Shaolin Temple? The western martial arts schools have classes that are one hour long twice or maybe three times a week but for us it is a way of life that we are emerged in it is 24 hours a day 7 days a week for the rest of our lives. It is our way of life not just a hobby for us. You might say we eat, sleep, and drink the Shaolin Culture.