龍安志

Though it was over 30 years ago， I still remember the first time I came here. In 1981， I was a student at Nankai University in Tianjin. It was late August， and together with some classmates， we began our journey with a long train ride to Luoyang. A rickety bus up a long， winding dirt road， mud-soaked from summer rains， brought us the rest of the way to a legendary temple called Shaolin at the sacred Mount Songshan.

Having grown up in America with the television series “Kung Fu” starring David Caradinne， and as a practicing martial artist immersed in Bruce Lee books and movies， arrival at the gate of the iconic Shaolin Temple was both personal and powerful. Clouds drifted above misty waters like an unmistakably classic Chinese painting. What we would find inside would further awaken the mind， suspended still in a dreamlike astonishment.

Climbing the steps past ancient steles， we arrived at the Great Hall， the ultimate training room for Shaolins martial arts monks. There was hardly anything in the room， only a rack of ancient rusted martial arts weapons leaning confidently against the wall. I never forgot the haunting power of this room， marked by large indentations in the stone floor from years of monks practicing their martial arts.

Those imprints in stone， worn over centuries by monks repeatedly practicing the same kung fu forms in unison to work towards achieving their perfection， revealed a lot to me about a value called perseverance. It is a task requiring what we in the West call “blood， sweat and tears.” Perseverance represents the reason for Chinas economic success over these past four decades. One must devote time and patience to achieve a goal.

At the entrance to Shaolin， Master De Yang greets me. A quiet， humble monk， De Yang is one of the 31st lineage holders of Shaolin. He points to stone tablets， steles raised over decades and even centuries by martial arts associations from all over the world recognizing Shaolin Temple as the source of their own lineage. There are even carvings and records cast in iron on ancient bells， and writings on the stone tablets recalling earlier times when Japanese monks came to Shaolin to study kung fu， the origin of karate， even a thousand years ago. Climbing the stairs 38 years later， once again I am in the Grand Hall where the monks of past centuries practiced martial arts. “This is the source of kung fu，” explains Master De Yang pointing to the almost surreal indentations in the stone floor.

In another hallway Master De Yang shows me a mural dating back to the Ming Dynasty， with an array of monks practicing different kung fu styles on the grounds of Shaolin. “Shaolin has been recognized as the source of kung fu by many schools from karate， aikido and even Ninjitsu，” explains De Yang.

“But there is a common misunderstanding in the world，” he adds. “Many people think kung fu is about fighting. Actually， it is about self-cultivation. Making yourself a better person. Real kung fu practitioners follow a strict code of self-conduct and discipline. Kung fu is to cultivate the body， mind and spirit. However， in history there have been exceptional situations， the stories become legends and even movies.”

He then pointed to another mural of Shaolin monks riding horses to protect the emperor during the Tang Dynasty when their martial arts skills were sought by the emperor as a last ditch effort to save the dynasty from invaders. The monks agreed and the Tang survived and thrived. The movie “Shaolin Monastery” is based on the story recorded in this mural.

I was then received by Abbot Shi Yongxin himself， who had just returned the night before from New York City， where he had presented a call for world peace before the United Nations General Assembly.

My return to Shaolin after nearly four decades made me think about the inter-connected matrix of all things. During ancient times， Shaolin monks were called out from their meditation and practices to save the nation. Maybe they are being called out once again—only this time， to help save the world.

雖已是30多年前的事了，我至今仍記得第一次到這里來的情景。1981年，我是天津南開大學(xué)的一名學(xué)生。那年8月下旬，我和幾位同學(xué)搭乘長途列車前往洛陽，開始了我們的旅行。我們坐上一輛搖搖晃晃的公交車，汽車駛過一條漫長又曲折的土路，夏季的雨水把路面弄得泥濘不堪。我們終于到達(dá)神圣的嵩山，來到了頗具傳奇色彩的少林寺。

從小在美國看著由大衛(wèi)·卡拉丁主演的《功夫》系列電視劇長大，而且我自己也是習(xí)武者，癡迷于有關(guān)李小龍的書和電影，所以那時(shí)親臨具有代表意義的少林寺，站在門口，真是感到既親切又充滿力量。水面霧氣彌漫，上方飄過朵朵白云，這景象像極了一幅中國傳統(tǒng)水墨畫。進(jìn)到寺內(nèi)，看到的一切更是讓人心曠神怡，觀者仿佛身處夢境，驚異不已。

經(jīng)過一個(gè)個(gè)古老的石碑，拾階而上，我們來到了大殿，這里是少林寺武僧的主要訓(xùn)練場所。殿里空蕩蕩的，只有一排生銹的古代兵器雄赳赳地靠墻而立。僧人們經(jīng)年累月在此練武，在石質(zhì)地面上留下了巨大凹痕。大殿有種氣勢讓我至今難忘。

幾個(gè)世紀(jì)以來，僧人們一起反復(fù)練習(xí)相同的武術(shù)招式，力爭至善，石質(zhì)地面上的那一道道印記向我生動(dòng)展現(xiàn)了一種寶貴品質(zhì)，這便是堅(jiān)韌。用我們西方人的話說，這是一項(xiàng)需要付出“血汗和淚水”的任務(wù)。過去40年，中國經(jīng)濟(jì)成就輝煌，其根本原因就是堅(jiān)韌。一個(gè)人要想實(shí)現(xiàn)某項(xiàng)目標(biāo)，就必須付出時(shí)間與耐心。

在少林寺門前迎接我的是德?lián)P大師。這位僧人話不多，謙遜有禮，是少林寺第31代傳承人之一。德?lián)P大師指給我看那些石碑，它們是幾十年甚至幾百年間由世界各地的武術(shù)協(xié)會(huì)樹立在此的。這些武術(shù)協(xié)會(huì)都認(rèn)少林寺為各自派系的發(fā)源地。寺里古老鐵鐘上所鑄的圖案、記載及一些石碑上刻的文字，向人們講述著早在一千年前日本僧人來少林寺修習(xí)武術(shù)的故事，日本空手道便由中國功夫發(fā)展而來。如今，時(shí)隔38年，登上一段臺(tái)階，我又走進(jìn)了過去千百年來僧人們習(xí)武的大殿。“中國功夫就是這樣練成的。”德?lián)P大師指著石質(zhì)地面上那一道道讓人覺得不可思議的凹痕說道。

在另一個(gè)大殿的走廊，德?lián)P大師向我展示了一幅創(chuàng)作于明朝的壁畫，畫的是一群在少林寺庭院中練習(xí)著不同武術(shù)招式的僧人。德?lián)P大師解釋說：“包括空手道、合氣道，甚至忍術(shù)在內(nèi)的許多武術(shù)派別都認(rèn)為，武術(shù)誕生于少林。”

他接著說道：“但世上普遍存在一種誤解，許多人認(rèn)為習(xí)武就是打斗。而事實(shí)上，它是修身養(yǎng)性，提升個(gè)人境界。真正的習(xí)武者奉行嚴(yán)格的行為準(zhǔn)則，嚴(yán)以律己。武術(shù)能強(qiáng)身健體、修養(yǎng)心神。然而，歷史上也有一些例外情況，它們成了傳奇故事，甚至被改編成電影，搬上了銀幕?！?/p>

德?lián)P大師又指向另一幅壁畫，是僧人們騎馬護(hù)駕的場景。唐朝時(shí)期，侵略者進(jìn)犯，朝廷岌岌可危，皇帝請(qǐng)求僧人們用武術(shù)保衛(wèi)江山，做最后一搏。僧人們答應(yīng)了皇帝的請(qǐng)求，唐王朝轉(zhuǎn)危為安，得以延續(xù)并繁榮發(fā)展。電影《少林寺》就是根據(jù)這幅壁畫的內(nèi)容改編拍攝的。

少林寺方丈釋永信也親自接待了我，他剛?cè)ゼ~約參加了聯(lián)合國大會(huì)，在會(huì)上發(fā)表演說呼吁世界和平，前一天晚上才回來。

時(shí)隔近40年重游少林，讓我不禁想到萬物之間總有千絲萬縷的聯(lián)系。古時(shí)，少林寺僧人們被召集起來，中斷修行，保衛(wèi)國家;當(dāng)下，他們也許再次被召喚，而這次的使命是：拯救世界。