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Shaolin, famous for its Kung Fu and various styles of Wu Shu (fighting styles) has at its heart a well protected secret. The fighting Monks of the Shaolin Monastery have, over the past 1350 years, developed the martial arts into a masterwork, arguably surpassing all others. Such popular forms as Tai Chi, Chi Gung as well as superhuman feats of single-handed stone splitting, and deep, immovable meditation are all part of the curriculum for those who spend their lives within the walls of the monastery. But the legacy of Shaolin derives from a simple Indian monk who, the story goes, sailed to China in the 7th century bringing with him the philosophy of Zen, and a desire to find a sanctuary in which he could attain his own Buddhahood.

Da Mo, the Buddha Bodhi, (or as Kung Fu practitioners know him Bodhi Dharma) settled in a cave next to a ramshackle monastery in Shaolin, where the monks were ill-kempt and unhealthy. He decided that since the great Buddha had spent so much time in meditations before attaining enlightenment, a lowly acolyte like himself would have to sit in solitude for many years to achieve even a fraction of what Sakyamuni had attained. The legend tells us that this mysterious soul remained in his cave, meditating for nine long years. When finally he stood up, his mind was pure as light, and he knew without doubt his True Nature. But when he looked down at his body there was only a withered shell. He was no better than the decrepit Shaolin monks who sat meditating for seventeen hours a day with disastrous results for their physical forms. Being in a body like that was uncomfortable, stiff and painful. In nine years he’d aged thirty.

So, in his enlightened state he began to move with the intent of rejuvenating, and healing his body - to make it a fit vehicle in which to live. He discovered a whole series of movements to regenerate the body, rejuvenate the mind, and increase the life force, or Spirit, the power behind physical form.

It was like magic. Within days he was transformed. Young and laughing again, full of vigour. Depictions of him can still be seen as the fat Buddha who sits grinning with children playing over his body; or stands laughing, with two arms raised, breaching the gap between heaven and earth. Da Mo taught his effortless series of movements to the monks of Shaolin. Soon they were all miraculously fit and healthy, looking younger, and vibrant with energy.

In years to come the monks developed their celebrated fighting styles and meditations from these seed movements. Kung Fu, Chi Gung, the art of sword fighting. Buddha Bodhi’s original method was kept secret, reserved for only the elite monks, and practiced in strict privacy.

The movements and their amazing effect on the physical body and mind are not stuff of myth. They are practiced today in much the same way as they have been for 1350 years. Only one thing has changed. The Art of the Enlightened One – the Zen Buddhist Yoga – has escaped the confines of Shaolin. Under the auspices of a recognized master, they have been released to the public. And the effect of this easy, simple work is still as astonishing now as it was in ancient China. There are only two people outside the Shaolin Monastery teaching this simple, yet extraordinarily effective self-healing and regenerative technique. But judging from results so far, it could soon be spreading like wildfire. Ratziel is one of two, outside the Shaolin Monastery, who are teaching this technique. He will be in the Southern California area in March.

For information about Ratziel’s classes,

please contact Ione Linker on 310 829 5883