Shaolin Temple Cultural Center U.S.A
Los Angeles Official Shaolin Kung Fu & QI Gong
SHAOLIN TEMPLE E
LEGACY 1,500 YEARS IN THE MAKING
ZEN MEDITATION ORIGINS
OF SHAOLIN TEMPLE
Shaolin Temple was established in 495A.D. at the western foot of Songshan Mountain, 13 kilometers northwest to Dengfeng City, Henan Province. The then-Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-557) had the temple built to accommodate the Indian master Batuo (Buddhabhadra). Shaolin Temple literally means “temple in the thick forests of Shaoshi Mountain”. As the first Shaolin abbot, Batuo (Buddhabhadra) devoted himself to translating Buddhist scriptures and preaching doctrines to hundreds of his followers. Later, another Indian monk Bodhidharma arrived at Shaolin Temple, who was said to have crossed the Yangtze River on a reed. He spent nine years meditating in a cave of the Wuru Peak and initiated the Chinese Chan tradition at Shaolin Temple.
SHAOLIN ABBOT
SHI YONGXIN
Abbot Shi Yongxin
SHAOLIN ABBOT
SHI YONGXIN
Shi Yongxin, originally named Liu Yingcheng, was born into a Buddhist family in Yingshang, Anhui Province in 1965. At the age of seventeen, he made his way to Songshan Shaolin Temple, and in 1981 he became an apprentice monk receiving the Dharma name Yongxin under the discipleship of Former Abbot Xingzheng.
For the next three years, he cultivated himself by studying in other Buddhist monasteries, returning to Shaolin in 1984 to assist the elders of Shaolin with the Temple's daily operation. In September of that year, he became a fully ordained Monk in Pu Zhao Monastery, Jiangxi Province.
Following the passing of former Abbot Xingzheng in 1987. Shi Yong Xin received the ceremonial alms-bowl and robes (a symbol for the Dharma transmission) and began serving as head of the Shaolin Temple Management Committee to oversee the monastery.
Ven. Abbot Yongxin has made it his mission to tirelessly protect and revive the tangible and intangible heritage of Shaolin Temple. He has done a great deal of work for the Temple, such as renovating ancient architectures and compiling and organizing the classic books of Shaolin Temple, such as The Secret Book of Shaolin Kung Fu and Medicine and authoring books on Shaolin Culture such as Shaolin Kung Fu, The Dew of Chan and Shaolin in my Heart. Master Shi Yong Xin is also passionate about spreading Shaolin culture worldwide and has engaged in a large number of domestic and foreign cultural exchanges and Buddhist events to see the mission come to life.
