Gazing at the stunning temple at the base of the Songshan Mountain range in Henan province, southeast of Luoyang, I had finally reached a destination I had longed to see for many years. I was captivated by the legendary Shaolin temple, known as the residence of the renowned Indian monk Bodhidharma, who is credited with founding Zen Buddhism and the martial art of Kung Fu. The temple's historic architectural complex, notable for its significant aesthetic appeal and deep cultural meanings, is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. After completing my usual photographic exploration of the temple, I settled in front of a statue of Bodhidharma and entered into deep meditation. As a practitioner of transcendental meditation, I found it effortless to transition into dhyana, despite the distractions of occasional tourists wandering through the temple, which is predominantly recognized by the public as the birthplace of Kung Fu martial arts. My personal link to this temple, shared with many fellow individuals from my home state of Tamil Nadu, India, stems from the great Bodhidharma himself, who arrived from our city of Kanchipuram in 520 AD to introduce Mahayana Buddhism to China. He spent nine years living in the Shaolin temple, and I plan to share his story through the perspective of Tsutomu Kambe (a former physics professor at the University of Tokyo), drawing from his book 'Bodhi Dharma and Oceanic Silk Road.' I have long wished to write about the esteemed Bodhidharma for my blog readership since my visit to these regions in 2003. Ensuring safety is always a priority for me when exploring remote areas.
On Tuesday morning, June 17th, we got up at 5am to complete our packing and left for the airport by 9am. Our Delta flight #281 departed an hour behind schedule and landed in Shanghai around 4:30pm Wednesday, local time, which was approximately 1:30am PST on Wednesday.
20.06.2024 - 24.06.2024 22 °C
29.03.2025 - 29.04.2025 18 °C
Nearly every weekend was filled with an exam. There were entrance exams for international high schools, PE assessments for middle school graduates (which my daughter excelled in, scoring full marks in all), and mock exams for subjects like English, Chemistry, and Physics, among others.