# Staying the Course
# Staying the Course
Copyright Christine Sommerfeldt

Shi Heng Yi

He is famous by now – even something like the face of The Shaolin Spirit in the Western World. You might wonder how he made it from the head monastery in Shandong China into the European hemisphere with such ease? Who helped him, who managed such a career? How come he combines Chinese Confucian, Buddhist and western philosophy with such ease?

The answer is, he forged his own fate – against the odds and with outstanding courage and resilience. His parents arrived in an icy November 1979 as “boat- people” in Kaiserslautern, Germany from Laos with a wave of refugees fleeing the war between the Khmer rouge and their American backed opponents. In 1983 their second son was born, that was him. The parents were Buddhists and so became their children. However, Tien Sy Vuong was sent to the Shaolin Kungfu- school in town at the age of four; and with that he became immersed in Shaolin martial arts and buddhist teachings from childhood. He stuck to it even if he may have preferred to spend more time on his likings for building and engineering things: bicycles and later motorbikes and other. Heeding his father’s advice – which for a good son of understanding was an order – he had to later take on two academic degrees in social and communication sciences, but refused the job offers which came with it. Thanks to perseverance and talent he took the Black Belt at the age of 18 and became a Shaolin Master. In 2004 he received his order name Shi Heng Yi by one of the first famous Shaolin Monks that represented the first official delegation of the Songshan Shaolin Temple that were sent abroad to Germany. He took an equal interest however into freedom and independence and, after his studies, travelled the world for some years. To earn his money, he worked as security-guard at times. He returned to Kaiserslautern in 2011 at the age of 28 to visit his parents since his father was sick. His brother had left toBerlin where the German Shaolin headquarters were located. Shi Heng Yi stuck to the Kasierslautern school but found the squabbles between the two institutions unnerving and useless. So he decided to realize his own dream and founded the Shaolin Temple Europe which took residence in a detached building in the Palatinate Forest (Pfälzer Wald). The venture started off well with a dedicated group of eight lay-monks.

But the founder had to take a mandated sabbatical and the young monastery deteriorated as a result. After a year, one day all pupils left the premises abruptly. When the master got back to the scene the young enterprise seemed to be doomed with bankruptcy looming. However, that could not be. Some amazingly lucky things came to pass: instead of making use of its right to take over and sell the property, the bank which had financed the building in the woods agreed with the founder of Shaolin Temple Europe to lower the interest and support the restart of the venture. From then onward an ever more prosperous journey started at which Master Shi Heng Yi proved to be as much a master of Martial Arts as of social media. Thanks to an excellent team he was able to put together he could reach out ever farer to spread the message and practice of what he referred to as the The Way of Self Mastery .  And herein lies Shi Heng Yi’s greatness – and modesty: to confer the meaning of the Socratic statement “The greatest warrior is he who overcomes himself” and to exemplify that with physical mastery and supporting philosophic enlightenment both of which he embodies through his daily speech and practice. The Eightfold Path thus is laid out before you; together with the invitation “Join!” and find out yourself…

Ever since stepping onto the path of Shaolin, his aim is to share practices and insights to foster self-improvement, pointing to the ultimate realization that would end all suffering of human kind. The authentic teachings of Bodhidharma, which directly point at the essence of existence, known as “Chan (Zen)”.

In 2024 he became a father to his Son and continues to share the legacy, his knowledge and practices with the community of all practitioners to keep the Shaolin Spirit more alive then ever before.

To get a profound glimpse into the vast world of Shaolin, his official book “Shaolin Spirit” will be available by 5th May 2025 for the English speaking community.

tap with edits by Shi Hengyi, Dec. 2024 / Jan. 2025