Book Review: Shaolin Spirit- The Way to Self-Mastery
1 min read
Shevlin Sebastian reviews Shaolin Spirit- The Way to Self-Mastery (Particular Books, 2025), observing how Shaolin master Shi Heng Yi shows us how to better understand ourselves.
Very early in the book Shaolin Spirit — The Way to Self-Mastery, by Shi Heng Yi, the author states, ‘It is the moment that matters. It is living in the present and being aware of what is, here and now — because the Now is when life is happening, and only in the Now can change take place.’
He also talks about how important it is to focus on the breath. In Shaolin, this system of focusing on the breath is called Qigong. ‘You can go a few days without food, and even without water, but you can only last a few minutes without breath,’ says Shi. ‘When you focus on the breath, it enables you to strip away illusions and see the world as it is.’
The Shaolin philosophy was founded over 1,500 years ago at the Songshan Shaolin Temple, located at the foot of the Shaoshi Mountain in Dengfeng City, Henan Province, China. The temple is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
