I was thinking todays about a chance encounter I had with one of the original Zen monks teaching in the United States. His name was Chungwha, a Korean born Zen priest, who had traveled the world to teach the mind of Zen.

I stumbled upon him as I was paying my respects in the Buddhist temple in Monterey California. I had been seated in meditation for a while, when I heard silent footsteps behind me. The energy of his presence was so peaceful, and therefore I continued to meditate for quite some time. As I rose from my seated position, there he was smiling at me with those bright eyes. I introduced myself, and before I could elaborate on anything more, He said, “Come and have tea.”

I noticed he was very frail, but walked quickly ahead of me. We sat down on large cushions in a private room offside the temple area in silence, while he made the tea in a beautiful ritual. We sat in silence for a while, not because we did not have anything to say, but just enjoying the moment of two centered people experiencing the joys of companionship and wonderful tea.

Eventually, Chungwha began to speak. He started to tell me of his teaching journeys around the world: Tibet, Russia, India, Europe, Canada and finally the United States. I was amazed at how many people he had spoken with in his lifetime. We began to speak of Zen philosophy, and he began to tell me of his version of it called Anita. I noticed from my background in Ch'an, that there were many similarities and we have a marvelous time exchanging ideas and concepts- although many times the words and pronunciations were different (semantics). We laughed about the idea of words and their importance.

Chungwha  fully understood the Tao and the use of energy in mankind. He also knew how to read, understand and use energy or Qi. Of this, we again enjoyed wonderful camaraderie and many good laughs from stories.

I told him of how I came to Monterey for the first time to study privately in Medical QiGong with Dr. Jerry Alan Johnson, that I have been involved in meditation all my life (see www.inner-strength.com) and felt that it has saved my life many times. His eyes glowed with understanding.

He then began to tell me of his illness, of which out of respect I will not go into here, but that he had to be hospitalized. I looked down, and he showed me the bruises on his arm from the IV's. He bore thesuffering with longanimity and reverence for life. I politely asked whether he would mind me showing him some QiGong exercises for his condition and before I could finish my sentence he had jumped to his feet. I lost track of time, but we did QiGong together for quite a while, until he dropped his hands into a folded position and just smiled again.

We sat down and had more tea,

He turned and looked out the window and exclaimed, “ I am no better than dirt and I am ready - it is my time”

I said to him, “It is from the seeds sown in the soil that life is reaped, so too have you sown many seeds around the world. In that there must be peace.”

He looked at me, smiled, and called me a “great master.”

The look on my face must have registered with him, as he said that there are no coincidences of why I am at this temple this day.

The time flew by at the temple that day. I was leaving the following day, so I knew that I would not be able to visit with him this trip again. His eyes said everything and so did mine. As I left the temple walls to collect my shoes that I had left outside, I knew that I would never see him again - at least on this plane of existence.

Every once in a while, you meet someone, if only for a brief period of time that epitomizes an ideal or a concept by their sheer presence that was my friend, Chungwha.