In the Temple of Steel

Adherents need motivation.

Devotees need motivation.

Even, at very rare times, Masters need motivation.

And it is so with the members of the Yung Young School of Guns. They do have day-to-day challenges in their lives, perfecting small aspects daily, building to an ultimate improvement. Whether it is the cultivation of pain from day to day, the willingness to go that little bit further; or the cultivation of the strength to ignore all around you, the devotees of Master Yung Young have their ways and means of maintaining motivation.

But when the Master sees the devotees lagging, he investigates their motivations, and ways and means to improve it.

Normally this is through threats, and occasionally delivered, violence. But if the Master ate the livers of all his adherents whose motivation dropped, he would not only have few adherents left alive, he would also have a significant case of Vitamin D poisoning.

The Master did not become a guru through stupidity.

The winter months are long, but the Master is patient. It is in this spirit that he offered his devotees the opportunity to demonstrate their prowess in the field of the body. It was an opportunity offered last year, which gave the devotees a goal to aim for with intermediate tasks along the way. The development of biceps, triceps, pectorals, shoulders and obliques demonstrated a commitment to the development of the mind. For the devotee of the Master, the two must go hand-in-hand. And so it is with Mr. Mercantile. The Master knows that pictures tell a story. Thus, a film must tell a greater story. And so:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzBdgZxm_QE

The Master also welcomes another of his devotees to the blogroll - Miss Vernon.

On cultivating performance under dangerous conditions.

The Master is happy.

His adherents are spreading their training and devotions in ever widening spheres. They have taken their training to the boards. As a famously ferocious guru, this happiness may surprise some of you.

Why, you may ask, is the Master happy that his adherents have taken up new meditations when they have not perfected their current ones.

The Master hates stupid questions. They indicate stupid people.

Thus, those who question this issue shall have their folly brought home to them by a stunning blast from the Master’s brain. So, next time an unworthy adherent awakes with a worse headache than ever before, be aware that it was not the alcohol, it was the Master’s justifiable punishment that the unworthy may learn.

The Master wishes his devotees to constantly seek out new means of training their minds. The theatre of the boards is a perfect analogy for the Master’s teachings. There are no brakes, no thoughts, just action on the track machine. Such sessions provide a further window into the philosophy of the Master and motion under stress.

Whereas the Master may, and indeed frequently does, conduct his own meditation in minefields and warzones, the merely adept do not need to put themselves into a life-threatening situation in order to learn: mere moderate danger is enough. For the warrior adept to act correctly in a race, the must know how to deal with real physical danger, so mere mental stress in a race situation does not affect their purity of action.

After all, what are a few scars or burns or abrasions or broken bones compared to the nirvana of perfection of mind and body that can be achieved from true mastery of the mind and body through the culturing and conquering of pain? So the devotee should place themselves in controllable, but dangerous, situations so they may achieve greater self-awareness.

The origins of the Master, and some practical guidance on exercises of the mind.

The Master is all-seeing.

So it came to pass some time past that he saw several of his disciples discussing him after a vigorous session on the road, where they had ventured from the black of early morning to the black of pain and despair to the black of coffee. The Master is no stranger to ergogenic substances, and he does insist on his disciples being clean according to the WADA code. Thus, he was happy to see his disciples imbibing happily.

He also ventures to suggest that coffee aids the meditative process. There must be some correlation to Mr. Ginn’s unusual intake of coffee and his meditation and insights. Perhaps it is not a matter of needing a quiet mind to achieve insights. The Master may be all seeing, but at times he is not all-knowing.

Especially when it comes to interpreting Mr. Ginn.

Nonetheless, Messrs. Ginn and Free were pondering where the Master had come from, what caused him to take the form that he does, and what caused him to manifest himself and aid them in particular. Did not, they asked, the Korean team need his help. The Master notes that the Korean rowing team needs more help than even he could provide.

So he chose to manifest himself to those who would gain from his actions and learnings. The Master’s history is a long one, from deep in the mists of time and mysticism and the Korean mountain plateaus. It is a story of a warrior who renounced the glory of all his country could offer him after a lifetime of achievement and valour, and chose to devote himself to a life of meditation, insight, and pushing back the boundaries of human performance.

And groupies. Definitely groupies.

The Master pursued his philosophies by spending months in the snow outside his cosy retreat, disdaining even clothes, and refining his philosophy to several crucial elements: the achievement of purification through pain; the need to perfect the body through sessions in the temple of steel; and the need to hang shit on PHC whenever possible.

Through this process, the Master developed his mind to a point where it was not necessary, or even possible, for his disciples to search for him or see him in the flesh. They would be struck dumb by his voice, and blinded by his presence.

Although he has been a warrior and a philosopher, the Master is above politics. He does not believe in boycotts, especially those of the Olympics. He is a man who is at home in a monastery, and feels for his Tibetan brethren, but sees a competition of the body as no place for governments to interfere in. If there is a war, the Master will be there in the front line, but sport is above it. After all, the Master’s country was invaded by the Chinese, and you don’t see him advocating for a boycott.

It is a little known fact that the Master is responsible for achieving a de-militarised zone in Korea.

It is a lesser known fact that the Master is not responsible for that dingbat president-for-life in Pyongyang and his taste in fashion and music. There are times that the Master wishes he was all-powerful.

The Master sees you read: and he knows that you are illuminated by his guidance, but also questioning how this guidance helps you. It behoves you to be patient, devotee. You will gain from understanding the context from which the Master developed his philosophies, and an understanding of the pain endured for these philosophies.

As the Buddha meditated overnight under a tree in a temperate India and resolved not to get up until the mysteries were revealed to him, the Master meditated in snow and ice and inhospitability until the mysteries of power of the mind and body, greater than those revealed to the Buddha, were revealed to him. The Master suggests that tonight you emulate him. He also suggests that the Buddha may have needed that can of HTFU that was sitting in the fridge. Behind the salad dressing.

The Master suggests that you search for insight by ice. The Master’s prescription is this: Obtain a large amount of ice, and tip into your bath (the master suggests that you do not do this in your garden: it does make the dust sticky). Then the Master suggests that you sit in the bath until you have achieved a peak of pain akin to your racing performance. He bans the use of water in this bath. Ice Only! Then meditate upon pain and clarity. Thus, you will have achieved something. You will know what it is to suffer like the Master. You will know more about the suffering needed to be great.

The Master is not responsible, however, for your lack of control over your body, which may lead to haemorrhoids and blisters.

But if you suffer these disorders, it indicates to the Master that your spiritual path is one that will be a long one, one which you have barely started. But you will gain in performance and knowledge from this experience. The Master recognises greatness in others. The Master does not recognise it in you yet, but in Nietzsche: “That which does not destroy us, makes us stronger”. It worked for the Master. It is working for Messrs. Ginn and Free. It is working for a growing army of devotees.

The philosophy of the Master will work for you.

Movement and the way of the warrior.

The Master has been thinking about the new experiences and movements he is learning from rowing, and pondering how his philosophy can be applied. Make no mistake; there is not an element of your life that could not be improved with the Master’s guidance.

Not one.

He has already noted some aspects of mental preparation which he will in future enlarge upon, but today the Master chooses to discourse upon his philosophy of movement, his kinesis.

As you are no doubt aware by now, the master views the life of the adept as that of a warrior. The adept, and even the most novice devotee, seeks to conquer every day. The mental struggles are evident in the philosophy of Master Yung Young, but the devotee may question the physical side, asks, “Master, you say that the race is a struggle within. How is the means, the outcome, the rowing stroke, analogous to war?”

After delivering a hefty buffet to the skull of the impatient questioner, reminding him to be patient and not question the words of the Master., the Master notes that of course the physical manifestation of the adept’s skills is war. There are a certain set of feelings and movements of the warrior, which are trained by the adept, as suggested by Flavius Josephus, who noted of the successful warrior that their

“drill are bloodless wars, and their wars are bloody drills”.

The warrior will attack their practice with the intensity of war, and perform their war with a skill learnt, thereby killing all his enemies. So, the Master turned his all-seeing gaze to the movement of rowing. But because he is all-seeing, he realised that there are certain things upon which even he is not ready to offer guidance. This includes the movement of the rower.

Mr. Ginn discourses frequently upon this. His philosophy is of course informed by the Master, but his experience is greater. But the Master is learning, and will soon overtake his protégé. But even from his brief acquaintance he has come to conclusions which set you immutable precepts.

The first of these is to puncture a frequently-held myth that the rowing stroke is an unbroken cycle, a conveyor belt of perpetual motion ebbing and flowing like a sin curve or the shape a whip makes before it cracks over the back of the Master’s more recalcitrant servants. This is rubbish.

An unbroken cycle cannot be entered into. The adept must find a point at which to enter the cycle. It is much like meditation. Once in a meditative state, there is no beginning, middle, or end. There is only “is”.

So the Master issues the following thoughts on where to enter the rowing stroke, and what the warrior should feel at each point.

The catch…or as the Master calls it: “Engagement” Like a butcher chopping cheap meat, the athlete swiftly and purposely bring their blade down upon with water with accuracy, intent and with the full purpose of separating what was previously joined. The disciple’s biceps should flair in anticipation…

The Drive…. In Master Yung Young’s monastery, this is referred to as "the challenge" - it is in the phase of the stroke you ask a simple question….can you separate your spin from your hips?

The finish….rip, spin. Removing your sword from your opponent’s carcass ready to drive it into the next foe.

The Master has blessed you with these thoughts. Do not waste them.

On unquestioning devotion and self-denial.

Some of my adherents were pursuing additional work in the temple of steel, after a vigorous training session, one of them demonstrating a particular method of pushup that the Master had not seen before. It involves a clap at the top of each pushup, recovering to complete the next, and requires a certain level of power and acceleration that the Master was edified to see. However, the Master chose this as a means of demonstrating unquestioning devotion and adherence.

He directed one of his adherents to do this with a double clap. To his credit, the adherent did not hesitate, and attempted this modification without pause. The adherent clapped twice, it is true, but then landed flat on his chin. The Master was gratified.

The Master snacks on pain.

And he was amused by this failure. But he was impressed by the devotion shown, which he marks as essential for success in both life and war.

The Master marks this as essential because once the devotee has surrendered themself to the greater good that is Master Yung Young, the devotee has access to a greater web of energy than the normal person. And all within this web are granted more energy. As the capstone of this, the Master is granted great power, which accounts for his prowess as, in spite of his appearance as a small and somewhat wizened guru, his strength is greater even than the emblem
of his School of Guns.

As well as the surrender to the greater good, the Master notes that this devotee is destined to succeed because of his lack of hesitation. When the devotee can look pain in the face, and respond without hesitation, he is ready to demonstrate his prowess. In the rowing competition, he is ready to strive on his own, to respond instantly and strongly to the demands of his body or the other members of his team.

The Master also chooses to use this devotee to demonstrate some dangers of his philosophy for the un-initiated. After the demonstration noted above, discussion in the Temple of Steel moved to the benefits that may accrue to the devotee through a life of celibacy. In a situation where the devotee has no attachments, and chooses to be so, the devotee is able to use the energy that would otherwise be used in taking his devotions to a higher level. He imagined that this
was the case with this devotee, who spoke of a year of celibacy. The Master was ready to congratulate the devotee on his achievements, but then Master Yung Young was illuminated.

Was this celibacy by choice? The Master's devotee answered that it was not by choice. The Master struck the devotee several blows about the head, trying to knock some sense into him. his has not previously worked, but the Master hopes that there is a first time for everything. He went forth and laid down some guidance.

Where celibacy is sought, it can be a valuable addition to the self-actualisation of the devotee, through self-denial. In this case, it is not the same. The Master referred to the nature of self-hatred and loathing in a previous lesson, but this type of self-denial does not help anyone. It can easily be relieved, and hence is of no sacrifice whatsoever. When the adept looks pain in the face, the knowledge that his only response to a burden was to complain about it, how will this help him?

The Master says: if you're going to make a sacrifice, make a sacrifice. But if your apparent sacrifice is just because you have a rough head, stop complaining and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

On "relaxation" and why the enlightened have no need of this rubbish...

The Master is pleased. Since his thoughts have been publicised on this record sheet, his message has started to travel the world, through the media of sport and rowing. Discples of the School of Master Yung Young will show their devotion in the field of battle at the Rowing World Cup. The Master's two leading disciples, Messrs. Ginn and Free are already showing their devotions, as will Miss Vernon, a woman who exemplifies the mission of the Yung Young School of Guns. The Master's message is alse being received by those who aspire, and their devotions are pleasing. The Master wishes to note of Miss Parry, whose daily activities are a metaphor for one who wishes to achieve.

But what of other matters that beset the Master? In one of our meditation sessions, Mr. Ginn posed a worthy question of the Master. Mr. Ginn is a man who demonstrates intensity and commitment in all that he does, perhaps too much. But he is a man who is self-aware, and is developing himself towards self-actualisation. His question of the Master was, "Master, how do you relax after a long day of devotion, prayer, scholarship, and work on the water or in the Temple of Steel?"

The Master's response to this question was not one he is proud of. The Master threw a blast of mental energy that knocked over a great pile of steel, making a great mess of the Temple of Steel. The mental blast also stunned several of his adherents. Not the outcome he had been hoping for, and proof that even the greatest of us has facets of their mind that need addressing. But once he had calmed down, and a few of his more comely disciples had cleaned up the Temple of Steel, the Master thought.

The truly developed individual has no need of relaxation. The Master is such an individual. The Master has no need to relax, outbursts of energy notwithstanding. This is because he is completely in touch with his emotions and needs. The actualised adherent can live in the moment. He has no need to "take it easy", or relax, and has learned from a great Australian philosopher, Mark Brandon Read, the philosophy of "Harden the Fuck Up". Hence, the disciple can accept pain and suffering and vagaries of the body because their soul is pure. There is no need of relaxation for the Master.

The Master sets the following precepts for being able to live in the moment, getting rid of all this "relax" stuff, and truly hardening the fuck up. Mr. Read may have been stabbed many times, but his pain and suffering do not compare to the Master. His precepts have been developed by the Master. They focus on self-administered pain. For what victory is there in dealing with pain that has been extrinisically earned? None. It is tolerance. The Master's adherents go out there and find pain.

The Master prescribes:
- Curls: Many of them. For the adherent to focus on this aspect is important. Only on their thirtieth set of the day may they be granted true awareness of what they do. True awareness is being able to feel every muscle, nerve and tendon on the body screaming for mercy, and giving none.
- Meditation: Not the airy-fairy zen paradox rubbish. The Master prefers to place himself in a time and place of maximum stress - such as a train accident, or a motor wreck - and focus internally and completely. The Master has no need of sympathy or empathy, and gives none. He is self actualised, and does not need to care for those who do not live his teachings.
- Pain: The Master's favourite method for this is to start bar brawls. For a warrior of note, this is no challenge. But the Master starts conflict for pain. To receive pain is to open the soul and to harden up. Of course, once the Master has received sufficient pain for enlightenment, he dines on the livers of those foolish enough to accept his challenge. They are unworthy of their place in this world.

This is not a one day concept. The most devout of his adherence have 138 days to learn true self-awareness. Will their livers be the next to face the wrath and barbeque of Master Yung Young?

Planning for Battle:

As the adept must plan his devotions, as the warrior must plan his fight, the disciple of Master Yung Young must plan his battle against his enemies, in whatever sphere he chooses.

Having given due consideration to the fact that a goodly number of my more focused disciples chose to demonstrate their skills on the river, it behoves the me to lay down some edicts so that his athletes may lay down a world of pain on those less worthy than themselves. I have been immersing myself in this strange, backwards facing sport, and find it to have appropriate parallels with my teachings.

So what does Master Yung Young recommend? No less a master than Sun Tzu, in his Art of War, suggests that the warrior should know their enemy.

Master Yung Young begs the forgiveness of another philosopher and sage, but this is utter bullshit.

I note that in the visions of competition that Mr. Ginn has presented to me, that there is no possibility of interference from another warrior. There is no need to know another is in the same arena. There is only the commencement, and the end.

There is nothing else.

The warrior must win his war, and that can only be done by reaching the end more quickly than his opponent. The Master gives you this thought. The Master has further reviewed the visions of Mr. Ginn, and has added these to the tenets of his own philosophy. My philosophy is one of pain. The one who can endure the most pain is the one whose soul will be the most purified. Whilst I do not suggest corporeal harm – the adept must learn to respect his body – I state categorically that to achieve enlightenment, to defeat one’s enemies, the adept must learn to defeat the weakness in their own body. One of Mr. Ginn’s visions revealed a man whose example in a race impressed even myself. Although not an adept of the YYSG, a man named Andre Willms demonstrated the spirit of the warrior that I espouse. From the first strike of the oar into the water, this man demonstrated pain and achieved redemption through it.

He used his body as effectively as could be done, using the strength of his legs to drive himself to the finish. The foaming from the mouth started within 5 percent of the start, and increased. Truly, here we have a man who achieved enlightenment in his art.

“But”, the less adept might ask the master, “what of your most well known disciple? Has Mr. Ginn ever been seen in such agony during a session of proof.” This has formerly been a matter between Mr. Ginn and myself, but his spiritual development is now such that we can release some information. When Mr. Ginn talks about the spiritual development that he has undergone under my teachings, he has undergone many sessions of agony that have caused him to question his whole being.

The world does not see these.

Because by the time it is time for Mr. Ginn’s war, he has already won. He did not need to purify yet further to defeat his opponents. But he will to succeed in Beijing. But what of the untutored adept? My heart weeps for Mr. Willms, for truly if he had studied with Master Yung Young, he would be known as one of the greatest, if not the greatest ever, river warriors ever to have been seen on this earth. He would have purified his soul before the war, and achieved even greater success. To achieve a mastery of performance, it is not enough to be purified in the event.

Master Yung Young states that the true warrior fights a battle, even against odds thought unassailable by other men, that he has already won.