It gives me great pleasure to announce the building of the first residential Shaolin Wahnam Institute in Europe- in fact, outside of Costa Rica in South America, this will be the first residential Shaolin Wahnam Institute. How exciting!
Our vision is an Institute whereby the essence of the true Shaolin Arts are transmitted to students who honour the Shaolin way, irrespective of race, culture or creed.
We see the Institute as a building of log and stone, surrounded by woodland, lakes and mountains. A wonderful safe environment for people to develop physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. An environment of trust, harmony and respect.
All of the Shaolin Arts will be taught-- Shaolin Cosmos Chi Kung, Shaolin Kungfu and Wahnam Tai Chi Chuan.
The Shaolin Way is one of compassion and wisdom-I am so honoured to be taking this next step with the wonderful permission and support from my Sifu- Grandmaster Wong Kiew Kit.
I could not do this on my own and the support and advice from my Shaolin brothers and sisters worldwide, as well as the wonderful Shaolin Wahnam Community here in Ireland has been very humbling. A huge Mile Bhuiochas to you all. We are just beginning a wonderful journey together!
I hope you, the reader, may also like to join us in any way you feel would be of benefit.
All comments are welcome- sifujoan@gmail.com
We hope to complete our Shaolin Wahnam Institute building project by June 2009. Our first step is raising €300,00.00. We have already started!
The following is a letter of invitation to our first fundraiser, we hope you can join us!
This page will be updated on a regular basis and tell the story as it happens, so please feel free to come back at anytime.
Smile from the Heart,
Joan Sifu.
During the Valentine's Smile from the Heart course February 2008, Sifu Joan casually asked Sifu where in his opinion would be a good place to find a statue of Guan Yin Boddhisattva for the new centre. Sifu thought about it for an instant and replied to contact his son Chun Nga. Tai Siheng Chun Nga was in Indonesia at the time and immediately commisioned three wooden hand carved statues. One of Boddhisattva Guan Yin, One of Boddhisattva Ksitigarbha and One of Laughing Buddha. This is an image of the height of the statues......they are 8 feet tall and weigh one tonne each! From the picture, you see how Tai Siheng Chun Nga measures up. We are deeply grateful to him for his help and continuous support always.
The arrival of the beautiful Boddhisattvas to Kerry! 28th August 2008
This was a surreal evening as we opened the crates to view the Boddhisattvas. As we are holding them in storage for a while, we had to be careful not to damage any of the packing surrounding them. I was stunned by the quality and beauty of the craftsmanship The detail is stunning.. Guan Yin Boddhisattva's hand is so real, you want to reach out and touch it. How very very blessed we are.
Many people have asked about how they can help and we thank all who are willing to volunteer their services once the building begins. If you wish to help by way of donation, you may use this special bank account which has been set up especially for the Building project. Thank you from the Heart. Sifu Joan
The details are as follows:
Name of Bank: ALLIED IRISH BANK (AIB)
Address of Bank: Main Street, Castleisland, County Kerry, Ireland.
Name of Account: Shaolin Wahnam Institute of Ireland Building project.
Address of Account Holder: Mullin, Cordal, Castleisland, County Kerry, Ireland
Number of Account: 05223137
Sort code: 936251
SWIFT: AIB KIE 2D
IBAN: IE 20 AIBK 93625105223137
We are very close to finding the land for the centre and know that we will be guided safely all the way!
This was a surreal evening as we opened the crates to view the Boddhisattvas. As we are holding them in storage for a while, we had to be careful not to damage any of the packing surrounding them. I was stunned by the quality and beauty of the craftsmanship The detail is stunning.. Guan Yin Boddhisattva's hand is so real, you want to reach out and touch it. How very very blessed we are.
