The Story Behind the Film, Mountain Tao
"It was early in the fall of 2005. I was having coffee with John at the Shambala Tea House in Crestone. A Taoist master had passed through town and was all the “buzz”. The Taoist wanted John, Hanne and her husband to visit Wudang Mt., China, and meet the abbot of the Purple Cloud Monastery. Hanne was going to be in Beijing in a couple of weeks anyway, and John was so excited at the prospect of visiting the birth place of T’ai Chi, he couldn’t possibly say “no”.
I’m still not sure how it happened, but three weeks later I found myself having a delicious lunch with Hanne at an Italian restaurant in downtown Beijing. The tragic Kashmir Earthquake had just devastated Pakistan, so Hanne and her husband would not continue to Wudang, but would concentrate on rescue and relief efforts for the earthquake victims.
John arrived and shortly thereafter so did the Taoist master, Tsen, who led us into Hubei Provence to meet the Abbot, Master Zhong. As synchronicity would have it, strolling gracefully down the middle of the street with his hands gently clasped behind his back we saw the Abbot. He was dressed in robes and wore a traditional Taoist. His presence was so commanding, yet so calming. When he spoke, I was mesmerized by his deep, yet soft resonating voice. I’m sure he was disappointed Hanne and Maurice weren’t there, but he showed us great hospitality and invited us to Purple Cloud. We were put up in a lovely suite for several days and enjoyed our meals with Zhong, Tsen, and the Wudang Taoist Association. I’m very grateful to have met Master Zhong when I did, for now he is living in solitude in a cave in Wudang, doing a ten-year retreat.
My time spent at Purple Cloud Monastery was extraordinary. One of the most memorable people I saw was an old toothless monk living in a cave. There was a stream of fresh water gliding down the entrance as well as a box of bees. He gifted me with a Buddha pendant, but his real gift was a smile that permeated everywhere.
I had heard about a practice called Bigu. It’s a type of fast where one goes without eating anything for years at a time. It’s not a deliberate fast, but rather a side-effect of accomplishing cultivation practices successfully. For a very brief moment I was introduced to a woman who had mastered this practice. She hadn’t eaten in five years. How I wish she would’ve agreed to an interview, but she was too shy and immediately returned to her cave. We barely were able to capture a snapshot of her. I was told there are four nuns doing a ten-year cave retreat who haven’t eaten in years.
Wudang is truly a place where legends carry on."