基礎雜誌 309 期

20

2005 was a diffi cult year. The business I started 13 years before was essentially ejected

from its location and my wife and I didn’t know what to do next. In 1992 I started a gym in

West Hollywood, California and began to explore the fusion of martial arts and fi tness in a new

context. I wanted to merge the eastern arts – rich in philosophical value with western sports

science. In this gym I tested the concepts and curriculum, met my wife and launched a separate

martial arts school within the facility. I was fortunate enough to train many celebrities and

expose a western audience to some of the eastern values I held so close to my heart.

However, in 2005 one chapter closed and another opened. At the time I was terribly

disappointed in the turn of events that transpired. The martial arts school within the West

Hollywood gym was getting too big for the facility to hold. My wife and I were told that we

would have the option of purchasing the gym from the owner or "get out." When we tried to

buy the facility we were given an outlandish price, which was far beyond reason, so we had no

real choice but to leave.

Around the year 2000, my wife and I developed a concept and wrote a business plan for

a facility that merged eastern tradition and western technology. We wanted to create a facility

where participants integrated mind, body and spirit in a positive environment with like-minded

people. And we wanted our connection to the eastern traditions to be as authentic as possible.

In 2005 while all of these issues were arising with the gym, I was searching for a Taoist

teacher and had received multiple recommendations. I had been a professor at UCLA for 10

years specializing in eastern philosophy, kinesthetic learning strategies and martial arts – so I

was no stranger to the eastern wisdom traditions. As I explored the recommendations, I also

decided to perform an internet search to see if anything came up in the Los Angeles area. The

fi rst site that came up was www.taoism.net which is the site of the I Kuan Tao Temple in El

Monte, CA. I looked at the schedule and saw there was an English speaking class the following

Sunday. That weekend my wife and I visited for the fi rst time. After attending the fi rst class we

were invited to participate in the ritual, and were initiated immediately afterward.

The Journey of a Thousand Miles

◎

Ed Monaghan

2014 年 9 月

21

2005 年，對我而言是艱困的一年。13 年前所開創的生意（即武術教室），

房東不再續租，我和我太太都不知道下一步該怎麼走。1992 年，我在加州西好

萊塢設立一間健身房，開始探討武術和健身的融合。我想要把饒富哲學意味的東

方藝術和西方的運動科學合併。我在這個健身房嘗試這種東西方合併的概念與課

程，也在這裡認識我的太太，並在此場地創立了獨立的武術教室。很幸運地，我

有機會訓練許多好萊塢的名人，也讓西方的大眾接觸到對我來說很重要的東方思

想。

在 2005 年，上天關閉了一扇門，同時也打開了另一扇門。當時，情況的轉

變讓我非常失望。健身房無法容納武術教室越來越多的學生。房東說，我們得把

健身房買下來，不然就要「搬出去」。但是當我們討論購買的價錢時，房東的開

價卻高得離譜，我們別無選擇，只好離開。

在 2000 年左右，我太太和我曾構思一種概念，並寫了（武術教室的）營運

企劃案──融合東方傳統和西方科技。我們想要建立一個理想的環境，讓所有志

同道合的人能夠結合身、心、靈的訓練。而且我們希望這個地方可以接觸道地的

東方傳統。

在 2005 年處理健身房問題的同時，我也在尋找一個了解「道」的老師，很

多人給我一些建議。我在 UCLA（加州大學洛杉磯分校）當教授已經 10 年了，專

門研究東方哲學、動覺型學習策略和武術，所以我對東方智慧的傳統並不陌生。

我參考朋友的推薦，同時也上網搜尋洛杉磯地區的相關資料。第一個找到的網站

就是在加州 El Monte 市，一貫道道場的網站 www.taoism.net。我查看時間表，發

現下個週日有一個用英文講述的課程。於是，那個週末是我和我太太第一次參班。

下課後，我們受邀觀禮，並當下決定求道。

千

里

之

行

◎

中譯 吳鑌娟 攝影 林達雄

基礎雜誌 309 期

22

My wife and I were both raised Roman Catholic but had felt no real connection to

the religion for some time. I felt the limitations and restrictions – particularly those which

implied Catholicism was the only path to God, couldn’t possibly be valid. When I heard the

philosophy of the Tao – the ultimate source and how it can be expressed in many ways, across

cultural boundaries I felt an innate sense of truth. My wife is Native American – she felt the

Tao philosophy closely paralleled the path of the indigenous people of the Americas. This is

why we chose to be initiated so quickly after coming to the temple.

As I mentioned before, 2005 was a turning point. We moved out of the facility I started

13 years before. The concept we developed in 2000 of a center devoted to the merger of east-

ern tradition and western sports science was high on our agenda. We hired consultants and

put a substantial investment into the development of a business plan to launch the facility. Af-

ter shopping the plan to multiple investors we fi nally came across an investor from India who

was quite receptive to the idea. We had a series of meetings with him and his board members

and were told that his attorneys would be drawing up papers to fi nalize the deal. A week later

we were informed that he had decided to fund a motion picture instead of our facility.

At this point I felt defeated. We live about 30 miles north of Los Angeles in a suburb

called Santa Clarita. In 2007, with nowhere to go, we decided to open a small studio (1360

square feet) a short distance from our house. I continued to teach at UCLA and work with the

other students in West Hollywood at another gym – and started over - it was my wife, four

walls and I. The only students we had were a few friends of our children who played sports

together.

The Masters from I Kuan Tao came to our small facility and gave us a custom painted

and framed image of "Tao" and a statue of Guan Gong. They gave a blessing, wished us the

best of luck and Master William even offered business advice and reduced printing costs to

help the startup business.

In 2008 the USA went into the worst recession in the country’s history. Despite the

economy’s terrible downturn, our little studio continued to slowly build students. By 2012 we

had outgrown our current facility and were looking to expand to a slightly larger space. We

initially looked around to rent additional square footage and were not having any luck. My

wife suggested purchasing a property, but I hesitated because we really didn’t have the money

to invest in ownership of a building.

郭點傳師及全真道院道親贈送「道」的字畫。

2014 年 9 月

23

我太太和我從小都在傳統的天主教環境中長大，但已有好一段時間沒有真正

地接觸這個宗教。我感受到這個宗教的限制和約束──特別是有個說法指出：天

主教是通往上帝的唯一路徑──我覺得這種說法不算合理。當我聽了「道」的哲

理──「道」是一切的來源，「道」以不同的方式顯現，「道」跨越文化的界限。

我覺得這就是真理。我太太是美洲原住民，她覺得道的思想和美洲原住民的思想

非常接近。所以我們才這麼快就決定求道。

正如我前面所提到的，2005 年是一個轉捩點。我們搬離 13 年前所創立的武

術教室。而我們 2000 年所策劃的構想──融合東方傳統與西方運動科學的訓練中

心──成為我們的首要目標。我們聘請了顧問，大量地投資並策劃如何建立這個

中心。我們找了很多的投資者，最後找到一位來自印度的企業家，他很認同我們

的方案。我們和他及他的董事會成員開會；幾次會議後，他們通知我們，律師將

起草文件，以完成交易。但是，一個星期後，他們又通知我們，他們已決定投資

一部電影，而不投資我們的訓練中心。

這讓我覺得很挫折。我們住在洛杉磯以北大約 30 英里的一個郊區，名為

Santa Clarita。 在 2007 年，我們無處可去時，只好決定在離家不遠的地方，開一

個小武術館（1360 平方英尺）。我繼續任教於 UCLA（加州大學洛杉磯分校），

並在好萊塢的另一個健身房教學生，一切從頭開始。那時候，家徒四壁，只有我

太太和我。我們唯一的一群學生是和我們孩子一起打球的幾個朋友。

一貫道的點傳師及道親來參訪我們的小武術館，並送給我們裱好的一幅「道」

的字畫及關公塑像，他們祝福我們好運。郭詩永點傳師給了我們一些經營上的建

議，同時也給我們的印刷品折扣，幫助我們剛起步的經營。

在 2008 年，美國進入了有史以來最嚴重的經濟衰退。雖然經濟非常不景氣，

但我們小武術館的學生卻漸漸增加。到了 2012 年，我們的小空間已容納不下我們

的學生；我們需要稍大一點的地方。起初，我們尋找可以租的額外空間，但並沒

找到合適的。此時，我太太建議何不自己購買房地產，但我猶豫了，因為我們真

的沒有足夠的錢去買一棟屬於自己的建築物。

新求道親專注聆聽三寶。

基礎雜誌 309 期

24

Writing Gathering Field

文 薈 篇

中國傳統式的破土典禮。

One afternoon at the temple, Master William sat down with me and asked how we were

doing. After listening to our story, he told us that he felt it would be wise to look into purchas-

ing a property. I told him that we didn’t have enough money to purchase, but he insisted that it

would be to our advantage to move forward and we would find a way. That gave me the confi-

dence to find creative ways to move ahead. Now I must say, that my wife intuitively knew this

before – and I ignored her, so I think there’s a lesson to be learned for me as well…

I decided to gather about 10 friends and students together to see if they would be interested

in creating a partnership. Several members of the group were very interested, but then one

particular student stepped forward. This student said that he and his family would like to fund

the entire project for a percentage of ownership. In my experience, that type of angel investor

doesn’t come along very often.

We went from looking for a 3000 - 5000 sq. ft. space. After looking at multiple buildings

we suddenly found a 10,500 square foot building that was nearly the same price as the 5000 sq.

ft. buildings we’d been looking at.

This wasn’t nearly the end of our journey. We went through so many issues with banks,

and loans and construction! It took nearly two years to find a building, get financing and com-

plete construction.

In April 2014 we opened Ekata Training Center, a 12,500 square foot facility dedicated to

merging the worlds of ancient eastern tradition with western sports science. We offer all forms

of movement training from Jeet Kune Do, to Muay Thai, to Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, to Qi Gong. We

offer acupuncture, massage, child-care and even a study hall with free tutoring. We also have a

juice bar that serves vegetarian snacks and drinks. Our mission statement is as follows:

Our mission is to fuse ancient tradition with science and technology. We empower our members

through physical expression thus opening the gateway to spiritual and mental health.

2014 年 9 月

25

海│外│來│鴻

有一天下午，在全真道院，郭詩永點傳師坐下來和我談，並詢問我們情況如

何。聽了我們的情形後，郭點傳師建議我們還是應該購買一棟自己的房子。我說

我們還沒有足夠的錢，但點傳師認為，只要我們朝這個方向進行，一定會找到方

法。這給了我信心去想辦法，朝向我的目標邁進。我要說，其實我太太早已有先

見之明，但我卻忽視她的建議。這也是我必須要學的一課……

我決定找大約 10 位朋友和學生，詢問他們是否有意願投資。結果他們有些

的確是有興趣，但其中一位學生站出來表示，他和他的家人希望能夠提供全部資

金以換取部分所有權。根據我的經驗，這種天使型的投資者是少之又少。

我們起初是看 3,000 到 5,000 平方英尺的空間。看過很多棟建物之後，我們

突然找到一棟 10,500 平方英尺的房子，它的價格與之前看過的 5,000 平方英尺的

建物幾乎相同。

我們的故事還沒完呢。我們還有很多問題要面對：銀行、貸款和裝修！前前

後後花了將近兩年的時間，才找到合適的房子，並完成貸款和裝修。

2014 年 4 月，我們的「Ekata 訓練中心」正式開幕。這棟 12,500 平方英尺的

建物，專門作為融合東方古老傳統與西方運動科學的訓練中心。我們提供各種形

式的運動訓練：截拳道、泰拳、巴西柔術及氣功。我們還提供針灸、按摩、兒童

保健，甚至包括免費的輔導功課的讀書室。我們也有一個果汁吧，供應素食點心

和飲料。我們的宗旨如下：

我們的宗旨是融合古老傳統與現代科技。我們從體能的顯現，讓我們的會員

打開心靈與身心健康之門。

破土典禮後，大家一起享用道親所準備的素食餐點。

基礎雜誌 309 期

26

Writing Gathering Field

文 薈 篇

陳點傳師為 JoAnn Wabisca 主持清口禮。

But I’ve saved the best for last. Since 2005, I’ve become close friends with our En-

glish-speaking teacher at the temple, Derek Lin. Through Derek’s selfless guidance and recom-

mendations, I’ve structured the entire facility to be an authentic Tao center. Derek even came up

with the name – Ekata, which means "Oneness" in Sanskrit. He and I have conversed through

countless emails as I developed the concepts and curriculum that we now implement at the

facility. While the facility is entirely secular, the lesson plans I’ve developed to teach character

training for the children are based on the "Principles of I Kuan Tao" because these universal

guidelines appeal to everyone regardless of their religious affiliation.

The Masters and members of the temple even gave us the ultimate gift – a shrine. This

shrine is where all meditation is taught. We’ve had an overwhelmingly positive response. We

are not attempting religious conversion, but sharing principles that appeal to a western audi-

ence. Our western society is fraught with aggression, stress and fear. I feel our new approach

to fitness and well-being might be an instrumental method by which principles of the true Tao

might be introduced in a non-threatening manner.

We’ve always felt that it was important to have an authentic connection to the Tao teach-

ings. This is why my wife and I were initiated to the temple and began to study the Tao with our

Masters. We believe that bringing this authentic connection to Western society through our fit-

ness center will increase interest in the teachings and help us integrate these practices into west-

ern life.

In 2013, we held a traditional Chinese groundbreaking ceremony with the help of temple

members. It was a wonderful day, and many of our students and friends attended. Everyone

enjoyed the ceremony, and then celebrated with traditional Chinese vegetarian food that was

prepared by our friends at the temple.

In preparation for the opening of our facility, my wife and I took the Ching Ko ritual with

Master Joseph Chen. We had both been vegetarian for some time, but the ceremony formalized

our vegetarianism and prepared us to become owners of the shrine.

Grand Master Chen named our shrine "Chuan Chang" which means "the flourishing

totality". (The physical, mental and spiritual aspects of life) This is the perfect name for our

shrine because our facility is designed to teach not only the physical aspects of health but how to

improve the connection between the mind, spirit and the corporeal body, thus strengthening the

jing, chi and shen.

2014 年 9 月

27

但我要把最棒的事放在最後講！從 2005 年開始，我和全真道院英文班林信

价講師成為好朋友。經由林講師無私的引導和建議，我把整個健身中心設定成一

個正統「道」的中心。林講師還幫我想出了中心的名字 ── Ekata，梵文是「一貫」

的意思。我們藉由無數次的電子郵件，討論理念、發展課程（現在正在我們的訓

練中心運作）。雖然我們的中心是完全沒有宗教色彩，但我發展的教案是以「一

貫道宗旨」為主的人格訓練，教小孩子做人的道理，因為這些宗旨是不分宗教信

仰都可以通用的。

點傳師和道親甚至給我們一個最好的禮物──協助我們自己設立一間

堂。

我們的靜心課程都在這個

堂上課。大家反應都非常好。我們從來都沒有要改變

任何人的宗教信仰，我們只是想要分享心得，讓西方人能夠了解「道」。西方社

會充斥著侵略、壓力和恐懼。我覺得我們這種新方式──以健身和健康為主──

才可能讓真正的「道」以不具威脅的方式傳出去。

我們一直認為，能夠接觸真正的「道」非常重要。所以我太太和我在美國全

真道院求道並開始跟著點傳師研究「道」。相信我們的健身中心能讓正統的「道」

傳入西方社會，提升大眾對「道」的興趣，幫助我們把「道」融入生活中。

在 2013 年，靠著全真道院道親的幫助，我們舉辦了中國傳統的破土儀式。

許多學生和朋友都來參加，那是個非常美好的一天。大家都很喜歡這個儀式，儀

式結束後，我們一起享用道親所準備的中國傳統素食來慶祝。

在籌備訓練中心開幕的期間，我和我太太請陳正夫點傳師為我們主持清口儀

式。我們已經吃素了一段時間，但清口的儀式是讓我們正式成為素食者並為擔任

壇主所做的準備。

陳德陽前人為我們的

堂取名「全昌」，意思是「全方位的繁榮昌盛」（身、

心、靈各方面）。這對我們的

堂來說，是個完美的名字。因為我們訓練中心的

目標不只是健身，而是如何提高身、心、靈的結合，以加強精、氣、神的修煉。

海│外│來│鴻

陳點傳師為 Edward Monaghan 主持清口禮。

基礎雜誌 309 期

28

Writing Gathering Field

文 薈 篇

On the day of the shrine opening, temple members worked with us to prepare all of the

items needed for ceremony. Our friends from the temple brought absolutely everything that

was needed to install the shrine, including the beautiful Mu light. Master William Kuo gave us

implements for the shrine opening ceremony that he brought all the way back from Taiwan.

Master Joseph Chen officiated the Shrine Opening Ritual. Derek Lin provided a lecture

about the Tao during the ritual. Once the ceremony concluded six people decided to go through

the Tao initiation. I was very happy that six people who really knew nothing about the Tao felt

so connected to this universal truth; so much so that they went through the initiation immediately.

Of course without our temple friends, we could have never conducted such a beautiful

and joyous celebration. We believe this was the start of a wonderful opportunity to share Tao

teachings with citizens in our community.

Master William told us that when I Kuan Tao started in China, a martial artist was

instrumental in the growth of the movement on the mainland. We hope to provide the same

catalyst in the US. There has been a wide acceptance of "mindfulness" practice to abate stress

and improve health. We feel that by providing a family based series of activities that incorporate

eastern health practices, philosophy, western science and universal spirituality we can help

bridge the worlds of east and west.

Our journey is far from over. We opened this facility in an area that is very politically

conservative. While Taoist philosophy is not well known here, we hope that the universal

themes of family, compassion and service to others will help our efforts to flourish in Santa

Clarita, and move beyond the boundaries of our single location. My wife and I believe that if

this area in the US is receptive to the Tao message, it will be received equally well in other areas

around the country.

So in closing, we owe a great debt to I Kuan Tao, the Masters and our great friends Derek

and Janice Lin. We’re so pleased that we have found other like-minded individuals with whom

we can share this path. And we thank all those sages who have come before us from which we

can learn these valuable lessons.

2014 年 9 月

29

楊老點傳師贈送的關聖帝君佛雕。

在開壇當天，道親與我們一起準備開壇前的工作。道院的朋友帶來了安設

堂所需要的用品，包括莊嚴的

燈。郭詩永點傳師遠從台灣將開壇尚缺的佛具通

通帶了回來。

陳正夫點傳師主持開壇儀式。在開壇儀式期間，林信价講師闡述「何謂道」

的道義開示。當開壇儀式結束後，就有 6 個人決定要求道。這讓我很高興，因為

這 6 個人本來對「道」沒有任何概念，但是接觸到這宇宙的真理，讓他們感覺到

契合，所以立刻決定求道。

當然，沒有我們的道親，我們就無法完成這樣一個美好快樂的慶祝活動。我

們認為這是一個很好的開端，有機會與社區的大眾分享「道」。

郭點傳師告訴我們，當年一貫道在中國大陸開始傳道的時候，有一位武術師

扮演了很重要的角色，幫助一貫道在中國大陸的成長。我們也期許自己能夠在美

國扮演同樣的角色。目前用修煉「正念」的方法來減輕壓力、改善健康，已經廣

為大眾接受。我們認為，藉由提供這種以東方的養生與哲學，加上西方的科學和

普及性的心靈教導，讓全家大小都可以參與的活動，能夠幫助連結東方和西方。

我們的旅程還沒有結束。我們的訓練中心位於一個非常保守的地區。雖然

「道」的思想在這裡還不夠普遍，我們希望以家庭、慈悲心，以及為他人服務的

主旨，幫助我們在 Santa Clarita 蓬勃發展，進而擴展到別的地區。我太太和我相信：

若是這個地區能夠接受「道」，那麼美國的其他地方也都能夠接受「道」。

最後，我們很感謝一貫道、各位點傳師，和我們的好朋友林信价夫婦。我們

很高興找到了志同道合的人與我們分享這條路。我們感謝所有的前賢，讓我們可

以學到這些寶貴的經驗。

莊嚴的全昌

堂。