(4) As abbot of Shaolin Monastery and leading inheritor and propagator of Shaolin culture, I am responsible for carrying out the historic missions of safeguarding the monastic assets, ensuring prosperous survival and doctrinal purity of the Buddhist Chan Order throughout the new millennium. I am sure that I am absolutely determined in carrying out the missions, because I fully and clearly understand that our monastic tradition is the source wherefrom issues the stream of wisdom which would help the monastic population creatively cope with

♦the whole spectrum of complications arising from our monastic life,

♦social life of the masses we have to stay in close contact with, and

♦the natural environment we live in.

So far as we, the monastics, are concerned, to preserve our monastic tradition is to make use of our creativity. And the reverse is equally true that to make use of our creativity is to keep our monastic tradition intact. When the Chan doctrine is coupled with the martial arts, and when staying within the monastic precincts to pursue self-cultivation is coupled with entering the life of the mundane world to preach universal salvation, we are at the same time preserving our monastic tradition and tapping into our creativity. Yes, we are playing a dual role, but our duality is our unity. In a word, our dualism is at the same monism, and vice versa.