On November 24, a gloomy and chilly day after America's Thanksgiving celebration, monk Shi Hengshan from the Flushing Shaolin Temple was found hanged by a couple as they put out the rubbish in New York's Chinatown.
While the 27-year-old left no note, authorities ruled that he had taken his own life. The suicide has seen rumours, innuendo and allegations about his death circulate on websites and in Chinese-language newspapers, with Shi Hengshan's friends and associates blaming Shi Guolin, the founding abbot of the Shaolin Temple in Flushing, New York for the tragedy.
They claim Shi Guolin, who had helped him come to the US from the mainland three years ago to work as a kung fu master in the temple, had kept his passport and hadn't been paying him before firing him shortly before his death. In response, Shi Guolin held a tearful news conference saying he was saddened and confused by the suicide - forbidden in Buddhist teachings - and denied the allegations. Shi Guolin admitted the monks did not get paid but said they received free board, food and medical expenses.
While the reasons behind Shi Hengshan's death remain murky, the tragedy shows the personal and spiritual turmoil faced by the Shaolin monks when they leave the mainland to chase the American dream. And many are choosing marriage, money and an easier way of life over spirituality.
Growing up in the 1,500-year-old Song Mount Shaolin Temple in Henan province , the world's spiritual heartland of Chinese kung fu and Chan Buddhism, involves tough training as well as strict adherence to Buddhist principles. There is no meat, alcohol or women, and often severe punishment for rule breaches.
For most Americans, the word Shaolin first entered the vocabulary in the 1970s through popular TV series Kung Fu, in which David Carradine played a half-Chinese, half-American fighting monk. His character grew up in the Song Mount Shaolin Temple before he escaped to the US after he confronted the emperor.