Chinese monk explains the connection between Counter-Strike and emotional growth

A lot has happened over the last week in the Counter-Strike space- both competitive and casual. Vitality recorded back to back Grand Slam wins and became the first team to do so; ropz entered a league of his own after winning his third Grand Slam and a German Counter-Strike streamer "sucker-punched" his opponent on stage after conceding a match. However, everything was topped yesterday when a Chinese monk explained how Counter-Strike played a positive role in his life and helped him with emotional maturity.

In the quiet eastern corridor of Zhejiang Province, China, a monk in the Zhong Putuo Temple was revealed to be a long-standing casual Counter-Strike player and it took the internet by storm. Identified as Master Huayan Fashi in an interview produced by 大胜CS2 on Chinese social media platform Douyin, the monk is said to have joined the Zhong Putuo Temple over twenty years ago but his involvement with Counter-Strike dates back to the early 2000s- the formative years of the franchise. Master Huayan mentions that his Counter-Strike journey began when he was living in Shanghai and attending elementary school.

Another shocking aspect of the monk's Counter-Strike hobby was his inventory and setup. Running an expensive RTX 4090 build, the monk boasted an even more expensive inventory which included a Karambit | Gamma Doppler (Emerald) and a Flip Knife | Slaughter among other items. Various covert skins, agents and souvenir packages were also seen in his collection.

The Chinese monk revealed that his highest Global Offensive rank was Legendary Eagle Master and even took a screenshot of his rank-up just like the rest of us. He joked about how his aim and positioning slowly deteriorated with age, leading to a permanent switch toward casual game modes on the Perfect World platform, excluding the occasional 4/5-stack with friends. "You have to hold on to your principles. Their cheating- whatever they do- that's their problem. They will get banned sooner or later." said Master Huayan when asked about his opinion and approach towards cheaters in Counter-Strike.

When asked about cutting off certain things upon becoming a monk, Master Huayan simply said "Bad things should be cut off. Why cut off a good thing? Good things should be kept", referring to Counter-Strike. Things got even more interesting when the interviewer asked if Counter-Strike played a positive role in his life and what followed went viral.

Not just positive, this communication cooperation with teammates, don’t we always talk about win-win cooperation these days? That feeling is really great, it also helps with your own personal growth, you’re not a lone wolf, you have to consider the thoughts and feelings of the other four people, and their gaming experience too, then in real life you develop Empathy, Empathy is very important in being a decent person, someone who only thinks of themselves, they won’t succeed as a human being...”
Master Huayan on Counter-Strike

The Chinese monk spoke about how Counter-Strike can potentially address one's "lone-wolf" mentality and help impart important qualities like empathy, which in turn fuels emotional growth and maturity. Speaking on encountering toxic personalities during solo-queues, the monk encouraged players to not ruin their mood for the whole day over a 40-minute match. The popular (traditional) belief that killing people in a video game could potentially send a person to "hell" was also discussed and the monk smartly countered it by asking if playing a medic in battlefield and reviving teammates continuously could get one into "heaven?"

Winning and losing a game doesn't cause irreversible harm to someone's life. As long as everyone had fun, it was a good match. Gaming and spiritual practice seem like opposites but share the same root.
Master Huayan on approaching competitive games

Disclaimer: The original footage did not include English subtitles. These have been provided by @nealCS. Consequently, translated dialogue and interview segments may not be an exact verbatim word-for-word reflection of the original content.