Shaolin Monks

 

Yesterday, Art and I took the kids to a nearby mountain known as "Five Springs Mountain." It's a huge place with . . . yes, five springs . . . and is home to many Buddhist temples.

On the outside, Buddhism looks to be a simple belief system, but beneath the robes, there is a myriad of thought patterns which can become quite confusing.

Buddhism is not a single monolithic religion. There are many different variations which have developed with little conflict. This has been because at its core is a philosophical system to which such additions can be easily grafted.

The main branches:

** Theravada / Hinayana (The great tradition or the way of the elders):

Practised in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos and sticks firmly to the teachings of the Vinaya Pitaka. It teaches that Buddha was a man, a very special man, a very special person but nevertheless human.

** Mahayana (little tradition)

Theraveda emphasizes the life of the monk and serious meditation practices that demand extended time and isolation which became difficult for millions and as Buddhism moved into new countries outside India it also had to compete with other religions. A new strand developed which was known as Mahayana.

Mahayan accommodated and change it’s religious beliefs and practises to the religious expectations and ideas of people. They moved away from considering monks as the only elite and beyond the monastery. The Mahayan interpreted and transformed the Buddha and his teachings into divine being of personal nature and transcendence.

** Variants of Mahayana Buddhism:

Tibetan Buddhism:

A mixture of Buddhism, Tantrism and the ancient Bon religion of Tibet. They have a vast collection of scriptures (tantras), which describe powerful rituals. Their teachers (Lamas) are said to be reincarnations of holy teachers who lived in earlier times.

The spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists is the Dalai Lama who is believed to be the reincarnation of Avalokiteshvara.

Zen Buddhism:

Developed from CH’an a school of Chinese Buddhism formed in the Seventh century from a blend of Taoism (Chinese philosophy outlined in the TaoTeChing). It aims is to achieve harmony with all that is by pursuing inaction and effortless) and Mahayana teachings. The school stressed experience rather than learning. One of the heroes of Zen is the fierce – looking Indian monk Boddhidharma who brought Buddhism to China.

Absolute faith is placed in a person’s own inner being. Zen came to Japan in the 13th century five centuries after the orthodox forms of Buddhism. It appealed because of its emphasis on the uselessness of words and the insistence of action without thought.

**Pure Land Buddhism:

Buddhist sect founded by a Chinese monk called Hui Yuan (AD 334 –416). It focuses on one particular scripture which tells of a living Buddha who inhabits another world system, a far off place known as the Pure Land. The Buddha is Amitabha and his followers believe that through faith they will be transported there after death.

**Nichiren Buddhism:

A Japanese Buddhist reformer whose teachings are based on the Mahayana Sutra (scripture) known as the Lotus Sutra which contained the ultimate truth and that it could be compressed into a sacred formula NAMO MYOHO RENGE KYO (homage to the Lotus of the wonderful law).

The central practice of Nichiren Buddhism is reciting the mantra of the namo myoho rengye kyo. Nichiren denounced all other forms of Buddhism and when the Mongols threatened Japan preached a fiery nationalism, urging the nation to convert to true Buddhism.

(From: http://www.racialjustice.org.uk/Types%20of%20Buddhism.htm data acquired October 6, 2009)

Clear? Understand the differences? Nah, me neither!

Our part of the country typically follows Mahayana, Tibetan and Zen Buddhism.

When we went to the Five Springs Mountain, however, we saw these monks. They aren't part of any Buddhist sect, but are a part of the Shaolin temple. While Shaolin is known for its kung fu and martial arts, it's origins are in Buddhism and it's not that uncommon to see the occasional Shaolin monk at a Buddhist temple.

"The Shaolin philosophy is one that started from Buddhism and later adopted many Taoist principles to become a new sect. Thus even though a temple may have been Taoist or Buddhist at first, once it became Shaolin, it was a member of a new order, an amalgamation of the prevailing Chinese philosophies of the time." (From: http://www.shaolin.com/historycontent.aspx data acquired October 6, 2009)