Zen, Chan & the Shaolin Temple 禪 · 少林

Bodhidharma at Shaolin

Around 527, tradition says, the Indian monk Bodhidharma came to the Shaolin Monastery on Mount Song and sat facing a cave wall for nine years. He became the first patriarch of Chan. Legend also credits him with exercises to strengthen the monks (later linked with the Yijinjing), though historians date Shaolin's martial fame to the Tang and Ming dynasties. The lineage passed through Huike (who, the story says, cut off his arm to show his sincerity), Sengcan, Daoxin and Hongren to Huineng, the Sixth Patriarch, whose Platform Sutra teaches sudden awakening.

"Chan and martial arts are one body"

At Shaolin, kung fu is moving meditation: the same undivided attention as sitting, carried into punches, stances and forms. Monks chant the Heart Sutra, sit in the meditation hall and train in the courtyard. Explore the Shaolin family of arts →

Where Chan meets Daoism

Early Chinese translators borrowed Daoist words (wu, "non-being", and dao, "the Way") to explain Buddhist ideas. Chan's love of simplicity, nature, paradox and spontaneity echoes Laozi and Zhuangzi. Both traditions share stillness, breath and the wisdom of not-forcing. Wu wei →

• Moving, not moving: Chan practice is "just sitting", but Chan masters said the Way is also "carrying water and chopping wood". At Shaolin, kung fu is a moving meditation: Chan and martial arts as one body (禪武一體).
• Doing, not doing: Bodhidharma, asked what merit good deeds bring, answered: "No merit." Zen action is wholehearted and leaves no trace, close to Daoist wu wei.
• No-mind: Wu-xin (無心), mushin in Japanese: a mind that does not cling, ready for anything. Swordsmen and tai chi players prize it.
• Beginner's mind: "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities" (Shunryu Suzuki). Each breath and each step is fresh.

The family tree

China: Bodhidharma → Huike → Sengcan → Daoxin → Hongren → Huineng → the Five Houses (Linji, Caodong, Yunmen, Guiyang, Fayan).
Japan: Rinzai (Eisai, 1191; Hakuin), Soto (Dogen, 1227), Obaku (1654).
Korea: Seon (Jinul, the Jogye Order).
Vietnam: Thien (Truc Lam; Thich Nhat Hanh's Plum Village).
America: San Francisco Zen Center, the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center (Katagiri Roshi, 1972), the Zen Center of Denver and many more.

Try zazen

1. Sit on a cushion or chair with the spine tall and relaxed.
2. Rest the hands in the cosmic mudra, left hand on right, thumbs lightly touching.
3. Eyes half-open, gaze resting on the floor a few feet ahead.
4. Count breaths from one to ten on the out-breath, then begin again. When you lose count, simply start over.
5. Five minutes is a fine beginning.

Shaolin: Zen Temple of Kung Fu (1998), via SHAOLIN TEMPLE LITHUANIA

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