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The Shaolin Temple’s reputation as a centre of excellence for Martial Arts is a well known fact to modern martial artists across the world.  Few people, however, realise that the Shaolin Temple is also a Buddhist Temple which has been prominent in the historical development of Buddhism.

Bodhidharma (Da Mo in Chinese) came from India in the 6^th Century AD as one of the few teachers to come to preach Buddhism in the ‘Middle Kingdom’, China.  Bodhidharma brought a new brand of Buddhism which did not rely on the study of scriptures (Sutras) and devotional practice, but depended more on individual direct experience of Enlightenment through meditation or ‘mind to mind transmission’.

According to one story, the Emperor of the day questioned Bodhidharma as to how much merit, in terms of future rewards, he had accumulated through his construction and patronage of numerous monasteries and temples throughout his kingdom.   Bodhidharma answered “nothing!”.  The Emperor, not understanding the meaning of ‘nothing’, felt terribly offended and chased Bodhidharma away.  Fleeing for his life, Bodhidharma took refuge in the famous Shaolin Temple, where he sat in meditation for nine years.  Many legends surrounding his stay at the temple subsequently developed.

Bodhidharma’s significance, apart from the legends describing his contribution to the development of Martial Arts and Qigong exercises, is primarily that he was the first Patriarch of the Ch’an (Zen in Japanese) sect of Buddhism in China.  The word Ch’an is a translation of the Sanskrit word ‘Dhyanna’, which means meditation.

Ch’an Buddhism took on a Chinese character in the 7^th Century under the 6^th Patriarch, Hui-Neng.  Mixing its doctrines with the indigenous Chinese philosophies and practices (especially Taoism), a new Ch’an Buddhism was born that combines the metaphysical spirit of India with the practical spirit of China.

The ultimate aim of Ch’an meditation is to realise one’s original nature through Enlightenment.  In simple terms, the objective is to open our eyes to the ultimate truth, the ultimate reason of the universe, seeing things as they are in their undefiled nature, to understand ourselves, the reason for being, the purpose of life.  To be able to do this, our mind needs to be cleansed of all the restrictive concepts we have accumulated over the years, so that the wisdom which is inherent in all of us can spring back into our conscious mind, and this can only effectively be done through meditation.

The first discipline to learn in meditation is the ability to focus the mind and not to be attached or encourage by uncontrolled thoughts.  Without realising, all of us have ‘thought impulses’ coming and going all the time.  Good thoughts make us happy, and bad ones make us sad.  Experiment by sitting in a comfortable position and emptying your mind for five minutes.  For non meditators, this will feel like an eternity, and you will notice that all sorts of thoughts and impulses come and go.

Thoughts are a chain reaction.  For example, a thought of a bad past experience may lead to a thought of hate for someone else.  One after another, the thoughts multiply.  Suddenly, without knowing it, you can end up hating the whole world.  This happens with good or bad thoughts alike.  We can see how thoughts can create moods without us knowing.

Meditation slowly makes us aware of the workings of our mind.  Experiment by asking yourself, whenever you are sad or happy; what it is that makes you sad or happy.  Inevitably it has its source in a thought impulse from the subconscious of your mind.  In Ch’an meditation we learn how to be in control of these impulses.   Thoughts are powerful, and an old Buddhist saying reflects this:

Sow a thought, reap an action;

Sow an action, reap a habit;

Sow a habit, reap a destiny.

Big things are achieved with a simple beginning…just a thought, the mother of all action and destiny.

The mechanics of mediation are simple.  The difficulty lies in the ‘will power’ to practise.  In Buddhism there is no dependence on God or a supernatural power.  You have to learn to find and rely on your own strength.  There is no one else to blame for your own weaknesses and failures but yourself.  The secret of meditation is to be patient and to practise, practise and practise.

On a more physiological level, uncontrolled thoughts have an impact on our mental and physical well being.  Excessive negative thoughts can, for example, cause stress and unnecessary worries which can lead to health problems.  Body and mind are interlinked.  Correct posture therefore disciplines the body and is the most important foundation of meditation.  The ability to sit motionless for at least half an hour has a deep, calming effect on the mind.  One example is that you can notice a nervous person through signs of trembling fingers or hands.  The list is too long to enumerate.  Calming and relaxing the body creates a corresponding effect on the mind.

The traditional posture in Ch’an Buddhism, and generally in Asia, is the ‘Lotus’ posture.  This is the posture in which the Buddha is often pictured.  You should practice for twenty minutes at east a week and try to gradually increase it to thirty minutes daily.  Some serious meditators practice over two hours daily in sittings of half an hour, with breaks of a few minutes in between.  In some monasteries, temples or Ch’an organisations, intensive retreats of one week or more of mediation are organised.   During these retreats, meditation practice can be up to eight hours daily.

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Credit:

Taken from the September/October (Issue 10) of Qi Magazine. Qi Magazine was founded in 1990 by Michael Tse as a means of helping his students learn more about Chinese culture. After 18 years this now has sadly ceased production.

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If you are interested in exploring the relationship of Ch'an Buddhism and Wing Chun further, why not check out our article "Taoism and Buddhism in Wing Chun" here: Link

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