"The Shaolin Monastery" by Meir Shahar (Vol. I)

The Shaolin Temple resides in the Henan province of China near Mt. Shaoshi (shao from the mt. and lin meaning grove = Shaolin means the grove of Mt. Shaoshi). Ancient Chinese legends attribute the bringing of Buddhism to China to the Indian monk Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma is an interesting character, whose myth develops over a couple of centuries. One interesting part of the legend which develops is of his appearant resurrection. An emissary to central asia claimed to have encountered a barefooted Bodhidharma, who was carrying a shoe, who told him he was returning to India. When the emissary returned and informed his monks they opened the tomb of Bodhidharma only to find a single shoe. The Shaolin monastery itself was founded in 496 by the Indian-born monk Batuo (or Fotuo). The Shaolin monastery has traditionally accepted students age six and up, providing them with not only martial knowledge but also basic education.

Okay, enough of that. I just wanted to summarize what I had read in the chapter so as to more concretely put it into memory. There is so much going on in my mind after reading the first few pages because of all the questions it presents. Two such questions are incredibly interesting and I have often wondered: How did the Shaolin martial arts develop into elaborate systems? How did the Buddhist monks (who have such a strong tenet of peace) justify fighting? I hope in the next 160 pages the answers can be given some shape.

I did the legend of Bodhidharma's resurrection particularly interesting as well. In the West, we assume that the only religious story of resurrection is the one centering on Jesus. However, I think there are many other stories of the like in other civilizations. I mean, you could take Osiris I imagine as counting (even though he had to be put back together). So maybe it's the differences between the stories which are more fascinating. Hmm...well...Jesus raises himself from the dead and doesn't rely on other forces or help to raise him. Unlike Osiris, he doesn't suffer from any negative effects. Case in point, as is everything with Christianity, it's not the similarities which are as intriguing as the differences which point to something else. Nevertheless, I did like that bit about the one-shoe. I wondered if Jesus thought about doing something humorous like that. But then again, Bodhidharma never phased through walls after he died.

I also enjoyed the bit about some of the deities in Chinese tradition. Such as "the pot-bellied Maitreya Buddha...depicted in Chinese art and literature as holy fools, whose divinity is masked behind an eccentric facade" (14). I thought that was interesting. Made me think of Yoda from the Empire Strikes back.