The Shaolin Monastery (vol.II)

It's quite fascinating to study the shaolin monastery as a martial artist. I mean, what I study today is the product of centuries of work and study by some of the greatest martial artists of all time. It's also interesting from the perspective of a philosopher as the monastery has a rich history. But I must say something that is incredibly intriguing is that Shaolin is a buddhist monastery. One of the highest principles of the monastery is non-violence and yet these monks developed one of the most sofficicated fighting systems ever. But Shahar's exploration of the monastery's history demonstrates how the monks reconciled the two. It appears that philosophy developed as a reaction to history and necessity. The reality of the monastery was that it was prime real estate for attack by bandits and at times monks were required to serve in the military. This reality caused the monks to create philosophical explanations for their breaking of a sacred law of Buddhism. I found it interesting because of it's connection to Christianity. Jesus himself, a teacher of non-violent resistance, has had to suffer the reality that his followers have often engaged in violence. We see in history how Christians justified their actions through theology which followed from practice rather than the other way around. It seems that all too often great teachers come and illuminate the path of righteouness for humanity and yet we are so fond of our ways we create loopholes to satisfy our desire to fight.