The Holy land of the Shaolin

In recent years there has been a lot of public interest in the Chan Buddhist teachings (chin.: chanfa 禪法) and in the Shaolin Martial Arts (chin.: shaolin wugong少林武功). This interest has fuelled an ongoing debate in Western Buddhist circles about the most skilful ways to integrate these originally Asian teachings into the very different cultures of Europe and America. In Buddhist countries, the religion has always been structured around a solid core of monasticism.

Many have questioned the relevance of this Shaolin (少林) institutionalized form of practice. These critics claim that the Shaolin Buddhist monastic order (chin.: Shaolin seng jie 少林僧戒) preserves a patriarchal hierarchy incompatible with the values of democracy and gender equality. Underlying these objections may be a more basic perception of the incompatibility of an ancient institution with a modern civilization. Western culture is based on the idea of progress and innovation, whereas Chan Buddhist monasticism is deeply conservative, preserving rules and modes of dress and life from two and a half millennia ago. Western culture is materialistic and hedonistic, whereas Chan Buddhist (chin.: chanzong 禪宗) monastic practice (chin.: qinggui 清規) is centered on renunciation (chin.: kezhi 克制), celibacy (chin.: dushen 獨身) and sense restraint (chin.: fencun 分寸). The simple existence of a monastic lifestyle serves the greater society immeasurably, as an example and perhaps as an admonition.

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