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Zazen

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Greetings everyone, I was wondering if anyone here was familiar with "action meditation" its commonly(but i dont think exclusively) practiced at the Shaolin Temple the birthplace of Chan buddhism(Zen)

really id just like to hear others thoughts on this topic, its of interest to me because 2 friends of mine are disciples of Shi Yan Ming in NYC USA Shaolin Temple and Shi Yan Ming stresses action meditation, aswell as most other monks of shaolin

Amitabha
 
Zazen said:
Greetings everyone, I was wondering if anyone here was familiar with "action meditation" its commonly(but i dont think exclusively) practiced at the Shaolin Temple the birthplace of Chan buddhism(Zen)

really id just like to hear others thoughts on this topic, its of interest to me because 2 friends of mine are disciples of Shi Yan Ming in NYC USA Shaolin Temple and Shi Yan Ming stresses action meditation, aswell as most other monks of shaolin

Amitabha
Click to expand...

Namaste Zazen,

i'm unfamaliar with the term "action meditation" is that a form of Vipassana or Samatha meditation?
 
waahtaah

Action meditation is how shaolin monks describe being mindful while practicing shaolin gong fu or qi gong etc

but of course from a more detailed source..

[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Meditation is the essence of Chan Buddhism and Shaolin kung fu. It is the soul of Da Mo's teaching. Da Mo was famous for sitting in a cave before a rock for nine years in meditation. His practice was so powerful that it left an impression of his face in that rock. This rock is still housed in a special hall of the Shaolin Temple for anyone to see. [/font]
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The word Chan is short for Chan Na, just as its Japanese translation Zen is short for Zen Na. Both words are efforts to phonetically translate the term Dhyana from Sanskrit. Dhyana is one of the "eight limbs of Yoga," translated into English as meditation. According to legend, Da Mo created chi kung and kung fu exercises to increase personal vitality so monks could sustain prolonged meditations. However, the very act of practicing kung fu can be, in itself, an act of meditation. Such is the paradox of Chan.[/font]​
[font=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]So what is meditation? In the West, we tend to think of it as a devotional exercise in contemplation of spirituality. Chan simplifies this concept considerably. Meditation simply means to be fully aware of the moment. This is not as easy as it appears. Your mind is always processing your sense perceptions, constantly contributing to mental noise. We all have that internal dialog, which inhibits our complete awareness of the moment with a head filled with presumptions and distractions. To be in the moment, all of these delusions dissolve and what remains is what it is. This is why doing nothing and practicing kung fu (in a sense doing everything) can both be acts of meditation. To a Chan Buddhist, any act can be meditation if you are in the moment. Although these paths may seem totally different, ultimately they are one and the same."[/font]​
copyd that from www.shaolinwolf.com​
 
For some reason "action meditation" makes myself think of the practice of Tai Chi.
 
well

well, taijijuan (grand ultimate fist) is commonly described as moving meditation, which isnt surprising considering the emphasis placed on uniting mind/body into all the techinques aswell as direction of qi throughout the body

amitabha
 
Is taijijuan equivalent to Tai Chi? Sorry - I actually know very little about martial arts.
 
do da

well, the fact that you atleast acknowledge tai chi as a martial art is something...most people just think of it as martha stewarts new age stress reliever

and yes, it is the same, when people say "Tai Chi" they mean Taichichuan, or Taijijuan

as simply as i can put it, Taiji is a martial art, it is very powerful, it branches out into a few different styles or lineages( Yang, Chen, Sun, Wu, Wu') it is considered an "internal" or soft martial art because it places emphasis on building up internal energy or "chi" to direct movements and its forms are usually done slow, although being a complete system of Traditional chinese martial arts it is in actually both internal and external, external meaning that it places emphasis on combat applications and such

what interests me about taiji and shaolin gong fu is that they both use techinques of uniting the mind/body/spirit and through that, they achieve nirvana, they say that taiji at first was not even meant to be used as a spiritual practice it became a by product over the years because of the way it is trained, there are many legends and such of taijis original origin which i wont go into here, but its said that when a wudang monk trained at shaolin temple and learned shaolin long fist, he came back to wudang and compiled it with what he knew to make taiji, and through the training at shaolin monastery his form of martial art became basically a vehicle for enlightenment, just as shaolin gong fu is for the shaolin monks

of course not all monks in the shaolin and wudang sects trained martial arts, some were "martial monks" others were just monks

also, not everyone that trains martial arts in china or wherever see it as a vehicle, or even ackknowledge it as being spiritual..although most do, it is interesting to note that most popular systems of martial arts in china were greatly influenced by shaolin and wudang, and some can even draw their lineage directly back to shaolin

so that really poses another interesting idea of being mindful really, cause its not that laymen or other practitioners of the arts didnt train properly(even though alot of the martial arts were debased after leaving shaolin) but that they just dont train that aspect of the art..

anyway nough said i suppose

amitabha
 
Namaste all,

thank you for the interesting thread discussion thus far.

thank you for the link, Zazen, i had a chance to read the site and it's material. i always apprecaite an opportunity to see someone else's expression of the Dharma :)

the site referenced indicated a practice consisting of both vipassana and samatha meditation practice. i suppose we could render that as the "action" meditive states in vipassana and the samatha would be in the sitting meditation.

i agree, one should incorporate all forms into one's practice. Lao-tzu, paraprhased, says that when things are new and healthy, they are supple and yielding, like a new tree and a young person. when they die, they are stiff and brittle, like old trees and old people. we should strive to maintain a supple and flexible body and mind.

i studied a kung-fu style for several years, when i was younger. Northern Long Fist was it's americanized name :) in any event, the teacher was one Master Goh, quite the teacher i must say.

most westeners, it seems, aren't really interested in the inner aspect of the martial arts, especially all the self discipline that is required. there are always exceptions to this :)
 
more and more

theres more and more each day vaj, and yet again youve surprised me..
 
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