Hmm.. where to begin? Well, for approximately one year of my life, the Shaolin Temple was #1 on my list of obsessions. I trained at the school of a certain Shaoin "grandmaster", I watched awful Kung Fu movies, and I read Gene Ching's magazine, Russbo.com, the official websites of various "monks", and any Shaolin-related books I came across.
I recently departed from the said grandmaster's school after being convinced that he cares less for spreading "Kung Fu" and "Chan" than he does for making gluts of money. Although I am aware that there can exist one bad representative of any organization (ancient Buddhist temples being no exception), this experience got me thinking about the legitimacy of the whole Shaolin Temple. I feel absolutely positive that the modern temple is fraudulent and that the "Shaolin Gongfu" taught to foreigners comprises of little more than fluff developed by skilled individuals appointed by the Chinese Communist Party.
However, not only do I think that the modern temple is a scam but also that the real, pre-1900s Shaolin Temple is a naught more than a myth devised by clever Chinese officials who know just how to appeal to the Western world's sense of romanticism and mysticism. That's right. The whole thing a downright lie.
Now just what evidence to do I have to support this bold assertion? How about the fact that in all of my extensive research of Shaolin, not once have I seen a source with any academic or historic credibility? Furthermore, the temple is said to be the birthplace of Zen. Now, I've read books on the subject of Zen by itself, and none of them make any mention of the Shaolin Temple. They do tell of Bodhidharma and his pilgrimage to China, but nothing at all is written about his long meditation at Song Shao and training of the early Shaolin monks.
Also, anyone with a reasonably high IQ cannot help but read Kungfu Tai Chi magazine and notice that half of the pages are dominated by poorly and ineffectively written articles while the other half are imbued with all sorts of tacky advertisements that don't even attempt to veil the capitalistic madness. "You can train at the Shaolin Temple!" Big whoop.
But anyway, this is just a theory. Perhaps I'm just an extremely paranoid cynic with a blurred perception of reality. Anyway, I'm curious to hear what others think.
I recently departed from the said grandmaster's school after being convinced that he cares less for spreading "Kung Fu" and "Chan" than he does for making gluts of money. Although I am aware that there can exist one bad representative of any organization (ancient Buddhist temples being no exception), this experience got me thinking about the legitimacy of the whole Shaolin Temple. I feel absolutely positive that the modern temple is fraudulent and that the "Shaolin Gongfu" taught to foreigners comprises of little more than fluff developed by skilled individuals appointed by the Chinese Communist Party.
However, not only do I think that the modern temple is a scam but also that the real, pre-1900s Shaolin Temple is a naught more than a myth devised by clever Chinese officials who know just how to appeal to the Western world's sense of romanticism and mysticism. That's right. The whole thing a downright lie.
Now just what evidence to do I have to support this bold assertion? How about the fact that in all of my extensive research of Shaolin, not once have I seen a source with any academic or historic credibility? Furthermore, the temple is said to be the birthplace of Zen. Now, I've read books on the subject of Zen by itself, and none of them make any mention of the Shaolin Temple. They do tell of Bodhidharma and his pilgrimage to China, but nothing at all is written about his long meditation at Song Shao and training of the early Shaolin monks.
Also, anyone with a reasonably high IQ cannot help but read Kungfu Tai Chi magazine and notice that half of the pages are dominated by poorly and ineffectively written articles while the other half are imbued with all sorts of tacky advertisements that don't even attempt to veil the capitalistic madness. "You can train at the Shaolin Temple!" Big whoop.
But anyway, this is just a theory. Perhaps I'm just an extremely paranoid cynic with a blurred perception of reality. Anyway, I'm curious to hear what others think.
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