Martial Arts Was Not The Only Important Facet In The Shaolin Temple

Chán Buddhism (called Zen in Japan and the west) originated in China and is totally unique, especially as it applies to martial arts.
The following is a quote by Shàolín Temple Abbot Shi Yong Xin posted on the official Shàolín website: That a Kung fu practitioner must be at the same time a Chan practitioner is exactly what differs Shaolin gong-fu from gong-fu of any other Wushu (martial art) school in China.

What is the kernel of the tenets of the Buddhist Chan Order? The kernel includes the following points: A practitioner needs: 1. to stay consistently calm in emotion, 2. to always keep his mind concentrated on his goal, 3. to make a point of incessantly purging his mind of unwholesome thoughts, & 4. to leave himself relaxed mentally and physically at all times.

Chán Chádào, Way of Tea or Tea Ceremony is a manifestation of Chán spirit, a path to transformation and awaking – opening the mind and senses in the eternal flow of now. It begins with good intentions, learning some simple steps, concentration and letting go all that precedes it and what may come after. This is the first stage. The second stage is the doing of it, the sensations and movements to preparing tea perfection in harmony with others. In the final stage a new person and relationship emerge from the chrysalis of past experience. Chán Chádào is a path to transformation, Chán experience.

In a way Chán Chádào is similar to martial arts. In the beginning one learns mechanical movements and the mind is occupied with that learning. Over time the practice become reflexive and one learns to harmonize them with the movements and intentions of others. This is where practice of emptiness (Shunyata) comes in. It‘s a letting go process; letting go of ego and robotic unnecessary movements and thinking that interferes with the eternal flow/stream of now.

One of the hallmark characteristics of a tea person and martial art master is seeing emptiness. First one learns the form, then emptiness, and finally that form is not different from emptiness. This is discussed in the Heart Sutra of the Prajnaparamita. It is not just wisdom, but the perfection of wisdom.

When making and drinking tea a master observes the mutual interdependence of wood, fire, water, metal and earth in the tea and tea set, in the environment and guests simultaneously. All five elements are harmonized. Balancing the five elements is known to cure all disease.

Visit a Shàolín Abbot or monk‘s abode or office and one can expect to be served tea. It may or may not be a transcendent experience depending on the receptivity and expectations of the guest(s).

But, exactly where it all began in China is anybody‘s guess. One account claims a Buddhist monk named Gan Lu (Sweet Dew) brought tea back with him when he returned from a pilgrimage to India during the first century. Seven ―fairy tea trees‖ he supposedly planted are said to still to be seen on Mt. Mengding in Sichuan.

Others adamantly assert (with pretty good evidence) that tea is of Chinese origin.

Tea (botanically termed (camellia sinensis) is a fine plant indigenous to South China, the size of which varies from one to two feet up to dozens of feet in length, depending on where they vegetate.‖ ―In addition to ―Cha‖ tea has also been referred to in the classics under various by names such as jia, she, ming, tu and chuan. Duke Zhou Gongdan of the Zhou Dynasty (1046 B.C. – 256 BC) once illustrated: ―Jia is a kind of tu with bitter taste.‖ Yu, Lu (780 AD – Jiang Yi & Jiang Xin, Trans., 2009) The Classic of Tea, Chapter 1, Tracing to the Origin of Tea(P. 5)

In the Song Dynasty (960 – 1279), monks got up, washed their face and hands, and drank tea in the morning. Then, they sat during meditation before taking a nap. When they got up, they washed and drank tea. Then, they had a meal, washed their face and hands, and drank tea. Monks were and to a large extent still are inseparable from tea in daily life. Tea ignites the vitality and strengthens the will.

In the Song Dynasty many Chinese temples formulated ritualized ceremonies for drinking tea. The most famous was the tea banquet of Jingshan Temple (径山寺) in Yuhang District, Hangzhou city, Zhejiang Province. Built in the early Tang Dynasty this temple became like the Vatican in the Song Dynasty, while Hangzhou was country‘s political, economic and cultural center, rather like Kyoto.

The earliest Buddhist communication between Jingshan Temple and Japanese Buddhists was in 1235 when Japanese Buddhist monk EnniBen‘en (圓爾辯圓 called Yuan’er Bianyuanin China, 1202–1280) studied various forms of Mahayana under Chinese Master Wúzhǔn Shīfàn (无准师范) at Jingshan (Jìngshān径山) Temple.

Thus it might be said that Jìngshān Temple originated the Japanese Tea Ceremony. Nanpushaoming, who learned tea planting, tea making and tea banquet ceremony during his studies under Wúzhǔn Shīfàn, the 40th Abbot of Jìngshān Temple, brought the tea ceremony back home to Japan and developed it in every corner of the nation. (Chen Saiyan, 2009)

Just as early Buddhists learned to sculpt the figure of Buddha traveling through Greek ruled Central Asia, so in western China tea adapted to the needs of religion. Nearly all early teas were named for mountains which had large Buddhist monasteries. The role of tea in Buddhism is rather like that of wine in the Catholic Church in that Catholic monasteries were centers of grape cultivation and wine making, whereas Buddhist temples evolved increasingly sophisticated methods of tea cultivation and preparation. Over the centuries Buddhist monks developed white, green, red, black and oolong teas.

Oolong (乌龙wūlóng, meaning ―black dragon‖) teas are produced using a unique process that involves withering under the strong sun and oxidation before curling and twisting. Oolong tea is especially popular with tea connoisseurs in south China and Chinese expatriates and their descendants worldwide, as is the Fujian preparation process known as the Gongfu tea ceremony. (Here Gongfu refers to art and skill as compared to the martial endeavor.)

This elaborate tea ceremony in its complete form is rich in history and symbolism. Historically in China Buddhist monasteries were not only temples for meditation and rituals, and homes for monks, but they were also hospitals, schools, universities, research centers, libraries, art galleries, inns, orphanages, refuges for those in need, police stations, the goals of pilgrimages, publishing houses, cultural centers, meeting halls and specialty tea centers. When emperors traveled they often stayed at monasteries which were the apex of civilization at that time, because monks were the largest class of well-educated people; not so different in some ways from Catholic monasteries in Europe even though Chán culture is and always was radically different from Catholic, or any other ―traditional culture‖ for that matter.

Visitors to Buddhist monasteries were virtually always invited to drink tea, and thus did tea culture spread. Tea was also used for a variety of ritualized ceremonies including the appointment and departure of abbots, seasonal assemblies, meetings with guests including emperors and commoners, and the arrival and departure of monks. Buddhists also used tea as an aid to meditation, social intercourse and a general health tonic. It engendered sobriety and wakeful tranquility in addition to spiritual refreshment. The rituals in preparing tea created an atmosphere of transcendence for those partaking of it.

The role Buddhism has played in the history of tea in Asia parallels the role of Catholicism in the history of wine in Europe. Their respective drinks donned rituals and transcendent significance and the practitioners of both traditions became devoted adherents. By the Tang dynasty (618-907), China had centuries of experience with Buddhism and Chán Buddhism was the formless cup within which that tea steeped.

It was during the Tang Dynasty that the original and legendary Sage of Tea, Lù Yǔ ( 陆羽 – 733–804) grew up and wrote The Classic of Tea. But, as one might surmise, the road to becoming a master is never without challenges. In some cases, those challenges start very early upon the road of life. According to the ―New Book of Tang‖ (Xin Tang Shu) Lù Yǔ was abandoned as an infant by Xihu Lake in a suburb of Jingling City (present day Hebei).