| |
Shaolin
Kung Fu | Ch'an
Buddhism | Damo
|
Tai
Chi Quan | Chen
Style Tai Chi | Chi
Gong
Damo
(Bodhidharma)
Damo (short for Pu Ti Da Mo) came to Shaolin Temple in
527ad(ca), he was the 28th patriarch of Shakyamuni (Buddha),
(Siddhartha Gautama).
He was an Indian prince who inherited the Buddhist teachings,
then migrated to China, and according to legend, crossed
the Yang Zi river upon a single bamboo reed.
Once he'd reached the Shaolin temple he saw that the monk
bodies were weak after long periods of meditation and
sutra readings.
He therefore decided to try to remedy this and climbed
the Shao Shi mountains behind Shaolin temple in search
of a place to stay and meditate, he stayed upon a ridge
of the mountain inside a cave for nine years, and it was
there that he conceived the foundations for both Ch'an
Buddhism and Shaolin Gong Fu, he devised forms of exercise
to help strengthen the monks bodies called the Yi Jin
Jing (The muscle change classic) and the Xi Sui Jing (The
bone and marrow purification classic).
There is a stone inside The Shaolin Temple today which
was taken from the cave on Shao Shi mountain which bears
the image of Damo. There is also a statue on the peak
of Shao Shi mountain which was placed there to commemorate
1500 years of Shaolin Culture.
|
Damo - founder of Shaolin Gong Fu. |
