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CrossTrainer · 11-08-2004, 05:34 PM

The link between martial arts and religion is a fairly controversial theme for many "modern minds." Like you say religion "promote self-peace and harmony," but many would reply: "not really - they promote belief in authority and a sacrifice of
your individual morality; self-peace and harmony is just their brand name for this."
There might be some truth to this, but in a funny way I myself feel that many of the true, original ideals of the religions/philosophies behind martial arts have survived better in the martial arts communities than in their respective religious organizations.
Like my taiji instructor once said: "Both Buddha Gautama and later Osho said: we don't need any spiritual leaders. The crowd replied: YES MASTER, TEACH US MORE!" Many people wish to have a guru to follow, as a means of relief from the burden of trying to understand and cope with this world - and there are plenty of gurus and teachings supplied for them. Any teacher who demands to be your sole teacher actually asks you not to keep an open mind - so one should not confuse spirituality with mere authority.

Also, what is really the spiritual/religious ideas of martial arts in general? They are simply impossible to define for martial arts as a whole, even south asian martial arts. Daoist philosophy is based upon spontaniety, natural ability, "individuality" or "realness" as a tool for unification with the cosmos. Later historical grand wagon buddhism is more unitary, not so much praising the hermits but putting greater emphasis on the monotony of monastical life. And how long a gap is there between the daoist hermit and the idea of Wu Wei, and the militaristic discipline approaches of Tae Kwon Do or even buddhist wushu?

Martial arts and religion can be a mess, the can be a great mix, but one should never confuse religious principles with religious practices: as for the sake of buddhism, they rarely match eachother. Same goes for christianity, in my own humble opinion.

I hope I don't offend anyone in my rants - religion is a tricky subject. But I try to keep an open mind and must point out that I respect the religious beliefs of everyone I meet as long as they don't feel obliged more than one time to convince me that I'm probably going to hell .

IMO the martial artists most rational and relevant approach to religion in their arts and in life would be "Open-minded skepticism". Truly a paradox, but not oxymoronic - to me at last.

11-08-2004, 05:34 PM	#6 (permalink)
CrossTrainer Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Scandinavia Posts: 12 Groans: 0 Groaned at 0 Times in 0 Posts	The link between martial arts and religion is a fairly controversial theme for many "modern minds." Like you say religion "promote self-peace and harmony," but many would reply: "not really - they promote belief in authority and a sacrifice of your individual morality; self-peace and harmony is just their brand name for this." There might be some truth to this, but in a funny way I myself feel that many of the true, original ideals of the religions/philosophies behind martial arts have survived better in the martial arts communities than in their respective religious organizations. Like my taiji instructor once said: "Both Buddha Gautama and later Osho said: we don't need any spiritual leaders. The crowd replied: YES MASTER, TEACH US MORE!" Many people wish to have a guru to follow, as a means of relief from the burden of trying to understand and cope with this world - and there are plenty of gurus and teachings supplied for them. Any teacher who demands to be your sole teacher actually asks you not to keep an open mind - so one should not confuse spirituality with mere authority. Also, what is really the spiritual/religious ideas of martial arts in general? They are simply impossible to define for martial arts as a whole, even south asian martial arts. Daoist philosophy is based upon spontaniety, natural ability, "individuality" or "realness" as a tool for unification with the cosmos. Later historical grand wagon buddhism is more unitary, not so much praising the hermits but putting greater emphasis on the monotony of monastical life. And how long a gap is there between the daoist hermit and the idea of Wu Wei, and the militaristic discipline approaches of Tae Kwon Do or even buddhist wushu? Martial arts and religion can be a mess, the can be a great mix, but one should never confuse religious principles with religious practices: as for the sake of buddhism, they rarely match eachother. Same goes for christianity, in my own humble opinion. I hope I don't offend anyone in my rants - religion is a tricky subject. But I try to keep an open mind and must point out that I respect the religious beliefs of everyone I meet as long as they don't feel obliged more than one time to convince me that I'm probably going to hell . IMO the martial artists most rational and relevant approach to religion in their arts and in life would be "Open-minded skepticism". Truly a paradox, but not oxymoronic - to me at last.