Buddhism
少林寺
Shaolin Temple
“Nine years facing a stone wall — where the wordless mind came east”
Scenes
Meaning
Among the pines of Mount Song, the stupas of the Pagoda Forest stand like a grove of stone, and a mountain path leads toward the cave where Bodhidharma is said to have faced the wall.
A temple at the foot of Mount Song, said to have been founded in the late fifth century. Tradition holds that Bodhidharma, arriving from India, sat for years in a cave here facing the wall, and that from this Chan (Zen) took root in China. Beside the temple, the Pagoda Forest gathers the memorial stupas of generations of masters. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage historic monuments of Dengfeng, at 'the Centre of Heaven and Earth.'
Field notes
- Location
- Dengfeng · Mount Song · N34.5° · E112.9°
- Best time
- Early morning, when slanting light falls through the Pagoda Forest.
- Getting there
- From Dengfeng, enter the foothills of Mount Song.
- Etiquette
- Quiet is appreciated in spaces of practice and worship.
Sources
- · UNESCO World Heritage
- · Encyclopaedia Britannica
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