He is Maitreya Bodhisatta. According to Buddhist prediction, long after the extinction of the teachings of Sakyamuni Buddha in the far future, Maitreya Bodhisatta would become the Buddha and preach in the world. For this reason, he has been held in universal esteem as well. In Chinese history, there were instances in which peasants were called to rebel under the pretext that Maitreya was born, for example, the Maitreya Cult of the Yuan Dynasty. As to the statue of the smiling monk, however, it is not the true image of Maitreya, but the image of a monk named Qici of the Five Dynasties. He usually carried a bag made of a piece of cloth on his shoulder, so he was known as the Cloth-bag Monk. He was said to be an embodiment of Maitreya. That is why later people chose his form to be enshrined as Martreya. Some believe that this tradition may have developed under the influence of the Maitreya Cult, which originated in Fenghua, Zhejiang Province, since this area was the home town of the Cloth-bag Monk. It is logical to infer that the image of the Cloth-bag Monk spread under the influence of the Maitreya Cult.
The Wutai Mountains as the preaching place of Manjusri was recorded in Mahayana Buddhist scriptures, so in ancient times, it was worshipped by quite a few eminent monks from India and central Asia. There was even an old legend in Nepal saying that the Kathmandu Valley (where the capital of Nepal is located) used to be a large lake. It was Manjusri, after he arrived there from the Wutai Mountains, China, who cleaved apart a mountain, drained off the lake water, and settled down with his followers, thus founding the State of Nepal. That is why the Nepalese people hold Manjusri and the Wutai Mountains in particular affection. As to how the Putuo Mountains became the preaching place of Avalokitesvara and how the Jiuhua Mountains became that of Ksitigarbha, they are said to be related with the Buddhist monks from Japan and Korea.
Shaolin archives carrying Shaolin culture are a living inheritance in an open way. It is not only limited in the Shaolin Temple permanent residence compound. We prepare to bring those overseas derived, distributed and discrete Grand Shaolin Concept archives back home through 160 Shaolin cultural centers around the world, making the records perceiving Shaolin culture conserved back to China, which is also one of Shaolin Temple’ s jobs in future. (Edited by Du Xiaonuo)
Shaolin Temple is the ancestral monastery of Chan sect and the holy land of Mahayana. Buddhist belief is the foundation of Shaolin Temple. Shaolin culture, on the basis of the Buddhist belief, blends traditional culture and advocates the union of Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Thus Shaolin culture is a plural and living culture in growing. (Edited by Du Xiaonuo)
Shaolin Kungfu is one of the most popular and farthest expressions in Buddhist culture spread. The traditional Buddhist culture in China has not only taken the important role of ethics in social development, but also in improving human spirit and quality. Shaolin Kungfu is a Buddhist cultural system developing in the special historical environment of Buddhism, taking Kimnara as the core and behaving in the form of Wushu (martial arts) Shaolin Kungfu monks practice, which fully embodies the traditional Buddhist cultural system of Chan wisdom.
Spirit cultivation of Buddhism contains the conditioning of body and mind as well as interest cultivation and moral cultivation. Listening to Buddhist music is also one method of spirit cultivation. Buddhist music is fresh, elegant and extraordinary. Its sound and implication is distant and profound. The singer whose body and mind is a unity sings the music, forgetting self and anything else. Listeners whose body and mind become clear suddenly and is touched, seeming to enter the blissful wonderland. Buddhist music can calm brain activities and relieve the venation. It could also adjust to physical and mental state, playing a role in lowering blood pressure as well as tranquilizing and allaying excitement.
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