Kongo Zen Sohonzan Shorinji Temple in

the town of Tadotsu is the headquarters

of Kongo Zen, a religion founded in
1947 by So Doshin (1911–1980). A
follower of Kongo Zen seeks to
“establish one’s self” and achieve
“mutual happiness for oneself and
others” through training centered on
Shorinji Kempo, a method believed to
strengthen both the body and the spirit.
Shorinji Kempo is focused on martial
techniques that So ordered and
organized based on what he had
learned in China, where he had been
stationed during World War II. So’s
teachings urge practitioners to use their
abilities for the benefit of others and for
the greater good, to achieve a peaceful
society rich in both the material and the
spiritual sense. Shorinji Kempo is
practiced throughout Japan and in 38
other countries around the world.

Most of the facilities at Kongo Zen

Sohonzan Shorinji are reserved for
practitioners and are not open to the
public, but walking through the red
Niomon (Gate of the Guardian Kings) to
the Tennoden, the main building, is
permitted. At the
Tennoden visitors can view a statue of
So Doshin and a stone monument that
commemorates the bonds between
Shorinji Kempo and the Shaolin Temple
in Henan, China, the place where the
teachings of Giwamon Ken (one of the
Shaolin martial arts) were passed on to
So. The temple’s annual Daruma
Festival in October is also open to
anyone interested in the ways of Shorinji
Kempo.

BUDDHISM AND THE ORIGINATION

OF KONGO ZEN

Nakano Michiomi life in China

So Doshin (a.k.
a Nakano Michiomi) grew up under his
grandfather and was in China during his
younger days. He was born a sickly
child with a hole in his heart. To better
his physical well being his grandfather
put him under many masters for training
in the martial arts.So Doshin primarily
trained in Wushu styles and having
developed a deep interest in them he
mastered them over course of
time.Having got to serve as a spy for the
japanese army he travelled far and wide
throughout China and built up a high
level of expertise in unarmed combat
and warfare. He trained with the masters
in the Shaolin temple and eventually
was to become the 21st successor of
the Northern Giwamonken School of the
Shaolin Temple.

2 Paintings in White-robe hall,

Songshan temple

The two paintings on the Northern and

Southern Wall of the Songshan temple
in Shaolin, China depicting Indian and
Chinese monks practicing armed and
unarmed combat largely inspired his
efforts towards building a peaceful
society and reforming young men and
women in his home country, Japan,
which was then ravaged by World War
II.
The following paragraphs seek to
establish certain historical facts tracing
the roots of Bodhidharma's contribution
to Buddhism and the fighting arts and
hence the influence on So Doshin
tracing his efforts towards establishing
Kongo Zen Sohonzan Shorinji.The script
under these paintings read as "Tenjiku
Nara No Kaku" translating to "Fighting
Art from Heaven". So Doshin
 realized that the Chinese referred to
India as "Ten" or "Heaven" owing to its
rich spiritual heritage and hence
concluded that these fighting practices
had its origins in India. It is for this
reason that the Chinese, even today, sit
in meditation facing the direction
pointing to India. The fighting systems
So Doshin studied in China were
called Arahan no Ken which in chinese
translates to "Luohan" or "Lo Han"
meaning "Fighting art of the monks". So
these paintings which So Doshin stood
to witness, actually gave him a glimpse
of the past where a civilization of
Indian and chinese monks practised
combat arts not seriously but rather
playfully enjoying themselves.

Bodhi Dharma and the Shaolin

Temple

So Doshin further investigated through

historical records and the following were
revealed. Bodhidharma , a wandering
renunciant from South India, visited the
Shaolin Temple and continued his
meditative practices there. He used to
practice meditation for long hours over a
period of 9 years facing a wall at the
Shaolin Temple. At moments when he
would stop his meditation he found that
one of his friend monks he was
meditating with disappear mysteriously
only to learn later that they died of ill
health owing to long hours of sitting
without physical activity. Daruma San
then approached the chief abbot of the
temple and remonstrated against the
current meditation practices. He
explained that correct meditation cannot
be practised without right posture and
right activity to complement the
practices in stillness.In other
words stillness and activity should be in
balance. The abbot gracefully admits
ignorance and implores Daruma San to
assist in establishing correct meditative
practices. Hence physical training made
its introduction into the Shaolin Temple.
Bodhidharma inculcated physical
training through 18 exercices which he
taught the monks as just "exercices"
hiding the fact that they were "combat
exercices which he himself had
practiced in his youth as a warrior
prince. He probably had to hide this fact
because the idea of combat he figured
may not be well received by the monks
there since they seem to go against the
very prinicples of compassion and
mercy they were practicing then.
Anything looking remotely violent
looking would have been shunned
outright. It is for this very same reason
that he had to introduce these combat
techniques as single form exercises or
Tan - en.Bodhidharma, having been a
warrior prince, clearly and deeply
understood the rejuvenating effects of
combat practices on the human body.
Shaolin Temple destruction

As years rolled by, these Shaolin monks

served as healers for the villages nearby
their monastery. As a result they
received a lot of gratituous offerings in
the form of precious gems and
ornaments from those that were healed
by them. Having no need of such wealth
these monks simply stacked them in the
temple for want of use. Unfortunately the
wealth so accumulated at the temple
made it a prime target for attacks and as
it turns out during the Boxer Rebellion
the temple was attacked by the rebels,
plundering all the wealth and burning
them down. During the attack the monks
were able to defend themselves quite
naturally by virtue of these physical
exercices they were taught by
Bodhidharma and were themselves
surprised at their effectiveness. The
multiplicity of attacks on the Shaolin
temple dislodged these monks of their
home and hence they had to scatter
away and seek shelter in the
forests.They however continued their
physical training and the evolution of
different styles of
fighting such as the 

Zen - refinement of Buddhism

Therefore, we clearly see that buddhist

practices were already in existence
much before his arrival into China.
Bodhidharma's contribution was his
refinement of the meditative practices
through incorporation of unique fighting
systems to complement the static
practices. His methods hence came to
be known as "Chuan" or "Chan" or
"Zen" and his fighting system came to
be known as "Chuan Fa" or "Wu Shu".

World War II and Japan

So Doshin on his return to Japan was

shocked to see the state of affairs there
after World War II. The scale of
devastation impacted people at a much
deeper psychological level and morality
was all but prevailing in the society then.
So Doshin, unable to accept the
situation his country was in, to the point
that it gave him heart burns to pass
another day witnessing atrocious
crimes being committed on the
desperate and despondent at large
around him. So he enrolled himself into
a nationalist movement to help reform
fellow citizens but his efforts did not bear
much fruit.

Vision of Bodhi Dharma

In all his misery, yearning for a solution

he could adopt to redeem the situation
for his country, one night, he had a
vision of Bodhidharma who in turn
pointed to a direction and walking
towards it. So Doshin tries to follow him
and stop him and while attempting to do
so woke himself up from his sleep
ending his vision. He introspected and
from all his previous research and
investigations he decided to start from
Bodhidharma himself as the base for his
efforts.

Vajrayana Buddhism

Mahayana Buddhism is the chief religion

that is practised through out Japan. A
particular sect that is of interest here is
the "Vajrayana" or the
"Diamond Vehicle". Those on this path
can be said to be undergoing advanced
training in Mahayana Buddhism.The
Mahayana has two practice paths:
the Sutrayana method of perfecting
good qualities and
the Vajrayāna method of taking the
intended outcome of Buddhahood as the
path. The Vajrayana requires mystical
experience in order to experience
Buddha-nature prior to full
enlightenment. In order to transmit these
experiences, a body of esoteric
knowledge has been accumulated
by Buddhist tantric yogis and is
passed via lineages of transmission. In
order to access this knowledge, the
practitioner requires initiation from a
skilled spiritual teacher or guru. It is very
clear that the Vajrayana is similar to the
Indian Tantric practices towards
achieving spiritual emancipation.

The Vajrayana is often viewed as the

third major Yana (or "vehicle") of
Buddhism, alongside the Theravada and
Mahayana. In the "Theravada" or "The
Teachings of the Elders", which is one of
the oldest schools of Buddhism,
ordains that one becomes a wandering
monk following certain precepts in
practicing his discipline so he may
successfully move towards
emancipation.The Mahayana path
however is a little more liberal allowing
the monk to carry on a normal life while
practicing the teachings.

Gods in Buddism

So Doshin belonging to the japanese

culture, had a lot of exposure to these
Buddhist practices. Buddhism despite
being an athiest cult, has many Gods,
whose forms that are worshipped bear
strikingly similar resemblances to the
Gods that are worshipped in India
viz. Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Yama,
Surya, Chandra, Vayu, Shani etc. Of
these, Lord Indra, the Warrior Lord and
the Lord of all the devas, holds a very
significant place in these Buddhist
cultures.

Forming of Kongo Zen

Owing to his nationality he could clearly

understand the pulse of the spirtual
practices
that were adopted by his fellow men. So
with his experience in Arahan Chuan or
Arahan no Ken, inspiration from the
Songshan Temple murals and the
Tenjiku Nara No Kaku inscriptions,
influence from the Vajyrayana sect of
Buddhism, So Doshin went about
designing a system of discipline based
on the these anticipating that these
would readily reach his brethren since
they were based on their core beliefs
and practices.

This was indeed no easy task since the

system should clearly demonstrate in
action the teachings of Lord Buddha and
martial methods being generally looked
upon as violence did not make this task
any bit easier. However So Doshin
perservered through further research in
various other marital arts like Aikido,
Jujutsu, Karate, Judo etc.

3 Vessels and 3 Branches

He formulated a system where he said

that the The Four Noble Truths and the
Noble Eightfold Path can be "practiced"
tangibly through training
that focusses on all the three aspects or
vessels of Spirit (Shin), Body (Tai) and
Mind/ Wisdom (Chi). This is the
"Santei" which So Doshin further
subdivided into three systems "Sampo"
of GOHO, JUHO and SEIHO. Training
in Seiho is vital towards training the
Mind and Spirit through studies of vital
meridans and practice of ZaZen.
Ignoring seiho leads to imbalanced
training focussing only on the Tai aspect
and they can have serious
repercussions and clearly such practice
is not inline with the teachings of the
Noble Eightfold Path which stresses on
"balance".

Six characteristics

In order that one does not get awed only

by the martial techniques So Doshin
enumerated the Six Characteristics that
should govern the practice of the
techniques. These characteristics or
principles captures the essence of the
teachings of the EightFold path which
must be made tangible unto the kenshi
himself while training. So Doshin hence
with these stipulations
in his proposed training methods
succesfully tied the Buddhist philosophy
or theory with practical methods to make
the same tangible through this system
called KONGOZEN SOHONZAN
SHORINJI or SHORINJI KEMPO.

Purpose of Atemi waza

Martial methods being primarily violent

in nature, So Doshin removed that
aspect of it from his system through the
incorporation of Atemi Wazas on Kyusho
or Varma Kalai. This was necessary
because he fully understood that
preaching non violence though violent
martial arts in bombed country is sure to
back fire. The word Varmam translated
as "The Enemy Within".

Through the incorporation of this Varma

system the martial techniques could
hence be practiced as organic
exercises and not muscular. And as
one trains in Varma Kalai he
experiences all aspects of pain and fear
and in the process learns to respect the
process of life driving him towards
establishing peace within
himself and without.

INFLUENCE OF SOUTH INDIAN

CULTURES AND CONTRIBUTION OF
BODHIDHARMA

Siddhars

South Indian legend says, that Varma

Kalai was originally handed down by
Lord Shiva to the great saints a.k.a
Siddhars of South India viz Bogar,
Thirumular, Agastiyar through the Guru
Sishya lineage. These Siddhars led a life
of wandering hermits as ordained by
their disciplines.
Historical records have documented that
Bogar, whose guru was a chinese monk,
went to China and preached Siddha
Yoga in those lands.
Siddhars ,being what they are, are
masters in Varmam, Meditation,
Ayurveda by virtue of their endeavours
in search of the Truth. The Varma
science was offered to the human race
by these exalted men out of sheer love
for mankind to alleviate their sufferings
during their soujourn on
earth.

This science was widely practiced in

these Far East Asian lands and refined
over time. Shorinji Kempo uses this
exact same science to establish peace
at different levels and situations one
may find ourselves in.

Dynasties of South India

It is well known that South India was

ruled by the Pallavas from 300 to 700
AD and the adjoining Telengana region
by the Chalukyas both of whom were
quite formidable and often fought with
each other to expand their respective
political ambitions.
Their rule was however quite tolerant
and the economies under them were
quite prosperous. So several religions
were patronized and chief among them
being Hinduism and Buddhism.History
documents that the rise of the Bhakti
Movement of Hinduism suppressed the
spread of Buddhism in these regions but
it still continued to be in existence.
It is also to be noted that even though
Buddha came to earth only around 300
B.C Buddhism took shape and spread
widely only 500 years after Buddha's
era. There were many languages used
like Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam , Telugu
etc .. but they borrowed a lot of terms
from the great Vedas which was
essentially written in Sanskrit, the oldest
language in the world and also widely
used in those times.

Archeological findings on
Bodhidharma legend

The principal sources on Bodhidharma

are ;
1. "Biographies of the High Priests" by
Tao-Hsuan (654 CE) and
2. "The Records and Transmission of
the Lamp" by Tao-Yuan (1004 CE).
Daruma, also known as Bodhidharma,
Daruma Taishi, Lohan and Ta Mo, the
28th patriarch of Buddhism and the 1st
patriarch of Zen, was born as the third
child of King Sugandha around 440 AD
in Kanchipuram, south of Chennai
(Madras) in South India, a small but
thriving Buddhist
province at that time. As he was born
into the kshatriya caste, martial art
training was an inherent part of his
education. His Guru was Prajnatara, the
27th patriarch of Buddhism and learnt
meditation under him. It was Prajnatara
that changed the young disciple's
name from Bodhitara to
Bodhidharma and directed him to carry
the teachings to China.

From Prajnatara he acquired by merit

the patriarchate of the Dhyana or Zen
School, thus becoming the 28th Indian,
as he was to become the first Chinese
Patriarch.On the death of his Teacher,
he sailed for China, arriving in 520
AD. The Emperor Wu at once invited
him to his capital, the modern Nanking.
On his arrival, the Emperor, a most
devout Buddhist, began to boast of his
good works.

"I have built many temples and

monasteries," the Emperor said."I have
copied the sacred books of the Buddha.
I have converted
Bhikkhus and Bhikkhunis, now what is
my merit?" This silent, ferocious-looking
Indian
Buddhist replied, "None whatever, your
Majesty!"

Taken aback at this brutal answer, the

Emperor tried again. "What is to be
considered as the First Principle of the
Dharma,"
he asked.

"Vast Emptiness, and nothing holy

therein," replied the Patriarch."Who,
then," asked the Emperor, not
unreasonably, "now confronts me?"

"I have no idea," said Bodhidharma.

Thus, in a brief but historic interview,

they laid the foundation of a School that
became the dominant sect of China. It is
one of the two main schools of
Japanese Buddhism, having enormously
influenced both countries in their
character, culture, art, and philosophy.

Bodhidharma will live forever in the

annals of Zen Buddhism for introducing
into it the element of satori
Bodhidharma will live forever in the
annals of Zen Buddhism for introducing
into it the element of satori, the
immediate experience of truth as distinct
from understanding about it. He did not
merely offer this original contribution to
Chinese Buddhism. He lived it. He
proposed a direct transmission of the
Wisdom without our depending on
words and proposed the direct seeing
into our own nature.

It was not until the time of Hui-neng, a

hundred and fifty years later, that Zen
became a genuinely Chinese form of
Buddhism, to have immense effect on
the Chinese art of the T'ang Dynasty.
Bodhidharma regarded none of this
apparent extension of the original
teachings as moving away from them.
He claimed to be returning to the spirit of
the Buddha's teaching. If Buddhism is a
record of Buddha's Enlightenment, he
was right. This is the very foundation
stone of Zen. Those who petrified the
flow of truth in the written word of the
Scriptures were the ones slaying the
Dharma. From this point of view, Zen
was the dredging of
a stream made foul with ritual and
worship, with the niceties of logic and
rational philosophy, and the debris of all
manner of conceptual thought.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF KONGO ZEN

Kongo Zen, based on these very

teachings of Bodhidharma of direct
experience, stresses upon learning to
look within ourselves (Kyakka Shoko)
through practice of Shorinji Kempo
(more specifically Chinkon Gyo and
Ekkin Gyo) and grow physically,
mentally and spritually keeping in
balance all these three aspects.

"The Kingdom of Heaven lies in the

Heart of every man" .

This the precept on which the teachings

of Kongo Zen are built. And these
teaching of the Kongo School of Zen are
realized thorough the practice of its
discipline of Shorinji kempo. The
philosophy of Kongo Zen radiates
inward as well as outward combining
both aspects of hardness and
gentleness.
Ok so what is Kongo Zen? What does it
address? How can one practice it
tangibly? What kind of goals does it set
for its practitioner? How practical is it?
These are some obvious questions that
would arise for any naive reader who is
looking to make some sort of an effort to
make his life worthwhile for himself. That
very thought of "making life worthwhile"
is the starting point of our journey for
very many of us and it is the right
thought. The Kongo school of Zen
advocates thus, in So Doshin's words .

"Although Man's very nature calls for

close
association with other men, this by no
means
implies that the individual should forfeit
his
identity or always conform with the
group.
Multiplicities and divergencies have
proven
themselves to be valuable as they
present new
and stimulating potentialities and
alternatives
and require critical examination of their
worth
and truth. The individuality of the
individual
must thus be preserved. Self-reliant,
secure,
critical, responsible individuals must be
fostered.
Each individual must be allowed to be
himself
as the universe is an interaction of
unique
elements"

We come to understand that it is entirely

in the hands of the indivdual to develop
and express his unique potential fit for
fruitful interaction with his environment.
Seems a long way away, arduous and
sometimes even improbable to think of.
To help one's efforts, Kongo Zen
expounds thus.

"Nothing in the universe remains

static or changeless
but is a dynamic interaction of
interdependent
systems, it would seem in order for all
existence to fall into the middle category
of
becoming instead of there being a clear-
cut
distinction between living and dying.
There are
not merely two states that Man
experiences living
and dying-but numerous states, even
during life. For just as a wheel in motion
rolls
only at one point of its surface, so Man
is an
embodiment
of a continuity of changes. This fact
is evident when one compares the
different
stages of life infancy, childhood, youth,
adulthood
and age. It is not difficult to realize that
they are in no way identical. Although by
pragmatic convention, an individual
bears the
same name throughout life, this by no
means is
representative of inner reality. For the
substance
of Man's body and mind undergoes
rapid
changes from moment to moment. What
can
be grasped is the now, this very
moment. Each
moment is its own lifetime, unique from
all
other moments. But as we have seen,
all things
are interrelated and interacting, the
moment of
the present must necessarily be linked
with the
moments of the past and the future. Just
as a
pebble thrown into water transmits an
infinite
number of ripplets, the present moment
is a
reflection of the past as well as a mirror
of
the future"

We can now take heart from the fact that

we only have to think about our best
efforts that we
can undertake for the "moment" on
hand. This is very easy compared to
thinking about all the things we have to
do over a period of time and get bogged
down by the enormity of the task at hand
or the impossiblity of all of them getting
done all at once even though one may
wish to be so. It is of utmost importance
that we are fully conscious of the
present moment( Ichigo Ichi!!), aligning
our thoughts and actions in that
particular moment towards our goals. So
its all pretty simple now since we have
boiled it down to just the individual and
his applying himself in the moment. One
such application makes another easier
by the very nature of interaction of each
of these moments and presto! In time
we have put forth a series of conscious
steps making great progress 
THE PRACTICE OF KONGO ZEN

In our very fast paced lives we often do

things hurriedly ( rolling , if one may say
that ) without being fully aware of what it
is that we are doing or its consequences
or knowing if its the right action to take
at that moment. Later when we do
become conscious of what we are doing
we realize the need to make amends. It
is our very nature to be aware and all
knowing and very naturally make efforts
to return to it at some point in time
through acts of introspection or deep
thought to understand ourselves better.
Kongo Zen's precept of Ichigo Ichi and
its practice, greatly enhances our levels
of awareness and understanding of
ourselves and therefore helps us
consciously define our existence as we
deem fit as against just existing. The
question still remains. How do we
practice ? This is where Shorinji Kempo
comes into the picture.

Shorinji Kempo is not merely another

form of empty-handed combat but a
whole way,of life whose objective lies in
the creation of a better and happiness
by offering an environment to practice
the prinicples of Kongo Zen. It uses
martial methods to develop the abilities
and levels of awareness of an individual
to make him fit enough to pursue his
rightful goals as an individual at the
same time helping others in a
similar endeavor. Mastery in Kempo is
impossible without the understanding
and conscious application of the
priniciples of Kongo Zen and it can also
be strongly said that these principles will
be very clearly seen to take tangible
shape when we profess mastery in
Shorinji Kempo.