The martial arts have widely originated as a form of mindfulness training across Asia. For example, the well-known Shaolin Temple in China is a teaching ground for Chinese Zen meditation and Kung Fu. At its surface, martial art is a practice to resolve conflict between two people. However, as one practices further, it is a form of training one can use to resolve one’s own inner conflict. True compassion can be generated when one has less opposition with one’s own inner world. In this C.A.F.E. 229 conversation, Chan Master Žarko Andričević walks us through the pearls of wisdom that may be found through martial arts training.
Žarko Andričević is the founder of the Dharmaloka Buddhist Community and Buddhist Centre in Zagreb, Croatia. His interest in Asian philosophy first piqued as a young gymnastics student. In 1975, Žarko came upon Buddhism while searching for the spiritual roots of the martial arts and yoga. Two years later, he became a Buddhist. In the 1980s, he began the Dharmaloka, the first Buddhist community in Croatia, dedicated to mediation and study of Buddhism.
In 1996, Žarko devoted himself to the Chan tradition (a school of Mahayana Buddhism) and began studying under Chan Master Sheng Yen. In 2001, he received Dharma transmission from Master Sheng Yen, and became one of the Master’s five Dharma heirs in the West.
Learn more about Žarko here.
