Secular warrior monk?

[Mr. President]

I need to understand the difference between a secular warrior monk and... I guess... a religious warrior monk? I'm not sure how the division works, but what is the distinction to be made between the two, in terms of learning about Buddhism on your way to being a full fledged disciple of Shaolin temple?

Thank you

 

[oaktree]

Secular monk seems like a paradox. Secular meaning
Not religious or following precepts. A monk by definition
Is one who follows precepts. I have heard you can study wushu
And not study the religious side and visa versa. Are you trying
To become a xiaolin monk?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Secular monk seems like a paradox. Secular meaning
Not religious or following precepts. A monk by definition
Is one who follows precepts. I have heard you can study wushu
And not study the religious side and visa versa. Are you trying
To become a xiaolin monk?

And I was just going to say one was a non-religious fighter who is religious and the other was a religious fighter who is religious…. One was a bit confused and/or a paradox and the other isn’t

 

[Jin Gang]

I think this blog has good information http://shaolinchancity.blogspot.com/2008/12/shaolin-monasticism-discipleship_944.html

It should answer your questions about shaolin monasticism. It is accurate as far as I know.

Technically, you can't be a "secular" monk. But at shaolin they do call people monks (seng) who have not taken all the vows of Buddhist monasticism, even though they live in the temple. To become a secular disciple, I believe you need to become a Buddhist by taking refuge in the three treasures and taking the five lay-precepts. The wuseng "warrior monks" are secular disciples who live at the temple and so follow more precepts than someone who lives at home with a family, but are not actual ordained monks. A fully ordained Shaolin monk (or any Chinese Buddhist monk) has had a formal education in Buddhism, and takes the 250 pratimoksha precepts and ten Boddhisattva vows. They are strictly celibate, have completely left the home life, etc. There are a few stages before accepting that level of commitment which include taking different levels of vows.