The Art of Zen: The Black Prince of Kanchipuram — The African-Dravidian Origins of Zen Buddhism and Shaolin Kung Fu

Shri Suryanarayana Swamikal

Robert S. Shumake

About this ebook

Every Zen master traces their lineage to one man. The Chinese called him the "Blue-Eyed Barbarian." History remembers only his title — Bodhidharma, "The Law of Awakening." But the man behind the title was a dark-skinned prince of the Pallava dynasty, born in Kanchipuram, trained from childhood in the deadliest martial art on earth and the deepest science of the mind.

In The Art of Zen, Sri Suryanarayana Swamikal restores a chain of transmission that fifteen centuries have obscured: that Zen Buddhism is Tamil Dhyana science, that Shaolin Kung Fu is Dravidian Kalaripayattu, and that the Dravidian civilization itself descends from the C-Group people of ancient Nubia. The root of the world's most revered spiritual and martial traditions, the author argues, is African.

This is more than history. The book's second half presents the complete text of the Gateless Gate — all 49 classic Zen koans — each accompanied for the first time by a Siddha Commentary that reads the koans not as riddles but as encoded records of chakra science, Kundalini, and Marma vital-point practice.

For readers of Afrocentric history, esoteric spirituality, comparative religion, meditation, and martial arts philosophy, this is a work of restoration. The circle closes. The secret name is revealed.

OrishaUniversity.com and these books represent the restoration of what was taken from our people. The 256 Odu of Ifa are the original operating system of human consciousness. Oluwo Jolaoso Osainbola has done what many generations prayed would one day be done. My full endorsement and blessing from Ile-Ife, the source of all.

— Araba Agbaye, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Àṣẹ.

About the author

Shri Surya Narayana Swamikal is an initiated master of the Shaiva Siddha and Vaishnava traditions, sacred scientist, and founder of ShivaUniversity.com and Krishna.University — the world's first AI-powered universities for Shaiva and Vaishnava sacred sciences. Also known as Oluwo Jolaoso Osainbola (Ifa tradition) and Ajarn Shaman Shu (Thai Buddhist tradition), he is the author of over 70 books spanning Shiva, chakras, Tantra, yoga, Vajrayana Buddhism, and the universal science of consciousness and wealth.

Robert Shumake is the legal name of Shri Surya Narayana Swamikal. Based in Dallas, Texas, he is the founder of Smart Money Media AI — one of the largest independent publishers of African and Eastern sacred sciences — and the owner and publisher of multiple newspapers and digital media properties. He is the author of academic papers and over 70 published books on Ifa, Shaiva philosophy, Buddhist practice, and the science of wealth and consciousness. Learn more at robertshumake.co.

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