Poetic Warriors and Spiritual Rings

Mindfulness and Shang Chi

Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings holds a lot of wisdom that would be of interest to the contemplative student. Marvel’s commitment to transcendental meditation is showing up in beautiful ways in their storytelling. Those deep in their mindfulness study will find affinity with seeing the mystic potential in action. In contrast, the powerful, structured war machine throughout the movie is set against the mystical, nature-based, god realms. Shang Chi and his Sister are in the liminal space between their father’s thirst for power and their mother’s divinity. An area that we as sons and daughters of the earth find ourselves in against the forces of the military-industrial complex that is only intent on mindlessly extracting resources no matter what cost

The movie opens with the story of Xu Wenwu’s, Shang Chi’s father, accumulation of power for a thousand years. He becomes obsessed with the idea that there is a martial arts of the gods. So he goes in pursuit of the mythical Ta Lo whose gates are only opened during the Qingming Festival, which is the spring festival where one honors their dead. It makes sense that Ta Lo would only be accessible during this time as it sits between the living creatures of the underworld. One cannot ignore that one of the most notable modern protests in recent memory, Tiananmen Square, happened during this festival. That protest took place because the counterrevolutionaries believed that the limitations of morning imposed by the communist party were dishonoring the…