The Art of Zen

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
Robert S. Shumake, publishing as Ajarn Shaman Shu, has lived two lives in one — the builder and the priest — and his books are where the two meet. He rose from a Ford factory floor to become founding president and CEO of Inheritance Capital Group, a Black Enterprise-ranked private equity firm, served as honorary consul for Botswana and Tanzania, and founded Inheritance Media Group, owner of more than 300 publications produced by an AI-run newsroom. In spirit, each tradition that initiated him gave him a name: Buddhist Ajarn in the Theravada and Vajrayana lines, Oluwo Jolaoso Osainbola in Ifá, and Shri Surya Narayana Swamikal in the Tamil Siddha line. He is the founder of Soul Tribes International Ministries and of Buddha Digital Temple and its universities — Orisha University, Buddha University, and Shiva University. He authored Detroit’s Proposal E, the 2021 ballot initiative that decriminalized entheogenic plants in Detroit, and is the author of more than 140 published books and 86+ DOI-registered academic publications. His philosophy: the Double Bottom Line — make a profit, and make a difference. Robertshumake.biz