The monk class, while I do play on wow, borrows heavily from Buddhism. Kinda not really a thing. David Carradine and Kung-Fu were great entertainment, and it helped that Carradine was mixed-race, half-Chinese. But even then, it was entertainment, and reality took a back seat to action.
The real monks are the priests, as masters of the mind. These guys are martial artists, monks of a sort, but the references to Zen, meditation and pilgrimage, well…
You’re more likely to do a Tibetan pilgrimage than a Zen one, but obviously the folks that made this class didn’t really know the difference between bodhicitta and a love of samsara. Just sayin’
I do have one of each, and they have their interesting points, but the monk is so so violent - at least the priest has two heal specs and is mind-focused. Imo, the priest is way more a real monk than wow’s monk.
Wow’s monk is more like ancient Shaolin monks - an anomaly even in their culture and time.
I would have thought this was immediately obvious, given all the characterization as warrior monks.
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That the archetype they arise from was rare even in their own time, and in ZERO way represent Tibetan or Zen lineages of Buddhism is obvious? No
How? You either know the history or you come off with a distorted perception.
While I like seeing faith traditions represented, rarely is that representation so distorted.
And why do they have to represent Tibetan or Zen Buddhism? Why can’t they just be a purely Shaolin inspired class?
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Because they snatched up ‘Zen’ at least twice. Meditation and Pilgrimage, respectively.
Zen is Earth. Not Azeroth. I don’t see them doing this to Christianity or Islam, just snatching terms…
Benediction, Pontifex, Angelic bulwark, Angel’s Mercy, Atonement, Rapture, Evangelism, likely Contrition as well; Both of Priest’s healing classes are heavily influenced by Christian Iconography and Theology.
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You get sorta half-credit on that one. The latin terms benediction and pontifex are actually generic, though related to Christianity. There is no benediction or pontifex sect of Christianity, tho. Angel just means messenger, in greek; atonement, rapture, evangelism, and contrition, are all just regular words that christianity uses.
We use some of them, too. But Zen is actually a proper noun, a real set of sects of Buddhism, Soto, my tradition, and Rinzai, and a few others, laying claim to that label.
Zen is not about acting like this monk thing on wow. That’s all I’m saying. (the toons responding to you are the same person. I just have different accounts on phone and computer, sorry)
It’s a fantasy game. Pretty sure I’ve never seen any Azarothian practice Buddhism in my 15+ years of playing.
WoW Monks are WoW Monks. ( also if you payed any attention during Mists of Pandaria, or even Legion ArtWep Lore, it explains why monk had to pick up weapons/etc and become fighters. )
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Being so blatantly wrong on this makes me mistrust everything else you have to say.
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