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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9545690" data-attributes="member: 6790260">I've always understood monk to be of the &quot;xianxia&quot;--&quot;cultivation fiction&quot;--milieu. Although the concept is originally Chinese, there's actually certain strains of similarity to both ancient and modern philosophical traditions of achieving enlightenment. Mystery cults, like the Eleusinian Mysteries or the Cult of Isis, often had tiered initiation rituals. Kabbalism has a similar &quot;you must have rigorous discipline and unshakable grounding in the faith, or else you'll go off the deep end&quot; air. Gnosticism also has an air of this, nothing quite identical but often moving in the right direction.None of these are strictly fighting styles, but I think they make a good jumping-off point. A quest for enlightenment that includes physical actions as well as self-discipline and possibly dietary control.This, I think, is part of why Monk slots so naturally into psionics. While I love the 4e spin on the idea, this goes back to at least 3e and maybe earlier. 3.5e's Eberron included the Tashalatora school of monasticism, which allowed the player to get some of their Monk benefits while advancing a chosen psionic class.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9545690, member: 6790260"] I've always understood monk to be of the "xianxia"--"cultivation fiction"--milieu. Although the concept is originally Chinese, there's actually certain strains of similarity to both ancient and modern philosophical traditions of achieving enlightenment. Mystery cults, like the Eleusinian Mysteries or the Cult of Isis, often had tiered initiation rituals. Kabbalism has a similar "you must have [I]rigorous[/I] discipline and [I]unshakable[/I] grounding in the faith, or else you'll go off the deep end" air. Gnosticism also has an air of this, nothing quite identical but often moving in the right direction. None of these are strictly fighting styles, but I think they make a good jumping-off point. A quest for enlightenment that includes physical actions as well as self-discipline and possibly dietary control. This, I think, is part of why Monk slots so naturally into psionics. While I love the 4e spin on the idea, this goes back to at least 3e and maybe earlier. 3.5e's Eberron included the [I]Tashalatora[/I] school of monasticism, which allowed the player to get some of their Monk benefits while advancing a chosen psionic class. [/QUOTE]

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