Bodhidharma, Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma left the kindgom after becoming a Buddhist monk and travelled through Southeast Asia into Southern China and subsequently relocated northwards. The accounts differ on the date of his arrival, with one early account claiming that he arrived during the Li Sng Dynasty (420479) and later accounts dating his arrival to the Ling Dynasty (502557). Bodhidharma was primarily active in the lands of the Northern Wi Dynasty (386534). Modern scholarship dates him to about the early 5th century. Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Volume One), pages 57, 130 Throughout Buddhist art, Bodhidharma is depicted as a rather ill-tempered, profusely bearded and wide-eyed barbarian. He is described as "The Blue-Eyed Barbarian" (ln ynjngde yrn) in Chinese texts. Soothill and Hodous The Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952) identifies Bodhidharma as the 28th Patriarch of Buddhism in an uninterrupted line that extends all the way back to the Buddha himself. D.T. Suzuki contends that Chn's growth in popularity during the 7th and 8th centuries attracted criticism that it had "no authorized records of its direct transmission from the founder of Buddhism" and that Chn historians made Bodhidharma the 28th patriarch of Buddhism in response to such attacks.

At that time there was a monk of the Western Region named Bodhidharma, a Persian Central Asian. He traveled from the wild borderlands to China. Seeing the golden disks the pole on top of Yung-ning's stupa reflecting in the sun, the rays of light illuminating the surface of the clouds, the jewel-bells on the stupa blowing in the wind, the echoes reverberating beyond the heavens, he sang its praises. He exclaimed: "Truly this is the work of spirits." He said: "I am 150 years old, and I have passed through numerous countries. There is virtually no country I have not visited. Even the distant Buddha realms lack this." He chanted homage and placed his palms together in salutation for days on end.

Tnln's brief biography of the "Dharma Master" is found in his preface to the Two Entrances and Four Acts , a text traditionally attributed to Bodhidharma, and the first text to identify Bodhidharma as South Indian: The Dharma Master was a South Indian of the Western Region. He was the third son of a great Indian king of the Pallava dynasty. His ambition lay in the Mahayana path, and so he put aside his white layman's robe for the black robe of a monk [1] Lamenting the decline of the true teaching in the outlands, he subsequently crossed distant mountains and seas, traveling about propagating the teaching in Han and Wei.

According to Doxun's chronology, Bodhidharma's death must have occurred prior to 534, the date of the Northern Wei Dynasty's fall, because Huike subsequently leaves Luoyang for Ye. Furthermore, citing the shore of the Luo River as the place of death might possibly suggest that Bodhidharma died in the mass executions at Heyin in 528. Supporting this possibility is a report in the Taish shinsh daizky stating that a Buddhist monk was among the victims at Heyin.

Bodhidharma is said to have been a disciple of Prajtra, thus establishing the latter as the 27th patriarch in India. After a three-year journey, Bodhidharma reaches China in 527 during the Liang Dynasty (as opposed to the Song period of the 5th century, as in Doxun). The Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall includes Bodhidharma's encounter with Emperor Wu, which was first recorded around 758 in the appendix to a text by Shen-hui (), a disciple of Huineng.

However, three years after the burial, in the Pamir Mountains, Sngyn ()an official of one of the later Wei kingdomsencountered Bodhidharma, who claimed to be returning to India and was carrying a single sandal. Bodhidharma predicted the death of Songyun's ruler, a prediction which was borne out upon the latter's return. Bodhidharma's tomb was then opened, and only a single sandal was found inside.

In the Two Entrances and Four Acts , traditionally attributed to Bodhidharma, the term "wall-gazing" also appears: Those who turn from delusion back to reality, who meditate on walls , the absence of self and other, the oneness of mortal and sage, and who remain unmoved even by scriptures are in complete and unspoken agreement with reason. , emphasis added.

Daoxuan, for example, in a late recension of his biography of Bodhidharma's successor Huike, has the stra as a basic and important element of the teachings passed down by Bodhidharma: In the beginning Dhyana Master Bodhidharma took the four-roll Lak Stra , handed it over to Huike, and said: "When I examine the land of China, it is clear that there is only this sutra. If you rely on it to practice, you will be able to cross over the world." Another early text, the Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Lakvatra Stra ( Lngqi shz j ) of Jngju (; 683750), also mentions Bodhidharma in relation to this text. Jingjue's account also makes explicit mention of "sitting meditation", or zazen: Taish Shinsh Daizky , Vol. 85, No. 2837 , p. 1285b 17(05) For all those who sat in meditation, Master Bodhi [6] also offered expositions of the main portions of the Lakvatra Stra , which are collected in a volume of twelve or thirteen pages, The "volume" referred to is the Two Entrances and Four Acts.

Although Bodhidharma came from India to China to become the first patriarch of China, the emperor refused to recognize him. Bodhidharma knew that he would face difficulty in the near future, but had the emperor been able to leave the throne and yield it to someone else, he could have avoided his fate of starving to death.

After Nanjing was taken, the emperor was held in captivity in the palace and was not provided with any food, and was left to starve to death. Though Bodhidharma wanted to save him and brought forth a compassionate mind toward him, the emperor failed to recognize him, so there was nothing Bodhidharma could do. Thus, Bodhidharma had no choice but to leave Emperor Wu to die and went into meditation in a cave for nine years.

In the Blue Cliff's telling of the story, there is no claim that Emperor Wu did not listen to Bodhidharma after the Emperor was unable to grasp the meaning. Instead, Bodhidharma left the presence of the Emperor once Bodhidharma saw that the Emperor was unable to understand. Then Bodhidharma went across the river to the kingdom of Wei.

The Yi Jin Jing also credits Shaolin kungfu to Bodhidharma. Malays believe that Bodhidharma introduced preset forms into silat. All this would make him an important influence on Asian martial arts in general. However, both the attribution of Shaolin boxing to Bodhidharma and the authenticity of the Yi Jin Jing itself have been discredited by some historians including Tang Hao, Xu Zhen and Matsuda Ryuchi. This argument is summarized by modern historian Lin Boyuan in his Zhongguo wushu shi as follows: The oldest available copy was published in 1827 and the composition of the text itself has been dated to 1624.

Songyun asked Bodhidharma where he was going, to which Bodhidharma replied "I am going home". When asked why he was holding his shoe, Bodhidharma answered "You will know when you reach Shaolin monastery". After arriving at Shaolin, the monks informed Songyun that Bodhidharma was dead and had been buried in a hill behind the temple. The grave was exhumed and was found to contain a single shoe. The monks then said "Master has gone back home" and prostrated three times.

Source: Wikipedia > Bodhidharma