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Bodhidharma (Sanskrit: बोधिधमृ; Chinese 菩提達摩, pinyin Pútídámó or simply Dámó; Wade-Giles Tamo; Japanese ダルマ, Daruma) was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk, who lived from approximately 440 CE - 528 CE. Bodhidharma is traditionally held to be the founder of the Ch'an (known in Japan and the West as Zen) school of Buddhism, and the Shaolin school of kung fu.
Origins
The origins of Bodhidharma are not totally clear. He is first mentioned in a 547 Chinese text by Yang Xuanzhi, who describes him as a monk of Central Asian origin whom he met around 520 at Luoyang, in the monastery of Yong-ning-si. Boddhidarma apparently claimed to be 150 years old, and that he had traveled extensively throughout Buddhist lands.
According to a later text (the Xu Gao Sen Zhuan, "Biography of eminent monks") written in 645 by Dao Xuan, Bodhidharma was born in what is now Tamil country in southern India around 440 during the Pallava dynasty's rule. He is said to have been born as a clan prince in the poor hunter class and was well versed in martial arts (a form still surviving as Kalaripayattu). He would have travelled from India to China by the sea route, arriving at Canton.
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" in Chinese texts.
Zen texts also present Bodhidharma as the 28th Zen Patriarch, in an uninterrupted line starting with the Buddha, through direct and non-verbal transmission.
Spiritual approach Blue-eyed Central Asian Buddhist monk, possibly Bodhidharma, forming the "Vitarka" mudra (Symbol of teaching/ discussion of the dharma), in the direction of an East-Asian monk. Eastern Tarim Basin, China, 9th-10th century. According to tradition, Bodhidharma's chosen sutra was the Lankavatara Sutra, a development of the Yogacara or "Mind-only" school of Buddhism established by the Gandharan half-brothers Asanga and Vasubandhu. He is described as a "master of the Lankavatara Sutra", and an early history of Zen in China is titled "Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Lankavatara Sutra" (Chin. Leng-ch'ieh shih-tzu chi). It is also sometimes said that Bodhidharma himself was the one who brought the Lankavatara to Chinese Buddhism.
Bodhidharma's approach tended to reject devotional rituals, doctrinal debates and verbal formalizations, in favour of an intuitive grasp of the "Buddha mind" within everyone, through meditation. In contrast with other Buddhist schools such as the Pure Land, Bodhidarma emphasized personal enlightenment, rather then the promise of heaven.
Bodhidharma also considered spiritual, intellectual and physical excellence as an indivisible whole necessary to attain enlightenment. He is famous for having established a training regimen for the monks of the Shaolin Monastery as a way to reinforce the efficiency of meditation. Bodhidharma developed a system of 18 dynamic tension exercises. These exercise were formalized into the 550 CE Yi Gin Ching, that became the basis of Chinese Temple Boxing and the Shaolin Arts, and the origin of martial arts in Northern Asia. Bodhidharma apparently also promoted the use of light stimulants such as tea to maintain wakefulness (the origin of Chado), and favoured paradoxes, conundrums and provocation as a way to break intellectual rigidity (a method which led to the development of Koan).
Bodhidharma's mind-and-body approach to enlightenment ultimately proved highly attractive to the Samurai class in Japan, who made Zen their way of life, following their encounter with the martial-arts-oriented Zen Rinzai School introduced to Japan by Eisai in the 12th century.
Chinese perigrinations  This Japanese scroll calligraphy of Bodhidharma reads “Zen points directly to the human heart, see into your nature and become Buddha”. It was created by Hakuin Ekaku ( 1685 to 1768) Bodhidharma travelled to teach in China in about 475, where he found would-be Buddhists preoccupied with scholasticism and attempting to earn favorable karma through good works.
Bodhidharma travelled to various Chinese monasteries, teaching and giving sermons. According to tradition, he was invited to an audience with Emperor Wu Di of the Liang dynasty (Southern dynasties) in 520. When the Emperor asked him how much merit he had accumulated through building temples and endowing monasteries, Bodhidharma replied, "None at all." Perplexed, the Emperor then asked, "Well, what is the fundamental teaching of Buddhism?" "Vast emptiness," was the bewildering reply. "Listen," said the Emperor, now losing all patience, "just who do you think you are?" "I have no idea," Bodhidharma replied.
With this, Bodhidharma was banished from the Court, and is said to have sat in meditation for the next seven years "listening to the ants scream."
Bodhidharma traveled to the recently constructed Shaolin temple in the North of China, where the monks refused him admission. Bodhidharma sat meditating facing a wall for the next 9 years, supposedly burning holes into the wall by staring at it. Only then did the monks of the Shaolin Temple respect Bodhidharma and allow him inside. There, he found the monks so out of shape from a life of study spent copying scrolls that he introduced a regimen of martial exercises, which became the foundation of many later schools of kung fu.
A story credits Bodhidharma with bringing tea to China. Supposedly, he cut off his eyelids while meditating, to keep from falling asleep. Tea bushes sprung from the spot where his eyelids hit the ground.
It is also reported that after years of meditation, Bodhidharma lost the usage of his legs. This legend is still alive in Japan, where leg-less Daruma dolls represent Bodhidharma, and are used to make wishes.
Bodhidharma was the first Zen patriarch of China. All later Chinese and Japanese Zen masters trace their master-disciple lineage to him. Hui-ko, who was to become the second patriach, was first ignored when he tried to approach him, and left outside in the snow, until he cut his own arm and offered it to the Master (other stories explain his arm was cut by wandering bandits). Bodhidharma later transmited to him the insignia of the patriarchs: the robe, the Buddha's begging bowl, and a copy of the Lankavatara Sutra.
Bodhidharma died around 528 at the alleged age of 160, and was burried at the Shaolin Temple. According to legend, a monk met him the following day on a road to the West, holding one sandal in his hands. His grave was then opened, and only one sandal was found remaining there.
Famous works attributed to Bodhidharma - The Outline of Practice
- The Bloodstream Sermon
- The Wake-Up Sermon
- The Breakthrough Sermon
See also
External links - Zen and the Martial Arts by Ming Zheng Shakya (PDF) (http://tekct.hit.bg/judo/Zen-And-The-Martial-Arts.pdf)
- Bodhidharma (http://www.onmarkproductions.com/html/daruma.shtml)
References - "The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma", translated and with an introduction by Red Pine. New York: North Point Press, 1987. Translation and original Chinese text of four works attributed to Bodhidharma.
- "The Vision of the Buddha", Tom Lowenstein, Duncan Baird Publishers, London, ISBN 1903296919
- "Mahayana Buddhism, The doctrinal foundations" Paul Williams, ISBN 0415025370
- "The way of Zen", Alan Watts, ISBN 0375705104
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