Bodhidharma: Founder of Zen, from India to Shaolin,bodhidharma biography , bodhidharma history ,about bodhidharma

                                                                    

                             Biography of Bodhidharma

                         Bodhidharma: Founder of Zen, from India to Shaolin

                 
Today’s protagonist was born as a Princein a southern Indian kingdom, but he soon discarded his palace life to embrace the studyof Buddhism. As a travelling Master, he journeyed to China,where he gained powerful disciples and founded Dhyana Buddhism, better known in China asChan, and later in Japan as Zen. He is also credited as the first Kung Fu Masterat the Temple of Shaolin. He popularised meditation, introduced greentea to China, and had a curious second life as a popular Japanese doll. Put the kettle on the stove, control yourbreathing, and sink into the life and legend of Bodhidharma, known as Da Mo in China andDaruma in Japan. Here is the life and legacy of the 28th Buddha:The Prince of Pallava Most of what we know about Bodhidharma ispainted in the colours of legend; however, there is a historical account of his lifewritten by the Chinese monk Daoxuan in the 7th Century AD. Bodhidharma’s exact date of birth is notknown.

We do know that he was active throughout thefirst half of the 6th Century AD and was born in the South Indian Kingdom of Pallava, correspondingto the present-day States of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Andhra Telangana. At birth he was called Bodhyottara, and hewasn’t exactly just another citizen of Pallava -- he was a Royal Prince, the third and youngestson of King Simhavarman II. The capital city of Pallava was a placed calledKanchi, and it was a prominent centre of Buddhist scholarship, giving birth to many mastersof the Mahayana strand of Buddhism. The King himself was interested in the Dharma,a term which indicates the words of the Buddha, the practice of his teaching, and the attainmentof enlightenment. That is why he arranged for he and his sonsto be trained by the famed master Prajnottara. Prajnottara was the 27th in a lineage of mastersand disciples that could be traced back directly to Siddhartha Gautama, known simply as theBuddha, the famous founder of the religion. During the course of the training, the masternoticed the spiritual potential and wisdom of the youngest prince, but he decided towait before making of Bodhyottara his chosen disciple. The time was finally ripe when the King died.

While everyone was in mourning, Bodhyottararemained in a state of deep, constant meditation for seven consecutive days. After finally rising a full week later, hewent to Prajnottara and requested to be accepted as his disciple. Prajnottara took him under his wing and impartedall the necessary teachings to make of him a new master. Under the guidance of his mentor, Bodhyottaradeepened his understanding of the Dharma, but also mastered Ayurvedic medicine, acupressureand martial arts. When he eventually became bodhi or ‘awakened’,Prajnottara gave him his new name: Bodhidharma. He had now become the 28th in that unbrokenlineage of realized Masters. Buddhism in (about) 3 minutesI expect that by now your water has boiled. As your green tea brews for the three minutesrequired for the perfect cup, let me give you a quick summary of the main tenets ofBuddhism. Buddhism is a religion based on the teachingsof Siddhartha Gautama, born in the 5th century BC in modern-day Nepal. He was known by his title "the Buddha," meaning"the awakened one," after he experienced a profound realization about the nature of life,death, and existence.

The Buddha travelled and taught throughouthis life, but he didn't teach people what he had begun to understand when he becameawakened. Instead, he taught people how to realize thisawakening for themselves, which would arrive through their own direct experience, ratherthan beliefs and dogmas. He wasn’t offering an answer; he was teachinghis pupils how to ask the right question. By the 3rd century BC, Buddhism had becomestate religion in India, and from there it spread throughout the rest of Asia. Today, the number of Buddhists is estimatedto be about 350 million, which makes Buddhism the fourth largest religion in the world … althoughit is questioned whether it should be considered a religion at all. Buddhism is non-theistic at its core and coexistswell with other established religions. As a result, some scholars choose to considerit as more of a philosophical doctrine than an explicit religion. Nomenclature aside, the detail that sets Buddhismapart from other religions is the lack of dogmatic truths to be memorized and believed.

The Buddha taught his followers how to realizetruth for yourself, so its focus is on practice, rather than belief. In spite of this emphasis on free inquiry,Buddhism does provide some explicit beliefs, known as the Four Noble Truths:The truth of suffering, or "dukkha" The truth of the cause of suffering, or "samudaya"The truth of the end of suffering, or "nirhodha" The truth of the path that frees us from suffering,or "magga" Practitioners are encouraged to explore theteachings that shape these truths and test them against their own experience. And while these truths have been consistentacross time, about 2,000 years ago Buddhism divided into two major schools: Theravadaand Mahayana, which I mentioned earlier, and is the school to which Bodhidharma adheredto. The two schools differ in their understandingof the concept of "anatta." Buddhists believe there is no "self" in thesense of a permanent, integral, autonomous being within an individual existence.

The Theravada school considers anatta to meanthat an individual's ego or personality is a delusion. Once freed of this delusion, the individualcan enjoy the blissful state of Nirvana. Mahayana Buddhism goes further, consideringall conscious phenomena as void of intrinsic identity. They craft identity only in relation to otherphenomena. The implication is that there is neither realitynor unreality, only relativity. This teaching is called "shunyata," or "emptiness." Another defining aspect of Mahayana is the‘Buddha Nature’. This is a fundamental nature accessible toall beings, which offers the potential to reach the awakening, or enlightenment, throughpractice. According to 13th Century Japanese Monk EiheiDogen, enlightenment is intrinsic to the Buddha nature. Therefore, all beings are already enlightened,but we need to clarify the nature of our existence to experience the awakening that was alwaysthere. And with that, it’s time to sip your tea,while I continue with our story.

The Emperor and the GeneralAfter completing his training, Bodhidharma was instructed by Prajnottara to travel toChina and impart the teachings of Mahayana. Upon arriving, Bodhidharma felt that peoplewere too focused on the conventions of Buddhism, rather than its essence. They were too preoccupied with building templesand chanting, rather than looking into their own minds for spiritual growth. Some time after arriving, Bodhidharma wasinvited to a monastery to deliver a lesson to a large number of students, but the Masterjust sat in front of them, meditating. Hours passed by, with Bodhidharma ever undisturbedby the whispers and murmurs of an impatient assembly. Eventually, he just silently stood up andwalked away. Had he gone crazy? Was there a mystical meaning behind his silence? His simple intent was to shock them, to getstudents to consider abandoning the pursuit of the exterior trappings of Buddhism. To focus on a journey toward the realizationof ‘shunyata’, emptiness, through the means of meditation: Dhyana in Sanskrit, orChan in Chinese.

The news of these teaching methods reachedEmperor Wu of Southern China, an avid practitioner of Mahayana Buddhism. He supported the monastic orders generously,built many Temples, promoted vegetarianism and banned the sacrifice of animals and capitalpunishment. Believing he had earned an audience with awise master like Bodhidharma, Wu summoned the Indian master to his court and recountedhis own great deeds. He then asked,“Having done all these, how much merit do I have?”. Bodhidharma replied:“None”. The Emperor was taken aback by this answerand pressed on: “What is the first principle of the holyteachings?” Bodhidharma replied:“Vast emptiness, nothing holy.” Bewildered, the Emperor continued:“Who is standing before me then?” Bodhidharma replied:“I don’t know”. This conversation may have never happened,but it is one of the first recorded Koans -- paradoxical anecdotes or riddles, usedin Zen Buddhism to invite deep introspection. The meaning of this koan is to undermine theidea of identity and holiness. The Emperor is portrayed as performing gooddeeds, but these are just meant to reinforce his ego, to use a modern concept. A king who clings to his ego will never findthe bliss of Nirvana, or the freedom of liberation. For the second question of the Emperor, theMaster’s response points out that there is nothing to cling to as ‘holy’. Everything is inherently holy.

Trying to differentiate between ‘holy’and ‘unholy’ is quintessentially unholy. And the third response shatters again theconcept of ego, this time for Bodhidharma himself. As his thoughts are passing through him likewater in a river, nothing stays as the true Bodhidharma. Self-image is only a mirage. The story goes that Wu did not fully comprehendBodhidharma’s teachings, and continued on without a true sense of understanding. Only later did he realise the depth of Bodhidharma’smessage, and he lamented: ‘Alas! I saw him without seeing him; I met him withoutmeeting him; I encountered him without encountering him; Now, as before, I regret this deeply!’ Bodhidharma continued his journey to the cityof Nanjing, on the Yangtse River. There, he came across a large crowd ralliedaround a famous Buddhist monk, Shen Guang, who happened to be a former warrior, a General,and one who had not entirely lost his taste for aggression. Bodhidharma sat down to listen to Shen Guang,but his constant nodding irritated the ex-soldier.

Eventually, Shen Guang raised his rosary ofheavy beads and hit Bodhidharma in the face, out of frustration. The blow knocked out two of Bodhidharma’steeth … but the Master just smiled and walked away. Shen Guang was intrigued by this reactionand immediately started following the Indian master. When he reached the banks of the Yangtse River,he was startled by the sight of Bodhidharma gently gliding through the water, standingon a single reed, as if completely weightless. Well, he could do that, too, couldn’t he? Seeing an old lady sitting with a bundle ofreeds on the bank, Shen Guang snatched two reeds off her, tossed them on the river andjumped on them. Naturally, he drowned. Well, almost, as the old lady kind enoughto pull him out of the water.

As Shen Guang’s anger boiled over, he realisedthat the man he was following may have been trying to teach him a lesson, literally. He had acted out of aggression and mindlessness,without considering for a second that Bodhidharma may have been able to sail on a single reedby virtue of his mindfulness. Shen Guang had been dragged down into thewater by the weight of his physical body, as well as the weight of his own self. The former General had run after Bodhidharmaout of curiosity, but now all he wanted was to really know the man. He wished to become his disciple. The Masters of ShaolinBodhidharma continued his journey, and around the year 527 AD he finally reached his destination:The Temple of Shaolin, one of the major centres of Buddhism in China, founded by another Indianmaster, Buddhab hadra, in 495 AD. The Shaolin monks had heard of his approachand were gathered to meet him.

 When they invited Bodhidharma to come stayat the temple, though, he did not reply. Instead, he walked to a nearby cave on a mountainbehind Shaolin, sat down, and began meditating. Here, the stories tell us that the Indianmaster sat facing a cave wall and meditated for nine consecutive years. According to one story, his concentrationwas so intense that the image of his body was engraved into the stone of the wall beforehim. According to another account, his stillnesswas so unbroken that all four limbs eventually withered and fell off. Other legends claim that Bodhidharma was unableto stay fully awake during his nine years of meditation. Out of frustration, he pulled out a knifeand proceeded to cut off his eyelids. As the two scraps of skin fell on the ground,a tea leaf sprouted on the very spot, the first to ever grow in China. But for now, I am going to stick to an accountin which the Master’s body remained intact inside the cave. In the meanwhile, Shen Guang had caught upwith him. Unable to get a word out of Bodhidharma, theChinese monk decided to stay outside the cave and stand guard.

Every so often, both Shen Guang and the Shaolinmonks would try and interact with Bodhidharma, but no one ever received a reaction. Finally, after nine years had passed, thepuzzled monks decided that they had to do something for the enigmatic Master. So, they built a special room inside the Temple,just for him. The Shaolin monks invited Bodhidharma to comeand stay in the room, to which he did not immediately respond. Instead, he stood up, walked down to the room,sat down, and immediately began meditating. For another four years! Shen Guang had been standing guard now fora total of 13 winters. All his requests to be taught by Bodhidharmahad been ignored. In a fit of frustration, Shen Guang pickeda large block of snow and ice and hurled it into the Master’s room. This massive snowball had the intended effectof awaking Bodhidharma from his meditation. Shen Guang demanded to know, once again, whenhe would teach him. The reply he received? ‘When red snow will fall from the sky’Something inside Shen Guang snapped and he knew immediately what to do. As a former warrior, he always carried a swordwith him. He raised it high above his head and swungit downwards in a fast, powerful, cutting motion. He had just cut off his own left arm. Shen Guang grabbed his severed limb, raisedit above his head and whirled it around.

The blood still gushing from the left armfroze in mid-air and floated to the ground like red snow. Seeing this act of self-sacrifice, Bodhidharmaagreed to teach Shen Guang. Their subsequent conversation became anotherfounding Koan of Zen. Shen Guang beseeched the Master:“My mind has no peace yet! I beg you, O Master, please put it to rest!” Bodhidharma said“Bring your mind here and I will pacify it”Shen Guang searched for a while, then responded: “I have searched for my mind, and I cannottake hold of it.” Then Bodhidharma declared, “Now your mindis pacified.” The next lesson from Bodhidharma would requirefour more years of Shen Guang’s life. Over that span, Bodhidharma asked him to liveon top of Drum Mountain, in front of the Shaolin Temple. At the beginning of each year, the Masterwould dig up a well, to provide for all of Shen Guang’s needs. Each year, the water from the Master’s wellshad a different taste: first bitter, then spicy, next: sour and finally: sweet. At this point, Shen Guang realized that thefour wells represented his life. Like the wells, his life would sometimes bebitter, sometimes sour, sometimes spicy and sometimes sweet. Each of these phases in his life was equallybeautiful and necessary, just as each of the four seasons of the year is beautiful andnecessary in its own way.

 Bodhidharma had imparted this lesson almostwithout using any words, a type of “action language” that is fundamental to Chan, orZen, Buddhism. After this final ordeal and realization, ShenGuang was given the name Hui Ke by his master, and he became the abbot of Shaolin after Bodhidharma. To pay respect for the sacrifice which HuiKe made, disciples and monks of the Shaolin Temple greet each other using only their righthand. Zen and the Martial ArtsAs I mentioned earlier, most of Bodhidharma’s life has been mystified by legend. But assuming what you heard is all fact, youmay be wondering: While Shen Guang was barely surviving on water at the top of Drum Mountain,what was Bodhidharma up to? We can assume it was during this four-yearperiod that he shared his teachings with the Shaolin monks. According to some traditional accounts, hemay have taught them how to fight. The Chinese martial arts, collectively knownin the West as Kung Fu, may have been first introduced in the Country by an Indian wanderingmonk. Could this be true? Well, as a Royal Prince, the young Bodhidharmamay have been already skilled the traditional Indian martial arts, such as Kalaripaiattu. Moreover, he received additional trainingfrom his Buddhist master Prajnottara. And some artwork at the Shaolin depicts adark-skinned monk training lighter skinned students in a variety of hand-to-hand techniques.

 However, the predominant point of view amongcurrent Zen scholars is that the claim that Bodhidharma invented Kung Fu is wildly exaggerated. For one thing, the first codified Chinesemartial art, Jiao-di, pre-dates the Indian master by at least 30 centuries. And while there is a record of Bodhidharmateaching some physical exercises to the monks, these are not necessarily related to combat. The exercises known as the “18 hands ofLohan” were intended to build up the monks’ Qi, or vital energy, to improve their generalhealth and nourish their brains – a necessary step to attain awakening. Some scholars may argue that a more realisticinterpretation of Bodhidharma’s time at Shaolin is that he perfected and taught hisnew branch of Buddhism, Chan or Zen. Now I guess it’s time for me to explainwhat Zen Buddhism is about. Bodhidharma himself defined Zen as:"A special transmission outside the scriptures; No dependence on words and letters;Direct pointing to the mind of man; Seeing into one's nature and attaining Buddhahood." In other words, Zen requires a face-to-facetransmission of Buddhist precepts, from teacher to student, outside the written tradition. And to do that, you need a proper certifiedZen teacher, which I am not. I can only add that Zen is not an intellectualdiscipline you can learn from books, or a video. Instead, it's a practice of studying the mindand seeing into one's nature.

According to Bodhidharma, the main tool ofthis is the practice of meditation, best known from its Japanese name: zazen. Beginners approaching zazen are taught towork with their breath to learn concentration. After a few months, your ability to concentratemay have ripened. As you progress, you may understand that thetrue goal of zazen … is that there should not be any goal, nor expectation to a particularmeditation session. Practitioners should learn to ‘just sit’in meditation – shikantaza – while learning a lot about themselves along the way. DarumaBodhidharma’s lofty teaching in Shaolin and China had won him a few disciples, butalso some powerful enemies, and we are told that he was eventually poisoned by two rivals. Allegedly, the sage survived both attempts. Eventually, during the third attempt, Bodhidharmaaccepted to take the poison and died at the reported age of 150. But was death the end? Three years after his death, a Chinese diplomatnamed Sòng Yún was returning to China from a trip to the West when he met none otherthan Bodhidharma. He was on his way back to India, walking barefootand carrying one shoe in his hand. When the diplomat finally got home, and toldthis story, the master’s grave was opened. Inside, it was empty, except for one shoe. Another version of Bodhidharma’s last yearson Earth tells of how the master left China for Japan, where he, disguised as a beggar,met with Prince Shōtoku Taishi, celebrated as the first great patron of Buddhism in Japan. While Bodhidharma’s travels to Japan arestrongly disputed, it is a fact that his teachings did gain great popularity there.

The master became known as Daruma, and hisappearance and story inspired one of the most popular symbols of Japanese folklore, theDaruma doll, popular with locals and tourists alike. If you have visited Japan, you may have takenhome one of these, wondering what’s the reason behind the round shape and the blank,white eyes. The shape of these dolls reflects the nineyears that Daruma spent meditating in the cave near Shaolin. Remember? His immobility was such that all his limbshad fallen off. The wide-opened eyes of the doll remind usof how the master had cut off his eyelids to remain awake during zazen. The dolls are normally made without theirpupils, it is up to their owners to draw them once their wishes are fulfilled. Over time, the doll took a life of its own,collecting attributes further and further removed from the original inspiration. For example, it was dressed in red, a colourassociated with measles and smallpox, and became a talisman to protect children againstthese diseases. In a surprising twist, artists of the Edoera (1603 to 1868) even morphed these dolls into phallic symbols. The sexual attributes were then shifted ontothe sage himself, who became the object of parody-filled illustrations in which he leersat prostitutes or courtesans. What a strange, worldly tribute to the manwho once said “To have a body is to suffer”I hope you learned something new from today’s video … and I hope that what you learnedis that you can’t really learn anything by reading a book or watching a video.