Zen's Chinese Heritage: The Masters and Their Teachings (6 page)

After nine years, Bodhidharma wanted to return to India. Calling together his disciples he said, “The time for me to return to India is at hand. Can each of you say something to demonstrate your understanding?”

A disciple named Dao Fu said, “As I see it, it is not bound by words and phrases, nor is it separate from words and phrases. This is the function of Tao.”

Bodhidharma said, “You have attained my skin.”

The nun Zong Chi said, “According to my understanding, it is like a glorious glimpse of the realm of Akshobhya Buddha. Seen once, it need not be seen again.”
¹⁰

Bodhidharma said, “You have attained my flesh.”

A disciple named Dao Yu said, “The four elements are all empty and the five
skandhas
are without actual existence. As I see it, there is not a single dharma to be grasped.”
^11
,
12

Bodhidharma said, “You’ve attained my bones.”

Thereupon Huike bowed and stood up straight.

Bodhidharma said, “You have attained my marrow.”

The account of Bodhidharma’s death that appears in the
Compendium of Five Lamps
says that he died at a place called “Thousand Saints Temple,” a location about which there is no other evidence of its existence. This and many other aspects of Bodhidharma’s death remain shrouded in the mists of time and legend.

After transmitting the mind-seal of succession to Huike, Bodhidharma is described by some stories as having either returned to India, or as having been poisoned by jealous rival teachers. One skillful account of his death incorporates both of these possibilities. His work in China complete, Bodhidharma is said to have made no attempt to resist a sixth attempt by his enemies to poison him. Sitting in an upright position, he passed away. The legend then relates that three years later a Dharma-seeker named Song Yun, who was returning from a trip to India, encountered Bodhidharma walking in the Himalayan Mountains carrying one sandal. When Song Yun asked the master where he was going, he replied, “To India.” Song Yun returned to China and reported this event to the new emperor, Xiao Chung. Thereupon, Bodhidharma’s grave was opened and his body was discovered missing, with only one sandal remaining in the crypt.

Although tradition holds that Bodhidharma brought Zen to China, other teachers taught Zen meditation in China during and prior to Bodhidharma’s lifetime. Some contend that Chinese Zen practice prior to Bodhidharma consisted mainly of concentration practice. Therefore, Bodhidharma’s Zen teaching differed from his predecessors because of his emphasis on “pointing directly at mind.”

I have elsewhere pointed out that the unique importance of Bodhidharma’s life and teaching may be as much political as spiritual. In any case, by the time of the fifth Chinese ancestor, Daman Hongren (601–74), Chinese society regarded Bodhidharma’s Zen as a true and foremost stream of the Zen way.

Bodhidharma is traditionally said to have recommended the teachings of the Lankavatara Sutra. In the
Continued Biographies’
account of the life of his disciple Huike, Bodhidharma is quoted as having said, “As I observe the land of the Han [China], there is only this sutra [the Lankavatara]. Those of virtue who rely on it will on their own be ferried [to the other shore, over the world’s troubles].”
¹³
In writings most reliably attributed to Bodhidharma, however, no mention of the Lankavatara Sutra is found.

Legends about Bodhidharma flourished during the centuries following his life. The “lamp records,” the historical biographies about the Zen ancients written mainly in the tenth to twelfth centuries, recorded many popular and pious fictions about him that remain in Chinese and East Asian folklore. However, stories linking Bodhidharma to the Chinese martial arts, or
gongfu
, have no historical basis. No evidence exists of any relationship between Bodhidharma and Chinese martial arts beyond their common connection to Shaolin Temple. A millenium separates the time of Bodhidharma’s residence at that temple with the first mention of his supposed link to the martial arts. Thus, the story of this relationship must be seen as a relatively modern invention.

Today, carved figures of Bodhidharma are a common sight throughout East Asia, where his significance as a folk icon remains undiminished. Ironically, his original significance is submerged deeply in the sea of his folklore, and his relationship with Zen is often only remotely understood and appreciated.

Among the texts traditionally attributed to Bodhidharma, some scholars and Zen practitioners regard a text entitled the
Outline of Practice
as most likely taught by Bodhidharma himself.
¹⁴

The noble enter the Way by many paths, but essentially there are but two of which I speak. One is by principle and one is by practice. Those who enter by principle avail themselves to the teaching of the enlightened doctrine that all beings possess the same true nature, though it is obscured and not apparent due to worldly attachments and delusion. If one forsakes delusion and returns to the true, fixing one’s gaze on a wall and forsaking thoughts of self and other, sacred and profane, and so on; then, by not moving and not chasing after scriptures or teachings, one is in accord with principal. [When one undertakes] silent, nondiscriminating nonaction it is called entering the Way through principle.

Entering by practice entails four essential practices that encompass all others. What four types of practice are these? The first is enduring the results of past actions. The second is the practice of acting according to conditions. The third practice is seeking nothing, and the fourth is known as practicing the Dharma.

You ask, “How does one endure the results of past actions?” Those who may be said to practice the Way, upon encountering difficult times, think to themselves, “For endless kalpas without beginning I’ve forsaken what is essential and pursued the frivolous, tossed by currents and waves, committing sins and transgressions without end. Now, although I commit no transgressions, it is my accumulated misdeeds, my store of evil karma, which continues to bear fruit. None among the heavens or humankind can see from where it arises. Without rancor or recriminating thoughts I accept this. In the sutra it says, “Upon meeting hardship don’t grieve, but just recognize whence it comes.” When one’s mind manifests in this manner it is in accord with principal and [even by means of] the body’s suffering one enters the Way.

Second is the practice of just acting according to the conditions one encounters. All beings, not having independent existence, transmigrate through time according to conditions. No matter whether a person experiences bitterness or happiness, both arise from conditions. If we attain great achievements and acclaim, then it is due to our past karma. And though we may have it now, if the conditions that brought it to us are exhausted, then it will be gone. Why should one take joy in it? Gain and loss arise due to conditions. Those who remain unmoved by the winds of pleasure are steadfast in accord with the Way. Therefore this practice is called to “accord with conditions.”

Third is the practice of nonseeking. People in the world are always deluded and everywhere covetous. This is known as seeking. The wise awaken to the truth and go against this trend. Pacifying their minds, they do nothing. The myriad forms of the world stir and swirl, all of them empty. But, without any desires or joys, the virtuous remain where forms arise, abiding within the three worlds though they are like a burning house. To have a body is to suffer. Who can arrive at such a state as to bear this with tranquility? They are the ones who have forsaken all things, stopped discursive thinking, and stopped seeking. The sutra says, “To seek is but bitterness. Nonseeking is joy.” To know this and to end seeking is truly practicing the Way. Therefore it is called the practice of nonseeking.

Fourth is called practicing the Dharma. Practicing the Dharma is to perceive the truth of pure nature, the truth that the myriad forms are empty. There is neither “defilement” nor “attachment,” neither “this” nor “other.” The sutra says, “The Dharma does not have the myriad beings, and thus remains untainted by the myriad beings. The Dharma has no self, and thus remains untainted by self.” The wise, if they grasp this truth, should be in accord with the Dharma and live by this understanding. The dharma-body lacks nothing, so the wise forsake and renounce their bodies, lives, and wealth without regret. They abandon the empty world and, relying on nothing, without attachment, they give up all impurities. They are in accord with evolving life without grasping form. This is their personal practice, which always benefits others. It is, moreover, the majestic way of the bodhisattva—compassionate work. They also practice the other five perfections [generosity, virtue, wisdom, effort, and patience] for the elimination of delusion. Practicing these six perfections in this way is practicing nothing, and is thus practicing the Dharma.”

While the exact place where Bodhidharma died is unknown, tradition (other than
Compendium of Five Lamps
, as mentioned above) designates as his burial place the Empty Form Temple, which sits on the slopes of Bear Ear Mountain in Henan Province. There, a temple rebuilt in recent years preserves a fourteenth-century stupa that marks the place of Bodhidharma’s burial. Various stone artifacts unearthed at the location indicate that it has been honored as Bodhidharma’s burial place since at least the seventh century. According to tradition, upon Bodhidharma’s death Emperor Wu honored him with the posthumous name, “Zen Master Holy Descendant.” Later, a Tang dynasty emperor honored Zen’s first ancestor with the additional title, “Great Teacher Perfect Enlightenment.”

DAZU HUIKE

THE LIFE of the Second Ancestor, Huike, is also obscured by the currents of time. According to traditional sources he was born in the year 487 to a family with the surname Ji in the city of Hulao, Henan Province. He grew to be an imposing-looking individual, with five bumps (“five peaks”) upon his head. According to the lamp records, Huike entered monastic life at the Dragon Gate Temple on Fragrant Mountain in Luoyang. There he studied under a Zen master named Baojing (“Precious Peace”).
¹⁵

Huike met Bodhidharma and studied with him at Shaolin Temple on Mt. Song for six years.
¹⁶
Huike is remembered and extolled in Zen tradition for his determination to realize the great truth of the Zen school. According to legend, Huike stood waiting in the snow outside Bodhidharma’s cave, then cut off his left arm to show his sincerity. Recognizing Huike’s great resolve, Bodhidharma accepted him as his student. Huike said to Bodhidharma, “My mind is anxious. Please pacify it.” To which Bodhidharma replied, “Bring me your mind, and I will pacify it.” Huike said, “Although I’ve sought it, I cannot find it.” Bodhidharma then said, “There, I have pacified your mind.”