posted January 18, 2009 11:04 AM         

Since I had heard this word before but wasnt quite familiar with what it meant or what it was, I just did a few searches with those keywords. It turns out, Bodhidharma was a person:

Bodhidharma (c. early 5th century CE) was the Buddhist monk traditionally credited as the transmitter of Zen to China.

(Sanskrit): the first Zen patriarch; he reputedly came to China in 520 CE. and sat for nine years facing a wall at Shao-Lin temple.

(Japanese: Daruma): Indian monk who came to China in 520 and founded the Ch'an (Zen) sect of Buddhism.

Considered the first patriarch of Zen Buddhism; according to legend, he was the "Barbarian from the West" who brought Zen from India to China; "Why did Bodhidharma come from the West?" is a famous koan in Zen Buddhism.

Sometimes spelled Bodaidaruma, Bhodhidharma (ca. 470-543) brought Ch'an (Zen) Buddhism to China. In the Indian lineage, Bodhidharma is the 28th patriarch after Buddha.

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The Buddhadharma cannot be found in words. If an exceptional person does not appear, the Dharma cannot be transmitted. This is how it is conveyed." Because he had actually become such a person, Bodhidharma knew how rare the person who could accept the Dharma directly into his heart. He himself sat for nine years facing a wall, only sitting. Dropping off body and mind, both delusion and enlightenment had disappeared. When people came to hear Bodhidharma's teaching, for those dependent on words and letters he offered nothing to hold on to

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posted January 18, 2009 11:10 AM         

All phenomena are empty.
Bodhidharma

All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions.
Bodhidharma

And as long as you're subject to birth and death, you'll never attain enlightenment.
Bodhidharma

And the Buddha is the person who's free: free of plans, free of cares.
Bodhidharma

As long as you're enthralled by a lifeless form, you're not free.
Bodhidharma

As mortals, we're ruled by conditions, not by ourselves.
Bodhidharma

Buddhas move freely through birth and death, appearing and disappearing at will.
Bodhidharma

But deluded people don't realize that their own mind is the Buddha. They keep searching outside.
Bodhidharma

Buddhas don't practice nonsense.
Bodhidharma

Life and death are important. Don't suffer them in vain.
Bodhidharma

Many roads lead to the path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice.
Bodhidharma

Mortals liberate Buddhas and Buddhas liberate mortals.
Bodhidharma

Not creating delusions is enlightenment.
Bodhidharma

Not engaging in ignorance is wisdom.
Bodhidharma

Not suffering another existence is reaching the Way.
Bodhidharma

Once you see your nature, sex is basically immaterial.
Bodhidharma

If you use your mind to look for a Buddha, you won't see the Buddha.
Bodhidharma

If you use your mind to study reality, you won't understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind, you'll understand both.
Bodhidharma

posted January 18, 2009 11:14 AM         

People of this world are deluded. They're always longing for something - always, in a word, seeking.
Bodhidharma

People who don't see their nature and imagine they can practice thoughtlessness all the time are lairs and fools.
Bodhidharma

Regardless of what we do, our karma has no hold on us.
Bodhidharma

The Dharma is the truth that all natures are pure.
Bodhidharma

The essence of the Way is detachment.
Bodhidharma

The ignorant mind, with its infinite afflictions, passions, and evils, is rooted in the three poisons. Greed, anger, and delusion.
Bodhidharma

The Way is basically perfect. It doesn't require perfecting.
Bodhidharma

Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the Path.
Bodhidharma

posted January 18, 2009 11:15 AM         

Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the Path.
Bodhidharma

To enter by reason means to realize the essence through instruction and to believe that all living things share the same true nature, which isn't apparent because it's shrouded by sensation and delusion.
Bodhidharma

You can't know your real mind as long as you deceive yourself.
Bodhidharma

posted January 18, 2009 11:24 AM         

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Bodhidharma had only a few disciples, including laypeople, both men and women. His was the first teaching of the Dhyana school outside of India. It was in China, Korea and Japan that this school would flourish. Bodhidharma's teachings were recorded. Seventh and eighth century copies have been discovered earlier this century in the TunHuang caves. His best known sermon is 'Outline of Practice'.

'Many roads lead to the Way, but basically there are only two: reason and practice. To enter by reason means to realize the essence through instruction and to believe all living things share the same true nature, which isn't apparent because it's shrouded by sensation and delusion. 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 sutras are completely in accord and unspoken agreement with reason. Without moving, without effort, they enter, we say, by reason'.

'Way' or Tao is used to translate Dharma and Bodhi when Buddhism was introduced to China.

"Reason and practice' complement each other. One must practice what one understands and learns, and one must understand one's practice otherwise it may become misguided.

'Same true nature' is Buddha Nature or True Self. We all know our individual selves, our 'me' self. This is a limited and unclear self, one that we have developed unknowingly through our upbringing and conditioning. Buddhism points out that we can access or develop our realized self, called Buddha Nature.

'Isn't apparent' refers to the inherent Buddha Nature that is hidden by our mistaken functioning of mind. We sense objects through our sense organs. Our mind then separates from these objects, becomes dualistic, and all sorts of dualistic comparing, liking and disliking, attachment and avoidance, love and hate, arise. Buddhism strongly points out it is the dualistic separating of inside/outside, subject and object, man and woman, person and surroundings, that is the root of all our suffering. It is not simply the polarities, man and woman, person and surrounding, or subject and object, in themselves. It is when the two polarities are taken as fundamentally separate and dualistic that suffering begins.

'Turn back to reality' is Bodhidharma clear instruction to regain our original Buddha Nature, before our mind became dualistic, when we are at home with ourselves and our life and everything/one in it. 'Turn back' is certainly true expression. We can remember or see in babies a mind that is very non-dualistic and with a small sense of 'my' self. As children 'our' selves became stronger and more autonomic yet still have the original pure, clear mind. Somehow, as we became adults, we became unbalanced towards 'my' self and the original mind became forgotten. 'Turn back' is acknowledging that our true self has always been with us, it's just that we have lost touch with it.

'Meditate' is the way of Dhyana. Today meditate often means to gain a subjective sense of peace or happiness. However, Dhyana is more like contemplation, the clear contemplation of the workings of our mind. The contemplative process is described in a very detailed way in Buddhism. Buddhism describes the many stages, styles and levels in the contemplation process that leads to, and in fact is, the realization of our true selves.

'Absence of self and other' is the first and third of Buddhism's Three Marks of Existence. These are Anitya or impermanence and Anatman or no-fixed-self. This phrase also indicates the lack of dualistic separation between ourselves and others. This is the basis of compassion. Others are equally worthy of respect and concern because fundamentally others are ourselves, strange as it may seem at first.

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