Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma (Chinese Pútídámó 菩提達摩, abbreviated to Damo 達摩; Japanese Bodaidaruma or Daruma) is the figure that the Chan / Zen Buddhist tradition identifies as its founding ancestor — the Indian monk who carried the contemplative dimension of Mahāyāna Buddhism from India to China sometime in the 5th or 6th century CE. The historical Bodhidharma is substantially obscured by the legendary biography that subsequent Chan lineage construction layered onto him; what survives in the earliest sources is sparse, and most of what later Chan and Zen tradition tells about him is the product of textual development over the following several centuries.

The earliest sources

The earliest substantial reference to Bodhidharma is in Yang Xuanzhi’s Record of the Buddhist Monasteries of Luoyang (Luòyáng Qiélán Jì), composed in 547 CE. Yang mentions Bodhidharma as a Persian monk (the geographic identification varies in early sources between Persia, Central Asia, and South India) who visited the Yongning Temple in Luoyang and praised the pagoda there. The second early reference is in Daoxuan’s Continued Biographies of Eminent Monks (Xù Gāosēng Zhuàn), composed around 645 CE, which provides a slightly fuller account: Bodhidharma is a south Indian Brahmin who traveled to China by sea, taught the Two Entrances and Four Practices, and trained the disciple Huike.

The substantial later biography — the wall-gazing at Shaolin, the meeting with Emperor Wu of Liang, the famous exchange about no merit, the transmission to Huike via the severed arm — appears in Chan-lineage texts beginning in the 8th century and continuing through the Jingde Record of the Transmission of the Lamp (1004 CE) and beyond. Modern scholarship treats most of these elements as legendary elaboration; what the historical figure actually taught, and even when and where he lived, remain substantially uncertain.

The traditional biography

The traditional Chan account: Bodhidharma was the third son of a south Indian Pallava king (the Pallava dynasty was a real historical south Indian dynasty of the early medieval period). He was ordained as a Buddhist monk under Prajñātāra, the twenty-seventh patriarch of the Indian Chan lineage (a lineage that, in the traditional account, traces back through twenty-six previous patriarchs to the Buddha himself). Prajñātāra instructed Bodhidharma to carry [[buddhism|the Dharma]] to China.

Bodhidharma traveled by sea to Guangzhou in southern China and then north to the court of Emperor Wu of Liang (r. 502–549), the substantially Buddhist emperor who had built many temples and supported the Sangha lavishly. The famous exchange:

Emperor Wu: “I have built temples and ordained monks. What merit have I gained?” Bodhidharma: “No merit.” Emperor Wu: “What is the first principle of [[spirituality|the holy]] teaching?” Bodhidharma: “Vast emptiness, nothing holy.” Emperor Wu: “Who stands before me?” Bodhidharma: “I don’t know.”

Unsuccessful in establishing his teaching at the court, Bodhidharma traveled north across the Yangtze River — traditionally on a single reed — to the Shaolin Monastery on Mount Song in Henan province. There he meditated facing a wall in a cave for nine years (biguan, wall-gazing) — the practice that became iconic of the contemplative Chan tradition.

Huike and the transmission

The traditional account of Bodhidharma’s transmission to his Chinese successor Huike (487–593) is one of the most famous narratives in Chan literature. Huike — a Confucian and Daoist scholar before turning to Buddhism — sought instruction from Bodhidharma but was repeatedly refused. To demonstrate the sincerity of his commitment, Huike eventually cut off his own left arm and presented it to Bodhidharma. The teacher then accepted him as a disciple. The exchange that followed:

Huike: “My mind is not at peace. Please pacify it for me.” Bodhidharma: “Bring me your mind, and I will pacify it for you.” Huike: “I have searched for my mind, but I cannot find it.” Bodhidharma: “There — I have pacified your mind for you.”

The exchange — and the subsequent transmission — established Huike as the Second Patriarch of Chinese Chan. The lineage continues through Sengcan (Third Patriarch), Daoxin (Fourth), Hongren (Fifth), and [[huineng|Huineng]] (Sixth), at which point the lineage splits into the substantial subsequent Chinese Chan schools.

The teaching

Bodhidharma’s teaching is traditionally summarized in a four-line verse — almost certainly composed later than his lifetime but representative of the Chan posture associated with him:

A special transmission outside the scriptures, Not founded on words or letters; Pointing directly to the human mind, Seeing one’s nature and becoming Buddha.

The four lines articulate the foundational Chan posture: direct transmission from teacher to student, independent of textual study; emphasis on the direct recognition of one’s own Buddha-nature; the meditative practice of biguan (wall-gazing) as the principal contemplative method.

A handful of texts are traditionally attributed to Bodhidharma — including the Two Entrances and Four Practices (Èr Rù Sì Xíng Lùn), the Bloodstream Sermon, the Wake-up Sermon, and the Breakthrough Sermon. The Two Entrances and Four Practices is generally accepted by modern scholarship as the earliest and most likely genuinely Bodhidharma-associated text; the others are later compositions.

Daruma in Japan

In Japan, Bodhidharma is venerated as Daruma — and one of the most recognizable Buddhist images in Japanese popular culture is the Daruma doll: a round, hollow, weighted doll representing the patriarch in meditation, with no arms or legs (traditionally said to have atrophied during the nine years of wall-gazing) and with eyes left blank. The popular practice: one paints in one eye when setting a goal or making a vow, and paints in the second eye when the goal is achieved. The doll is iconic in Japan and is among the most widely recognized Buddhist visual references in East Asia.

Shaolin and the martial arts

A substantial later tradition associates Bodhidharma with the founding of the Shaolin martial arts. The traditional account: during the nine years of wall-gazing, Bodhidharma observed that the Shaolin monks were physically weak and unable to sustain prolonged meditation; he taught them exercises (the legendary Yijin Jing, Muscle/Tendon Change Classic) that became the foundation of the Shaolin martial tradition. Modern historiography treats this attribution as later legend rather than historical fact — the Shaolin martial arts tradition has substantial Chinese roots that do not require Indian importation. But the association of Bodhidharma with Shaolin martial practice has been popularly influential in East Asia and globally.

What the figure gives

A foundational ancestor for one of the world’s most consequential contemplative traditions — whatever the historical truth, the Chan / Zen lineage has functioned for fifteen centuries with Bodhidharma as its first ancestor, and the iconography, practice, and self-understanding of the tradition are inseparable from the figure. A continuing demonstration that contemplative practice is not primarily textual — the special transmission outside the scriptures — but is carried by direct teacher-to-student transmission across generations. And a particular contemplative posture — wall-gazing, direct pointing, the integration of practice and embodiment — that has shaped the contemplative life of East Asia and, increasingly, of the modern world.

See also

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• Member of: [[person]]
• Part of: [[zen]] · [[buddhism]]