Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma (菩提達磨) (5-6th centuries CE) was a semilegndary Buddhist monk and traditional founder of Chán Buddhism in China.

Bodhidharma, Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Japanese artist Yoshitoshi (1887).

Quotes

The Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices《二入四行論》

• Many roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice.
  • Red Pine. The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. 1989. p. 3
• Neither gods nor men can forsee when an evil deed will bear its fruit.
  • Red Pine. p. 5

The Bloodstream Sermon《血脈論》

• Trying to find a buddha or enlightenment is like trying to grab space. Space has a name but no form. It's not something you can pick up or put down. And you certainly can't grab it. Beyond this mind you'll never see a buddha. The buddha is a product of your mind. Why look for a buddha beyond this mind?
  • Red Pine. p. 10-11
• To find a buddha, you have to see your nature. Whoever sees his nature is a buddha. If you don't see your nature, invoking buddhas, reciting sutras, making offerings, and keeping precepts are all useless. Invoking buddha's results in good karma, reciting sutras results in a good memory; keeping precepts results in a good rebirth, and making offerings results in future blessings–but no buddha.
  • Red Pine. p. 12-13
• Unless they see their nature, how can people call themselves buddhas? They're liars who deceive others into entering the realm of devils. Unless they see their nature, their preaching of the Twelve-fold Canon is nothing but the preaching of devils. Their allegiance is to Mara, not to the Buddha. Unable to distinguish white from black, how can they escape birth and death?
  • Red Pine. p. 15

Treatise on Realizing the Nature 《悟性論》

• The essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances.
  • Red Pine p. 47

Refuting Signs Treatise 《破相論》

• Seeing through the mundane and witnessing the sublime is less than an eye-blink away. Realization is now. Why worry about gray hair?
  • Red Pine. p. 113

The Gateless Barrier《無門關》

Cleary, J. C. (1999). "Wumen’s Gate". Three Chan classics. Berkeley, California: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. pp. 67-112. ISBN 1-886439-07-9. 

(無門關: Original Chinese text on Wikisource)

• 達磨面壁。二祖立雪斷臂云。弟子心未安。乞師安心。
  磨云。將心來。與汝安。
  祖云。覓心了不可得。
  磨云。為汝安心竟。
  • Bodhidharma sat facing a wall. Huike [who would be his successor] stood in the snow and cut off his arm, saying, “My mind is not at peace. Please, Teacher, pacify my mind.”
    Bodhidharma said, “Bring out your mind and I will pacify it for you.”
    Huike said, “When I search for my mind, ultimately it cannot be found.”
    Bodhidharma said, “I have already pacified your mind for you.”
    • Case 41. Bodhidharma Pacifies the Mind

Blue Cliff Record《碧巖錄》

Cleary, Thomas (1998). The Blue Cliff Record. BDK English Tripiṭaka. 75. Berkeley, California: Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. ISBN 0-9625618-8-6. 

(Original Chinese text)

• 舉梁武帝問達摩大師：「如何是聖諦第一義？」
  摩雲：「廓然無聖！」
  帝曰：「對朕者誰？」
  摩雲：「不識。」
  帝不契，達摩遂渡江至魏。
  • The Emperor Wu of Liang asked the great teacher Bodhidharma,
    “What is the ultimate meaning of the holy truths?”
    Bodhidharma said, “Empty, nothing holy.”
    The emperor said, “Who is answering me?”
    Bodhidharma said, “Don’t know.”
    The emperor didn’t understand.
    Bodhidharma subsequently crossed the Yangtse River into the kingdom of Wei.
    • 1. The Emperor Wu Questions Bodhidharma

Quotes about Bodhidharma

• The first Patriarch in China came from the west to the eastern lands at the instruction of the Venerable Prajñātara. For the three years of frosts and springs during that ocean voyage, how could the wind and snow have been the only miseries? Through how many formations of cloud and sea-mist might the steep waves have surged? He was going to an unknown country: ordinary beings who value their body and life could never conceive [of such a journey]. This must have been maintenance of the practice realized solely from the great benevolent will to transmit the Dharma and save deluded emotional beings. It was so because the transmission of Dharma is [Bodhidharma] himself; it was so because the transmission of Dharma is the entire Universe; it was so because the whole Universe in ten directions is the real state of truth; it was so because the whole Universe in ten directions is [Bodhidharma] himself; and it was so because the whole Universe in ten directions is the whole Universe in ten directions.
  • Gudo Wafu Nishijima and Chodo Cross. Master Dogen's Shobogenzo, Book 2. 1996. p. 173

See also

• Blue Cliff Record
• The Gateless Gate
• Zen proverbs