Life Story of The Father of Zen, Bodhidharma (Full English Subtitle)
Bodhidharma is the
Father of Zen (
The Founder). Also, he was the one who brought
Lankavatara Sutra 楞伽經 to
China.
The Anthology of the Patriarchal
Hall tells us that in 527 during the
Liang Dynasty, Bodhidharma, the first Patriarch of
Chán, visited the
Emperor Wu (
Emperor Xiāo Yǎn 蕭衍 (posthumous name Wǔdì 武帝) of Liáng 梁 China), a fervent patron of Buddhism:
Emperor Wu: "How much karmic merit have I earned for ordaining
Buddhist monks, building monasteries, having sutras copied, and commissioning
Buddha images?"
Bodhidharma: "
None.
Good deeds done with worldly intent bring good karma, but no merit."
Emperor Wu: "So what is the highest meaning of noble truth?"
Bodhidharma: "There is no noble truth, there is only emptiness."
Emperor Wu: "Then, who is standing before me?"
Bodhidharma: "I know not,
Your Majesty."
After Bodhidharma left, the Emperor asked the official in charge of the
Imperial Annals about the encounter. The
Official of the Annals then asked the Emperor if he still denied knowing who Bodhidharma was. When the Emperor said he didn't know, the Official said, "This was the Great-being Guanyin (i.e., the Mahasattva Avalokiteśvara) transmitting the imprint of the
Buddha's Heart-Mind."
Bodhidharma said, "The only reason
I've come to China is to transmit the instantaneous teaching of the Mahayana This mind is the Buddha. I don't talk about precepts, devotions or ascetic practices such immersing yourself in water and fire, treading a wheel of knives, eating one meal a day, or never lying down. These are 'fanatical', provisional teachings.
Once you recognize your moving, miraculously aware nature.
Yours is the mind of all Buddhas. Buddhas of the past and future only talk about transmitting the mind.
They teach nothing else if someone understands this teaching, even if he's illiterate he's a Buddha.
If You don't see your own miraculously aware nature, you'll never find a Buddha even if you break your body into atoms.
The Buddha is your real body, your original mind. This mind has no form or characteristics, no cause or effect, no tendons or bones.
It's like space. You can't hold it. Its not the mind or materialists or nihilists.
Except for a Tathagata, no one else- no mortal, no deluded being-can fathom it.
But this mind isn't somewhere outside the material body of four elements.
Without this mind we can't move.
The body has no awareness. Like a plant or stone, the body has no nature. So how does it move? It's the mind that moves.
Language and behavior, perception and conception are all functions of the moving mind. All motion is the mind's motion.
Motion is its
function.
Apart from motion there's no mind, and apart from the mind there's no motion. But motion isn't the mind. And the mind isn't motion. Motion is basically mindless. And the mind is basically motionless. But motion doesn't exist without the mind. And the mind doesn't exist without motion. Theres no mind for motion to exist apart from, and no motion for mind to exist apart from. Motion is the mind's function, and its function is its motion. Even so, the mind neither moves nor functions, the essence of its functioning is emptiness and emptiness is essentially motionless. Motion is the same as the mind. And the mind is essentially motionless. Hence the
Sutras tell us to move without moving, to travel without traveling, to see without seeing, to laugh without laughing, to hear without hearing, to know without knowing, to be happy, without being happy, to walk without walking, to stand without standing. And the sutras say, "Go beyond language. Go beyond thought." Basically, seeing, hearing, and knowing are completely empty. Your anger, Joy, or pain is like that of puppet. You search but you won't find a thing.
According to the Sutras, evil deeds result in hardships and good deeds result in blessings.
Angry people go to hell and happy people go to heaven. But once you know that the nature of anger and joy is empty and you let them go, you free yourself from karma.
If you don't see your nature, quoting sutras is no help, I could go on, but this brief sermon will have to do."