Buddhism

The Disciples Under The Sixth Patriarch
Some time after this the Sixth Patriarch settled himself down...

Bodhidharma And His Successor The Second Patriarch
China was not, however, an uncultivated land for the seed of ...

Enlightenment Is Beyond Description And Analysis
In the foregoing chapters we have had several occasions to re...

Nature Favours Nothing In Particular
There is another point of view of life, which gave the presen...

Great Men And Nature
All great men, whether they be poets or scientists or religio...

Man Is Bad-natured According To Siun Tsz Jun-shi
The weaknesses of Mencius's theory are fully exposed by anoth...

Enlightenment Implies An Insight Into The Nature Of Self
We cannot pass over, however, this weighty problem without sa...

The Five Ranks Of Merit
Thus far we have stated how to train our body and mind accord...

Man Is Neither Good-natured Nor Bad-natured According To Su Shi
(So-shoku). The difficulty may be avoided by a theory given ...

Zen After The Downfall Of The Ho-jo Regency
Towards the end of the Ho-Jo period, and after the downfall o...

The Resemblance Of The Zen Monk To The Samurai
Let us point out in brief the similarities between Zen and Ja...

Nature And Her Lesson
Nature offers us nectar and ambrosia every day, and everywher...

Poetical Intuition And Zen
Since Universal Life or Spirit permeates the universe, the po...

The World Is In The Making
Our assertion is far from assuming that life is now complete,...

A Sutra Equal In Size To The Whole World
The holy writ that Zen masters admire is not one of parchment...

The Irrationality Of The Belief Of Immortality
Occidental minds believe in a mysterious entity under the nam...

Introduction Of Zen Into China By Bodhidharma
An epoch-making event took place in the Buddhist history of C...

How To Worship Buddha
The author of Vimalakirtti-nirdeca-sutra well explains our at...

Zen Is Not Nihilistic
Zen judged from ancient Zen masters' aphorisms may seem, at t...

Buddha Dwelling In The Individual Mind
Enlightened Consciousness in the individual mind acquires for...

Bodhidharma's Disciples And The Transmission Of The Law

For details, see Chwen Tang Luh and Den Ka Roku, by Kei Zan.
As for the life of Bodhidharma, Dr. B. Matsumoto's 'A Life of
Bodhidharma' may well be recommended to the reader.

Bodhidharma's labour of nine years in China resulted in the
initiation of a number of disciples, whom some time before his death
he addressed as follows: "Now the time (of my departure from this
world) is at hand. Say, one and all, how do you understand the Law?"
Tao Fu (Do-fuku) said in response to this: "The Law does not lie in
the letters (of the Scriptures), according to my view, nor is it
separated from them, but it works." The Master said: "Then you have
obtained my skin." Next Tsung Chi (So-ji), a nun, replied: "As
Ananda saw the kingdom of Aksobhya only once but not
twice, so I understand the Law". The master said: "Then you have
attained to my flesh." Then Tao Yuh (Do-iku) replied: "The four
elements are unreal from the first, nor are the five
aggregates really existent. All is emptiness according to my
view." The master said: "Then you have acquired my bone." Lastly,
Hwui Ko (E-ka), which was the Buddhist name given by Bodhidharma, to
Shang Kwang, made a polite bow to the teacher and stood in his place
without a word. "You have attained to my marrow." So saying,
Bodhidharma handed over the sacred Kachaya, which he had
brought from India to Hwui Ko, as a symbol of the transmission of the
Law, and created him the Second Patriarch.

A favourite disciple of Shakya Muni, and the Third Patriarch
of Zen.

The: name means I Immovable,' and represents the firmness of
thought.

Earth, water, fire, and air.

(1) Rupa, or form; (2) Vedana, or perception; (3) Samjnya,
or consciousness; (4) Karman (or Samskara), or action; (5) Vijnyana,
or knowledge.

The clerical cloak, which is said to have been dark green.
It became an object of great veneration after the Sixth Patriarch,
who abolished the patriarchal system and did not hand the symbol over
to successors.

Next: The Second And The Third Patriarchs
Previous: Bodhidharma And His Successor The Second Patriarch

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