Facing the wall for nine years

In the three years of filial piety in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Bodhidharma arrived at Shaolin Temple, and after Bodhidharma arrived at Shaolin Temple, he was in the upper part of the middle peak of the Wuru Peak at the west foot of Songshan Mountain not far from Shaolin Temple, and the middle wall of a natural stone cave not far from the top for nine years. He was in this stone cave, facing the stone wall, sitting upright, his legs bent, his hands making the Mida seal, his eyes looking down, and his five hearts facing the sky. After the meditation, he stood up, did some trail activities, exercised his body, and when he recovered from fatigue, he sat in meditation again. In this way, he continued to practice zazen for nine years.

In the end, he realized a Buddhism that could be accepted by the people of the Central Plains: Dongtu Zen Buddhism. Zen Buddhism does not need words to elaborate, as long as you understand your own mind, you can become a Buddha. Therefore, even though some masters do not know a word, it does not prevent them from becoming masters. For example, the later Master Huineng, the sixth ancestor of Zen Buddhism, was illiterate, but he chanted a poem that can be called a high summary of Zen Buddhism:

Bodhi has no tree, and the mirror is not a platform;

There was nothing in the first place, where to stir up dust.

Bodhidharma faces the wall

He uses "epiphany" to talk about Zen Buddhism, anytime and anywhere, focusing on inner understanding and clarity.

Rumors and legends

About Divine Light

Shi Shenguang read a group of books in Yiluo, with a wide range of knowledge, the high wind of the teacher, the broken arm to seek the law, the teacher felt his sincerity, and then passed on the true law of peace of mind, gave him a heart seal, and changed his name to Hui Ke. After nine years, if he wants to return to the West, he asked Hui Ke to make a secret of a sect, and granted four volumes of robes and the Ranga Sutra. It was not long before he fell silent and was buried in the Shanglin Temple of Bears Ears Mountain. In the third year of Yue, when Wei envoy Song Yun went to the green mountains, it coincided with the return of Bodhidharma to the West. The teacher is quite legendary, and it is difficult to distinguish its authenticity. There are different theories such as the second year of Liang Datong (528), the first year of Liang Datong (535) or the second year. Emperor Wu of Liang also called the teacher "Master Shengxuan"; The Tang Dynasty gave the nickname of "Yuanjue Master", and the name of the tower was empty.

A reed crosses the river

The bamboo forest found Bodhidharma "a reed across the river" stone carving this "Bodhidharma portrait stele" is carved in the four years of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1491 AD), on the stele, Bodhidharma has round eyes, and stands on the reeds crossing the river. On the left side of the portrait is engraved with the words "Ming Hongzhi four years of Xinhai year March Ji Chun Dingshan Shizi eighty Weng ......".

"This stele was hand-painted in 1491 by the 80-year-old 32nd abbot of the Rinzai sect, and it mainly depicts the story of Bodhidharma crossing the river that year!" Master Zhiguang, who was responsible for the restoration and restoration of Dingshan Temple in Nanjing, recalled that the story of Bodhidharma's residence in Dingshan Temple was recorded in the History of Liang and the local chronicles of Pukou. The archaeological team of Nanjing Museum excavated the ruins of Dingshan Temple, coupled with the confirmation of this stone carving of the Ming Dynasty, "we can confirm that this is the real residence (residence) of Bodhidharma 1500 years ago." ”

There is also a saying about a reed crossing the river that after the dialogue between Bodhidharma and Emperor Wu of Liang, Emperor Wu of Liang felt deep remorse, and after learning the news of Bodhidharma's departure, he immediately sent people to chase after him on a mule. When chasing to the middle of the Shogunate Mountain, the peaks on both sides suddenly closed, and the group was sandwiched between the two peaks. Bodhidharma was walking to the river, and when he saw someone coming, he broke a reed by the river and threw it into the river, turned into a flat boat, and floated across the river. To this day, people still call this peak of Shogunate Mountain as Jiamu Peak, and the cave where Dharma rested at the northern foot of the mountain is called Dharma Cave.

A reed hall in today's Changlu Temple is built to commemorate Bodhidharma's visit to Changlu Temple after crossing the river. After Bodhidharma "crossed the river with a reed", he stayed in Changlu Temple in Jiangbei, and then went to Dingshan Ruzen Monastery to stay in Xi, facing the wall to practice. Jozanji Temple still has relics such as "Dharma Rock", "Banquet Stone", and Bodhidharma Portrait Tablet. Among them, the Bodhidharma portrait tablet is the earliest Bodhidharma statue tablet in China, which is more than 120 years earlier than the ancestor tablet of Songshan Shaolin Temple. Jozanji Temple has become an important jungle of Zen Buddhism and is known as the "first dojo of Bodhidharma".

Shaolin Zen Yuan

After Bodhidharma crossed the river, holding the Zen battle, walking and walking, seeing the mountain to worship, meeting the temple sitting meditation, the Northern Wei Dynasty Xiaochang three years (AD 527) arrived at the Songshan Shaolin Temple. Bodhidharma saw that it was surrounded by mountains, dense forests, beautiful mountains, quiet environment, and prosperous Buddhism. I thought to myself, this is really a rare piece of Buddhism Pure Land. So, he used Shaolin Temple as his dojo for preaching. Widely gathered monks, the first to spread Zen Buddhism. Since then, Bodhidharma has become the first ancestor of Zen Buddhism in China, and Shaolin Temple is known as the ancestral court of Zen Buddhism in China.

The ancients had a poem to praise the day:

The road crosses the water and crosses the river alone.

Under the sun, the poor pair of elephant horses, the two tender Gui Jiuchangchang.

Bodhidharma arrived in Wei, visited the Shaolin Temple of Songshan, where he practiced meditation alone, and the people of the time called him the wall-view Brahmin. There is Taoist education, Hui Ke two shamen to meet Bodhidharma, and get close to and provide for four or five years. Bodhidharma felt that they were sincere and taught them the method of clothing. He also gave Hui Ke four volumes of the Ranga Sutra and said: 'I think that the root instrument of the Chinese is most suitable for this sutra, and if you can follow it, you will be able to leave the world.'

With the development of Zen Buddhism in China, Bodhidharma gradually became a legendary figure. The first is the question and answer between the legend of Bodhidharma and Emperor Wu of Liang when he arrived in Jinling (present-day Nanjing). Emperor Wu of Liang was an emperor who believed in Buddhism, and after he ascended the throne, he built temples, wrote scriptures, ordained monks, and built many statues. But Bodhidharma said, "There is no merit." ’

Emperor Wu asked again, 'Why is there no merit?' Bodhidharma said, "This is a meritorious thing, not a real merit." 'Emperor Wu couldn't understand that Bodhidharma crossed the river into Wei. The oldest documents that record this legend are the anonymous "Records of the Dharma Treasures of the Past Dynasties" (written in 774) unearthed in Dunhuang and the second volume of Tang Zongmi's "Yuanjue Jing Da Shu Bank". Later, the famous "Biyan Lu" of Zen Buddhism used it as the first 'ode to the ancients'.

Died of poison

The deeds of Bodhidharma in his later years are not clearly recorded in various biographies. Later generations say that he died of poison and was buried in Xiong'er Mountain (now Yiyang County, Henan), but it is also said that Wei made Song Yun meet Bodhidharma in Yanling when he returned from the Western Regions. Bodhidharma passed away alone. Therefore, there is a legend of 'only returning to the west'.

Bodhidharma came to China during the Northern Wei Dynasty at that time. There is a national teacher Bodhi Liuzhi who is very jealous of Bodhidharma, and he has been harming him many times without success. He asked people to poison Bodhidharma's food, and Bodhidharma knew that it was poisonous, so he ate it correctly. When he had finished eating, he spat out a poisonous snake from his mouth. It wasn't until one day, when Patriarch Bodhidharma had established Hui Ke as the heir of the Dharma, that he decided to pass away.

Only return to the west

It was only when Bodhi Liuzhi poisoned Bodhidharma for the sixth time that Bodhidharma was poisoned to death. His disciples buried him in a coffin.

On this day, Song Yun, an envoy of the Northern Wei Dynasty who went to the Western Regions, walked to the area of the Green Mountains, met Patriarch Bodhidharma, and asked him: "Master, to whom have you passed on the Fa?" ”

Patriarch Bodhidharma said, "You will know later." I'm going back to India. Then he took off one of his shoes and gave it to Song Yun and said, "Go back quickly, your king will die today." ”

Song Yun talked about it after he came back, and he didn't believe that Bodhidharma was dead. So they opened the coffin and saw that there was only one shoe inside. Some people say that Patriarch Bodhidharma was 150 years old when he came to China. Take a hundred plating to read the latest chapter of "Glory of Kings: Sanction System Claw Book House" for free for the first time.