ZenGate Chronicles: Part III
In the mist of ancient India, a man began a journey that would echo across continents and centuries. Bodhidharma, a wandering monk from either Southern India or Central Asia, left his homeland carrying no scriptures – only an unshakable awareness. He would later be remembered as the First Patriarch of Chan Buddhism (known in Japan as Zen), the teacher who transmitted awakening not through words, but through silence, presence, and paradox.
The Journey East
Sometime during the 5th or 6th century CE, Bodhidharma travelled across the mountains and deserts into China. According to legend, he met Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty – a devout Buddhist ruler who boasted of his temples built and sutras copied. When the Emperor asked, “What merit have I gained?” Bodhidharma famously replied, “None whatsoever.”
Disillusioned by the Emperor’s attachment to form, Bodhidharma crossed the Yangtze River and settled in a cave near the Shaolin Monastery. There, it is said, he meditated facing a wall for nine years – unmoving, unwavering, like a mountain gazing into the infinite sky. This wall-gazing meditation was not passive withdrawal, but an intense method of inward realization. He called it “entrance through principle”: turning the light inward until the mind becomes still as stone.
The Two Entrances and Four Practices
Bodhidharma outlined two approaches to the Way: the Entrance of Principle and the Entrance of Practice.
- Entrance of Principle refers to direct insight into one’s true nature – seeing through illusion, beyond concepts, and resting in still awareness.
- Entrance of Practice involves four transformative behaviors:
- Accepting suffering as karmic consequence without resistance.
- Adapting to circumstances with equanimity.
- Seeking nothing – dropping desire and ambition.
- Aligning with the Dharma in every action, whether praised or blamed.
These teachings were not meant for armchair philosophers. They demanded sincerity, discipline, and a radical honesty with oneself.
The Cutting of the Arm and the Cutting of Illusion
One of the most well-known tales tells of a seeker named Huike, who came to the cave in winter seeking transmission. Bodhidharma refused him. Undeterred, Huike stood in the snow all night. In the morning, to demonstrate his determination, Huike cut off his own arm.
Moved by such sincerity, Bodhidharma asked, “What do you seek?”
Huike said, “My mind is troubled. Please pacify it.”
Bodhidharma replied, “Bring me your mind.”
“I cannot find it,” said Huike.
“There,” said Bodhidharma, “I have pacified it.”
This koan, deceptively simple, reveals the essence of Zen: mind cannot grasp mind. The moment we stop grasping, it is already at peace.
🪷 Zen in the Wind: Koans to Stir the Mind
🐎 Ask the Horse (Letting Go of Control)
A student and his master were riding their horses along a winding mountain path.
The student asked, “Master, where are we going?”
The master replied, “I don’t know. Ask the horse.”
– Zen saying
Insight: Sometimes life is flowing on a current of its own – the ego doesn’t have to steer everything. This story reflects Bodhidharma’s essence: not trying to control the moment but riding with presence and surrender.
🥣 Nothing Exists (The Bowl Story)
A scholar once asked a Zen master, “What is the truth?”
The master silently handed him an empty bowl.
The scholar said, “I don’t understand.”
The master replied, “Exactly.”
Insight: This reflects Bodhidharma’s teaching: truth cannot be grasped with the intellect. The bowl is empty – like the mind must become to truly perceive.
Body as Mirror, Discipline as Play
Later generations associated Bodhidharma with introducing physical exercises to the sedentary monks of Shaolin, helping them harmonize body and spirit. Whether or not he authored the famous muscle-tendon classics (Yi Jin Jing), the symbolism is clear: awakening does not reject the body. Rather, it includes it.
In Zen, bowing becomes meditation, sweeping the floor becomes a dance, the body becomes a mirror of the present moment. This union of mind and body laid the foundation for later martial arts traditions – not merely for fighting, but for cultivating presence through movement.
Chan to Zen: The Legacy Flows
Bodhidharma transmitted the lamp of awakening to Huike, who passed it on to Sengcan, then Daoxin, and later Huineng – the sixth patriarch. This unbroken lineage became known as Chan in China and, centuries later, Zen in Japan.
Chan taught with gestures, paradoxes, sudden shouts, and silent stares. The point was always the same: cut through illusion and see directly.
“A special transmission outside the scriptures; no reliance on words and letters; pointing directly to the human mind; seeing one’s nature and becoming Buddha.”
This motto – often attributed to Bodhidharma – summarizes Zen’s radical heart.
In Modern Light
In today’s world of hyper-stimulation, over-discipline, and digital distraction, Bodhidharma’s teaching feels more relevant than ever. We raise children on screens rather than silence. We seek truth in headlines rather than heartbeats. We’ve forgotten how to sit, breathe, and listen to the empty bowl of being.
Bodhidharma didn’t offer escape. He offered confrontation – with illusion, with ego, with the restless mind. His example shows that awakening doesn’t require traveling to temples. It only asks for sincerity, presence, and the courage to sit with yourself.
A Living Gate
The path Bodhidharma opened still stands – not as a doctrine, but as a gate. Not a gate to somewhere else, but a gate into this moment. Into your own reflection. Into your own breath.
“When the mind is like a wall, the Way opens of itself.”
“Bodhidharma brought nothing but a transmission outside words… yet gave everything.”
The gate is here. The gate is you. Step in.
🌿 For Further Exploration
If you’d like to dive deeper into Zen teachings, history, and koans, here are a few inspiring resources that supported this article:
- Terebess Zen Center – Extensive Zen Lineages & Texts
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy – Japanese Zen
- Zen Koans – Classic Riddles & Teachings
“To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss.”
– Bodhidharma
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