Images of Bodhidharma actually crop up with surprising frequency in contemporary life in this part of Asia.

Ordinary art shops in Taiwan often display pictures and statues of Bodhidharma with angry staring eyes, a dark-skinned, plump body and a full black beard. Artist Hsieh Wen-shan, who specializes in painting portraits of Bodhidharma, remembers that the images he used to see as a child showed him thinner, "but now clients like him to be somewhat plumper, and a bit fiercer too." After all, he is meant to ward off evil!

The Japanese, on the other hand, prize him for his tolerance and make him into a tumbler doll which can never be tipped over. Bodhidharma's cult has a wide following in Japan, where statues of him are worshipped all year round in many homes and offices. After an election win or at an important business opening, you often see the ritual of dotting the eyes of a Bodhidharma statue.

It is said that when Sakyamuni was preaching on Spirit Vulture Peak, the Brahma presented an offering of golden pineapple flowers. Sakyamuni took the flowers with a smile, meaning that he declined to transmit the Buddha truth. The disciples were stunned, but just then Mahakasyapa stood up with a smile and the Buddha said: "Mine is the treasury of the eye of the true Dharma, the ineffable heart of nirvana; let the ultimate reality that takes no phenomenal form be confided to Mahakasyapa." This marked the beginning of the Ch'an school's doctrine of "a tradition outside the dogma, one that is not written down, which points directly to the human heart, so that one may obtain enlightenment by beholding the Buddha-nature within oneself." Mahakasyapa was the founding patriarch of the school, the 28th patriarch in succession being Bodhidharma.

Buddhists regard Bodhidharma too as a founding patriarch because he was the founder of the Ch'an school in China.

Of Buddhism's three "treasures" of the Buddha, his Law and the Order, Bodhidharma may be described as part of the last named. Other Buddhist patriarchs with a wide following in China would certainly include the Ch'ing-shui Patriarch, whose cult is active in Taiwan with a great many temples dedicated to it. Despite Bodhidharma's fame in China he tends to be celebrated more as a character in popular legend than as a cult patriarch to whom temples are dedicated: There are four temples in Taiwan where Bodhidharma is venerated, but only as one of the usual Buddhist pantheon.

Legend has is that Bodhidharma was the third son of a southern Indian king. Having dedicated himself to the service of Prajnatara, the 27th patriarch of the Ch'an school, he journeyed from India to China during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty, arriving at Canton and thence traveling on to Nanking to meet Emperor Wu, himself a fervent Buddhist.

Emperor Wu asked Bodhidharma: "Master, I have built many temples, copied many sutras, and have allowed many to seek salvation by becoming monks and nuns; what merit have I thereby accumulated?"

"None," Bodhidharma replied.

"None whatsoever?" exclaimed the emperor.

"These acts will merely gain you reincarnation in the realm of devas or men, where you may enjoy bliss; once that enjoyment has ended you will again be subject to the cycle of transmigration. Such a course is like the shadow cast by a solid body; it has form, but no substance."

"Then what is true merit?" the emperor enquired.

"The ineffable power of pure wisdom, a physical being which is naturally in the condition of nirvana, such merit as this cannot be sought from without."

"What is the supreme sacred dogma?"

"There is no such thing!"

"Who then stands before me at this moment?"

"I do not know!"

Since Emperor Wu couldn't see what Bodhidharma meant, the encounter proved a disappointment. Frustrated in his mission, Bodhidharma decided to try further north. It is said that when he arrived at the Yangtze River no boat was in sight, so he picked a reed and rode across the Yangtze standing on it. This has become a celebrated folk legend.

In popular accounts, Bodhidharma is said to have traveled next to Loyang, where he went directly to the Shaolin monastery on Mt. Sung. Here he sat in meditation facing a stone cliff, not to rise again until nine years had passed.

In the sixth year a monk named Shen-kuang, who had been told by a bodhisattva in a dream that this Indian monk was the master on whom his devotion was to rest, arrived at the Shaolin monastery to seek the Buddha truth. It was in the depths of winter and a heavy fall of snow was settling. Bodhidharma was in meditation facing the cliff, and not daring to disturb him. Shen-kuang waited to one side with bowed head and palms joined in prayer. The snow had risen from his ankles to his knees before Bodhidharma emerged from meditation and asked: "What do you seek?"

"Master, I seek the compassion to open the doors to the nectar of nirvana and bring salvation to all living beings."

"Your vow is too great, how can such things be sought with small merit, small wisdom, and a light and lazy heart? Seeking the way of holiness in this manner is a waste of effort."

With a swish of steel, fresh blood spurted forth as Shen-kuang drew a sword and cut off his left arm to demonstrate his sincerity.

"The ineffable way of Buddha truth is rarely met with in a whole kalpa; with such regard for the Dharma and forgetfulness of your own body, you may obtain it."

Thereupon Shen-kuang took the name Hui-k'o, meaning "wisdom makes things possible." Ignoring his wound, he continued to ask: "Master, can you reveal the seal of Buddha truth?"

"The seal of Buddha truth is not obtained from others, it comes entirely from within your own heart."

"My heart is not tranquil, please quieten it for me," Hui-k'o pleaded.

"Your heart is not tranquil? Take it out and I will quieten it for you."

Hui-k'o was stunned: "I, I cannot find where my heart is."

"That's right, I've already quietened it for you."

After accepting Hui-k'o as his disciple Bodhidharma spent three more years facing the cliff before continuing his preaching, a mission he performed tirelessly until his decease in A.D. 536.

Apparently, after Bodhidharma's death Emperor Wu not only conducted an official rite for him but asked the Crown Prince to compose an epitaph. Meanwhile an emissary from the Eastern Wei, one Sung Yun, had encountered Bodhidharma on a mountain pathway, traveling westward and carrying a sandal. Upon hearing Sung Yun's report Emperor Wu opened the coffin to look, and found nothing there but a single sandal!

These are some of the best known stories about Bodhidharma. But having studied historical materials from Japan and Tunhuang, Dr. Hu Shih, that most cautious of scholars, concluded that the claim that Bodhidharma became the 28th patriarch of the Ch'an school was fabricated by the Northern Sung monk Ch'i-sung. The Ch'an school existed in China and its doctrines were already studied there prior to Bodhidharma's arrival. Even the brilliant dialogue with Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty was a later fabrication, while Bodhidharma's martial-arts prowess and his crossing of the Yangtze on a reed were also, needless to say, pure fantasy. Dr. Hu Shih deduced that Bodhidharma must have arrived in China around A.D. 470, and had died by A.D534, under the Eastern Wei dynasty, having spent over 50 years in China.

And as for Hui-k'o, there was indeed such a person, although his severed arm was an injury sustained on the battlefield.

Shorn of its entertaining anecdotes the legend of Bodhidharma may seem somewhat less exciting, but perhaps that helps it the better to serve as a guide towards the spiritual tranquility of meditation.

The Ch'an school takes its name from the Sanskrit word Dhyana, meaning meditation. This is the practice of yoga, a stage of spiritual concentration. In simple terms meditation means concentrating the spirit on a certain object and extinguishing all turbulence from the mind in order to attain a selfless, all penetrating wisdom.

Bodhidharma's fourth successor, Taosheng, introduced an important new element into Ch'an Buddhism. Whereas Indian meditation was a gradual process of spiritual perfection, Tao-sheng advocated instantaneous enlightenment in which the realization of Buddha truth could descend in one fell swoop. This approach breathed new life into monastic communities which emphasized conning the sutras and poring over every word.

In due course Indian meditation penetrated into Chinese philosophy and became a distinct tradition within it. And the Ch'an school, like the T'ien-t'ai and Hua-yen schools, grew into a highly sinicized sect of Buddhism once it took root in China.

With no form of worship or ritual of repentance, no chanting of sutras, no textual tradition, and with an emphasis on "pointing straight to the human heart" and "seeing Buddha truth within your own nature" that blends in with esoteric Taoism, Ch'an Buddhism became widely accepted and grew into a major religion which flourished for four centuries and made its way to Japan.

Originally a simple unassuming monk with no temple cult and a wandering existence, Bodhidharma has since found himself a focus of legend and his good name hijacked to enhance other people's reputation. As more and more accretions were added to the folk legend, Bodhidharma acquired prowess in martial arts, divination skills, and even turned into a Taoist Immortal.

If he could return to the world now, Bodhidharma might well be bewildered at all that has sprung from his quiet meditation.

[Picture Caption]

Today Bodhidharma has become one of Buddhism's most versatile holy men, credited not only with power to ward off evil, ensure peace and grant wishes but even with mastery of martial arts, skill at divination and various Taoist attributes.

This Sung painting of Bodhidharma is the oldest image of him in existence. His eyes are downcast in an attitude of inner contemplation; in contrast to the angry outward stare of a modern-day Bodhidharma picture. (photo courtesy of the National Palace Museum)

Bodhiharma started out as an earnest monk, but Ch'an Buddhism's popularity has resulted in him being heaped with fabulous legends; such is the price of fame. . . .

This Sung painting of Bodhidharma is the oldest image of him in existence. His eyes are downcast in an attitude of inner contemplation; in contrast to the angry outward stare of a modern-day Bodhidharma picture. （photo courtesy of the National Palace Museum）

Bodhiharma started out as an earnest monk, but Ch'an Buddhism's popularity has resulted in him being heaped with fabulous legends; such is the price of fame. . . .