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New Delhi [India], Dec. 9 (ANI): Bodhidharma, a revered Buddhist monk who lived in the 5th or 6th century, is credited with spreading Zen, the Chinese school of Mahayana Buddhism, in China. According to the Indian Buddhist Heritage (IBH) Forum, the word Chan is derived from the Sanskrit word “Dhyana,” which means “spiritual absorption” or meditation.
The teachings of this “great sage from the land of India” changed the lives and cultures of people in China, Japan and many other Southeast Asian countries.
The word came to be known as Thien in Vietnam, Seon in Korea, and Zen in Japan. Bodhidharma, also known as Putidamo in China and Daruma in Japan, is the second Indian Buddhist monk to visit southern China, according to the IBH Forum report.
Phuntsok Dolma in the IBH forum report said that Bodhidharma became the 28th generation patriarch of Mahayana Buddhism in India and the first patriarch of Zen Buddhism in China.
According to legend, Bodhidharma is the third son of Sinhavarman II, the Pallava king of the ancient Pallava dynasty in South India. The Pallava Kingdom included the present-day states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Telangana. South India at the time was the birthplace of great Buddhist panditas such as Acharya Nagarjuna and was “the cradle of Mahayana Buddhism,” according to the IBH Forum report.
After his father’s death, Bodhidharma made the decision to give up his life as a prince. He was intelligent and eager to learn since he was a child, and he studied under Prajna Dora, the master of Magadha. Prajna Bodhisattva, recognizing the supernatural powers of his student, trained him in the Mahayana tradition to “immediately enter the Tao” and attain enlightenment.
Bodhidharma went to China at the suggestion of his guru Prajna Dora. After arriving in China, he met Emperor Wu, a devout Buddhist from the Liang Dynasty. Bodhidharma’s meeting with Wudi is recorded in Qingya Shilu, a collection of Buddhist koans compiled in 1125.
During the meeting, Emperor Wu asked: “I have built many temples for Buddhists and served in copying Buddhist scriptures. What merits do I have?” Bodhidharma replied: No merits. After confronting Emperor Wu, Bodhidharma went north and lived in a cave at the Shaolin Temple on Songshan Mountain near Luoyang.
According to records, he meditated for nine years and met his great disciple Huike. Huike furthered the Zen lineage in China and is credited with establishing the Shaolin School of Chinese martial arts.
Writing in a conference paper titled “The Contribution of the Tamils ​​to the Comprehensive Culture of Asia,” he wrote that during his stay at the Shaolin Temple, Bodhidharma “taught the monks the Indian martial arts known today as Kalaripayat and, in those days, known as For Vermanie.” These ancient forms of martial arts also include medicinal aspects.
As the prince, Bodhidharma was supposed to learn traditional skills and pass them on to his Chinese disciples. He teaches his students martial arts, breathing techniques related to pranayama, and other yoga techniques. He taught his disciples martial arts so that they could defend themselves against robbers, thieves and wild animals as they went about preaching the Dharma.
Bodhidharma rejected pious ritual, doctrinal debate, and oral formalization in favor of meditation, through which one can learn about the inner Buddha-nature. He is said to have introduced the Lenga Sutra to Chinese Buddhism.
Bodhidharma was revered by monks, and the Chinese people even went to the cave to pay homage to him. According to reports, there are eight major temples in Japan dedicated to Daruma. Additionally, almost every Japanese Zen temple enshrines his statue along with a Buddha image. (Arnie)
(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)
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