Bodhidharma Talks
Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century CE. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China, and is regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. According to a 17th-century apocryphal story found in a manual called Yijin Jing, he began the physical training of the monks of Shaolin Monastery that led to the creation of Shaolin kungfu. He is known as Dámó in China and as Daruma in Japan. His name means "dharma of awakening (bodhi)" in Sanskrit.
Little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend and unreliable details.
According to the principal Chinese sources, Bodhidharma came from the Western Regions, which typically refers to Central Asia but can also include the Indian subcontinent, and is described as either a "Persian Central Asian" or a "South Indian [...] the third son of a great Indian king." Throughout Buddhist art, Bodhidharma is depicted as an ill-tempered, large-nosed, profusely-bearded, wide-eyed non-Chinese person. He is referred to as "The Blue-Eyed Barbarian" (Chinese: 碧眼胡; pinyin: Bìyǎnhú) in Chan texts.
Aside from the Chinese accounts, several popular traditions also exist regarding Bodhidharma's origins.
The accounts also differ on the date of his arrival, with one early account claiming that he arrived during the Liu Song dynasty (420–479 CE) and later accounts dating his arrival to the Liang dynasty (502–557 CE). Bodhidharma was primarily active in the territory of the Northern Wei (386–534 CE). Modern scholarship dates him to about the early 5th century CE.
Bodhidharma's teachings and practice centered on meditation and the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra. The Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952) identifies Bodhidharma as the 28th Patriarch of Buddhism in an uninterrupted line that extends all the way back to the Gautama Buddha himself.
Title | Speaker | |
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Just Die On ExhalationSerial: SF-02709A Rohatsu Sesshin "(a keeper)" Emptiness, Birth-and-Death, Letting Go, Composure, Bodhidharma, Impermanence, Posture... |
Dec 04 1996 Unknown |
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Sunday LectureSerial: SF-03572 Includes Q&A Blue Cliff Record, Evil, Absolute-and-Relative, Religion, Don't Know Mind,... |
Mar 17 1996 Green Gulch |
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BodhidharmaSerial: SF-03627 Sunday Lecture Forgiveness, Triple Treasure, Mindfulness, Bodhidharma, Emptiness, Precepts, Blue... |
Oct 01 1995 Green Gulch |
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1995.03.30-serial.00018 Ceremony, Dharma Transmission, Transmission, Oneness, Precepts, Posture, Buddha... |
Mar 30 1995 |
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Tokubetsu Sesshin Lecture Dharma Transmission, Transmission, Ceremony, Big Mind, Precepts, Bodhidharma,... |
Mar 29 1995 Unknown |
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Practicing With The PreceptsSerial: SF-00143 Tokubetsu Sesshin
Precepts, Bodhisattva Precepts, true dharma, Triple Treasure, Transmission, Vows,... |
Mar 28 1995 |
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Tokubetsu Sesshin soto, Ceremony, Transmission, Precepts, Instruction, Subject-and-Object, Bodhidharma... |
Mar 15 1995 |
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Transmission of the LightSerial: SF-00041 Wednesday night teisho Birth-and-Death, Buddha Nature, Karmic Consequences, Karma, Attachment, Delusion,... |
May 26 1993 |