Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma (also known as Pu Tai Ta Mo in Sanskrit and
Daruma Daishi in Japanese) was an Enlightened Buddhist Master who is credited
with reviving Buddhism in China and founding martial arts.
Bodhidharma began his life as a royal prince in Southern
India in the Sardilli family in 482 A.D. In the midst of his education and
training to continue in his father's footsteps as king, Bodhidharma encountered
the Buddha's teachings. He immediately saw the truth in Lord Buddha's words and
decided to give up his esteemed position and inheritance to study with the
famous Buddhist teacher Prajnatara. Bodhidharma rapidly progressed in his
Buddhist studies, and in time, Prajnatara sent Bodhidharma to China, where
Buddhism had begun to die out, to introduce the Sarvastivada sect Buddhist
teachings to the Chinese. Bodhidharma arrived in China after a brutal trek over
Tibet's Himalayan Mountains surviving both the extreme elements and treacherous
bandits.
Upon arrival in China, the Emperor Wu Ti, a devout Buddhist
himself, requested an audience with Bodhidharma. During their initial meeting,
Wu Ti asked Bodhidharma what merit he had achieved for all of his good deeds.
Bodhidharma informed him that he had accrued none whatsoever. Bodhidharma was
subsequently unable to convince Wu Ti of the value of the teachings he had
brought from India. Bodhidharma then set out for Loyang, crossed the Tse River
on a leaf, and climbed Bear's Ear Mountain in the Sung Mountain range where the
Shaolin Temple was located. He meditated there in a small cave for nine years.
Bodhidharma, in true Mahayana spirit, was moved to pity when
he saw the terrible physical condition of the monks of the Shaolin Temple. The
monks had practiced long-term meditation retreats, which made them spiritually
strong but physically weak. He also noted that this meditation method caused
sleepiness among the monks. Likening them to the young Shakyamuni, who almost
died from practicing asceticism, he informed the monks that he would teach their
bodies and their minds the Buddha's dharma through a two-part program of
meditation and physical training.
Bodhidharma created an exercise program for the monks which
involved physical techniques that were efficient, strengthened the body, and
eventually, could be used practically in self-defence. When Bodhidharma
instituted these practices, his primary concern was to make the monks physically
strong enough to withstand both their isolated lifestyle and the deceptively
demanding training that meditation requires. It turned out that the techniques
served a dual purpose as a very efficient fighting system, which evolved into a
marital arts style called Gung Fu. Martial arts training helped the monks to
defend themselves against invading warlords and bandits. Bodhidharma taught that
martial arts should be used for self-defence, and never to hurt or injure
needlessly. In fact, it is one of the oldest Shaolin axioms that "one who
engages in combat has already lost the battle."
Bodhidharma, a member of the Indian Kshatriya warrior class
and a master of staff fighting, developed a system of 18 dynamic tension
exercises. These movements found their way into print in 550 A.D. as the Yi Gin
Ching, or Changing Muscle/Tendon Classic. We know this system today as the Lohan
(Priest-Scholar) 18 Hand Movements, the basis of Chinese Temple Boxing and the
Shaolin Arts.
Some historians dispute the date, but legend states that
Bodhidharma settled in the Shaolin Temple of Songshan in Hunan Province in 526
A.D. We do know the first Shaolin Temple of Songshan was built in 377 A.D. for
Pan Jaco, "The First Buddha", by the order of Emperor Wei on the Shao Shik Peak
of Sonn Mountain in Teng Fon Hsien, Hunan Province. The Temple was for religious
training and meditation only. Martial arts training did not begin until the
arrival of Bodhidharma in 526 A.D. Bodhidharma died in 539 A.D. at the Shaolin
Temple at age 57.
Bodhidharma was an extraordinary being who remains an
example and an inspiration to practitioners today. He is the source of many
miraculous stories of ferocity and dedication to the Way. One such legend states
that Bodhidharma became frustrated once while meditating because he had fallen
asleep. He was so upset that he cut off his eyelids to prevent this interruption
in meditation from ever happening again. Yet another legend states that
Bodhidharma meditated for so long that his arms and legs eventually fell off.
This is a reminder of the true dedication and devotion necessary in meditation
practice. The Bodhidharma doll was developed as a symbol of this dedication. In
Japan and other parts of the world, when someone has a task they wish to
complete, they purchase a red Bodhidharma doll that comes without pupils painted
on the eyes. At the outset of the task one pupil is coloured in, and upon
completion, the other pupil is painted. The dolls and the evolution of martial
arts and meditation, are a continuous reminder of Bodhidharma's impact on
Buddhism and martial arts.