Preface Bodhidharma was an Indian Buddhist monk who went to China (East land) from India (West land) in the first quarter of the sixth century. He brought Mahayana Buddhism to China. It is said that he was born as the third prince of a kingdom of south India. Coming to China, he stayed at the Shao-lin monastery (temple, 少林寺 ). Bodhi-dharma is well known in connection with a story expressed by the phrase Wall Contemplation Nine Years. (The period of nine years must be reconsidered under the new finding described in the section 1.4.) From the philosophy and practice represented by this phrase, the Chinese Zen Buddhism originated and further developed in ensuing generations. Bodhidharma is respected as the First Zu ( 初祖 First Master) of Chinese Zen Buddhism. The Zen Buddhism had been a new movement in China, which brought about revolutionary change and enlightenment in the culture and lives of not only practitioners but also ordinary people in East Asia, including China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other countries. In our contemporary world, the influence of Zen Buddhism is not waning, but rather it is vigorously expanding worldwide, and importance is increasing even more. With this increasing importance, clarity is needed in regard to the philosophy and practice of Bodhidharma, a Mahaya Buddhist, and its significance in the modern world. Study of historical literature in China would serve to document and elucidate the times and events crucial to understanding Bodhidharma and the Buddhism he brought to the East. According to Chinese records, Bodhidharma was born in a kingdom 香至 of South India. In the documents published just after Tang dynasty (ending in 907), the name of the Kingdom is expressed by the two Chinese characters 香至. There are four states in India, called as South India. No historical record is found in which state the 香至 is located. At this time when interest in Zen Buddhism is increasing throughout the world, the birthplace of this pivotal master would be a great concern. Not only scholars but also those interested in Buddhism would welcome this missing piece of information. Where in India is the Kingdom 香至? 1
Standing Buddha (6 th -7 th AD) (Chennai Museum) [77]. The Chinese name 香至 means fragrance extreme. At the time of Tang dynasty, it is likely that 香至 is pronounced as Kang-zhi. In 2007 by examining various literatures, the author happened to come across the identification of 香至 to be Kanchipuram, an old capital town of the state Tamil-Nadu. Further investigation revealed that Kanchi means or, and puram means a town or a state in the sense of earlier times. Thus, it is understood that the 香至 -Kingdom in the Chinese literature corresponds to the old capital Kanchipuram, located at a distance about eighty kilometers from the city Chennai of Tamil Nadu. It was a capital of Kalabhara (or Pallava) at the time when Bodhidharma was living. Currently, it is a sacred town of Hinduism. Historical remains related to Buddhism found in the region are very limited in number. In the Chennai Museum, however, one can see an image of standing Buddha (above) more than 2m height, excavated in a Hindu temple of Kanchipuram in the early times of 20 th century. This image of dignity is reminiscent of the glorious times when Buddhism had flourished in the region where it was discovered. (The Institute of Asian Studies in Chennai possesses a land of about two acres in Kanchipuram and designates its use to commemorate Bodhidharma.) The author is grateful to Dr. John Samuel, the Director of the Institute of Asian Studies, who encouraged writing this book. This book is composed by rearranging author s five papers [K1] ~ [K5] listed in the References. Newly added 2
parts are Chapter 2 (Buddhist monks before Bodhidharma), 1.4 (Record of the second brother in Guang-zhou), and 3.4 (Shaolin Monastery). Main parts are collection of stories of Bodhidharma and Buddhist masters mainly from Chinese historical literatures, listed at the end. Most of them were published more than a thousand year ago. Chapter one describes Bodhidharma before leaving India. In particular the section 1.4 describes an evidence discovered very recently which implies that his second brother came to Guang-zhou of China to look for Bodhidharma. Before the time of Bodhidharma, there had been an active interchange of Buddhist monks between India and China. Chapter two describes five eminent monks among them. Chapter three is the stories of Bodhidharma in China. Hence this is a central chapter of Bodhidharma. His philosophy and Buddhist style stimulated Chinese Buddhists, and subsequently they developed Chan Buddhism in China (Chapter four). The Chan Buddhism was brought to Japan, which is called Zen Buddhism. This Buddhism gave enormous impact and big influence to later generations. Chapter five describes its legacy in Japan. Note that Bodhidharma s time was about a thousand and five hundred years ago. Chapter six is a special topic, describing past connection between South India and East Asia at much earlier time than that of Bodhudharma by the title Early presence of the people of South India in East Asia. Various evidences are taken from the literature of China, Korea and Japan. (Notes: Zen is a Japanese term corresponding to Dhyāna in Sanskrit, or to Jhana in Pali, or to Chán in Chinese. This refers to either meditation or meditative states, especially in Buddhist style. Equivalent terms are Seon in Korean, Thienin Vietnamese, and Samten in Tibetan.) January 2012 Namaste, Gassho Tsutomu Kambe, Musai Jakusin Upasaka, Soto Zen School Japan Former Professor (Physics, Univ. of Tokyo) Tokyo, Japan 3
Chapter 1 Departure of Bodhidharma from India 1,1 Introduction Life data of Bodhidharma (445? - 535?) are divergent. According to a legend, he left India late in his life. It was a year between 521 and 527 AD when he arrived at Guang-zhou of south China by taking a sea route. Although the course he took is not known, it is speculated (see section 1.3) that the way he took was a sea route crossing the Bay of Bengal, so-called the -. Recently a new surprising record has been found which implies that a second brother came to Guang-zhou two years later in order to find his younger brother ( 1.4). 1.2 Early times.. According to Chinese literature, Bodhidharma was born as the third prince of a kingdom in South-India [1]. Name of the country is expressed with two Chinese characters 香至. It is very likely that 香至 is pronounced as Kang- at the time of Tang dynasty (China, 618 907AD) established a hundred years later from the time of Bodhidharma. This is close to (- ), an old capital town in the state Tamil-Nadu of south India. The kingdom might be, and its capital city was Kanchipuram of Tamil Nadu. The haras were ousted by the Pallavas who rose to prominence again under Simhavishnu (575-600AD). [81, chap.2] and [82] In his childhood, he was named h. His Buddhist teacher was h, a Brahman origin from east India (the priestly class). There remains an interesting story [14] when he was a child. 4
Upon a time, the Reverend Prajnadhara chanced to itinerate to south India and arrived at Kanchipuram. The King there invited him to his court for a banquet and offered him a jewel stone. The King had three sons, Bodhidhara being the third. The reverend Monk asked a question to the three sons: This jewel is shining brightly. I wonder whether there is anything which is comparable to this. Answers of two elder princes were as follows: This jewel is the most precious one among the seven treasures, and there is no jewel superior to it. There is no person who deserves receiving this jewel besides the priest of high virtue like you. The third prince Bodhidhara replied as follows: "This is a treasure of a secular society, lacking the merit to be regarded as the best one. Among the treasures, the dharma treasure is the best. Shining of the jewel lacks the merit to be regarded as the best. Among all kinds of shining, the wisdom brightness is the best of all. Among all kinds of light, the mind illumination is the best. The lighting of a jewel is not of itself. The jewel is unable to illuminate by itself. Without wisdom light, the worldly light cannot be apprehended. The brightness of wisdom shines by itself. Owing to this observation, the secular treasure is not a treasure by itself." The reverend Prajnadhara was impressed by the response of the youngest prince, and recognized immediately that Bodhidhara was a person of great dharma talent. After the parinirvana (passing-away) of the King (his father), Bodhidhara renounced the secular life. He was given the dharma name, Bodhidharma. His dharma teacher was the reverend Prajnadhara. He was the twenty seventh Master of the lineage descending from the first Master Maha-Kassapa who had received the Dharma from Shakyamuni Buddha. According to Chinese literatures [13, 14], the Reverend Prajnadhara entered the parinirvana in 457 AD during the Liu Song Age (420-479) of China. For a while, Bodhidharma traveled throughout the country India and turned the 5
wheel of dharma for its people... Once, at a banquet invited by the King, most guests except Venerable Prajnadhara were reading a sutra and turning it. Then, the king asked him: "Why you do not turn the sutra?" Ven. Prajnadhara: "At breathing out, this Poor Monk does not follow any connection in the world, nor stays in the mundane world at breathing in. I am always turning the sutra of thusness, millions of times, not only once or twice." [11, 12] 1.3 Departure of Bodhidharma 1.3.1 Determination of departure to China After having received the Buddhist Dharma from the Master Prajnadhara, Bodhidharma (Fig.1-1) traveled throughout the country India as an itinerant monk. Thus he spent many years. According to Chinese literature [13, 14], it was more than sixty years since the parinirvana of his master, 457AD. Learning that there were almost none in China who understood the authentic Mahayana Buddhism (except certain monks), he realized now that the time matured at the East-land (China) for him to visit as a monk of Mahayana Buddhism. Fig.1-1 Bodhidharma [79] 6
A Chinese historical text [12] describes what it happened when he determined to leave India, which is as follows. First, he bade farewell at the stupa of Ven. Prajnadhara. Then he met the King and told him of his wish to go to China. The King tried to persuade him to stay in his home land, but Bodhidharma was determined to go. There was no longer anything for the King to do but to prepare a big boat with necessary items for a safe voyage. His hope was for future return of Bodhidharma (preferably with the same boat). On the day of departure, the King accompanied Bodhidharma up to the harbor (probabbly Mamallapuram), together with the families of his relatives and vassals. At this moment, there were none who were not in tears [14]. In order to get to China from India, what sea-route did Bodhidharma take? Its details are not known. A possible route he might have taken was the Oceanic Silk Road (see the next subsection). Already in the BC age, there were active trade routes across the Indian Ocean between India and China. It is very likely that Bodhidharma chose this course. South Indian kingdoms are known as maritime states, trading with Mediterranean countries to the west and with China, Siam, Fiji and others to the east. It is likely that Bodhidharma departed from Kanchipuram to the nearest port Mamallapuram along the coast of Bay of Bengal, and embarked to the east. Coast of Bay of Bengal close to Mamallapuram. 7
1.3.2 Sea Route of Bodhidharma Bodhi Dharma's ship departed Mamallapuram, which was a main port closest to Kanchipuram, and headed for Sri-Lanka. This is just a conjecture hinted by the trip of Fa-xian ( 2.2). In Fig.1-2, the route of Fa-xian s trip is shown by the solid line, on which a speculated route of Bodhidharma is superimposed by dotted line. It is likely that he stayed there a couple of months waiting for favorable monsoon wind, preparing for the great journey crossing the Indian Ocean. It might take another couple of months to get to a port in Sumatra or Java island. It may have taken a half or more of a year (depending on circumstances) since he departed his home country Fig.1-2 Route of Fa-Xian (thick solid line) and a speculated route of Bodhidharma (dotted line) Kanchipuram. It is likely that he might have been invited by a royal family at the place he was staying, or that he stayed at a temple for rain retreat in summer time according to the Buddhist tradition, or that he spent half a year by trading or by preparing his next journey, waiting for a favorable wind. Once everything was ready, he finally embarked for Guang-zhou, China. It 8
might have taken two months or so to get to their destination. Two years should have been sufficient time for the whole journey. The "three years" written in the literature may imply that it was the third year since he departed his home country, rather than that it took full three years. 1.4 Record of the second brother in Guang-zhou According to commonly accepted history, Bodhidharma was alone in China. Surprisingly enough, a new historical description has been discovered very recently by a senior history-librarian in a historical document of the contemporary governor -family of Guang-zhou, which implies that a second brother of Bodhidharma came there in order to find him two years later. It appears that they stayed together in Guang-zhou for some time. This section attempts to describe the new story on the basis of the newly discovered document and the references [17], although detailed study must be done in future to confirm its historical fact. From the time of Bodhidharma, there had been a hermitage named Xi-lai- n (west-coming-hermitage) in Guang-zhou port city. In addition, there is a place called Xi-lai-gu- n (west coming old shore), from where many visitors and oversea monks landed from older times of the Former Han dynasty of BC age. At the time of early sixth century AD, Bodhidharma brothers came from India one after another, and founded the Xi-lai- n vihara, which is renamed later as Hua-lin-s (Flower-forest-temple). Both of them stayed there for three years. Bodhidharma was the first chief of the vihara and his elder brother the second. Around 521 AD, Bodhidharma left India and departed for China. In spring of 524 AD, he arrived at the needlework wharf (or embroidery quay) of Guang-zhou. Bodhidharma lived in a hermitage made at the east side of a house of an Indian resident Zhu-family. He lived there by following the Buddhist ways such as the Buddhist practices, meditation sitting, or teaching. He asked the patron Zhu-family not to disclose his noble origin. 9
Here, while learning Chinese language, culture and way of living, he visited Buddhist viharas in surrounding areas and directed local people and monks. At riversides, he planted trees widely, reinforced the river bank, and carried out maintenance works to prevent from welling up of sea-water. On the other hand, at the temple associated with the governor, he dug wells for drinking water. Local people called it as Damo Well (Fig.1-3 (b), Damo is the Chinese word corresponding to Dharma or Bodhihdarma.) The second elder brother of came to Guang-zhou from South India in order to find his younger brother by taking a big merchant ship. Upon landing at Guang-zhou, he paid a visit to the castle. At the gate, he offered to the Governor the tribute products brought from his south Indian Kingdom. By this tribute, the Guang-zhou governor got to know the real noble origins of Bodhidharma brothers. Then the Governor offered them a house in the castle area. But the brothers declined the offer politely, and they lived in the house of the Indian resident family around the needlework wharf. He was given a Chinese name analogous to. ( Da is that of Da-mo, i.e. Bodhidharam. Chinese also a special meaning, who? or why?. Xi is pronounced like si, but sounded strongly.) The local people and monks collaborated with the governor office to build the Xi-lai-an (west-cominghermitage) in April 527AD close to the wharf. was asked to be the first chief priest. - brothers were solicited to be teachers of Buddhism and translators of Buddhist texts at the temples associated with the Governors (Fig.1-3 (a)). The Guang-zhou local governor reported to the Emperor that - brothers came to Guang-zhou from India and were teaching Buddhism. The Emperor Wu ( - ) of the Liang Dynasty issued an Imperial ordinance to invite - brothers to the capital Jian-kang (now Nan-jing, a river port along the long Yang-zi River at a distance of travel of about a month). However, was not so good in health that it was not possible for him to travel a long distance. He stayed at the Xi-lai- n 10
and succeeded its second chief priest after Damo left there. He dug wells for drinking water around the needlework wharf, and planted medicinal herbs and fruit-trees of litchi (li-zhi in Chinese). He lectured on Buddhist texts and directed sorting-out of Buddhist texts. After his passing away, the Indian resident Zhu was appointed to be the third chief. (a) Fig.1-3 (a) Sketch of the Fa-xing-si ( 法性寺, 光孝寺 ), in 18 th AD; (b) (b) Damo Well ( 達摩井 Bodhidharma Well, 65th AD) at [83] The above is a story on the basis of the discovery of document materials and the bold reading of the records by an elder librarian Yi-xing-guan about ten years ago, supplemented with other references. He had been engaged in studying the history of the Hua-lin-s Temple (modern name of the Xi-lai- n Vihara). After having read through a large amount of historical documents, he proposed a bold hypothesis. The person (and statue) known as Da-xi Si-kong in Guang-zhou is not an Indian merchant, but the second brother of Bodhidharma, Da-xi. Yi-xing-guan said as follows. During the time when he had been editing 11
the chronicle of the temple Hua-lin-s, he found a document of family history of Xiao-ang and Xiao-li of the Guang-zhou governor, and discovered a historical description implying that - brothers had been staying in Guang-zhou. According to the commonly accepted views, there are two interpretations which do not approve the existence of - brothers in Guang-zhou. One is that the official history does not describe the. Second is that the time of construction of the South-sea Shrine connected to the statue Da-xi Si-kong was later than the time of - brothers. However, the senior librarian Yi-xing-guan argues that there existed the East-dragon Shrine, which was the former form of the South-sea Shrine, and that it appeared just at the age of Xiao-Liang. This coincides exactly with the time when came to Guang-zhou. Regarding to the first question, it may be said as follows. The fact that the description of - brothers does not exist in the official history, but exists in a private history of Xiao family, does make us more convinced of its reality. : It is to be emphasized that the presence of the brother Daxi in Guang-zhou cannot be denied by the official history. The fact does not contradict the official history, because it describes neither presence nor non-presence of the brother. So there exits no contradiction. On the contrary, it reinforces a weak point of the official history. So far there is no satisfactory explanation in the formal history how Bodhidharma could communicate with Chinese people when he visited northern countries in China (which is to be described in later chapters). If he stayed in Guang-zhou for three years together with Indian residents and with for a year or so, it is highly likely that he learned how to communicate with Chinese people during his stay in Guang-zhou. This is a favorable aspect of the hypothesis of presence of the Bodhidharma brother, Daxi, in Guag-zhou. 12