Sublime

The traditional story which the Zen School gives of its own origin is that Bodhidharma arrived in Canton from India around the year 520, and proceeded to the court of the Emperor Wu of Liang, an enthusiastic patron of Buddhism. However, Bodhidharma’s doctrine and his abrupt attitude did not appeal to the Emperor, so that he withdrew for some years

Emperor Wu of Liang asked the great master Bodhidharma, “What is the main point of this holy teaching?” “Vast emptiness, nothing holy,” said Bodhidharma. “Who are you, standing in front of me?” asked the emperor. “I do not know,” said Bodhidharma.

Bodhidharma’s Vast Emptiness

From this uncompromising start, Bodhidharma then went on to increase the aura of mystery that surrounded him by spending the next nine years meditating in front of a wall in a cave.

Han-shan.

Someone asked Zhaozhou, “Why did Bodhidharma come from the west?” Zhaozhou replied, “The cypress tree in the garden.”

The fusion of Taoism with Buddhist ideas is thought to have been inspired by the arrival of the eccentric monk known as the Bodhidharma (referred to as the Daruma in Japan).

In the sixth century C.E., Bodhidharma, considered to be the first ancestor of the Zen lineage, put forth the four points that define Zen: Zen is a special transmission outside the scriptures, With no reliance on words and letters. A direct pointing to the human mind, And the realization of enlightenment.