Dharma Wall

 

Bodhidharma (Sanskrit:. He calls himself the 28th ancestor of Buddhism and Zen, the ancestor of Chinese Zen, so Chinese Zen is also called the Dharma Sect, and Dharma is honored as "the first generation of Eastern Turks" and "the founder of Dharma". Together with Master Baozhi and Master Fu, they are called the Three Great Masters of Liang Dai. He sailed to Guangzhou during the reign of Emperor Liangwu in the Southern Dynasty of China. Emperor Wu of Liang believed in Buddhism. Damo went to the capital of the Southern Dynasties to meet Emperor Liangwu, but the interview was incongruous, so he crossed the river with a reed, went north to Luoyang, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, and later to Zhuoxi Songshan Shaolin Temple. After nine years of facing the wall, he passed on his mantle to Huike. Later, he traveled out of Yumen for life.

It is said that Dharma is the third son of King Xiangzhi of India, and the 27th generation Buddha after Mahakaya, the first disciple of Sakyamuni, has become a teacher.

One day, Dharma asked his master for advice and said, "Where should I go to preach Buddhism after I get it?" Prajnapara said, "You should go to Sindan (China).". He also said, "Don't live in the south after you arrive at the New Year. The monarch there likes to do meritorious deeds and can't understand Buddhism".

According to the instructions of Master, Dharma prepared his luggage, took a boat, rode the wind and waves, and sailed across the sea. It took three years to come to China through difficulties and twists. After Dharma arrived in China, the governor of Guangzhou learned about this and reported it to Jinling in a hurry. Emperor Liangwu, General Xiangyan, immediately sent envoys to take Dharma to Nanjing, where he would welcome the guests.

Emperor Wu, a Buddhist believer, advocated self liberation. Dharma is a Mahayana sect of Zen Buddhism, which advocates sitting quietly facing the wall and universalizing all living beings. Because of their different views, when they talk about Buddhism, they always do not speculate. At this time, Dharma felt that Nanjing was not a place to stay for a long time, so he left Xiao Yan and crossed the river to the north.

There was an eminent monk in China, named Shenguang, who was from Xingyang County, Henan Province. At that time, the Holy Light lectured at the Yuhuatai in Nanjing, and the local people said: "The Holy Light lectured, euphemistically and beautifully, the ground gave birth to golden lotus, and the stone nodded". The onlookers and listeners were the third floor inside and the third floor outside. Damo left Emperor Liangwu and went north. When he passed the Yuhuatai, he saw the Holy Light preaching there, so he crowded in the crowd and listened attentively. Dharma nodded and shook his head in some places as he listened. Nodding means that you agree with the view of Shenguang, and shaking means that you disagree with the view of Shenguang. In his explanation, Shenguang found that Dharma shook his head and thought that it was the biggest disrespect for him. He asked Dharma, "Why do you shake your head?" Because they had different opinions about Buddhism, Dharma voluntarily gave in and left Yuhuatai to cross the river north.

After Dharma went, one of the audience said to Shenguang, "You know who that man was just now? He is an Indian monk Bodhidharma, who is proficient in Buddhism and has a lot of knowledge." After hearing this, Shenguang felt extremely ashamed. When Shifu came to him, he was too rude just now. So he hurried after Dharma and apologized. Dharma walked in front, and the divine light chased after him until he reached the bank of the Yangtze River. Dharma was eager to cross the river and stopped at the bank. There was no bridge or boat in the vast waters, and there was no person. How can we cross the river? Dharma was very anxious. Who knows that "there is no way out". Just when he was helpless, Dharma suddenly found an old lady sitting near the bank with a bundle of reeds beside her. It seemed that she was waiting for the boat to cross the river. Dharma thought to himself: If you are old, why are you alone and without escort? All right! I had to ask her for help. So he stepped forward, saluted the old man respectfully, and said, "Old Bodhisattva, I want to cross the river, but there is no boat. Please turn a reed to me, so that I can walk."

The old man raised his head and looked carefully at Dharma. He has two bulging eyes, full of whiskers, curly and circling, a tall body, calm manner, strong image and extraordinary appearance. The old man nodded approvingly and pulled out a reed and Dharma. Dharma took the reed with both hands and went to the old man to thank him. When he reached the river, he put the reed on the river. He saw a reed flower, with its head held high, and five reed leaves stretched out flat. Dharma stepped on the reed and crossed the Yangtze River.

In spite of fatigue, Shenguang followed Damo and went to the riverside. Seeing Damo crossing the river with a reed, he ran to the old man in a huff and puff, picked up a bundle of reeds beside the old man, plopped, threw them into the water, jumped onto the bundle of reeds, and hurried across the river. Strange to say, this bundle of reeds did not move forward, but quickly sank into the water. Seeing the bad situation, Shenguang rushed out of the water and almost drowned. The divine light rushed to the old man with mud and water all over his body and listened to the rebuke: "If you give him a reed, he will cross the river. Why can't I take a bundle of reeds?"

The old man calmly replied: "He is my reed, helping others; you are robbing my reed, each has its own destiny, for no reason, how can you help?" The old man said, and soon disappeared. There was no one in the sky over the vast river. At this time, the divine light was aware of the loss, and he sighed with shame. The sky was not working, and the ground should not be called. He was very sad and regretful.

After crossing the river, Dharma held a Buddhist battle and walked at random. He saw the mountain and worshipped and sat in the temple. In the third year of Xiaochang in the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 527), he arrived at Shaolin Temple in Mount Song. Dharma saw here surrounded by mountains, dense forests, beautiful mountains, quiet environment, flourishing Buddhism, and harmonious conversation. I thought, this is really a rare Buddhist Pure Land. Therefore, he took Shaolin Temple as his ashram for preaching. It is the first Zen to gather monks and disciples. Since then, Dharma has become the first ancestor of Zen Buddhism in China, and Shaolin Temple is called the Ancestor Court of Zen Buddhism in China. Now there is an image stele of Damo crossing the river with a reed in the stele gallery of Shaolin Temple. The ancients had a day of praise:

The road crosses the water and meets again, crossing the river alone.

Under the sun, I felt sorry for the double elephant horse. Two young osmanthus trees had been growing for a long time.

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