The teachings of Bodhidharma at Drum Mountain.
The Drum Mountain in front of the Shaolin Temple is flat on top. Each year Bodhidharma would dig a well with a monk’s spade on the Drum Mountain and asked Shen Guang to use that water for all his needs. In first year, the water was bitter. In second year, the water was spicy, the third year water was sour and in the fourth year, the water was sweet. It made Shen Guang realise that water represents phases of life.
Without saying anything, Bodhidharma taught Shen Guang important lessons of mind-to-mind and heart-to-heart way of learning. This communication is called the ‘action language’ and is the foundation of Chan Buddhism that Bodhidharma taught at Shaolin temple.
Shen Guang was the first disciple.
Shen Guang was given the name Hui Ke and became the abbot of Shaolin Temple after Bodhidharma. The disciples and monks of the Shaolin Temple still greet each other using their right hand only to pay respect for the sacrifice Hui Ke made.
The Shaolin monks and their exercises.
The Shaolin monks translated Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit and Pali to Chinese to allow the common man to practice the religion. Since they bent over the desk to write the scriptures manually, it affected their health. As a cure, Bodhidharma taught them Hatha and Raja yoga, which were native to India. The exercises were designed to improve internal and external strength and were based on the movement of eighteen animals including the snake, deer, leopard and tiger.
Shaolin Temple imbibed martial techniques taught by Bodhidharma.
Shaolin monks were trained to fight wild animals and bandits in the remote areas where the temple was built. The monks blended fighting techniques with the teachings of Bodhidharma.
Martial arts at the Shaolin Temple.
Bodhidharma introduced boxing in monastery as a form of exercise for Shaolin monks. He initially taught the monks in the ancient Indian style of armless combat which mainly used punching and fist techniques called as Vajramusthi which the prince Bodhidharma had learned in India. This technique is the basis of Shaolin style of fist fighting – Chuan-fa (way of fist).
Kung Fu.
The ground rules of martial arts were laid down by Bodhidharma. He said it should never be used to hurt or injure needlessly. Bodhidharma’s fighting techniques were formalised into a martial art style known as Lohan (Priest-Scholar) that contained 18 positions and hand movements and was the basis of Shaolin Arts and Chinese Temple Boxing.
The 18 positions were improvised and enhanced to 170 by two Shaolin monks, Ch’ueh Yuan and Li-shao and are the basis of Kung Fu which probably is the best known of all Asian unarmed martial arts.
Bodhidharma brought tea to China.
Legends have it that tea bushes sprang from the ground where Bodhidharma cut off his eyelids while meditating so that they would never close again. It is believed that this is the main reason for tea being so important for meditation as it helps the meditator to stay awake.
From Chan in China to Zen in Japan.
The imaginations of Samurai warriors were stimulated with Bodhidharma’s concept of spiritual, intellectual and physical enlightenment. They made Zen their way of life and Daruma (Dharma – name for Bodhidharma) for them was a legend.
Bodhidharma is a popular icon of Japanese culture, folklore, and politics. The Daruma doll with its wide open eyes and lack of legs (Bodhidharma’s legs seemingly withered away because of his constant sitting position while meditating) which depicts Bodhidharma seated in meditation is one of the most popular talismans for good luck. The doll when knocked on its side, pops back up to its upright position symbolising perseverance in life (nana korobi ya oki – falling seven times and rising the eight-time).
“I am going home”, said Bodhidharma three years after his death.
Ambassador Song Yun of northern Wei is said to have seen Bodhidharma three years after his death, walking with a shoe in his hand at the Pamir Heights. When the ambassador asked where he was going, Bodhidharma replied, “I am going home”. And when Song Yun asked why he is holding his shoe, Bodhidharma said, “You will know when you reach the Shaolin monastery. Don’t mention that you saw me or you will meet with disaster”.
After returning to the palace Song Yun told the emperor of the encounter he had with Bodhidharma and was sentenced to prison for lying as the emperor said that Bodhidharma was already dead and buried in a hill behind the Shaolin Temple. After this incident, the grave of Bodhidharma was exhumed and was found to contain only a single shoe. The monks said “Master has gone back home” and prostrated three times: “For nine years he had remained and nobody knew him; carrying a shoe in hand he went home quietly, without ceremony”.