Tracking Bodhidharma (23 page)

The Yang-tse flows from west to east through Southern China. It originates in the Tibetan Plateau, flows through the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, passes the central city of Wuhan, and soon turns northeast to loop over the top of Nanjing before entering the sea. For reasons that will become clear when we look at the record of Bodhidharma's senior disciple Sengfu, Bodhidharma almost certainly did not carry out his activities in the upper reaches of the Yang-tse. Instead it was the lower reaches of the river where he likely journeyed and stayed. Nanjing, as the main population center and seat of imperial power in South China during Bodhidharma's time, must be considered as the area where Bodhidharma lived and taught in the Yang-tse region. It is clear from Gunabhadra's biography and countless other sources that the imperial capital of Nanjing was then already a ferment of Buddhist activity.

All considered, from the
Continued Biographies
account we can surmise that in the course of many decades in China Bodhidharma would have had plenty of time to travel in the lower Yang-tse River area, perhaps not just a single time. Daoxuan's account indicates he probably traveled widely over an extended period of time, perhaps going back and forth several times along the Yang-tse population centers or at least remaining for an extended time in part of that area.

If Bodhidharma chose to visit Nanjing early in his time in China, it would mean he arrived there more than thirty years before Emperor Wu took power and set up his dynasty and fully fifty years before the year 527, when the most widely believed story about him claims that he arrived in China and met the emperor.

Considering Daoxuan's limited account in more detail, there is a possible clue that suggests that Bodhidharma did indeed go to Nanjing
and meet Gunabhadra. That clue can be surmised from Bodhidharma's reported “not remaining in places of imperial sway.”

China's imperial system of rule was set up so that the reigning emperor ruled from the main capital city, while “kings” of lower status than the emperor ruled over local provinces or prefectures. These local kings were typically one of the emperor's close relatives such as a brother, uncle, nephew, and so on, with none far removed from his nuclear family.

Around the years 450—454, Gunabhadra, at the invitation of the local king of a place called Jing Province, took up residence in what is now the city of Xuzhou (the name of this city sounds similar to Suzhou, the famous garden city near Shanghai). Xuzhou is located on the Huai River and is about two hundred miles northwest of Nanjing, the location of the emperor's throne during the Liu-Song dynasty that then ruled South China. In 454, the local king who was Gunabhadra's student rebelled and tried to seize the emperor's throne. Due to Gunabhadra's fame as a Buddhist teacher, the rebel king compelled him to join his cause, forcing him to accompany his army as it marched toward Nanjing to overthrow the emperor. The rebel exploited Gunabhadra's holy status to rally people to his rebellion. Like a cross before armies of the Christian Crusades, Gunabhadra was put in the vanguard of the advancing troops, his role like that of a mystical shield meant to legitimize the rebel as a “Buddhist” king who would establish righteous religious rule over the country.

As it turned out, the emperor crushed the rebel forces, and the rebel king was beheaded. The emperor then considered executing Gunabhadra as well for his role in the rebellion. But because of Gunabhadra's fame and position, the emperor allowed the old teacher to present evidence of being forced unwillingly to accompany the revolt. The emperor examined letters between Gunabhadra and the rebel king, finding that Gunabhadra had actually opposed the rebellion, and thus permitted Gunablzadra's head to remain attached to his body. But undoubtedly the old teacher gained a clear understanding about the pitfalls of getting mixed up in China's high ruling circles.

Bodhidharma, if he met Gunabhadra, likely learned from him about the dangers of dealing with people in high places. Even if they didn't meet, the story likely reached Bodhidharma's ears. This object lesson
may have contributed to Bodhidharma's shyness about meeting royalty. Was this episode the source of Bodhidharma's disposition to “not remain in places of imperial sway”?

Traditional accounts claim the unbroken line of Zen teachers and students in China starts with Bodhidharma. Following him was his most famous disciple, Huike (pronounced
Hway-kuh
), followed in turn by his most famous disciple, Sengcan (pronounced
Sung-san
), and then his student, the Fourth Ancestor, Daoxin.

The Fourth Ancestor's teaching seat, named True Enlightenment Temple, sits in a mountain valley that is one scenic waterfall above rich Yang-tse Valley farmland. It offered the Zen master and his students an ideal balance between secluded mountain practice and land to grow food for self-support. The Fourth Ancestor's teachings and temple represent a critical step toward putting Bodhidharma's Zen on a solid and independent footing, setting the stage for it to become the dominant religious stream in East Asia.

 

FIGURE 12. Location of Zen Ancestral Temples in the Lower Yang-tse Area.

There are two related phrases often mentioned about the temple's primary role in Zen. One phrase is
Zen
,
farming
, equally emphasized, and the other is
Zen and work
.

What is especially worth noting was the Fourth Ancestor's attitude toward people in high places. Echoing Bodhidharma's apparent dislike for the imperial spotlight, the Fourth Ancestor Daoxin famously refused four commands from the emperor to come to the capital and submit to court supervision. At the fourth request, the emperor's envoy threatened to cut off Daoxin's head if he didn't comply with the emperor's summons. Daoxin responded by bowing and exposing his bare neck. When his envoy reported this to the emperor, the latter finally withdrew his demand for Daoxin to submit to central government supervision.

Besides literally “putting down roots” for Zen in China by taking up farming to support his monks, Daoxin's historical importance lies in his synthesis of Zen practice with other prevailing Buddhist currents of his age, making it more understandable and accessible to the Chinese public.

Daoxin appears to have followed the instruction that observing the nature of the mind was the essential aspect of Zen practice. However, the age when Daoxin lived was rife with controversy about various Buddhist theories that seemed at odds with Zen's practice of “observing.” These controversies arose because popular Buddhist scriptures introduced ideas like “Buddha nature” and an “atman” (soul) into Buddhist beliefs. The Nirvana Sutra, the scripture cited by the Japanese militarist Sugimoto, was a source of some of the most contentious of these controversies. During the fifth and following centuries, the sutra's ideas about the existence of an atman caused problems because Buddhism traditionally rejected this idea. The existence of an atman was considered impossible if everything comes about and passes away strictly due to causes and conditions. A permanent “soul” could not be possible. This argument inflamed theological discussions of the day. Another doctrine that caused wide controversy at that time was the idea of Buddha nature. Many Chinese Buddhists thought the idea that all beings possess “inherent Buddhahood” sounded suspiciously like yet another concept that fell outside of the “cause and effect” doctrine. Finally, another idea set forth in the Nirvana Sutra got people excited in a way that can be little imagined today. That was the presumed heresy of the sutra's teaching that everyone, even incorrigibly evil beings, not only had “Buddha nature” but also could ultimately become Buddhas.

The Fourth ancestor Daoxin skillfully cut short such discussions by
offering a peculiarly Zen interpretation of them. He presented a Zen view on such matters by saying that all such popular notions about the nature of reality and the various Buddhist concepts then in circulation were really, after all the shouting, just descriptions of perceiving the nature of the mind. A record from the seventh century quotes Daoxin to have said the following:

Daoxin emphasized the nature of this perception in the following statements: