Bodhidharma's "Outline of Practice"

For various reasons, I have a personal affection for Bodhidharma: he left his country to come teach in another one, and he founded Shaolin Kung Fu and designed the Chi Gong Yi Jin Jing and Xi Sui Jing exercises.

We know little things about him. He is very much a legendary figure. But aren't legends and myth often based on reality (Which reality ?). 

Let us say that sometimes around 475 AD, an Indian Buddhist Master came from India to China to teach the Dhyana school of Buddhism. 

Bodhidharma left us a few short texts  - they are likely transcriptions of his teachings as it is doubtful that he could write Chinese. Today I would like to share with you the most known of these texts, entitled "Outline of Practice" 

It is the text of a translation by Red Pine. If you are interested in the other texts, I suggest you purchase the book The Zen teachings of Bodhidharma

 

Outline of Practice

‘Many roads lead to the Way, but basically there are only two: reason and practice. 

To enter by reason means to realize the essence through instruction and to believe all living things share the same true nature, which isn’t apparent because it’s shrouded by sensation and delusion. Those who turn from delusion back to reality, who meditate on walls, the absence of self and other, the oneness of mortal and sage, and who remain unmoved even by sutras are completely in accord and unspoken agreement with reason. Without moving, without effort, they enter, we say, by reason’.

To enter by practise refers to four all-inclusive practices: suffering injustice, adapting to conditions, seeking nothing, and practising the Dharma.’

‘First, suffering injustice. When those who search for a path encounter adversity, they should think to themselves ‘In countless ages gone by I’ve turned from the essential to the trivial and wandered through all manner of existences, often angry without cause and guilty of numberless transgressions. Now, though I do no wrong, I’m punished by my past. Neither gods nor men can foresee when an evil deed will bear it’s fruit. I accept it with an open heart and without complaint of injustice’. The sutra says ‘When you meet with adversity don’t be upset, because it makes sense’. With such understanding you’re in harmony with reason. And by suffering injustice you enter the path.’

‘Second, adapting to conditions. As mortals we’re ruled by conditions not by ourselves. All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions. If we should be blessed by some great reward, such as fame or fortune, it’s the fruit of a seed planted by us in the past. When conditions change, it ends. Why delight in its existence? But while success and failure depend on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor wanes. Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the path.’

‘Third, seeking nothing. People of this world are deluded. They’re always longing for something - always, in a word, seeking. But the wise wake up. They choose reason over custom. They fix their minds on the sublime and let their bodies change with the seasons. All phenomena are empty. They contain nothing worth desiring. ‘Calamity forever alternates with Prosperity’. To dwell in the three realms is to dwell in a burning house. To have a body is to suffer. Does anyone with a body know peace? Those who understand this detach themselves from all that exists and stop imaging or seeking anything. The sutra says ‘To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss’. When you seek nothing, you’re on the path.’

‘Fourth, practising the Dharma. The Dharma is the truth that all natures are pure. By this truth, all appearances are empty. Defilement and attachment, subject and object don’t exist. The sutra says ‘ The Dharma includes no being because it’s free from the impurity of being, and the Dharma includes no self because it’s free from the impurity of self’. Those wise enough to believe and understand these truth are bound to practise according to the Dharma. And since that which is real includes nothing that is worth begrudging, they give their body, life, and property in charity, without regret, without the vanity of the giver, gift, or recipient, and without bias or attachment. And to eliminate impurity they teach others, but without being attached to form. Thus, through their own practise they’re able to help others and glorify the Way of Enlightenment. And as with charity, they also practise the other virtues to eliminate delusion, they practise nothing at all. This is what’s meant by practising the Dharma.’

Please read and consider carefully. And if you don't agree try to figure out why some guy travelled thousands of miles from India to China 1500 years ago to teach this.

With the help of other masters, we will later try to get more insight in this important text.

BUDDHISM and ZEN

The two basic principles of Buddhism were formulated around 600 BC by Gautama Buddha. They are the Four Noble Truth and the Noble Eightfold Path. Over the centuries different interpretations and practices developed . This may at times be confusing. This article tries to clarify the place of Zen within the great family of Buddhism,

BUDDHISM

Buddhism acknowledges the basic teachings of the Buddha : The 4 Noble truth:

1. Life is suffering
2. Suffering comes from our attachments
3. It is possible to stop suffering by getting rid of these attachments
4. The way to cessation of suffering known as the Noble Eightfold path.

       The Noble Eightfold path is a practical guideline to ethical and mental development. Its  goal is to free the individual from attachments and delusions and finally lead him to understanding the truth about all things. It includes : right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness and right concentration.

        Basically, if you deny the validity of the 4 Noble Truth and the Noble Eightfold Path, you are not practicing Buddhism. 

 

       The practice of the Noble Eightfold Path varies from one Buddhist school to another. Depending on the school, it may be practiced as a whole, only in part, or it may even have been modified. Each Buddhist lineage claims to implement the path in the manner most conducive to the development of its students.

ZEN

Around 500 AD Bodhidharma came from India to China and this was the beginning of Zen.

       The Zen school places great emphasis on the Practice of Meditation during which all activities of the individual mind come to a stop - This state is called "Samadhi". 

 

       When in a state of Samadhi, one may one day experience a flash of intuitive knowledge about the nature of reality. (the right view of the Noble Eightfold path). This is called "Prajna".

       Prajna is knowledge or wisdom that does not come from the usual modes of perception, intellectual speculation or outside authority (books or other individuals). It is always correct.

This last part is tricky... We all have heard of various prophets who claimed - and believed - they had received a sacred knowledge of some kind. Some of them are inside mental institutions, and some others account for some of the worst atrocities ever committed in the world. 

 

      This is why another important aspect of the Zen school is the "direct transmission from heart to heart" between Master and Disciple. This means that for one part while on his path, the disciple receives guidance from a Master, and for the other part, that if the Disciple ever realizes Prajna, the Master formally acknowledges it. The light has been transmitted to the Disciple who has now become a Master.

There is an uninterrupted chain of Masters from Gautama Buddha to present day Zen Masters.

I hope this clarifies the situation...

By the way, Bodhidharma is also credited with having taught the Shaolin Monks the Martial Art of the Indian Princes. Of course, this is another story, but this is why I really like this guy...

Reigi Omonzubeshi - Respect and Manners

The following is an excerpt of a Shaolin Yangshen Fa presentation about Etiquette :

" a Teacher/Master only qualifies through his personal behaviour and the quality of his students and not through titles and honours which are not substantially reflecting his relationship with the practitioners".

Three weeks ago at the Panama City Tournament, I had to ask a "Karate Master" - who arbors 8 golden stripes on the edge of his black belt to make sure everyone knows how advanced he is - to get out of the ring where I was judging a fight.

Against usual rules of courtesy, this self proclaimed master, who disagreed with the way the fighting was being handled, had stepped into the ring to tell me how the two other referees and myself should be judging.

To be honest, I must say that the way he addressed me and the younger referees who were assisting me made my blood pressure raise maybe a little quickly. And I probably could have been more diplomatic in the way I asked him to leave the ring. (But wait a minute, he did not belong there anyway, and this was MY ring !)

Sometimes, I wish I would be more patient...

Respect has to be owned through behavior. I do not care, and no one should care about how many stripes one harbors on his belt. We all have been beginners, 10, 20, 40 years ago, we did most of the mistakes the beginners do today (And sometimes still do them after all these years ...)

The reason we outrank someone is usually that we have been practicing longer. Does it make us a better person ? I do not think so. We have shown dedication for years and years, and it is not a small thing. But any beginner has the potential to last as long or even longer than we did, achieve more than we did, and give back more than we did.

Out of the next 1000 beginners I meet, probably less than 5 will still be here 20 years down the road, but I do not know who they are. And so I should respect each and everyone of them in the way they are expected to respect me.

This is not the end of this story, one day I'll speak to you about apologies ...