Great Master Bodhidharma: His Life and Teachings a Lecture Series Given in February 2021 - by Rev

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Great Master Bodhidharma: His Life and Teachings A lecture Series given in February 2021 - by Rev. Master Leandra Robertshaw -

1: Setting the Scene

I have chosen to offer these talks largely because I know many trainees have a particular attraction to Bodhidharma and his teachings. I seem to have come to share their sense of him but at first more circumspectly. This may be part of a general questioning of what it is to be a monk and how we conduct ourselves as monks of the OBC. Nowadays I dare to question our rites and rituals and whether they do help us to live our lives as fully as any human being can so that we really know in a way that is beyond belief, that we all have the potential to become Buddha. This seems to be the essence of any spiritual life, though other spiritual traditions would, of course, describe it differently. Nowadays I love and respect Bodhidharma’s iconoclastic approach and smile at the legends that abound around his life and death. How much is fantasy; how much is weaving an intriguing story; how much is verifiable fact at this distance of many centuries later? Bodhidharma (Bodaidaruma) is our 28th Ancestor as Makakashyô is considered the first Ancestor (see the Denkôroku). Bodhidharma is also thought of as the first Zen Ancestor in our Ancestral line. Why was he given the title of the “first ancestor of Zen” given that there were so-called Zen masters in China before he arrived? I will return to this question in due course. The descriptions of his life has aberrations, or maybe ‘variations’ is a more polite word to use. It helps to see the somewhat different descriptions of his life as an inevitability as they are more like hagiographies; i.e descriptions the life of a saint, rather than an accurate biographies. He was the subject of many legends. Along with Zen and kung-fu, he reportedly brought tea to China. To keep from falling asleep while meditating, he cut off his eyelids and where they fell tea bushes grew. Hence there are descriptions, as well as drawings, paintings and sculptures of a monk with

1 bulging, lidless eyes. Buddhism came to China 2,000 years ago. Since then, thousand of Indian and Central Asian monks have journeyed to China by land and sea, but among those who brought the teaching of Buddha to China, none has had an impact comparable to that of Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma was born in the late 5th or early 6th century in southern India, the third son of a local monarch of the warrior cast. His father King Kôshi had a reverence for Buddhism. You can read the description of King Kôshi’s three sons in the Denkôroku and how Hannyatara who became Bodhidharma’s master, tested the spiritual wisdom of the three princes by showing them a priceless pearl and asking Can anything rival this pearl? Hearing Bodhidharma’s eloquent response Hannyatara knew that Bodhidharma was karmically descended from a sage. Yet, he still held back for a while before he accepted Bodhidharma as his disciple. Bodhidharma was Hannyatara’s disciple for forty years and when his Master died and he was approaching his sixties he knew his karmic connection with China had ripened and he sailed for three years crossing the Southern Sea to arrive at Nankai where the well-known audience with Emperor Wu took place. Emperor Wu is portrayed as a devout Buddhist intent on gaining merit through good works. He told Bodhidharma that he had been working very hard to establish Buddhism in China. Then he asked how much merit he would have earned. Bodhidharma replied “None whatsoever”. This first teaching of Bodhidharma was that all deeds are empty not because they are devoid of meaning, but because nothing is fixed and separate. He sought to turn the emperor’s attention away from spiritual success to an understanding of emptiness. What is emptiness? The Chinese word is Wu, the Japanese Mu. Empty doesn’t mean nothing; there is a fullness in emptiness because everything is connected. All our thoughts, opinions and experiences come from our interactions with everything else. My views are just a collection of others’ views. Views are not a problem. The problem is that we live our lives on the basis of attachment to an ingrained assumption and identity, namely that we possess

2 a permanent “I”. We may think we know ourselves and others, but really we do not. Because of our rigid assumptions, we categorise things in terms of good and bad, and to be honest, specifically things that are good or bad for “me”. In responding None whatsoever, Bodhidharma attempts to subvert the emperor’s religious piety, leaving him with nowhere to stand and nothing to grasp. This story leads me to consider whether I am a pious being at all! Probably not and I feel somewhat embarrassed to say this but not ashamed. Why not? It could be that instead I touch a deep sincerity in trying to follow the path, not only for my gratification but also trusting it can help others to find their own individual way in human life. There is a real wish to know the Truth. The emperor’s second question was “Who is facing me?” Bodhidharma replied “I don’t know.” Bodhidharma’s provocative replies are a challenge to let go of consoling beliefs and dwell in the unknowing perplexity of emptiness. Isn’t this a grave challenge for all of us? Can we let go of consoling beliefs and dwell in the perplexity of emptiness? Some days this can feel more challenging than I can bear and I long for easeful death (Keats). This is familiar territory and from time-to-time I am drawn back into the memory of a three-month winter retreat at the hermitage. I did not turn to Rev. Master Daishin for help. Why not? Was it a sort of obstinacy? Or a vivid sense that only I could find my way. Somehow Rev. Master must have sensed the struggle because he sent an encouraging card about finding a way in the echo chamber of the mind which helped me to investigate the nature of my own immediate experience and to investigate questions about training that arose for me. For instance, was monasticism really the path for me? If I stepped out of monastic life would this take away the pain and confusion? But I knew in my bones that was a hiding to nothing. So I tried another tack any found myself looking to death as the way out. I was drawn to reread Keats’s Ode to a Nightingale where he describes being “...half in love with easeful death.”

3 Finally, at last, at last, I stopped trying to dodge the pain, I ‘knew’ there was no way out, nothing to do but sit as still with feelings and thoughts as I could manage at each and every moment. These words of Shantideva’s were a lifeline: I should dispel the pain of others Because it hurts like my own And I should be good to them Because they feel just as I do When both they and I Are the same in wanting joy And not desiring pain What is so special about me? It was at this stage that my important friendship the neighbours across the valley came into being. The loving connection has endured even though nowadays I rarely see them. After his encounter with Emperor Wu Bodhidharma recalled Hannyatara’s words Do not abide in the South and went north. It is said by literal-minded people that he floated there on a reed and you have probably seen drawings of him floating on a reed. In fact, a reed is the name for a small passenger boat so called because of its shape; it was not an actual reed. He made his way to Mount Sung where an emperor had constructed Shaolin Temple. Some accounts say he stayed in the monastery’s east gallery, others say that he spent nine years facing the rock wall of a cave about a mile from the temple. No one could fathom what he was doing when he sat cross-legged throughout the day facing a wall; as a consequence they called him “The Brahmin who contemplates the wall.” What we recite in Rules for Meditation is “...although Bodhidharma transmitted the Buddha Mind, we still hear the echoes of his nine years facing a wall...” How blessed we are to have him as an Ancestor. Bodhidharma had few disciples, the most prominent being Taiso Eka (Hui-ko) to whom he entrusted his robe and bowl and it is said by some the Lankavatara Sutra. Was this the case others wonder as Bodhidharma in his teachings mostly quotes from the Nirvana, Avatamsaka and Vimalakirti

4 Sutras. So perhaps it was Taiso Eka not Bodhidharma who thought so highly of the Lankavatara Sutra. Here is another example of Bodhidharma’s teaching. Legend has it that when Taiso Eka, or Huike to use his Chine name, first sought out Bodhidharma for his teachings he said: “I am here to receive your teachings. I seek the Dharma.” Bodhidharma’s terse response was: “Dharma? I have nothing to teach you. I have nothing to say.” Taiso Eka: “But my mind is not at ease. Please pacify it for me.” Before becoming a monk, Taiso Eka had been an army general who killed many people - dis-ease and guilt weighed heavily on him. Bodhidharma said: “Bring me your mind and I will pacify it.” Taiso Eka: “I cannot find my mind.” Bodhidharma; “Then I have already pacified it.” Looking at another mystery, that of Bodhidharma’s death, was it true that he was poisoned by a jealous monk? Were his remains interred at a temple on Bear Ear Mountain? Or was it true that three years after his reported “death” he was said to be seen walking in the mountains of Central Asia, carrying a staff from which hung a single sandal? This rendition of his life says he was returning to India. So how this story continues is that his tomb was opened and all that was found was a single sandal! Only somebody who so caught the imagination of many would have such “fables” surrounding them. The question arises then: why is he the most famous of the millions of monks who have studied and taught the dharma in China? Why is he alone credited with bringing Zen to China? Chinese monks may say that Zen/Chan had been taught and practised for several hundred of years before Bodhidharma arrived, and much of what he said about doctrine had been said before. However, his approach was unique: here is a flavour of what he said: “Seeing your nature is Zen Not thinking about anything is Zen Everything you do is Zen” He did not view Zen as purification of the mind or as a stage on the way to

5 Buddhahood. He equated Zen with Buddhahood and Buddhahood with the mind, the everyday mind. Instead of telling his disciples to purify their minds, he pointed them to rock walls. Bodhidharma’s Zen was Mahayana Zen not Hinayana Zen. He used the sword of wisdom to cut people’s minds free from rules, and scriptures. Such a sword is hard to grasp and hard to use. He referred back to the Buddha Shakyamuni who transmitted Zen with a flower to Mahakasyapa who received it with a smile. His approach revolutionised the understanding and practice of Buddhism in China. It has been described as ‘bare bones Zen’. there will be more of this in future talks, and look for the ‘print of the mind’ in his sermons. Some historical background follows: An important interpretation of Bodhidharma’s historical significance is that he symbolised resistance to the politicisation of Buddhism in China Buddhist by emperors, of whom Emperor Wu was one of many, who used the symbols and doctrines of the religion to enhance and legitimise their political rule. Of course, the emperors who used Buddhism in this way did not always do so cynically. Emperor Wu, for example, appears to have embraced the religion on a deep personal level. Nevertheless the politicisation and resultant degradation of Buddhism, especially the home-leaving ideal, led Buddhism to be a component of East Asian political ideology and a foundation of state power. This was done as follows: 1) Emphasis on the Bodhisattva path exalted non-home-leavers and denigrated the original world-leaving ideal espoused by the historical Buddha. 2) The state took control of the Precepts and Ordination ceremonies. Emperors had an interest in limiting the total number of home-leaving monks, for monks were not subject to taxation, military service or conscripted labour. So emperors established stringent intellectual and other requirements to limit the number of home-leavers. 3) Emperors were not keen to fund the construction of monasteries. As for the monks, the icy winters in China meant they needed permanent and sturdy housing so this required an abbot who was favoured by an emperor who had the right to select an abbot and to decide what

6 teachings he could give. Thus much of Buddhism became “imperial” in nature. 4) An emperor who supported a monastery had the right to select what teachings should be translated and was inclined to approve works that tended to exalt their position and prerogatives. Emperors and their coteries of religious monks made political use of scriptures based on abstract reasoning by assuming a role as interpreters of “higher truths”. So no wonder Bodhidharma purposefully avoided emperors and their courts. He lived not far from Emperor Wu’s court for an extended period of time yet he avoided going to the court. Others Zen Masters were the same: a good example, is Daii Dôshin (the thrirty-first ancestor in our ancestral line). His story is that in 627 CE Emperor T’ai-tsung of the Tang dynasty was drawn to the practical approach of Dôshin’s teaching and desiring to pay his respects to Dôshin in person he had him summoned to the capital. Dôshin humbly declined the invitation. This summons was sent three times with Dôshin finally pleading illness. With the fourth summons the emperor commanded his emissary to bring back Dôshin’s head if the monk really would not come. When the emissary reached the mountain and made known the emperor’s instructions Dôshin, with great dignity, stretched out his neck to receive the blade. Finding this behaviour extraordinary the emissary returned to report what had happened. The emperor’s admiration for Dôshin only increased. He sent the monk a gift of rare silks and left him to his own resolves. Dôshin adopted farming as a means of survival independent of imperial sponsorship. Despite the fact that farming violated the traditional percept against monks doing manual labour or taking life (earthworm and pests unavoidably killed in the process of cultivation and food preparation). This leads me to ponder how much do we pay attention to how the food gets on our plates? Do we really each time we say it, take on board thinking deeply of the ways and means this food has come? Probably not every time, but any time we do stop and speak sincerely rather than as rote, it will make a difference and gratitude will be able to flow. The lifestyle of Dôshin and his community was codified by Baizhang who

7 established the early set of “Pure Rules” for Chan/Zen monastic life which allowed Chinese Zen to adopt the work ethic to survive. These rules codified lifestyle as well as how Zen monasteries should be It was Baizhang who said “A day without work is a day without food.” This came about when as an old man he insisted on working and in their concern for his health his monks hid his tools. He stopped eating and they were even more concerned. He explained with these words “A day without work is a day without food.” His tools were returned to him! Chinese Zen dealt with many problems unique to China. One of these was maintaining the home-leaving ideal in a society where family was paramount and where the physical act of leaving home and entering a hostile natural environment required not only determination but some external support and organisation. For a certain period the Southern school of Zen successfully avoided direct control by Imperial Way Buddhism, whereas the Northern school did not. Bodhidharma eschewed sutras not simply because such literature tended to cause people to reify Buddhist concepts (such as emptiness, Buddha-nature etc.) but also because of their strong association with and exploitation by Imperial Way Buddhism. By claiming to be a Bodhisattva or incarnation of the Tathagata, emperors endeavoured to be the head of the church and thus maintain political control of Buddhism and its anti-worldly tendencies. In Japan any antagonism between that country’s Zen tradition and the throne is less obvious though Dôgen is an example of apparent rejection of politics. During the Meiji period of the late nineteenth century, the Japanese government chained Japan’s Buddhists to the rise of the modern nation-state. Monks were permitted to marry. In our tradition this was reversed by Manzan. It behoves us to recognise that as the UK (or should I say England!) still is a democratic country, at least we can continue to count the Queen as one of the four benefactors as we recite the mealtime ceremonial.

8 2. Two Entries and Four Practices

This is one of the best known of Bodhidharma’s teachings. It is advice on how to practice the Buddhadharma. We can enter through reason - intellect - instruction - teachings both written down or spoken. More to say about following a teacher and whether it is the words we follow or the example of how they live out their practice. We can also enter through something more inexplicable - ineffable - almost too great to be expressed adequately in words. It is the “knowledge” in our very blood and bones that all things animate and inanimate (rocks, tarmac roads, stone walls) share the same nature. This essence is entered almost without our knowing why; it is our Buddha Nature manifesting. This is seldom apparent to the ordinary mind. Why? Perhaps, because we are so often caught up in our small self’s thoughts and feelings about ourselves, about other people, and with our strong opinions about the world. Nowadays it is hard to not get drawn too far into politics, into the increasingly overwhelming pandemic, into discrimination over colour, race, gender, poverty, and into the way we have and still are destroying our planet. You might find it helpful to listen to Rev. Astor’s dharma talk on the Shasta website: Balancing, and Disturbing News. Both these two entrances are interlinked; we need them both to find the essence of the Buddhadharma which is not always apparent because it is shrouded in sensation and delusion. What Bodhidharma calls adventitious dust, i.e. coming from outside, happening according to chance, formed accidentally and having the connotation of something extra. Relinquishing sensation and delusion one returns to the true. On abides in stillness and engages in wall-like contemplation, where self and other are absent and the ordinary and the holy are equal. This is a state free from discrimination, where we can rest in stillness and without any effort.

9 When the Buddha does all, and you follow this doing effortlessly and without worrying about it, you free yourself from suffering and become yourself Buddha.. This sounds like a description of Serene Reflection Meditation which has two components: serene which is letting the mind be still, “isolating yourself” from the senses, stopping, turning and resting within, letting go, relaxing. This goes hand in hand with reflection, for they are not separate; they occur simultaneously. Through the aegis of both we can then come to know that MIND is the source of samsara and yet if truly understood it is nirvana. We are coming to know the real nature of things and this naturally leads us to Ceasing from Evil, Doing only good and Doing good for others. Why is it so difficult to let go of mental objects/ memories/ thoughts/ideas/opinions? If we could answer this question would it mean we would be able to let go of mental objects so that there is no longer me a subject and what I think and feel about an object I see in front of me and have thoughts and feelings about? See if you can answer this question in zazen by trying not to use your senses (as you normally do) instead turn within reflecting on questions such as: What is it that sits here? What is the real me? In reflecting, don’t foreclose the process by substituting an answer. Don’t seek a solution, rather wait for a living response, Do you ever find your real self amidst the ignorance and volition ( the like and dislike)? This can happen not only when we are formally meditating but as we go about our daily lives. When there are such moments, don’t grasp after them and then try to cling to them; rather, let the moments be as they are for each individual moment will inevitably be replaced by the next moment and in that next moment the real self may seem to have disappeared. It is human not to want to lose something that seemed so precious. To our chagrin and dismay in trying to return to the stillness and understand the nature of the mind, we oftentimes find it has lead us to seeing instead our greed, hatred and delusion. In your longing to know the Unborn beware of disliking what you

10 regard as not the Unborn. But don’t give up, rather, see and acknowledge the subtly, for instance, of dislike. It may seem over the top to label it “hatred” but is that so or are you making excuses? With acknowledgement things are able to change and in allowing the reality of dislike arising, it may be that when you next encounter the person there in front of you, the dislike has already transformed into appreciation. When resting in the sitting we have the possibility of becoming aware of each and every movement of the mind and see the way this feeds the small self that is so busy with thoughts/plans/assessing the last interaction with someone and whose fault it was that it didn’t go well/etc etc etc. This seeing, in as non- judgmental a way as you can manage, allows you to rest in the stillness that surrounds you, that is free from thoughts fed by doubt. We are so inclined to weave an entangling web fed by our senses (what Bodhidharma calls the 6 thieves) a web that obscures our True Nature which then feels inaccessible even if we do retain a faint consciousness of its existence. We make it neigh impossible to let go of the web when we take the web as being the real and thus letting go of it feels life denying. We may fear that in letting go of the web of sensation we are rejecting beauty. Not so! There is a greater transcendent beauty when we let the mind be still and accept all that comes. This is real generosity. We are not isolating ourselves in our stillness, rather, as I said earlier, we are “isolating” ourselves from our senses. Then there is simultaneously a deepening in our meditative stance to life which interpenetrates the environment. We are giving of ourselves by letting go of ourselves and resting in that which is here and now; thus we can be at ease doing that which needs to be done for the benefit or all. Moving on to the four practices which assist us to enter the Buddhadharma 1) Suffering injustice and embracing retribution is recognising one reaps the fruit of past actions. A ripening of karmic fruit which is to be accepted with an open heart without ill will or complaint. Doing so we can face suffering without distress. A recent example, arose for me when I was talking to someone who has had covid but is now back at work as a carer in a live-in centre for people aged forty-five to sixty-five. She is working long shifts each day because so many

11 of the staff are having to self-isolate. However, she wasn’t complaining, rather, saying some of the others had to do the same long shifts when she was unable to be there. No sense of being noble and self-scarifying simply stating the facts of life currently for her. 2) Adapting to conditions We can resent being ruled conditions. All the suffering and joy we experience depend on conditions. When conditions change so does our fame or fortune. But while success and failure depend on conditions, the MIND neither waxes nor wanes; it does not increase or decrease. Those who remain unmoved by the wind of joy silently follow the Path. Unmoved by the wind of joy which like the wind moves and passes. Instead, relish joy in any moment, but don’t depend on it, crave, or try to hold on to it. There is a deeper, unmoving place, a place of contentment which though at times covered with mud, is always still there. 3) Seeking nothing Not coveting this or that, wishing for nothing and delighting in neither light nor darkness, which inevitably follow one another. We are deluded if we are always longing for something else, always seeking a different situation. But wise practitioners wake up. They choose realising the essence 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 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 imagining or seeking anything. The Sutras say: To seek is to suffer. To seek nothing is bliss. When you seek nothing you are on the path. 4) Practising the Dharma or According to the Dharma Dharma in this instance means to perceive the principle that our nature is intrinsically pure. The Dharma is the truth that all natures are pure. By this truth all appearances are empty, without defilement or anything to be attached to. Defilement and attachment, subject and object don’t exist. The sutras say

12 The Dharma includes no being because it is free from impurity of being, and the Dharma includes no self because it is free from the impurity of self. Those who are wise enough to believe and understand this truth are bound to practice according the Dharma. Take care, however, that you don’t begin to assess people who don’t see the Dharma as you do and so feel they must be at fault, or you must be at fault. And since that which is real includes nothing worth begrudging, we give our body, life, property in generosity, without regret, without the vanity of giver, gift, or recipient, and without bias of attachment. We teach others, but without spiritual materialism, by this I mean without hoping to collect spiritual merit for doing so. This is what is meant by practising the Dharma. When a genuine teacher conforms to the Buddhadharma, they will not discriminate between students. It may look as if they have favourites but this is only from the view of the students. A good teacher sees the distinctive qualities among their students, but they also see the Buddha-nature in all of them and will not dwell on the student’s past mistakes; past mistakes are not carried over to colour the teacher’s present interactions with their students. A teacher also does not attach to their position as a teacher. When students receive benefits from their teachings, it is due to their own merit, and not the teacher’s merit alone. Teachings are important insofar as they point us in the right direction toward enlightenment, to no-self. But don’t use teachings to discriminate against others, or to discriminate against teachings that do not accord with your own, with what you have learnt. For then teaching has become another thing you are attached to. The essence of truth cannot be taught; it must be realised personally. Therefor, do not attach even to teachings for they are provisional, temporary, expedient means. Nonetheless, they are important insofar as they point us in the right direction toward enlightenment, toward no-self. Don’t use teachings to discriminate against others, or to discriminate against teachings that do not accord with yours, with what you have learnt. For then teaching has become another thing you are attached to. The essence of truth cannot be taught; it must be realised personally.

13 The four practices together cover a range of correct views about understanding ourselves, our friends, families, colleagues; as well as our challenges and blessings. We can use them to find dynamic ways to integrate the Dharma into our lives. They assist us in correcting our misunderstandings and thus allow us to learn how to transform everything we experience into an opportunity to cultivate the Path. Practice should not be limited to seated meditation, even though that is the foundation. Only through practice of life will we truly bring forth our full potential of enlightenment. In practice, the most essential thing is to have an earnestness and a deep sense of yearning to resolve one’s own problems. Guo Gu is one of Rev. Master Shen Yeng’s disciples, a guiding teacher for the Western Dharma Teachers Training course in the Dharma Drum lineage of the Tallahassee Chan Centre. He has said: If you have a problem and you can solve it, it is no longer a problem If you can’t solve it, it is still not a problem because then it is no longer your problem. Awakening, the nature of emptiness or selflessness, is our true nature and it means relationship, connectedness. Because all things are connected, nothing is fixed, and everything is free. The problem is we do not believe in our true nature. We are so wired into thinking that our views, our acquired knowledge and experience, our autonomy are the only things that matter. Because of this we are not free. We are bound by our views, our knowledge and our experiences; rather than turning towards our intrinsic connectedness, and towards actions that help others to realise what is meant by compassion and wisdom, we are caught up in our small self’s dramas. Basically I am suggesting there is no problem with you or anyone else when you can sit with peace of mind; read with peace of mind, eat with peace of mind, sleep with peace of mind, meditate with peace of mind. Then you naturally save all beings with peace of mind. Look upon everything with equanimity. If our judgements and decisions are based on our biassed, subjective opinions about things, of course the results of our decisions will not turn out well for they will not have been guided by what was good to do for all beings,

14 including ourselves. We do have the potential to see things as they are, but sadly we often get caught up with our self-referential ideas and stories. But don’t despair for when the small self is out of the way, everything becomes transparent. This entails being clear about different perspectives and functions. Self attachment manifests as being moved by this and that, as being attached to what we think is right and wrong, or as wasting time in assessing which teaching is the best, or as comparing one teacher with another. There is always something we can learn from any teacher even if it is not to follow their deluded self-referential teaching! In saying what I have just said I need to stress that I do not mean we should use the Dharma like a measuring-stick to judge others. Do not attach to anything, even to the teachings, for they are provisional, temporary, expedient means. A teacher should help you to see what is important to you - whether it is the essence of the Buddhadharma, your existential dilemma, or a question of who you are in giving a Dharma talk, or who it is that is listening to your Dharma talk. Does anybody exist as a separate being? The Diamond Sutra describes emptiness as no attachment to self (to the I); no attachment to other and no attachment to the interaction between self and other. Importantly there is a fourth type of emptiness: self, other, sentient being and in addition life span or time which is a subtler type of attachment. It is this fourth type the Diamond Sutra adds. Our sense of time also refers to our actions. We sense time because there are movements, there are actions. All these types of emptiness point to the fact that there is nothing that can be attached to. However, since this necessarily means practice is also empty, does this mean that there is no need to practice which was Dôgen’s question. NO! Remember how Dôgen answered the question for himself. He said To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be actualised by myriad things. When actualised by myriad things, your body and mind as well as the bodies and minds of others drop away. We must engage diligently in practice but without seeking after anything. Although we may understand the principles of emptiness; of how things are interdependent and how we fabricate our sense of self and the world around

15 us, we still find many obstacles to practice. Therefore, we need to go on practising so that we learn more often how to conform to the Dharma. It is important to have a real sense of earnestness and wonderment about our lives. We should guard against our ideas of how practice should be because practice takes no particular form. Practice is one’s own business; awakening is one’s own business. The teaching is for us to use, not for us to measure someone else, or for someone else to measure us. Although as practitioners we may be useful to the world, this will only be truly so when we are not tossed around by worldly things. When we find the balance Rev. Astor spoke of. This is not to say that we become dumb to our senses or to our knowledge. All of our wonderful resources and abilities should be used wisely. Though in the midst of using them, we are not caught up with ourselves; in fact we take ourselves out of the picture. This is the meaning of emptiness. Emptiness does not mean nothingness; rather, it means that within ceasing from evil, doing what is good to do, and doing good for others, there is no self attachment. Buddhist selflessness is founded on a healthy, mentally stable sense of self. The process of practice is to ensure that we do have such a stable sense of self as the basis. Then from such a solid bas we can slowly mature the self spiritually. In the process of spiritual maturation we realise no-self. Life is full of difficulties and challenges. But these are not necessarily negative. They can also be opportunities for growth for they show us where our troubles lie. Most people have gotten so used to resisting what they dislike and chasing after what they like that this has become second nature for them. We need to recognise how used we have become to being lost in the sea of discrimination; recognise our biases that cause us to perceive things as good or bad, favourable or unfavourable. When we observe our thoughts and behaviour patterns, we are sure to realise that familiar tendencies arise, that we tend to do things in the same way. Even if we don’t realise it, others will! We all need spiritual friends who give us feedback that is hard to give, who do not forsake us or despise us. This is some of the advice Shakyamuni taught in Gradual Sayings about the seven ways to cultivate a friend. Don’t be disappointed when you recognise your

16 behaviour patterns as yet again based on greed, hatred or delusion. Why not? Because recognising what we are so inclined to do that we know is best refrained from, shows us we are practising and that we long to change. It is not that enlightenment will happen out of the blue once we have changed patterns of thought and behaviour that seem deeply ingrained. Practice is not about suppression; rather it is about truly seeing, recognising and then vowing to change however long it takes. Practice does not produce enlightenment for our awakened mind was always already here. Deep down are we really willing to change our views, values and feelings for they seem to be so much part of who we are? They are familiar to us; they define us. They make up what it feels like to be us. This perpetual self- reference is what causes our suffering. The way to let go of this karmic baggage is not to try to cut it off, rather, to recognise that the self is only a construct, a simulation of our brain based on fragmented memories and misconstrued ideas. To end with a quote from Self one of Nagyaarjyuna’s Verses from the Centre What is mine When there is no me? Were self-centeredness eased, I would not think of me and mine- There would be no one there To think them.

17 3: The Bloodstream Sermon

As well as the Two Entries and Four Practices there are three other of Bodhidharma’s sermons which were written down. These are The Bloodstream Sermon, The Wake-up Sermon and The Breakthrough Sermon. Today I will speak about the first two and leave the Breakthrough Sermon until next week so that you have time to read it and come up with any questions and comments; you will find it your scripture books as it is the Litany we sing at Bodhidharma festivals. As ever with a semi-legendary figure like Bodhidharma there are questions about the veracity of what has been handed down. The three Entries and Four Practices are agreed by most scholars to have been written by Bodhidharma but opinion nowadays is more divided about the other three. Some suggest they might have been the work of one of his disciples. As there is no dispute that if not written by Bodhidharma they would have been written by a disciple who traced their ancestry to Buddhadharma and were faithful to his teaching. So for me I have no problem in accepting them as Bodhidharma’s bare-bones teaching. Until recently, they have been for more than 12 hundred years attributed to him. The Bloodstream Sermon is all about MIND in capitals, not about the physical brain and its cognitive functioning. Everything that appears in the three realms comes from the mind. Hence Buddhas of the past and future teach mind to mind without bothering about definitions. Worth remembering that Buddhism doesn’t limit itself to one Buddha. He recognises countless Buddhas. After all, every one has Buddha-nature and the potential for becoming Buddha. There’s a Buddha in every world; our human world and those worlds that are described so poetically, in for instance, the Lotus Sutra. Similarly, there can be awareness in every thought if we are

18 awake enough and not distracted into a swamp of unrelated words that hardly even appear as thought. The only necessary qualification for Buddhahood is complete awareness. A question from Bodhidharma’s audience: But if we don’t define it, what do we mean by mind? Bodhidharma: That’s your mind. If I had no mind, how could I answer? If you had no mind, how could you ask? That which asks is your mind. Do you think the listener understood? Or more pertinent, have you understood?

Mahayana Buddhism says it in a nutshell: This mind is the Buddha. Wherever you are, whatever you do, that’s your real mind, that’s Buddha- nature. Beyond this Mind you’re never going to find another Buddha. To search for enlightenment or nirvana beyond this mind is a hiding to nothing. It’s impossible. This mind, is your own self-nature. Self-nature depends on nothing, neither causally, temporally, or spatially. Self-nature has no appearance. It has no body. It is not some sort of ego; it is not some sort of substrate or characteristic that exists in or apart from phenomena. Self-nature is empty of all characteristics, including emptiness, and yet it defines reality. The absence of cause and effect would be a way of defining mind, of defining self-nature. Your mind is nirvana. Don’t imagine you can find a Buddha or enlightenment somewhere beyond this mind. Such a place does not exist. Trying to find a Buddha or enlightenment is like trying to grab space. Space

19 has a name but no form. It is not something you can pick up or put down. And you certainly can’t grab it. Beyond this mind you’ll never see a Buddha. Why look for a Buddha beyond this mind? There is no Buddha beyond this mind, so why try to envision one? Rather, delve deeply into what this mind is. In what by now should be becoming familiar with Bodhidharma continues in his provocative way: Buddhas don’t save Buddhas. Buddhas don’t keep or break anything. Buddhas don’t do good or evil. If you don’t see your true nature, your Buddha- nature, invoking Buddhas, reciting sutras, making offerings, and keeping precepts are all useless. If you do know and thus believe that your mind is Buddha, then from this solid base such actions as invoking Buddhas results in good karma; reciting sutras results in good memory; keeping precepts results in a good rebirth; and making offerings results in future blessings. When you don’t know or believe this mind is Buddha then all these good results do not lead to Buddhahood. Unless you see your mind, all the above mentioned behaviours; for instance, reciting sutras is useless, it is just a load of prose. To see a Buddha all you have to do is see your true nature. Your nature is Buddha. It is the Buddha who is free: free of plans, free of cares. If you don’t see your nature and run around all day looking somewhere else you’ll never find a Buddha. The truth is there is nothing to find, you already have it, you already are Buddha. But to reach such an understanding is something else! Our human nature is our Buddha-nature. Beyond this there is no Buddha. But suppose I don’t see my nature; can’t I still attain enlightenment by invoking Buddha; reciting sutras; making offerings, observing precepts; practising devotions; of doing good works? This question from one of Bodhidharma’s listeners shows they were not convinced by what he had been saying. Is this familiar territory to the teachers among us? I sometimes wonder if the person asking a question had not really heard what I said, or were they genuinely puzzled or even troubled by what I had said. Bodhidharma’s brusque answer sounds definite and perhaps rather irritated.

20 No you can’t. But the next question makes it seem that the questioner was puzzled and wanted to understand better. Why? So Bodhidharma tried again: If you attain anything at all, it’s conditional, it’s karmic. It results in retribution. It turns the Wheel. Karma is the moral equivalent of the physical law of cause and effect. Karma includes action of the body, mouth and thought. All such actions turn the Wheel of Rebirth. Even when such action is good, it still turns the Wheel. The goal of Buddhist practice is to escape the Wheel, put an end to karma; to act without acting, not to achieve a better rebirth. Life and death are important. Don’t suffer them in vain. There’s no advantage in trying to avoid them. Don’t deceive yourself over this. As long as you are subject to life and death, you will never attain enlightenment. To attain enlightenment you have to see your nature. A material body of the four elements is trouble. It is subject to life and death. But the real body exists without existing because a Tathagata’s body never changes. Buddhas don’t practice nonsense. A Buddha is free of karma. Free of cause and effect. A Buddha doesn’t observe precepts. A Buddha does not do good or evil. A Buddha isn’t energetic or lazy. A Buddha is someone who does nothing, someone who can’t even focus his thoughts on a Buddha. A Buddha isn’t even a Buddha. Don’t think about Buddhas. If you don’t see what I am talking about, you’ll never know your own mind. Wow! I can easily imagine being very daunted, even terrified of Bodhidharma. However, as he goes on I can take the following words on board: If what I have said allows you to think that committing all sorts of evil deeds, or to claim karma doesn’t exist, you are sorely mistaken. You can’t wriggle out by maintaining that since everything is empty, committing evil isn’t wrong. Don’t be tempted to take such a line, for a consequence will be that

21 you will fall into a hell of endless darkness with no hope of release. Those who are wise hold no such conception. That still leaves me terrified but at least I know without any shadow of doubt to avoid trying to claim karma doesn’t exist! This real body is your real body. This real body is your mind. And this mind, throughout endless kalpas without beginning, has never varied. It has never been alive or died, appeared or disappeared, increased or decreased. It is not pure or impure, good or evil, past or future. It is not true or false. It is not female or male. It does not appear as a monk or a lay person, senior or novice, sage or fool, a Buddha or a human being. It strives for no realisation and suffers no karma. It has no strength or form. It is like space. You can’t possess it or lose it. Its movements cannot be blocked by mountains, rivers or rock walls. No karma can restrain this real body. But this mind is hard to see. It is not the same as the sensual mind. We all want to see this mind. Why don’t we see it? The Buddha said that like all people we are deluded. This is why when we act we fall into the River of Endless Rebirth. And when we try to get out, we only sink deeper. And all because we don’t see our nature. When we are deluded, we don’t know who we are. Only the wise know tis mind, this mind called dharma-nature; this mind called liberation. Neither life nor death can restrain this mind. Nothing can. It is also called the Unstoppable Tathagata, the Incomprehensible, the Sacred Self, the Immortal, the Great Sage. Its names vary but not its essence. Buddhas vary too, but none leaves their own mind. The mind’s capacity is limitless, and its manifestations are inexhaustible. Seeing forms with your eyes, hearing sounds with your ears, smelling odours with your nose, tasting flavours with your tongue, every movement or state is your mind. At every moment that language can’t encompass, that’s your mind. The mind has no form and its awareness no limit. Hence it is said Don’t hold on to any appearances whatsoever A Tathagata’s forms are endless. And so is his awareness. All appearances are illusions. If you seek direct understanding, don’t hold on to any appearance whatsoever and you will succeed. Don’t cling onto appearances and you will break through all barriers.

22 A Buddha is someone who finds freedom in good fortune and in bad. Such is his power that karma can’t hold a Buddha. Heaven and hell are nothing to a Buddha. A Buddha’s awareness penetrates everything, inside and out. But beware, if you are not sure, don’t act.

23 4: The Wake-up Sermon

Last week I talked about Bodhidharma’s thesis that everything that appears in the three realms comes from real mind and so Buddhas teach mind-to-mind. Mind is the Buddha; it is our Buddha-Nature. Today I will briefly say something about Bodhidharma’s Wake-up Sermon which encourages us to be detached and free from appearances. Detachment enables us to use everything, including greed, hatred, and delusion without expressing these three poisons to the detriment of ourselves and others. Buddhas have only become Buddhas while living with the three poisons and nourishing themselves with the pure Dharma. Learning to be free from appearances, we can be impartial; thus we can look on suffering as no different from nirvana. If we don’t learn to be free from appearances, the doing, fixing mind gets to the end of what it can accomplish and becomes the problem rather the solution. This takes us to an “edge” - a place of uncertainty, of feeling there is absolutely nothing solid to rely on. An “edge” that demands we let go of our small, terrified selves, the terror is that it feels as if our personalities are unravelling. But take heart because to be willing not run away from this “edge” we will find it lead us to use everything, including greed, hatred, and delusion without expressing these three poisons to the detriment of ourselves and others. Until we meet this “edge” without trying to run away we are likely to remain dazzled by the ego. If we do find the courage to remain at this “edge” we are able to realise the need to go beneath our convictions and stories. We will find we have been fortunate enough to meet the hard-core of self-orientation which is revealed in the starkness of its self-importance and/or self-pity. Really acknowledging how self-orientated we are, we can become aware of opportunity after opportunity to free ourselves from appearances. Bodhidharma teaches that ‘Detachment is enlightenment because it negates appearances.’

24 He goes on to say: “Every suffering is a Buddha-seed because suffering impels us to seek wisdom. Your body and mind are the field. Suffering is the seed, wisdom the sprout and Buddhahood the gain.” Don’t hate life and death or love life and death. Keep your every thought free of delusion and in life you will witness the beginning of nirvana, and in death you will experience the assurance of no rebirth. Remain impartial. Those who perceive only the external appearance of phenomena are at their mercy. When you know how to look at form, form does not give rise to thought. Also, thought need not give rise to form. Form and thought are thus both pure: “Void, unstained and pure.” Bodhidharma says; “There is no language that isn’t the Dharma. Language is essentially free. It has nothing to do with attachment.” These words bring me up short. They make me consider my speech and why at times I speak and sense from another’s reaction that it would have been better to be silent. What impelled me to speak? Was it because I felt a social expectation to converse? Was it because I wanted to offload some uncomfortable feeling? Wanted to interest or amuse etc. etc? Are these instances of speech tied to appearances therefore that means my speech was not free because there was attachment to an outcome? Relationships can challenge who we think we are. How do we then keep a real commitment to others? Is it ever the case that we feel completely comfortable with others? Might this have a bearing on why some are attracted to the life of a hermit? Surely at the heart of a truly satisfactory spiritual relationship is mutual, reciprocal trust and faith. Empathy, goodwill and compassion for all is

25 fostered when you can wish your small frightened self well and recognise its greed, hatred and delusion without condemnation. To return to detachment and freedom from appearances, consider that reality has no high or low. If you see high or low, it isn’t real. According to the world there are opposites such as female or male, rich or poor. According to the Way there is no female or male, no rich or poor. “When you see no appearances you see the Buddha.” I think this is what Bodhidharma means by being free from appearances. Due to our diligent practice we liberate Buddhas, and Buddhas liberate us. This is the Circle of the Way and what it means to be impartial. We liberate Buddhas because affliction creates awareness. And Buddhas liberate us because awareness negates affliction. Buddhas don’t become Buddhas on their own. They are liberated by us humans. Bodhidharma says “Our endless sufferings are the roots of illnesses. When we are alive, we worry about our death. When we are full, we worry about hunger. This is our Great Uncertainty. So don’t consider the past, don’t worry about the future, and don’t cling to the present.” Be detached and free from appearances. The last of Bodhidharma’s sermons is The Breakthrough Sermon which you can find in the Litany of Bodhidharma which we recite at his annual festival memorial. If you have any comments or questions on any of the above do feel free to let me know via email: [email protected]

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