Antecedent
Emperor Wu of Liang worshipped the Buddha
Anyone who knows history knows that Emperor Wu of Liang was a buddhist obsessive and a vegetarian.
Around 527, Emperor Wu of Liang advocated Buddhism to the point of obsession, and he became a monk many times to vigorously support the development of Buddhism.
In 526, Bodhidharma sailed from India to southern China, which is known in history as the "Dharma East Crossing".
Bodhidharma is the progenitor of Zen Buddhism in China. According to the Biography of the Continuing High Monk, Bodhidharma was a South Indian; the Luoyang Galan is recorded as a Persian.
Dharma studied Buddhism with the Indian monk Prajnaparamita. He once asked Prajnaparamita where he was going to spread the Dharma in the future.
Prajnaparamita told him not to travel far away, and when the time came, he would go to Aurora (China). Master also specifically instructed Dharma that when it came to China, we should not stay in the south for too long, because that place only paid attention to meritorious deeds and did not understand the Buddhist principles.
Years after Prajnaparamita's death, Dharma followed his previous teachings and began his journey east to China.
Dharma
So, what is the process of Dharma's crossing?
First, Dharma crossed east to the south to discuss Buddhism with Emperor Wu of Liang.
According to legend, Dharma drifted at sea for a long time before reaching China, and the first stop was Guangzhou. Previously, he had long heard that Emperor Wu of Liang in the Southern Dynasty advocated Buddhism and was ready to go to see him.
Emperor Wu of Liang received Dharma at Jiankang (present-day Nanjing), and the two discussed Issues related to Buddhism. Emperor Wu of Liang asked:
"Since I succeeded to the throne, I have built many Buddhist temples, translated and written scriptures, and I don't know how many people have become monks, what merits do they have?"
Dharma says:
"There is no merit, these are all appearances, and true merit is not something that can be achieved by the laws of the world."
Emperor Wu of Liang could be regarded as the greatest sponsor of Buddhism at that time, and he was proud of it, but he never expected Dharma to evaluate the general creation of Buddhism, which was superficial, and then continued to ask several questions, and Dharma's answers made him very unhappy. The two did not speculate and dispersed without joy.
After returning home, Emperor Liangwu and the Zen master talked about Dharma, and after the Zen master's enlightenment, they understood that Dharma was enlightening him, but unfortunately he did not understand the mysteries of the Dharma at that time. Emperor Wu of Liang regretted it and sent someone to find Dharma. Dharma knew that Nanliang was not a place to stay for a long time, so he quietly crossed the river on a leaf of reeds and ran to the north.
Emperor Wu of Liang
Second, Dharma arrived in the Northern Wei Dynasty and practiced in the Shaolin Temple.
After crossing the Yangtze River, Dharma reached Luoyang. At that time, the north was under the rule of Emperor Xiaoming of Northern Wei. According to the Luoyang Jialan Chronicle, while in Luoyang, Dharma saw the pagoda in the Buddhist temple and said that he had traveled to various countries and had never seen such a beautiful one, so he "sang Nanwu with his mouth and clapped his hands together for days."
Later, Dharma settled in the Songshan Shaolin Temple and stayed for nine years. During this time, Dharma practiced in the inner wall of the cave and organized his Dharma into a complete Buddhist system. This became the origin of Zen Buddhism in China, and the Shaolin Temple thus became the birthplace of Zen Buddhism.
Dharma was in the north and passed on his mantle to his disciple Hui Ke, who became the second ancestor of Zen Buddhism. Since then, until the Six Patriarchs Huineng, Zen Buddhism is in the same vein.
Dharma practice
The "Dharma Dongdu" has been widely circulated in history and has become a famous public case of Zen Buddhism. In fact, according to the research of Hu Shi and others, this story has many fictional components.
Dharma's "crossing the sea" is universally recognized, but the question is how he crossed the sea.
According to the Baolin Biography, the dissident king of Tianzhu personally prepared a large ship for Dharma, so that Dharma had the status of an envoy. The Chronicles of the Buddha records that Dharma crossed the sea on merchant ships and was relatively free to move. The story that came later integrated these two views.
According to records, his master Prajnaparamita pointed out to Dharma that there were countless people in the East (China) who had attained Dharma wisdom, indicating that Buddhism had been widely accepted by the people before Dharma's journey to the East. The flourishing of Buddhism at that time was the basis for Dharmadha to spread the Dharma.
Dharma Dongdu is a painting with the title
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism was supported by the rulers. In this process, the North has been walking in front of the South. The Northern Wei Dynasty provided a large number of monks and nuns, and in 461, monks and households spread all over the country, mastering the "monk's millet", that is, the cause of food relief.
The temple occupies a wide range of fertile land and has become the envy of everyone. A large number of people were attracted to the monasteries, and in 534, there were as many as 2 million monks and nuns.
There are more and more monks, but there are not enough Buddhist temples. In order to retain their legitimate status as monks, these people formed a huge social foundation of Zen Buddhism under the banner of wandering zen.
Dharma, as a Zen master, was active in the Territory of the Northern Wei Dynasty and wandered in Luoyang. Dharma Dongdu became a necessary part of the formation of Zen Buddhism and was gradually deified by later generations. Dharma is thus revered as the ancestor of Zen Buddhism and becomes a key figure in the symbolic form.
Dharma Zen Buddhism
consequence
The rise of Zen Buddhism
During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were more and more Zen people and Zen masters, and Zen Buddhism gradually formed.
The author believes that the "Dharma Dongdu" is an important part of the rise of Zen Buddhism in China, and it also reflects the prosperity of Buddhism during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. And Dharma is not troubled by worldly rights, whether you are an emperor or a common people, you will adhere to your own Buddhist ideas, and as a result, Buddhism can be passed on and flourished in China, and deeply branded with Chinese traces.