Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk from southern India who lived during the early 5th century and is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Zen (Chinese: Chán) to China.

Very little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma is extant, and subsequent accounts became layered with legend, but most accounts agree that he was from the southern region of India, born as a prince to a royal family. Bodhidharma left his kingdom after becoming a Buddhist monk and travelled through Southeast Asia into Southern China and subsequently relocated northwards. The accounts differ on the date of his arrival, with one early account claiming that he arrived during the Liú Sòng Dynasty (420?479) and later accounts dating his arrival to the Liáng Dynasty (502?557). Bodhidharma was primarily active in the lands of the Northern Wèi Dynasty (386?534). Modern scholarship dates him to about the early 5th century.Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism (Volume One), pages 57, 130

Throughout Buddhist art, Bodhidharma is depicted as a rather ill-tempered, profusely bearded and wide-eyed barbarian. He is described as "The Blue-Eyed Barbarian" ?????? (lán y?nj?ngde y?rén) in Chinese texts.Soothill and Hodous

The Anthology of the Patriarchal Hall (952) identifies Bodhidharma as the 28th Patriarch of Buddhism in an uninterrupted line that extends all the way back to the Buddha himself. D.T. Suzuki contends that Chán's growth in popularity during the 7th and 8th centuries attracted criticism that it had "no authorized records of its direct transmission from the founder of Buddhism" and that Chán historians made Bodhidharma the 28th patriarch of Buddhism in response to such attacks.

The Shaolin Monastery or Shaolin Temple () is a Chán Buddhist temple at Song Shan near Zhengzhou City Henan Province in Dengfeng, China. It is led by abbot Venerable abbot Shi Y?ngxìn. Founded in the 5th century, the monastery is long famous for its association with Chinese martial arts and particularly with Shaolin Kung Fu, and it is the Mahayana Buddhist monastery perhaps best known to the Western world.

Shaolin Kung Fu refers to a collection of Chinese martial arts that claim affiliation with the Shaolin Monastery. Of the tens of thousands of kung fu wushu styles, several hundred might have some relationship to Shaolin; however, aside from a few very well known systems, such as Xiao Hong Quan, the Da Hong Quan, Yin Shou Gun, Damo Sword, etc., it would be almost impossible to establish a verifiable connection to the Temple for any one particular art.

Zen is a school of Mah?y?na Buddhism, translated from the Chinese word Chán to English. This word is in turn derived from the Sanskrit dhy?na, which means "meditation" (see etymology below).

Zen emphasizes experiential prajñ?, particularly as realized in the form of meditation, in the attainment of enlightenment. As such, it de-emphasizes theoretical knowledge in favor of direct, experiential realization through meditation and dharma practice.

The establishment of Zen is traditionally credited to be in China, the Shaolin Temple, by the Southern Indian Pallava prince-turned-monk Bodhidharma, who came to China to teach a "special transmission outside scriptures" which "did not stand upon words". The emergence of Zen as a distinct school of Buddhism was first documented in China in the 7th century AD. It is thought to have developed as an amalgam of various currents in Mah?y?na Buddhist thought ? among them the Yog?c?ra and M?dhyamaka philosophies and the Prajñ?p?ramit? literature ? and of local traditions in China, particularly Taoism and Huáyán Buddhism. From China Zen subsequently spread south to Vietnam, and east to Korea and Japan.

Zazen (; Chinese pinyin or '' Wade-Giles) is at the heart of Zen Buddhist practice. The aim of zazen is just sitting, "opening the hand of thought".Opening the Hand of Thought: Foundations of Zen Buddhist Practice, Kosho Uchiyama, Tom Wright, Jish? Cary Warner, Shohaku Okumura;

Translated by Jish? Cary Warner, Shohaku Okumura;

Contributor Tom Wright, Jish? Cary Warner, Shohaku Okumura, Wisdom Publications, 2004 ISBN 0861713575 This is done either through koans, Rinzais primary method, or whole-hearted sitting (shikantaza), the Soto sect's method. (Rinzai and Soto are the main extant Zen schools in Japan; they both originated in China as the Linji and Caodong schools, respectively.) Once the mind is able to be unhindered by its many layers, one will then be able to realize one's true Buddha nature.

In Zen Buddhism, zazen (literally "Category: :wikt - :?|seated meditation") is a meditative discipline practitioners perform to calm the body and the mind and experience insight into the nature of existence and thereby gain enlightenment (satori).

The posture of zazen is seated, with folded legs and hands, and an erect but settled spine. The legs are folded in one of the standard sitting styles (see below). The hands are folded together into a simple mudra

over the belly. In many practices, one breathes from the

hara (the center of gravity in the belly)

and the eyelids are half-lowered, the eyes being neither fully open

nor shut so that the practitioner is not distracted by outside objects but at the same time is kept awake.

Category: File - :Zazen au Centre Européen du Zen Rinzai.jpg|thumb| Zazen in Rinzai school.