Da Mo . . .The Indian Buddhist monk Da Mo Or as he is also known, Bodhidharma, Bodhitara, P'u-t'i Ta-mo, Ta-mo, Bodai Daruma, and Daruma to mention a few of his names...
"The essence of the Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances." Taken from Bodhidharma's Wake-Up Sermon as translated by Red Pine.
Bodhidharma was born around 440 A.D. in Kanchi, the capital of the Southern Indian kingdom of Pallava. He was a Brahman by birth, the third child of King Sugandha, was a member of the Kshatriya or warrior caste, and had his childhood in Conjeeveram (also Kanchipuram or Kancheepuram), a Buddhist province south of Madras. He received his religious training from the Dhyana Master Prajnatara, and was considered very wise in the way of Dhyana or Zen practices.
Da Mo is said to also have been proficient in Kalaripayat (an ancient karate-like art that was influenced itself by vajramushti) which while including some weaponry included weaponless forms that were practiced in conjunction with the controlled breathing techniques of pranayama. Pranayama is part of the "Eightfold Path of Discipline" in Astanga yoga.
In most of East Asia, today, Da Mo is revered as the spiritual father of Zen Buddhism, having been the twenty-eighth patriarch after Sakyamuni (the historic Buddha) and the first patriarch of Zen Buddhism in China. He started what eventually became the Ch'an school of Buddhism in China. He is also the founder of a weaponless fighting art that was the precursor of modern-day martial arts.
During the Chinese Southern Liang dynasty [502-557 A.D.] the Emperor Liang Wu invited the Buddhist monk Da Mo to preach Buddhism in China. Da Mo arrived in China around 520 A.D., although accounts have it that he arrived during the Sung dynasty (420-479 A.D.), and eventually met Emperor Wu at Chin-ling (now Nanking).
When Da Mo met Emperor Wu, the Emperor asked, "What is the holy ultimate truth?" Da Mo answered, "It is Emptiness itself and there is nothing holy." "Who then is the one who at present stands confronting me," responded the Emperor? "I do not know (fushiki, pu-shih)!" was Da Mo's response. This now-famous question-and-answer dialogue "I know not," is considered a reverent allegory for explaining specific Zen tenets.
After the Emperor decided he did not like Da Mo's Buddhist theory/answer, Da Mo withdrew to a Shaolin Temple, in Honan Province. Entering the temple he saw that the priests in an emaciated condition, were weak and sickly, so he shut himself away to ponder the problem. When he emerged after nine years of seclusion, some say he wrote two classics: Yi Gin Ching or I Chin Ching (Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic) and Shii Soei Ching or Hsi Sui Chin (Marrow Washing Classic). Others say that he secreted the two works in the walls of the temple, and that they were found only after his demise. Hsi Sui Chin, was said to have been transcribed by Do Mo's disciple Hui K'o and is said to have been lost to the world. The second work, I Chin Ching, has been translated several times, thereby clouding its actual origination. Regardless, Da Mo's teachings instructed the Shaolin priests how to gain health and change their physical bodies from weak to strong (muscle/tendon changing), and taught the priests how to use Chi to strengthening the blood and immune system, and to energize the brain and attain enlightenment (marrow washing).
The basis of these works, the physical drills of which are called Shihpa Lohan Shou, or Eighteen Hands of the Lohan (Buddha), were incorporated into the Shaolin Chi Kung and martial arts (what became known as Kung Fu - which is pronounced gung-fu, or, Shaolin ch'uan fa in Mandarin and which in Japanese is Shorinji kempo) training of the times. At the present time, Lohan is used to designate all famous disciples of the historic Buddha, but more generally the term refers to those five hundred arhats (Sanskrit term for those who have achieved nirvana) who are supposed to reappear on earth as Buddha.
Several decades after Da Mo's death a ch'uan fa master named Chueh Yan Shang-jen combined and increased Da Mo's original eighteen hand-and-foot positions to seventy-two. Ch'uen then met with a Shensi Province martial arts master, Li-shao. The two further enlarged Ch'uen's 72 "strokes" to 170 and gave the best of them names such as the tiger, leopard, dragon, snake and crane.
Most ch'uan fa forms practiced today, are the descendants of the 170 (173) hand-foot positions of Ch'ueh Yan and can be traced further, back to the eighteen positions of Da Mo. Also based directly on Da Mo's Shaolin ch'uan fa is Kosho-ryu (or "Old Pine Tree Style") kempo. In essence, the ideals of Zen Buddhism as expounded by Da Mo are fundamental to the physical manifestations of the Kosho-ryu fighting art. The development of restraint, propriety, humbleness and integrity are the cornerstones of Kosho-ryu kempo, with the actual combat techniques merely one of the many modes of reaching these goals.
Da Mo is thought to have died around 534 A.D.
It is also said . . . A monk asked Baso Doichi (Ma-tsu Tao-I, d. 788, another individual instrumental to the history of Buddhism in China) "What is the ultimate teaching of Buddhism?" Baso struck him, saying, "If I did not strike you, the whole world would laugh at me!"
Another monk asked, "what is the meaning of Bodhidharma coming from the West?" (see note) Baso said "You come up nearer to me and I'll tell you." When the monk approached him, the master slapped the monk's ear saying, "The secrets are difficult to guard!"
Note: this amounts to asking the ultimate teaching of Buddhism, as Bodhidharma is the first Zen patriarch of China who brought Buddhism from India.
Sources:
Karate's History and Traditions, revised, Bruce A. Haines, Tuttle
The Tao of Tai Chi Chuan, Jou, Tsung Hwa, Tai Chi Foundation
The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, translated by Red Pine, North Point Press
Zen and Japanese Culture, by Daisetz T. Suzuki, Princeton University Press,
The Root of Chinese Chi Kung, by Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming, YMAA Publication Center
Website: http://www.waltsdorsai.net/damo.htm
公元527年（一说公元520年），一个相貌古怪的外国僧人风尘仆仆的来到嵩山少林寺，进得寺中，他一语不发，径直走到寺后的五乳峰找到了一个天然石洞，面壁打坐，终日默然。寺里的和尚都不知道这个僧人的来历，也不知道他面壁是为何。不久，从南方传来消息，和尚们才知道这个僧人叫达摩，是从南天竺国来的，自称是佛教禅宗的第二十八代传人，远涉重洋来到中国是为了传播禅宗，而且他曾在南梁晋见过梁武帝，可是两人谈的并不投机。后来，达摩就离开了南梁，想渡过长江到北魏来，谁知梁武帝有意刁难他，把长江边的船支都收了起来，可是这达摩居然用一捆芦苇渡过了长江，总之是传的神乎其神！少林寺的和尚们日日到洞口去看达摩，可始终不见达摩动一下、发一言，就这样整整9年过去了，达摩一直面壁打坐，默然不语。
这就是达摩祖师与少林寺的传说。达摩，全称菩提达摩，本名菩萨多罗，相传是南天竺香至国国王的第三个儿子，当时印度禅宗的第二十七世祖般若多罗正好接受香至国王的供养，在王宫中说法，慧根极佳的达摩就在与般若多罗的交往中，悟到了佛学的真意，遂跟随般若多罗学法，最终继承了般若多罗的衣钵，成为了印度禅宗的第二十八世祖。在老师般若多罗死后67年，他尊从师命东渡中国传法。
在长途跋涉了3年之后，达摩终于到达了当时的广州，受到了南梁广州刺史萧昂的礼遇，并被梁朝的皇帝梁武帝迎到了首都建康（今南京）。不过一向自恃好佛的梁武帝与达摩的见面并不愉快。相传武帝见到达摩就问他：“朕即位以来，造寺写经，度僧不可胜记，有何功德？”言出之时，颇有德色，可达摩只冷冰冰的答道：“并无功德。”武帝一听不干了，他立即反问道：“何以无功德？”达摩答道：“这不过是些华而不实的小事，怎么能算的上功德！”武帝被泼了这样一盆冷水，心里老大的不高兴，而达摩也看出来梁武帝并不是真正有慧根的人，就决定离开梁国，渡江北上。
达摩到了长江边，看到江水茫茫没有一艘船，只有一个老妇人坐在岸边，身边有一捆芦苇，达摩就向她化了一根，放入江中，然后双脚踏在芦苇上，眼观鼻，鼻观心，心观丹田，凭借着一阵东南风悠悠向北而去。
在长途跋涉了3年之后，达摩终于到达了当时的广州，受到了南梁广州刺史萧昂的礼遇，并被梁朝的皇帝梁武帝迎到了首都建康（今南京）。不过一向自恃好佛的梁武帝与达摩的见面并不愉快。相传武帝见到达摩就问他：“朕即位以来，造寺写经，度僧不可胜记，有何功德？”言出之时，颇有德色，可达摩只冷冰冰的答道：“并无功德。”武帝一听不干了，他立即反问道：“何以无功德？”达摩答道：“这不过是些华而不实的小事，怎么能算的上功德！”武帝被泼了这样一盆冷水，心里老大的不高兴，而达摩也看出来梁武帝并不是真正有慧根的人，就决定离开梁国，渡江北上。
达摩到了长江边，看到江水茫茫没有一艘船，只有一个老妇人坐在岸边，身边有一捆芦苇，达摩就向她化了一根，放入江中，然后双脚踏在芦苇上，眼观鼻，鼻观心，心观丹田，凭借着一阵东南风悠悠向北而去。
达摩渡过长江之后，一路向北来到了嵩山少林寺，他见这里是一片佛教净土，遂决定在此修行传法，并在石洞里面壁九年，最终有所大成，被寺中的僧人奉为少林寺的方丈，开始了一个全新的佛教流派——禅宗在中国的流传。达摩就成了禅宗在中国的初祖，而少林寺则成为了中国禅宗祖庭。
禅宗这种高深的佛教流派讲求“教外别传，不立文字，直指人心，见性成佛”，而达摩长年的面壁打坐正是禅宗的修炼法门之一。达摩不但将禅宗传到中国，而且还在习禅之余，创立了一套罗汉拳，又称十八罗汉手和两套内功修炼方法即传说中的《达摩洗髓经》和《易筋经》，后来的少林僧人在这些武术的基础上，博采百家之长，发展成了一系列的少林功夫，共计72种，被称为少林72绝学，从此，少林寺也成为了中国的武术盛地。
达摩在建康说法的时候，曾经与一位在南梁很有名的神光和尚相遇，当时的神光并没有看的起达摩，对他也非常的傲慢，后来神光知道了达摩是一个得道的高僧，遂不远千里的追随达摩到了少林寺。由于曾经的分歧，达摩有心想试试神光的真心，就一直不收他为徒，而神光也不灰心，始终跟随在达摩的身边，转眼就是很多年。
这一年的冬天，天气异常寒冷，达摩在后山的亭中打坐，神光仍如往常一样侍立在亭外，谁知天有不测风云，这天晚上天降大雪，积雪很快就没过了神光的膝盖，可神光依然是一动也不动。到了第二天早上，达摩开定，他看到神光就问道：“你站在这里干嘛？”神光答道：“向佛祖求法。”达摩沉吟片刻道：“ 要我给你传法，除非天降红雪。”神光解意，他意识到这是圣僧指点他禅悟的决窍，毫不犹豫地抽出随身携带的戒刀，向左臂砍去，只听："咔嚓"一声，一只冻僵了的胳膊落在地上，鲜血飞溅，染红了地下的积雪和神光的衣衫。谁知道虔诚的刀声穿云投雾，飞报西天，惊动佛祖如来，随手脱下袈裟，抛向东土。霎时，整个少林，红光笼罩彩霞四射，鹅毛似的大雪片被鲜血映得彤红，纷扬而来。神光放下手里的戒刀，弯腰拿起鲜血淋漓的左臂，围绕达摩亭转了一圈，仍侍立于红雪之中，亭周围的积雪也被染成红的。
此情此景，达摩看得一清二楚。他感到了神光的决心和虔诚，就收他为弟子，给他改法号“慧可”。就这样在达摩的言传身教下，慧可尽得禅宗的真义，并最终承接了达摩的衣钵，成为了中国禅宗的第二代祖师，而他“立雪断臂”的故事，也激励着后来人为求正法义无反顾。
达摩将衣钵传于二祖慧可后，离开了少林寺，云游四方，最后亡故在了洛水之滨，被葬在熊耳山（今河南省宜阳）。
禅宗这种高深的佛教流派讲求“教外别传，不立文字，直指人心，见性成佛”，而达摩长年的面壁打坐正是禅宗的修炼法门之一。达摩不但将禅宗传到中国，而且还在习禅之余，创立了一套罗汉拳，又称十八罗汉手和两套内功修炼方法即传说中的《达摩洗髓经》和《易筋经》，后来的少林僧人在这些武术的基础上，博采百家之长，发展成了一系列的少林功夫，共计72种，被称为少林72绝学，从此，少林寺也成为了中国的武术盛地。
达摩在建康说法的时候，曾经与一位在南梁很有名的神光和尚相遇，当时的神光并没有看的起达摩，对他也非常的傲慢，后来神光知道了达摩是一个得道的高僧，遂不远千里的追随达摩到了少林寺。由于曾经的分歧，达摩有心想试试神光的真心，就一直不收他为徒，而神光也不灰心，始终跟随在达摩的身边，转眼就是很多年。
这一年的冬天，天气异常寒冷，达摩在后山的亭中打坐，神光仍如往常一样侍立在亭外，谁知天有不测风云，这天晚上天降大雪，积雪很快就没过了神光的膝盖，可神光依然是一动也不动。到了第二天早上，达摩开定，他看到神光就问道：“你站在这里干嘛？”神光答道：“向佛祖求法。”达摩沉吟片刻道：“ 要我给你传法，除非天降红雪。”神光解意，他意识到这是圣僧指点他禅悟的决窍，毫不犹豫地抽出随身携带的戒刀，向左臂砍去，只听："咔嚓"一声，一只冻僵了的胳膊落在地上，鲜血飞溅，染红了地下的积雪和神光的衣衫。谁知道虔诚的刀声穿云投雾，飞报西天，惊动佛祖如来，随手脱下袈裟，抛向东土。霎时，整个少林，红光笼罩彩霞四射，鹅毛似的大雪片被鲜血映得彤红，纷扬而来。神光放下手里的戒刀，弯腰拿起鲜血淋漓的左臂，围绕达摩亭转了一圈，仍侍立于红雪之中，亭周围的积雪也被染成红的。
此情此景，达摩看得一清二楚。他感到了神光的决心和虔诚，就收他为弟子，给他改法号“慧可”。就这样在达摩的言传身教下，慧可尽得禅宗的真义，并最终承接了达摩的衣钵，成为了中国禅宗的第二代祖师，而他“立雪断臂”的故事，也激励着后来人为求正法义无反顾。
达摩将衣钵传于二祖慧可后，离开了少林寺，云游四方，最后亡故在了洛水之滨，被葬在熊耳山（今河南省宜阳）。
不过即使是生命结束了，达摩的传奇也没有结束。相传当时东魏的使臣宋云出使西域多年，并不知道达摩圆寂的消息，在达摩亡故两年后，他由西域返回洛阳，在路上他看到了达摩一手柱着锡杖，一手提着一只鞋，在往前赶路，他就立即上前问道：“师傅是要往哪里去啊？”达摩答道：“老衲往西天去。”说罢就与宋云各奔东西了。宋云到了中原后才知道达摩已圆寂多时，他把遇到达摩的事情告诉了皇帝，皇帝并不相信，就让人将达摩的棺木打开，结果棺材里果然没有达摩的尸体，而只有一只鞋，他们这才知道达摩确实是到极乐世界去了。这就是达摩祖师只履西归的传说。
达摩祖师的一生交织着太多的传奇与神话，使得他的身上始终迷漫着神秘与虚幻，而他所传扬的禅宗精神在后世数位高僧大德的传播下，也终于成为了中国佛教重要的流派，流传至今！
达摩祖师的一生交织着太多的传奇与神话，使得他的身上始终迷漫着神秘与虚幻，而他所传扬的禅宗精神在后世数位高僧大德的传播下，也终于成为了中国佛教重要的流派，流传至今！
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