When Dharma died 150? What has he experienced in his life?

Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism, is a real and mysterious monk. He is admired for his achievements in Buddhism. But for those who are not familiar with Buddhism, what attracts the founder of Dharma more is his experience in China and his death at the age of 150.

During the period from Liu Song to Shundi in Ming Dynasty (466-479), Dharma arrived in Nanhai County (now Guangzhou, Guangdong Province) from Nantianzhu by sea, and established Zen in China. Before Dharma arrived in Guangzhou, many overseas monks had come to China via Guangzhou to teach Zen. Therefore, compared with the vast mainland, the Guangzhou seen by the Dharma ancestor is already a Guangzhou with deep Zen accumulation.

In Guangzhou, there are Nantianzhu businessmen who have already settled in China. The boat on which Father Dharma came to China came from this immigrant family named Zhu. Therefore, based on the contact with this family, after the founder of Dharma arrived in Guangzhou, he set up a grass temple on the east side of Zhu's residence and began to preach Zen in China.

Because the founder of Dharma deliberately concealed his identity, Cantonese only regarded him as an ordinary monk at first.

In 526, in the seventh year of Nanliang, Dharma's elder brother Daxi came to China to look for his younger brother, and presented some tributes from Nantianzhu to the government. Only then did I know that the plain monk next door to Zhujiajian was so distinguished. Therefore, through the preparation of local officials and people, a "Xilai Temple" was completed in Guangzhou the following spring, and the founder of Dharma was invited to become the first abbot.

Xilai Temple became the real starting point for Dharma founder to preach Zen in China, and it was also the beginning of his fame in China. In the first year of Liang Datong in the Southern Dynasties (527), the founder of Dharma was invited to Nanjing. The only person who caught his attention on this trip was the representative of Buddhist monks. Father Dharma officially accepted him as an apprentice in Ding Lin Temple.

Dharma did not meet many people in the south, which was closely related to the development of Buddhism in the south at that time. At that time, Buddhism in the south spread widely, but most of them were Hinayana, and their acceptance of Zen was not high. Although Dawu met the founder of Dharma in Nanjing, he was a northerner who had just entered Liang. He told the founder of Dharma that Mahayana is more popular in the north than in the south, and Shaolin Temple is the Mahayana Buddha Cave. So the founder of Dharma decided to preach Zen in the north.

The story of "a reed crossing the river" happened on the way north. It is said that Liang Wudi, who invited the founder of Dharma to Ning, felt remorse after talking with Dharma and wanted to communicate with Dharma again. However, when he sent someone to invite Dharma again, he was told that Dharma had left and was ready to cross the river to the north. Liang Wudi quickly sent someone to chase him, and saw the Dharma that was preparing to cross the river by the river. When Dharma saw the bearer, he just unhurriedly folded a pile of reeds, and then slowly threw his pursuers to the other side of the Yangtze River.

After successfully crossing the river, the founder of Dharma first went to Luoyang, and then went straight to Wurufeng, Songshan, Henan, where Shaolin Temple was located. Shaolin Temple also showed great enthusiasm for this monk from afar. At that time, Barto even invited the founder of Dharma to host Shaolin Temple with him. However, Dharma declined all kinds of kindness from Shaolin Temple, and only chose another cave under Wuru Peak, where Zen lived and was taught by his disciples. And this stay is three years.

In the third year of Yongxi in the Northern Wei Dynasty (534), the founder of Dharma went from Songshan to Yecheng (now Linzhang County, Hebei Province). With the help of disciple Lin Hao, he published The Four Lines of Mahayana. It was also during this period that the founder of Dharma announced to everyone in his school that he would teach Zen and preach the Dharma according to the Lengga, and decided to take "entering the Sect on February 24th" as his creed. This move also announced that Buddhism in China has ushered in an epoch-making innovation.

In the following years, the founder of Dharma was active in Songshan, Luoyang, Linzhang and Yumen in Shanxi. Only with the deepening of the understanding of the north, Dharma realized that the foundation of Zen should still be in the south. At that time, the northern Buddhism was controlled by the official monk group, and its content was obviously expert, aristocratic and hollow. Some monks have repeatedly tried to poison Buddhism and persecute their disciples. The political situation in the south is more stable than that in the north, the Buddhist foundation is more solid, and Buddhist beliefs are easier to penetrate into the people. Therefore, Dharma clearly expressed the idea of Zen moving south before his death.

Although Dharma's concept of Buddhism is clear, his own ending is puzzling. There are two popular sayings about the death of Buddhism. First, Dharma "goes to the West with only shoes", because there is a historical record that Song Yun, the messenger of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, met the founder of Dharma who died with only shoes in Congling on his way back from the Western Regions. Second, Dharma died on the shore of waterinfo. This is the record of Continued Biography of Monks. Moreover, Old Tang Book added that Dharma may have been poisoned.

According to the inscription written by Liang Wudi in Kong Xiang Temple (formerly known as Ding Lin Temple) in Sanmenxia, Henan Province, Dharma's father died peacefully on the fifth day of December in the second year of Datong in Nanliang (536). This is basically consistent with the statement that Dharma died on the shore of Luoshui.

Therefore, according to the clue provided by this stone tablet, the founder of Dharma, who was born in the seventh year of Song and Daming in the Southern Dynasties (463), actually died in his seventies. Therefore, the "soliloquy of more than 150 years old" contained in The Biography of Continued Monks is more like an exaggeration.

But because people's understanding of Dharma, a Taoist monk, was vague from beginning to end, it took thousands of years for people to get a result. Therefore, this paper only adopts some of the views, not judgments. However, in any case, Dharma's contribution to Zen is beyond doubt. We are curious about him and respect him, which is worthy of his efforts in Zen.