One day, Bodhidharma from India asked his master for advice: "Where should I go after I obtain the Dharma?" Prajna Dora said: "I should go to China."
Bodhidharma followed his master's advice. He was told to prepare his luggage, set out in a small boat, sail across the ocean, travel at dawn and stay overnight, and went through all the hardships and spent three years to arrive in China. Xiao Ang, the governor of Guangzhou, heard the news and reported to Jinling . Emperor Wu of Liang, Xiao Yan, sent an envoy to summon Bodhidharma to the palace to receive the news and wait for the distinguished guests.
Emperor Wu of Liang asked: "Since I came to the throne, I have built temples and written scriptures, and saved countless monks. What merits have I had?" The Zen master replied: "There is no merit." The emperor asked: "Why is there no merit?" The Zen master replied: “These are just trivial things you should do, like shadows, not real merit. The emperor asked: "What is true merit?" The Zen master replied: "It is the principle of the holy truth that cannot be sought after." The emperor asked again: "What is the principle of holy truth?" The Zen master replied: "The true merit is to have a clear mind and see one's nature, and the body to be empty and still." The emperor asked again: "Who are you?" The Zen master replied: "I don't know." "
It turns out that Emperor Wu of Liang was a Hinayana sect, advocating self-liberation; Bodhidharma was a Mahayana sect, advocating universal salvation for all sentient beings, and the two could not come to terms with each other. Therefore, Emperor Wu of Liang was very unhappy, and Bodhidharma also knew that the opportunity was not compatible. He had a premonition that Nanjing was not a place where he could stay for a long time, so he left Xiao Yan and crossed the river to go north.
After Bodhidharma talked with Emperor Wu of Liang, Emperor Wu of Liang felt deeply regretful. After learning the news of Bodhidharma's departure, he immediately sent someone to ride a mule. Chase. When they reached the middle section of Shogun Mountain , the peaks on both sides suddenly closed, and the group was caught between the two peaks. Bodhidharma was walking to the river when he saw someone coming, so he broke a reed and threw it into the river. , turned into a small boat, drifting across the river
In the third year of Xiaochang in the Northern Wei Dynasty (527), it is said that the specific date is November 23, when Bodhidharma, the 28th generation founder of Zen Buddhism in Western Tianzhu, came. He went to the Songshan Shaolin Temple and practiced facing the wall in the cave on Wuru Peak. Bodhidharma first taught Zen in China. He "pointed directly to the human heart and became a Buddha by seeing his nature without establishing words." The ancients wrote a poem about the place where he died:
I met the sheep again when I was crossing the river.
The two elephants and horses lived alone in the dark.
The two young osmanthus trees grew long and prosperous. The verses imply prophecies about the future. "Crossing the water" implies Bodhidharma's journey across the sea to the east. "Feng Yang" implies that he will land in Guangzhou. "Crossing the river" refers to going to the north to spread the Dharma. "Alluding to the Shaolin Temple. Songshan Idiom Story Series No. 22 " One Reed Crossing the River "
Confucians have different interpretations of "One Reed Crossing the River". They believe that "One Reed" is not a Reeds, but a large bunch of reeds, because there is a poem in the Book of Songs, "The River is Wide", which says: "Who says the river is wide, a reed hangs it. "Kong Yingda from the Tang Dynasty explained: A reed refers to a bunch, which can be floated on the water. If it is like a raft, it is not just a single reed. This explanation is more scientific.
