Bodhidharma
c. 450-530 CE
Indian Zen master who traveled to China to transmit
message of meditation.

born in south India, Kanchi, Pallavi.
3rd son of the king of the area.

original name was
Bodhitara, changed to
"Bodhidharma" by his master Prajnatara.

considered 28th Dhyan
(Zen) master of India,
starting with Mahakashyap(1st)

considered 1st Chan(Zen) Patriarch of China.

met Emperor Wu of the then Liang Dynasty of
China in what's now Nanjing, China.

left and traveled to Shaolin Temple on Mt. Song, in
Henan Province, China (then the Wei Dynasty)

faced the wall in meditation for 9 years

gave transmission of the lamp to
Huike, the 2nd
Chinese Patriarch of Zen.

left Shaolin Temple, and died near what's now
Kongxiang Zen Temple, which is where his stupa
remains to this day.
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I have a very soft corner in my heart for
Bodhidharma. That makes it a very special
occasion to speak about him. Perhaps he is the
only man whom I have loved so deeply that
speaking on him I will be almost speaking on
myself. That also creates a great complexity,
because he never wrote anything in his life. No
enlightened being has ever written. Bodhidharma
is not an exception, but by tradition these three
books that we are going to discuss are attributed
to Bodhidharma...

                                                --Osho
    Bodhidharma, The Greatest Zen Master, ch. 1
                   oshobob  The Living Workshop                                
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