What did Bodhidharma say about Zen?

(ECHOES OF LOST KNOWLEDGE) Seek nothing [suññata?]: Bodhidharma's radical Zen (Chan) teaching | Buddhist wisdom

Hairy brown man saves China

Bodhidharma is a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who is said to have lived during the 5th or 6th century CE [1].

Bodhidharma [lit., "Enlightenment-Teaching"] is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China and is regarded as its first Chinese patriarch [a].

Bodhidharma is also popularly regarded as the founder of Shaolin kung fu [2, 3, 4, 5], an idea popularized in the 20th century [2, 4, 5] and based on the 17th-century Yijin Jing and the Taoist association of taoyin gymnastics with Bodhidharma [2, 3, b, c].

I cut off my eyelids to stare at a wall.

Little contemporary biographical information on Bodhidharma exists, and subsequent accounts are layered with lofty [and often absurd] legend and unreliable details [6, d].

According to the principal Chinese sources, Bodhidharma came from the Western Regions [7, 8], which typically refers to modern-day Xinjiang and Central Asia [such as Buddhist Afghanistan, Gandhara, the historical Buddha's homeland, territory of the Sakas, Scythians, Shakyas]. But it can also include the Indian subcontinent.

Shaolin kung fu? I wish I had done more yoga!

Bodhidharma is described as either a "Persian [Iranian Aryan] Central Asian" [7] or a "South Indian...the third son of a great Indian king" [8, e].

Aside from the Chinese accounts, several popular traditions also exist regarding Bodhidharma's origins [Note 1].

Throughout Buddhist art, [the idea, legend, or personification of] Bodhidharma is depicted as an ill-tempered, large-nosed, profusely bearded [often obese], wide-eyed non-Chinese man. The accounts also differ on the date of his alleged arrival. More

• ECHOES OF LOST KNOWLEDGE, Oct. 10, 2026; CC Liu, Dhr. Seven (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit