This was introduced by Bodhidharma, or Tamo, who arrived in the
capital of China in the year 520 A.D. On his arrival the emperor Wu Ti
tried to impress the sage with his greatness saying: "We have built
temples, multiplied the Scriptures, encouraged many to join the Order:
is not there much merit in all this?" "None," was the blunt reply. "But
what say the holy books? Do they not promise rewards for such deeds?"
"There is nothing holy." "But you, yourself, are you not one of the holy
ones?" "I don't know." "Who are you?" "I don't know." Thus introduced,
the great man proceeded to open his missionary-labors by sitting down
opposite a wall arid gazing at it for the next nine years. From this he
has been called the "wall-gazer." He and his successors promulgated the
doctrine that neither the scriptures, the ritual nor the organization,
in fact nothing outward had any value in the attainment of
enlightenment. They held that the heart of the universe is Buddha and
that apart from the heart or the thought all is unreal. They thought
themselves back into the universal Buddha and then found the Buddha
heart in all nature. Thus they awakened the spirit which permeated
nature, art and literature and made the whole world kin with the spirit
of the Buddha.
"The golden light upon the sunkist peaks,
The water murmuring in the pebbly creeks,
Are Buddha. In the stillness, hark, he speaks!"
[Footnote: K. J. Saunders in _Epochs of Buddhist History.
Pages:
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33