Buddhism 101

Lesson 3: Important Buddhist Figures and Related Mythology

Bodhidharma and Hui-Neng

Bodhidharma
     Very little is known about the historical Bodhidharma (c. 480 – 520 CE). Traditionally, he is remembered as the founder of Ch’an (Zen) Buddhism in China, though he was actually a brahmin convert from Southern India. He is regarded as an important figure of Indian Buddhism, but is also very important in China, recalled as the first Chinese Patriarch. According to tradition his new school in China was met with hostility – sources indicate he may have been executed, as one version of the story of his death takes place on a known execution ground.

     Bodhidharma is remembered more in Chinese Buddhist tradition in a legendary sense. He is revered for his practice of austerities, which were later connected to primary tenets of the Ch’an school. One legend describes Bodhidharma sitting and staring at a wall for nine years, deep in meditation practice. As well, there is something of a “resurrection” (though without the same Judeo-Christian connotations) of Bodhidharma. Upon opening his tomb, they find only a straw sandal – prior to that day, a monk traveling east had said he met Bodhidharma traveling west, back towards India. Both these stories are well represented in iconography – sometimes Bodhidharma is depicted without legs, having lost them deep in meditation, or sometimes traveling west with only one sandal. These images are contradictory, but this poses no problem for the Buddhist – these are only legendary tales of Bodhidharma dating from different times and told for different purposes.

    Another story of Bodhidharma focuses more on the student who wished to become his disciple – Hui-k’o. This man severed his own arm to show to Bodhidharma the sincerity of his desire to practice and learn from the great master. This serves to illustrate just how revered Bodhidharma became in Buddhist mythology.

Hui-Neng
     Hui-Neng (638 – 713 CE), unlike Bodhidharma, was Chinese born. Like his predecessor, however, he was also regarded as a Patriarch of Chinese Buddhism – in this case, the sixth. Though Bodhidharma is widely regarded as an important figure, this recognition may have never come about if it were not for the progress Hui-Neng made in Chinese culture for the Buddhist cause. He is also often viewed as the founder of Ch’an or Zen Buddhism.

     Like Bodhidharma, many legendary elements creep into the biography of Hui-Neng. Stories tell of his impoverished younger days, and his chance hearing of the recitation of an important Buddhist text (the text varies from version to version). Upon hearing this recitation, Hui-Neng was able to comment on the precepts of the text without any Buddhist religious training. He approached the Fifth Buddhist Patriarch of China and began his formal studies.

     The Platform Sutra is the chief work associated with Hui-Neng, although like so many works, it is difficult to link him to it with certainty. The Platform Sutra is interesting in Buddhist scripture because it is the only work deemed a Sutra that is not attributed to the historical Buddha – its importance is exemplified in this fact.

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