Bodhidharma China
“It all began 15 centuries ago when a prince from India’s Pallava Dynasty dropped everything in his life to become a monk. Without question, because of the depth of his immersion in what he is doing, he left India, and travelled north to China simply because his teacher told him, ‘Go north and spread this.’ The monk’s name was Bodhidharma.”
Bodhidharma (known as Damo/Pútídámó in China and Daruma /Bodaidaruma in Japan) is well known throughout East Asia and in modern times in the West as the founding master of Chan/Zen Buddhism.
Bodhidharma master of the Tamil Citter tradition, travelled to China and founded Zen Buddhism there, was heavily influenced by Citter System and martial arts knowledge that comes from that system before he left his home land of present-day Tamil Nadu.
South India Buddhism & Bodhidharma
South India was a cradle of Mahayana Buddhism where it thrived for many centuries. The progenitor of Mahayana as a movement, the great Acharya Nagarjuna himself was from the South and so were many of the other great Panditas of Mahayana. Kanchi and Vanchi were renowned Buddhist centers of learning for many centuries. Further, the neighboring forests of Sriparvata and Potalaka were the abodes of choice for many Buddhist Mahasiddhas and Yogis. It was into this milieu that Bodhidharma was born as the third son of the Pallava King Simhavarman II. The prince was then known as Bodhyottara.
Pallava Dynasty
The Pallava kingdom (275 CE to 897 CE) spanned across areas corresponding to present day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra/Telangana. Their capital was at Kanchi present day Kanchipuram. Kanchi was the birth place of many eminent Buddhist masters. The Teravada commentator Buddhaghosha (5th century CE) and the Buddhist logician Dignaga (5th/ 6th century CE) were from Kanchi. Xuanzang (Hsüan tsang), the Chinese monk traveler who visited India roughly 100 years after Bodhidharma, recorded hundreds of Mahayana monasteries and over 10,000 monks in Kanchi. When Xuanzang studied at Nalanda, his Guru was Acharya Dharmapala, the then Abbot of Nalanda and a well-known commentator of Yogacara Buddhism, Dharmapala was also from Kanchi.
The Pallavas ruled over northern Tamil Nadu, a region known as Thondai Mandalam, and were a major South Indian power. They adopted and promoted Tamil culture, language, and ways, becoming emperors of the Tamil country.
Kanchipuram served as their capital city.
They supported Buddhism and their kingdom's history and culture are deeply intertwined with the Tamil land though their origins were in the Deccan.
Bodhyotara’s Journey
Bodhyotara’s father, the King was interested in Dharma and received teachings from the Buddhist master Prajnottara. He also arranged for his three sons to be trained by Prajnottara. During the course of the training, Prajnottara saw that the youngest prince Bodhyottara had deep interest and wisdom. Though he realized Bodhyottara’s spiritual potential, he decided to wait for the right time.
Prajnottara was an accomplished master who taught the Instantaneous Entrance to the Way, according to Mahayana Buddhism. In this approach, a master starts by preparing the disciple through many modes of training. When the disciple is finally ready, the master through individualized instructions points out the unborn and empty nature of everything. Having acquired the view of the space-like nature the disciple trains by resting in that view.
This lineage started when Buddha Sakyamuni showed a lotus flower in an assembly of disciples. In the assembly, it was only Mahakashyapa who realized the meaning behind this symbolic. Further the Buddha acknowledged Mahakashyapa’s realization. This lineage continued with Ananda, Buddha’s close disciple, receiving the transmission from Mahakashyapa. Further the lineage passed on through many great masters such as Upagupta, Ashvaghosha, Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Vasubandhu, etc. All of these masters were also great scholars and wrote many important treatises on the Mahayana philosophy and practice. Prajnottara was the 27th Master of this lineage.
When Bodhyottara’s father passed away, everyone was in mourning. Bodhyottara remained in meditation for several days. After rising from meditation, he decided to dedicate his life to Dharma. He went to Prajnottara and requested to be accepted as his disciple. Prajnottara, understanding that the time was ripe, accepted him under his fold and imparted all the necessary teachings to him. Under the guidance of Prajnottara, Bodhyottara awakened to Bodhi. Then, Prajnottara gave him the name Bodhidharmottara, or in short Bodhidharma. He became the 28th Master in that unbroken lineage of realized masters.
Bodhidharma also mastered Siddha (Citter)-medicine) and practices from Marma kala and martial arts as part of his training. Buddhist Siddha (Citter) tradition in South India has always been closely connected with the Citter System of healing and martial arts. Prajnottara instructed Bodhidharma to go to China and impart the teachings of the Buddha there. Accordingly, Bodhidharma traveled to China by taking the sea route from his home land sea port Mahabalipuram.
Civa Temple built during the Pallava Dynasty at Mahabalipuram
The main port city of the Pallava dynasty was Mahabalipuram (also known as Mamallapuram or Mamallai). Located on the Coromandel Coast of Tamil Nadu, it served as a significant trading center and is renowned today for its collection of Pallava-era rock-cut temples and sculptures.
Origins in Kanchipuram
Bodhidharma's background was that he was a prince from the Pallava dynasty in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. Kanchipuram was a significant center for both Buddhism and Hinduism during the 5th and 6th centuries CE.
Siddha (Citter) heartland: Kanchipuram and the broader Tamil region are also considered the heartland of the Siddha tradition, an ancient system of medicine, philosophy, and spiritual discipline.
Martial arts and medicine: The Siddha (Citter) system is credited with the martial art of varmam, which is centered on vital points on the body. It is believed that Bodhidharma's knowledge of varmam, along with South Indian martial arts like Kalaripayattu, became the basis for the Shaolin monks' martial arts in China.
Mind-body connection: The emphasis on synchronizing the body and mind for spiritual and physical well-being is central to both the Siddha tradition and Bodhidharma's teachings. The exercises he taught at the Shaolin monastery were a means to strengthen the monks' bodies for rigorous meditation.
Buddhist Siddha tradition: Indian texts mention a Buddhist Siddha tradition in South India that was closely connected with healing, marma kala (knowledge of vital points), and other Siddha disciplines. This supports the idea that Bodhidharma, as a South Indian Buddhist master, would have been trained in these practices.
Legendary and anecdotal evidence
Transmission of knowledge: Certain accounts describe Bodhidharma as having propagated the Citter sciences, including varmam and other healing arts, in China. This suggests a direct transmission of Citter (siddha) knowledge alongside his Buddhist teachings.
Folklore and lineage: In Tamil folk traditions, Bodhidharma is sometimes depicted as one of the Citters. The Tamil Heritage Foundation, for instance, has presented documents supporting the view of Bodhidharma as a Tamil Citter who founded Zen Buddhism.
Bodhidharma's journey: Legends and some texts state that Bodhidharma, after renouncing his royal life, travelled to China as instructed by his teacher, Prajnatara. This journey is often cited by those who believe he carried Siddha teachings and South Indian traditions with him.
Scholarly perspective
While a direct, historically verifiable link between Bodhidharma and the Siddhars is difficult to establish, it's clear that the two traditions developed in the same spiritual landscape. The legends are likely based on a historical reality of shared regional practices and philosophies.
Modern scholarship acknowledges that Bodhidharma's teachings and the development of Shaolin martial arts likely have roots in Citter (Siddha) physical and meditative traditions, which would include the practices of the Siddhas (Citters).
The connection points to a wider historical context where South India was a hub for intellectual and spiritual exchange, where Buddhist, Hindu, and indigenous traditions influenced one another.
Bodhidharma’s teachings spread mainly in China and further east in Korea and Japan. His teachings later evolved into the instantaneous tradition of the Southern Chan school of China and the gradual tradition of the Northern Chan school of China. These teachings reached Vietnam through an Indian master named Vinītaruci who was a disciple of the Chinese master Sengcan, who in turn was a disciple of Huike, the heart disciple of Bodhidharma. In Vietnam this school came to be known as the Thien school. The Chinese Chan school propagated to Japan when Myoan Eisai learnt it in China and established the Rinzai Zen School, following the Chinese tradition of the Linji Chan school. Further, Dogen learnt from the Chinese tradition of the Caodong Chan school and established the Soto Zen school in Japan. All of these schools practice the meditation of just sitting and resting in the unborn nature of all appearances without seeking or rejecting appearances. The difference among these schools is in the additional supports they use such as Sutra recitation, contemplation on koans (verses, often with seemingly paradoxical meaning, supposed to take the disciple beyond conceptuality), walking meditation, etc.
In Japan Bodhidharma was known by the Samurai through Zen Buddhism and its philosophical teachings, The Samurai of Japan adopted Zen as a way of life in the 12th century. Samurai learned to meditate through Zen teachings, using it as a technique to pursue enlightenment and achieve mental clarity, which was crucial for their demanding lives.
Placing in a Broader Context
During the 8th century CE, Bodhidharma’s teachings (Chan) reached Tibet from China. And that provides a unique opportunity to review Bodhidharma’s teachings in the context of many other Mahayana Buddhist teachings that arrived in Tibet. Tibetan Buddhism had both the pandita methods (those who made thorough scholarly study to enter the Way of awakening) and the kusulu methods (those who just practiced the essence of non-conceptual realization, without much scholarly study). These pandita and kusulu methods blended into an integral whole in Tibet with the same lineages and masters handling both kinds of methods together. Thus, the Tibetan scholars were able to come up with some of the best works of systematizing, contrasting and co-developing various methods of awakening, without denigrating one style for another. Since Chan tradition did not survive in Tibet for long, Bodhidharma’s teachings do not occupy a place in the analytical works of later Tibetan scholars.
However, during the short period of the Chan presence in Tibet, some important scholarly works were composed that covered Bodhidharma’s tradition.
Bodhidharma Japan
Daruma Doll - Japan
The Daruma is an iconic cultural symbol and souvenir of Japan. It has a strong cultural significance and roots in South India.
Why Daruma Doll has no limbs?
The Daruma is based on Bodhidharma, a Tamilian monk from Kancheepuram, known in Japan as Daruma Daishi. It is believed that Bodhidharma meditated for 9 years continuously, facing a wall, with his limbs folded. That is why the Drauma doll has a rounded shape with no limbs and no eyes.
But there is another explanation why the doll has no eyes, and when the doll gets its eyes.
Daruma Doll and Zen Buddhism
The Daruma Doll is modelled after Bodhidharma, the founder of Zen Buddhism. They are known as a symbol of perseverance and good luck, often used to represent setting and achieving goals. The tradition involves filling in one eye when a goal is set and the other eye when the goal is achieved. It also symbolises the virtue of never giving up. Its rounded bottom makes it pop back up when tipped over, like the saying, “Fall seven times, stand up eight".
Daruma Doll as a goal-setting tool
Daruma Doll is often used as a goal-setting tool. When someone sets a personal or professional goal, they paint one of the doll’s eyes. Once the goal is achieved, they paint the other eye, completing the doll. Commonly seen around New Year in Japan, Daruma dolls are also sold at temples and festivals as charms for success, business prosperity, exams, and personal growth.
Turning Martial Arts into a Dance of Awakening
Bodhidharma was one of the few who became instrumental in a large scale wisdom-exchange between Tamil Nadu and China. In this process, there were also exchanges between the martial arts traditions of China, Japan with the Citter teachings from the Tamil lands. Bodhidharma and other masters of his genre revitalized these martial arts with a deeper meaning by infusing Buddhist principles into them.
Some forms of Chinese martial arts preceded Bodhidharma. He gave a new dimension to it by structuring it on Buddhist principles and then teaching the monks of Shaolin on how to use it as a support for their path of awakening. Thus, instead of being a display of aggression and force, the new form of Shaolin Kung Fu turned into a dynamic method for cultivating a peaceful mind, and at the same time a powerful tool of defence. Bodhidharma took the slow-moving forms of Chinese martial arts such as Chi-kung (also written as Qigong), gave it a new foundation based on the Buddhist principles and adapted them into the Buddhist practice. These forms help in maintaining a healthy body for a deeper meditation.
The 18 movements taught by Bodhidharma came to be known as the ‘Eighteen Hands of Lohan (Arhat)’. Buddhist Chi-kung can be considered as a creative synthesis that happened in China as there are no equivalent slow-forms known in India. He also authored a text on Chi-kung known as Yijin Jing in Chinese. The new form of Shaolin Kung Fu became widely popular and also inspired similar traditions in Japan. There are paintings in Shaolin temple depicting a dark skinned Indian monk training the light skinned Chinese counter parts.
Shaolin Temple
The Enigmatic Bodhidharma
The Cave in which Bodhidharma did his meditation for over nine years.
Bodhidharma, the master who stayed in unmoving meditation for nine years in the cave behind the Shaolin Temple, is also well-known as a master of some of the most dynamic forms of martial arts. The synergy between Buddhism and Taoism in China led to the evolution of one of the finest and effective ways to cultivate a healthy body for a healthy mind. These included the slow-moving forms of dynamic meditation such as Chi-kung (also written as Qigong), and martial arts forms such as Kung-Fu.
Back in the land of Bodhidharma’s birth, South India, having long forgotten the heritage of Buddhist monks, yogis and maha-Citters (siddhas) in the heart land of old Tamilakam (the present-day Tamil Nadu and Kerala), Bodhidharma remains just a vague memory – a Buddhist master, an adept in martial arts and a holder of esoteric knowledge on healing and medicinal herbs, and so on. Mostly, these are fragments of memory re-acquired by those who travelled from South India to China in search of martial arts. Often, people are perplexed about how Buddhism, martial arts and medical knowledge came together in Bodhidharma.
And, in the eastern lands of China, Japan, and so on, where the peaceful sitting tradition of Bodhidharma spread widely as Chan / Zen school of Buddhism, at least some peaceful meditators wonder how the martial arts tradition of Shaolin can find its roots in Bodhidharma, the silent meditator. In other words, they wonder, how Bodhidharma and martial arts are connected.
At the surface, martial arts may even sound contradictory to the path of peace that Buddhism stands for. However, martial arts as practiced by some schools of Buddhism have nothing do with attacking or violence, but are finer methods of inner cultivation. We shall come back to it soon. (It is also to be noted that martial art is not an essential practice of Buddhism, but an optional skilful support used only by some schools of Buddhism – particularly, the slow-moving meditational forms of martial arts).
The Lion Meets the Dragon – Martial Art Traditions of India and China
Shaolin Kung Fu
Shaolin Kung Fu shares common Buddhist principles with Kalaripayattu (particularly, the Southern form of Kalaripayattu), and Silambam from the Tamil heart lands of ancient India.
However, the forms, weapons, etc. used in Kung Fu are at variance with the latter forms. It may be inferred that the Tamilian and Chinese systems have independent origins but evolved later by incorporating the same Buddhist principles, and thus came to possess some commonalities. In contrast, Kalaripayattu a Citter practice branched off into different systems such as a Buddhist principle.
Kalaripayattu
In case of martial arts, the relation between the Citter practice of martial arts and China is most likely mutual in nature.
Bodhidharma’s martial arts are taught as movements of inner stillness and ease, expressed as mindful and vigilant actions. No matter whether one is training in a solo form or training with an opponent, the martial arts performance proceeds without losing the inner ease for a moment. A move is never supposed to be the result of mental agitation or fear. At the same time, the peace should never give way into slumber and mental sinking. Thus, one maintains a peaceful, yet vibrantly vigilant awareness all through the martial arts performance. This is also how one is supposed to deal with all aspects of the worldly life in the Way of awakening.
Further, Bodhidharma’s martial arts also have a strong basis on four foundations of mindfulness. The practice of the four foundations of mindfulness that the Buddha taught is about being attentive to the stillness and movement of body, feelings, thoughts and phenomenal appearances. One attends to these with mindfulness, vigilance and ardency, while taking care not to slip into covetousness or hatred with respect to whatever arises. Gaining proficiency in these principles of mindfulness is the key to mastery in these martial arts too.
Though these principles are common to Kung Fu, Kalaripayattu and Silambam, it is rare to find practitioners of these martial arts who bring these principles of inner cultivation into their practice.
Kalaripayattu
Shaolin Kung Fu
Shaolin Kung Fu
As it is obvious, a peaceful martial art form is also one of the ways in which the sitting practice of mindfulness can be extended into a dynamic practice of movement – so as to extend mindfulness and peace into all post-meditation actions. Further, the cultivation of endurance, stability and suppleness, such as through the horse stance of Chinese martial arts, also helps in cultivating the first practice of the entrance to the Way, namely that of ‘accepting suffering’, by not being shaken by difficulties. While taking hardship in the martial arts training leads to the cultivation of strong body and mind, taking hardship in the wisdom training of Buddhism leads to the cultivation of wisdom awareness and the strength not to be fooled by the wrong ways.
Taking that forward, not reacting blindly to the moves of the opponent and not losing control through opponent’s surprise moves, are helpful in cultivating the second practice, namely that of ‘adapting to condition’ and cultivating great evenness. In this way, one can learn how not to succumb to emotional turbulence and keep the lamp of inner wisdom glow steadily.
Silambam – Another form of Martial arts of Tamils probably the oldest
Being a courageous warrior who mindfully performs the right moves without falling into hopes and fears, is also how a warrior enters the Way (of awakening), seeking nothing, and selflessly acting for others. This practice is often compared to a courageous warrior, who dedicates his life to the benefit of other beings without bias, and then does every moment’s action just for that sake – without worrying about protecting self or getting into convoluted plans.
The Healing Touch – Connection with Healing and Medicine
Bodhidharma and other masters like him were also instrumental in forging another deep connection between the Siddhas (Citters) of South India, and the Taoist and Buddhist masters of China. The martial art traditions of these regions also share a common knowledge of the key-points of the body that can be used for both self-defense and healing. Working with these acupressure points is known as Marma-kala or as Varma-kalai. The Chinese have a much more elaborate system of acupressure points that is well preserved even today.
The ancient Citter masters through their mindfulness practice of the body could study the effect in the body produced by various herbs and minerals as well as various emotional states. Thus, they could figure out details about how herbs, meditation and exercise methods can be utilized systematically in maintaining the balance of a healthy body and mind. As a result, they contributed to the development and systematization of one of the oldest medical system – the Citter (Siddha) Medicine.
As masters such as Bodhidharma travelled to China and as Chinese came to India in search of Buddhism, there were also widespread mutual exchanges of their medical knowledge. Particularly, the South Indian Siddha (Citter) medical system and the Chinese medical system came to share many common principles due to these exchanges.
The Citters showed a path beyond religion that showed the original simplicity and perfection of mind and body. The open culture of the Citters paved way for many visionary masters who could again step beyond such religiosity and bring the focus back to the essence of realizing one’s own nature.
Bodhidharma was such a revolutionary master who dispelled religiosity and drove disciples straight into the essence of Buddhism. As an example, of how every walk of life can be turned into a Way of awakening. He showed how even martial arts can be turned into a meaningful and peaceful activity, a wild leap of awakening.