Bodhidharma, the great Indian Ancestor, is credited by the Zen Tradition with having introduced the practice of Serene Reflection Meditation into China some time near the beginning of the sixth century c.e. It is said that after he arrived in South China by sea, he went to the court of the emperor Wu of the Liang dynastic family, where he found great commitment on the part of both the emperor...
Bodhidharma replied, “Although the mind of ignorance has eighty-four thousand passions and cravings which defile it, as well as evils as immeasurable and unbounded as the sands of the Ganges, ultimately all depend on the three poisons and have them as their root and source. All sentient beings throw their bodies and minds into confusion and disorder as a result of the three poisons and through...
Pure meditation opens us so that we may directly realize the Foundation of our minds and dwell content within our own Buddha Nature. This is called ‘displaying our Original Face’. It is also called ‘revealing the landscape of our Original Nature’. The Great Master who was our Third Ancestor called It ‘Mind’, meaning ‘Original Nature’. The Venerable Nagarjuna, as an expedient, called It ‘Body’,...