Bodhidharma

The name Bodhidharma is a Sanskrit compound. "Bodhi" signifies awakening or enlightenment, while "Dharma" refers to the Buddha's teachings or cosmic order. The name translates to "awakening of the Dharma." It first appeared in textual traditions associated with Mahayana Buddhism.

Wisdom-religion; or tlie wisdom contained in Dharma (ethics). Also the name of a great Arhat Kshatriya (one of the warrior-caste), the son of a king. It was Panyatara, his guru, who "gave him the name Bodhidliarma to mark his understanding (bodhi) of the Law (dharma) of Buddha". [Chin. San. Diet.). Bodhidharma, who flourished in tlie sixth century, travelled to China, whereto he brought a precious relic, namely, the almsbowl of the Lord Buddha.

The figure of Bodhidharma, a prince turned ascetic, embodies a profound transmission of spiritual wisdom, a journey from earthly dominion to the boundless expanse of inner awareness. His voyage from India to China, a crossing of both geographical and cultural divides, mirrors the perennial quest for understanding that transcends borders. Blavatsky's definition, while referencing his historical journey and the symbolic almsbowl, hints at a deeper significance: the "wisdom-religion" contained within "Dharma." This suggests that the true teachings are not merely codified doctrines but an experiential understanding, a "bodhi" of the cosmic order.

Mircea Eliade, in his exploration of shamanism and archaic techniques of ecstasy, often highlighted the transformative power of such journeys, both physical and spiritual. Bodhidharma's arrival in China, bringing not sutras but a direct method of practice, aligns with this understanding of spiritual transmission as a catalyst for inner change. His emphasis on "mind-to-mind transmission" and the direct pointing to the human mind, as D.T. Suzuki so eloquently articulated, bypasses the conceptual scaffolding that can obscure direct experience. This approach challenges the modern tendency to seek answers solely in external sources, urging a turning inward. The almsbowl, a symbol of humility and dependence, becomes a vessel for the profound realization that true sustenance comes from within, a lesson as relevant today as it was in the sixth century. His story invites us to consider what we carry and what we leave behind in our own spiritual sojourns.

RELATED_TERMS: Zen Buddhism, Chan Buddhism, Meditation, Enlightenment, Mind-to-mind transmission, Koan, Prajna, Samsara