At that time there was the Grand Scribe Yangyan from Qicheng who asked [Bodhidharma]: "In the western country of India you were inherited as a Patriarch; I do not understand the meaning of this, what does this mean?"
[. . .]
[Bodhidharma] answered by means of a gatha:
Not to create dislike when seeing something repulsive;
Not to get whole-heartedly involved when seeing something pleasant;
Not to get close to talent while rejecting ignorance;
Not to complete enlightenment through expelling confusion;
Reaching the Great Way - it surpasses all measures;
Penetrating the Buddha-mind - it exceeds all limits.
Not to walk together neither with commoners nor the sages,
Transcending [all this] is called 'Patriarch'.
The four "Not Zen's" of Bodhidharma are reiterated both in Sengcan's poem and Wumen's admonitions so...anyone who claims that Zen "evolved" from Bodhidharma or that Zen hasn't had a tradition of identifying fraud from the get go is outed as a gravel-munching illiterate.
Since 'Zen Patriarch' is nixed by the old foreigner as being incompatible with someone's religious status, how will you recognize one?
Submitted March 20, 2021 at 07:40AM by ThatKir https://ift.tt/3tEvpdz
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