The Chinese emperor Wu came to receive Bodhidharma; his fame had reached before him. But the emperor could not understand the ways of Zen.
The emperor Wu had come from far away, from his capital to the border of China, to receive Bodhidharma. He was shocked at what he saw, because Bodhidharma was carrying one shoe on his head and one shoe was on his foot.
The emperor was a very sophisticated man; he had a great court of very cultured people. This kind of behaviour... but just because of his sophistication and culture he could not say anything about it. He was not yet even introduced. He avoided seeing the shoe sitting on Bodhidharma’s head.
The emperor asked – because he was the man who had made thousands of Buddha statues in China, had brought one thousand scholars from India to translate in combination with Chinese scholars all the Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. He had done much and converted the whole country into a land of Buddha. Obviously the monks used to say to him, ”You have accumulated too much virtue. All these virtuous acts... immense is going to be your reward in the other world.” So he asked Bodhidharma, ”I have done all these things; what is going to be my reward?”
Bodhidharma said, ”You idiot! You will fall directly into hell. You are asking for a reward? The very idea of reward is of greed. The very idea of achieving something is not a reflection of your wisdom.”
The emperor was shocked, his court was shocked – but how to get away now? This man is not the right man to bring into the country. Still he asked another question, did not take any note of the insulting language that Bodhidharma had used. He said, ”Your Holiness...” and he could not complete his sentence.
Bodhidharma said, ”There is nothing holy, nothing unholy. All is empty, just pure nothingness. These divisions of the mind, the sacred and the profane, the holy and the unholy, the saint and the sinner, do not exist as you enter into deeper meditations. All divisions disappear. So don’t call me ‘your holiness’; I have left behind that kind of childish language of being holy, of being unholy. Be straightforward.”
The king said, ”My mind continuously remains cluttered with thoughts. I have been reading the Buddhist scriptures, and they all say that unless you are thoughtless and yet perfectly aware you will not find the truth.”
Bodhidharma said unexpectedly – he was a very unexpected man, you could not have predicted his behavior – he said, ”If that is the problem, come early in the morning. I am not entering China, I am going to live outside in this small temple. You can come early in the morning, at three o’clock. But come alone – no courtiers, no guards, no arms. Just come alone, and I will put all your thoughts aside from your mind. I will bring silence to your mind.”
The emperor was very much afraid. This man seems to be almost insane. The whole night he could not sleep, was hanging between whether to go or not to go, alone and that man is so mad, keeping one shoe on his head, calling me ‘idiot,’ and he has a big staff and he has told me not to bring any arms. He can do anything: he may hit me, he may throw a rock” – he thought all kinds of things.
But by the time of going he felt a great pull: ”Whatever he said, however he behaved, he has a tremendous presence and a great magnetic pull. I will risk it.”
He went to the temple, and Bodhidharma was waiting for him. Bodhidharma said, ”It is a very simple matter. You just sit here and I am sitting in front of you. You see my staff – if I feel that some thought is stubborn and is not leaving you, I will hit your head. Your work is only to watch your thoughts without any judgment. Just be a witness.”
The emperor thought, ”Perhaps I have taken a wrong step. This man can hit any moment, because my mind is full of thoughts. But let us try, now that I have come. It will look very cowardly to go away.” So he sat before Bodhidharma, just watching his thoughts.
The watching of the thoughts implies no judgment, no appreciation, no identification. Just watch as you watch the crowd passing on the road, or you watch the clouds moving in the sky – with no judgment. Your mind is only a screen. A few clouds are moving; you simply watch. You are the watcher, and everything else in the world is the watched.
As the morning sun was rising the whole aura of the emperor changed. Just within two hours there was no thought left. Witnessing is such a fire, the only fire that can bring you to your truth, that can burn all your falsity, all your phoniness. Bodhidharma saw the changing face, a new grace arising. He shook the emperor and asked him, ”Is there any thought anymore?”
The emperor fell at his feet and told him, ”You certainly did it! I pray you, don’t leave China. All those scholars and monks and priests are simply parrots. They go on talking about witnessing and watching, but you have given me the experience. Without teaching me about witnessing you have simply made me a witness. I don’t need anything anymore.”
The moment you find your witness, you have found your ultimate eternal being. That is your purest consciousness. That makes you a buddha, and it is everybody’s potential.
- Osho
http://www.osho.com/library/online-library-bodhidharma-maulingaputta-years-6452f5c7-4b6.aspx
The emperor Wu had come from far away, from his capital to the border of China, to receive Bodhidharma. He was shocked at what he saw, because Bodhidharma was carrying one shoe on his head and one shoe was on his foot.
The emperor was a very sophisticated man; he had a great court of very cultured people. This kind of behaviour... but just because of his sophistication and culture he could not say anything about it. He was not yet even introduced. He avoided seeing the shoe sitting on Bodhidharma’s head.
The emperor asked – because he was the man who had made thousands of Buddha statues in China, had brought one thousand scholars from India to translate in combination with Chinese scholars all the Buddhist scriptures into Chinese. He had done much and converted the whole country into a land of Buddha. Obviously the monks used to say to him, ”You have accumulated too much virtue. All these virtuous acts... immense is going to be your reward in the other world.” So he asked Bodhidharma, ”I have done all these things; what is going to be my reward?”
Bodhidharma said, ”You idiot! You will fall directly into hell. You are asking for a reward? The very idea of reward is of greed. The very idea of achieving something is not a reflection of your wisdom.”
The emperor was shocked, his court was shocked – but how to get away now? This man is not the right man to bring into the country. Still he asked another question, did not take any note of the insulting language that Bodhidharma had used. He said, ”Your Holiness...” and he could not complete his sentence.
Bodhidharma said, ”There is nothing holy, nothing unholy. All is empty, just pure nothingness. These divisions of the mind, the sacred and the profane, the holy and the unholy, the saint and the sinner, do not exist as you enter into deeper meditations. All divisions disappear. So don’t call me ‘your holiness’; I have left behind that kind of childish language of being holy, of being unholy. Be straightforward.”
The king said, ”My mind continuously remains cluttered with thoughts. I have been reading the Buddhist scriptures, and they all say that unless you are thoughtless and yet perfectly aware you will not find the truth.”
Bodhidharma said unexpectedly – he was a very unexpected man, you could not have predicted his behavior – he said, ”If that is the problem, come early in the morning. I am not entering China, I am going to live outside in this small temple. You can come early in the morning, at three o’clock. But come alone – no courtiers, no guards, no arms. Just come alone, and I will put all your thoughts aside from your mind. I will bring silence to your mind.”
The emperor was very much afraid. This man seems to be almost insane. The whole night he could not sleep, was hanging between whether to go or not to go, alone and that man is so mad, keeping one shoe on his head, calling me ‘idiot,’ and he has a big staff and he has told me not to bring any arms. He can do anything: he may hit me, he may throw a rock” – he thought all kinds of things.
But by the time of going he felt a great pull: ”Whatever he said, however he behaved, he has a tremendous presence and a great magnetic pull. I will risk it.”
He went to the temple, and Bodhidharma was waiting for him. Bodhidharma said, ”It is a very simple matter. You just sit here and I am sitting in front of you. You see my staff – if I feel that some thought is stubborn and is not leaving you, I will hit your head. Your work is only to watch your thoughts without any judgment. Just be a witness.”
The emperor thought, ”Perhaps I have taken a wrong step. This man can hit any moment, because my mind is full of thoughts. But let us try, now that I have come. It will look very cowardly to go away.” So he sat before Bodhidharma, just watching his thoughts.
The watching of the thoughts implies no judgment, no appreciation, no identification. Just watch as you watch the crowd passing on the road, or you watch the clouds moving in the sky – with no judgment. Your mind is only a screen. A few clouds are moving; you simply watch. You are the watcher, and everything else in the world is the watched.
As the morning sun was rising the whole aura of the emperor changed. Just within two hours there was no thought left. Witnessing is such a fire, the only fire that can bring you to your truth, that can burn all your falsity, all your phoniness. Bodhidharma saw the changing face, a new grace arising. He shook the emperor and asked him, ”Is there any thought anymore?”
The emperor fell at his feet and told him, ”You certainly did it! I pray you, don’t leave China. All those scholars and monks and priests are simply parrots. They go on talking about witnessing and watching, but you have given me the experience. Without teaching me about witnessing you have simply made me a witness. I don’t need anything anymore.”
The moment you find your witness, you have found your ultimate eternal being. That is your purest consciousness. That makes you a buddha, and it is everybody’s potential.
- Osho
http://www.osho.com/library/online-library-bodhidharma-maulingaputta-years-6452f5c7-4b6.aspx
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