Master Bodhidharma (போதி தர்மா)

Zen Transmission, from Buddha to Hui Neng Really famous ones are in bold

Shakyamuni Buddha Arya Mahakashyapa Arya AnandaArya Sanakavasa Arya Upagupta Arya Dhrtaka Arya Miccaka Arya Vasumitra Arya Buddhanandi Arya Buddhamitra Arya Parshva Arya Punyayashas Mahasattva Ashvaghosha Arya Kapimala Mahasattva Nagarjuna Arya Kanadeva Arya Rahulata Arya Sanghanandi Arya Gayashata Arya Kumarata Arya Jayata Arya Vasubandhu Arya Manorhita Arya Haklena Arya Aryasimha Arya Basiasita Arya Punyamitra Arya Prajnatara Arya BodhidharmaGreat Master Hui K’o Great Master Seng Ts’an Great Master Tao Hsin Great Master Hung Jen Great Master Hui Neng

Intro
The list of people connecting the Buddha to Master Hui Neng is on the left below.  After Master Hui Neng, Zen diversified into different schools, so each modern school would have, mostly, different names from then onwards.

Here are some of the well known 'keepers of the lamp' up to Daruma (Bodhidharma):

The Buddha (around 500 BC)
Leader of the Buddhist teaching in this historical period (there were other Buddhas before, whose teachings have been lost).  He truly discovered the Truth without reliance on written teachings.

Maha Kasyapa
The Buddha's great follower, who was a considered a great monk, even before he met the Buddha.  Famous for modest living and happy adherence to the precepts, he was the only follower that understood the Buddha's "silent teaching", making him the fist Patriarch of Zen.

Entrance to Bodhidharma's meditation cave

Ananda
The Buddha's attendant.  He was instrumental in allowing women to become monks during the life of the Buddha.

Visitors pay homage at the shrine in the cave

BodhidharmaBodhidharma brought Zen from India to China and lived in the Shaolin Temple that ironically became famous for Kung Fu hundreds of years later.  He was an Indian person so his facial features were quite dramatic, to the Chinese.  Accordingly, he is heavily stylized when depicted.

The statue above is a very standard depiction, while the round, red ball thing on the top right is a unique, Japanese version.  In Japan temples sell wooden versions in this style without eye pupils.  You take it home and paint one pupil in before starting a big task, such as studying for a test.  when the task is successfully completed, you paint the seconds pupil in and return him to the temple.

This is why you are sometimes greeted by hundreds of Daruma Dolls when entering the external shrine of a Japanese temple.  You will also see Daruma when Japanese win and election.  They usually paint the second pupil in at the press conference when they announce their victory.

Bodhidharma's years of meditation in the cave are said to have left his shadow on this rock, removed from the cave and  on display in the Shaolin Temple.

Daruma meets the King
When he arrived in China, Daruma had to meet the King.  The King was well known for spending on Buddhist temples, hospitals, schools and other public works.  He asked Daruma "What merit have I accumulated for all my works?"

Daruma replied "None."

"Ok then, what is the meaning of the Dharma (Buddhist teachings)?"

"Only emptiness, nothing sacred."

"Who stands before me?"

"I don't know."

This became a famous Zen dialogue with many interpretations.  One of the best is: Good works make karma for your wealth, but wisdom is needed if you to are escape Samsara .

In any case the king must have been a great guy, because almost any other king in history would have cut Daruma's head off for being cheeky.

Daruma invigorates the Shaolin TempleNext Daruma travelled north, eventually arriving at the Shaolin Temple.  A popular legend claims he crossed the Yangtze River on a reed to get there.  This is often depicted in images of him including the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) figurine on the left.

At Shaolin he spent nine years meditating while facing a wall.  He took no disciples until one monk cut off his arm to prove his sincerity in relieving his suffering.  This disciple was MasterHui K’o, who became Daruma's successor.

There's an interesting legend that 3 years after Daruma died he met a Chinese official in central Asia.  According to the legend, he told the official he was retuning to India and carrying a single shoe.  The resulting controversy caused the monks to open Daruma's grave where only a single shoe was found.  Whatever the actual facts are, this led to yet another popular depiction of Daruma as travelling with a single show in toe, as in the Qing Dynasty figure on the right.

Today, at Bodhidharma's Temple at the foot of the Mt Song, nuns tend the vegetable garden.
You have to think it couldn't have looked very different 1500 years ago.