Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma

Zen Buddhism founder in China.

A Buddhist monk credited with transmitting Chan Buddhism to China, which later evolved into Zen Buddhism. He is also known for his contributions to the development of martial arts. Bodhidharma’s teachings focused on direct experience of truth through meditation and personal insight, bypassing doctrinal teachings. His influence on Chinese Buddhism and the Zen tradition continues to shape meditation practices and philosophical thought in East Asia.

Bodhidharma Quotes about Reality

AllMind(24)Nature(14)Awareness(8)Death(8)People(7)Karma(6)Body(6)Reality(6)Life(5)Practice(5)World(5)Evil(4)Understanding(4)Freedom(3)Hell(3)Enlightenment(3)Truth(3)
  • Not thinking about anything is zen. Once you know this, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, everything you do is zen. To know that the mind is empty is to see the buddha.... Using the mind to reality is delusion. Not using the mind to look for reality is awareness. Freeing oneself from words is liberation.
    Bodhidharma
    18
  • If you use your mind to study reality, you won't understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind, you'll understand both.
    Bodhidharma
    13
  • When you don't understand, you depend on reality. When you do understand, reality depends on you.
    Bodhidharma
    13
  • If you use your mind to study reality, you won't understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind, you'll understand both. . . . The mind and the world are opposites, and vision arises where they meet. When your mind doesn't stir inside, the world doesn't arise outside. When the world and the mind are both transparent, this is true vision. And such understanding is true understanding.
    Bodhidharma
    12
  • Reality has no inside, outside, or middle part.
    Bodhidharma
    8
  • One clings to life although there is nothing to be called life; another clings to death although there is nothing to be called death. In reality, there is nothing to be born; consequently, there is nothing to perish.
    Bodhidharma
    3