Bodhidharma was an Indian Buddhist master from Tamil Nadu who traveled to China in the 5th century. He was the 28th Indian Ancestor of Buddhism in the lineage of Sakyamuni Buddha, and he was China's First Ancestor of Ch'an. Ch'an is the Chinese forerunner of Japanese Zen Buddhism. Images of Bodhidharma abound here, with him being depicted as an intense, blue-eyed barbarian with a bushy beard and wild eyebrows.
Our tour group went to Kongxiang temple to see Bhodidharma's burial place and to learn more about this important Buddhist founder. Pictured here are tour leaders Andy and Enkyo Roshi with the Abbot of Kongxiang temple in the middle. Behind them is Bhodhidharma's rebuilt stupa.
Everyone on the tour circumambulated the stupa to pay our respects to Bodhidharma. His contributions to Buddhism include looking directly at the nature of mind through deep meditation rather than studying texts or doing good deeds. He taught that only through self-realization could all-at-once enlightenment result.
Pete is posing next to Bhodidharma's eulogy stele. Andy had previously translated it and shared a quote with us that Bhodidharma had "penetrated (the koan) Mu.”
While a luncheon served from big buckets like these may not look very tasty, we found the meal to be fresh and healthy.
Kongxiang has a parent temple, Shaolin, the birthplace of Kung Fu. We toured the impressive temple complex.
Here's a photo of Roshi with a Chinese tourist. Enkyo Roshi is the Abbess of New York City's Village Zendo, and we have enjoyed meditating with her most mornings of the tour.
Shaolin feels a bit like Disneyland. It's swarming with tourists and there are lots of Kung Fu students showing off their moves.
A sub temple of Shaolin had youngsters learning Kung Fu. They were very flexible, and very determined.
We hiked up to Bodhidharma's cave, where he is said to have spent nine years meditating. A story is told that seven years into his hermitage, he got so angry about being sleepy that he tore off his eyelids. Tea plants grew where the eyelids landed in the cave, so that future practitioners would have strong tea to help them stay awake while meditating.
Along the way we saw other pilgrims.
Kristina is pictured in front of the entrance to the cave. We found it moving to know there have been countless Buddhists who have spent time meditating here, and probably even Bodhidharma himself!
The Second Ancestor of Ch'an is Huike. Huike went to Bodhidharma's cave in 528 to ask him to teach him, standing outside in the snow for days until Bodhidharma would speak to him. Bodhidharma told Huike that snow would have to be red before he would agree to teach him. The legend is that Huike cut off his left arm and presented it to Bodhidharma. The intensity of Huike's desire to learn made Bodhidharma consent to be his teacher. Here's a statue of his severed arm.
This is Abbess Hui Kong with Andy, and subsequently with Enkyo Roshi. The Abbess is building a huge temple complex for Huike.
Huike, like his teacher, advocated meditation practice. He wrote in a letter that Buddha nature lies within and therefore it cannot be learned from ceremonies or from worshipping Buddhas. He was executed because his way of teaching Buddhism was in conflict with influential Buddhist priests and the Emperor of the time.
The Buddha Hall is almost finished.
Its enormous interior is spacious and includes impressive Buddha, Bodhisattva and arahant statues.
She shared with us that the building will cost $3.5M, and that the Buddhas are made of thick bronze.
Hui Kong was understandably proud that her nunnery of women practitioners was the one to honor Huike with the new temple complex.
We visited during an Avalokitesvara celebration. It was inspiring to see both Abbesses in front of the female Bodhisattva of Compassion altar.
As we have traveled east in China, the level of air pollution has been increasing. We have been wearing masks to help protect our lungs. Kristina is pictured with our new friend Angus.
The final Ch’an Ancestor we are studying on the tour is Zhaozhou. Born in the late 8th century, he is said to have lived to be 119 years old. This is his rebuilt burial stupa in the temple complex called Cypress Grove.
We spent two days at Cypress Grove. This is the front gate.
We paid our respects to Jing Hui (Pure Wisdom) who died in April.
When Jing Hui came to Cypress Grove in 1988, all that was left of the temple were the ruins of Zhaozhou’s stupa. As the Abbot, Jing Hui rebuilt the whole temple complex. Shown here is the massive Buddha Hall.
We were told that in all the world, only the Japanese Todai temple in Nara is larger.
The Buddha hall houses 10,000 bronze Buddha statues in the red niches along the walls. There are another 3,600 Bodhisattva statues here too.
We attended the afternoon service where we bowed many times to the Buddha. We were glad that the yellow kneeling cushions were padded.
In front of the Buddha hall these twin boys were doing their version of bowing to the Buddha. Notice how their pants are open at the back since the boys are not yet potty trained.
We visited the nearby Zhaozhou bridge that was completed in 605.
It was so well architected that only the handrails have had to be replaced during the last 1,400 years.
The current Abbot at Cypress Grove temple is Ming Hai (Bright Sea). He is a good friend of Andy’s and we were blessed to hear a wonderful Dharma talk by him. He also spent time to answer our questions and to meditate with us.
He invited us to have some tea, reminding us of one of Zhaozhou's famous teachings. Zhaozhou told his monks, both novice and experienced, when they asked for instruction, "Go drink tea." Our interpretation of this koan is that drinking tea and enlightenment are the same type of of ordinary, signless activity. And the caffeine may help you to realize the Way!
Ming Hai arranged for us to hear an erhu virtuoso. The erhu is a two-stringed instrument like a violin. We really enjoyed the music.
He also played this flute that is similar to Japanese shakuhachi. The sound was hauntingly beautiful.
After the performance, we all posed for a group photo.
Andy gave the Abbott a photo of the tour group in front of Zhaozhou’s bridge.
And we ended our visit with the Abbot by eating a delicious hot pot meal together.
We are glad we participated in this Buddhist pilgrimage tour and we've learned a lot that we will continue to reflect upon. Next we travel to Beijing where the tour ends, and we are looking forward to exploring Beijing for a few days on our own.
Our tour group went to Kongxiang temple to see Bhodidharma's burial place and to learn more about this important Buddhist founder. Pictured here are tour leaders Andy and Enkyo Roshi with the Abbot of Kongxiang temple in the middle. Behind them is Bhodhidharma's rebuilt stupa.
Everyone on the tour circumambulated the stupa to pay our respects to Bodhidharma. His contributions to Buddhism include looking directly at the nature of mind through deep meditation rather than studying texts or doing good deeds. He taught that only through self-realization could all-at-once enlightenment result.
Pete is posing next to Bhodidharma's eulogy stele. Andy had previously translated it and shared a quote with us that Bhodidharma had "penetrated (the koan) Mu.”
While a luncheon served from big buckets like these may not look very tasty, we found the meal to be fresh and healthy.
Kongxiang has a parent temple, Shaolin, the birthplace of Kung Fu. We toured the impressive temple complex.
Here's a photo of Roshi with a Chinese tourist. Enkyo Roshi is the Abbess of New York City's Village Zendo, and we have enjoyed meditating with her most mornings of the tour.
Shaolin feels a bit like Disneyland. It's swarming with tourists and there are lots of Kung Fu students showing off their moves.
A sub temple of Shaolin had youngsters learning Kung Fu. They were very flexible, and very determined.
We hiked up to Bodhidharma's cave, where he is said to have spent nine years meditating. A story is told that seven years into his hermitage, he got so angry about being sleepy that he tore off his eyelids. Tea plants grew where the eyelids landed in the cave, so that future practitioners would have strong tea to help them stay awake while meditating.
Along the way we saw other pilgrims.
Kristina is pictured in front of the entrance to the cave. We found it moving to know there have been countless Buddhists who have spent time meditating here, and probably even Bodhidharma himself!
The Second Ancestor of Ch'an is Huike. Huike went to Bodhidharma's cave in 528 to ask him to teach him, standing outside in the snow for days until Bodhidharma would speak to him. Bodhidharma told Huike that snow would have to be red before he would agree to teach him. The legend is that Huike cut off his left arm and presented it to Bodhidharma. The intensity of Huike's desire to learn made Bodhidharma consent to be his teacher. Here's a statue of his severed arm.
This is Abbess Hui Kong with Andy, and subsequently with Enkyo Roshi. The Abbess is building a huge temple complex for Huike.
Huike, like his teacher, advocated meditation practice. He wrote in a letter that Buddha nature lies within and therefore it cannot be learned from ceremonies or from worshipping Buddhas. He was executed because his way of teaching Buddhism was in conflict with influential Buddhist priests and the Emperor of the time.
The Buddha Hall is almost finished.
Its enormous interior is spacious and includes impressive Buddha, Bodhisattva and arahant statues.
She shared with us that the building will cost $3.5M, and that the Buddhas are made of thick bronze.
Hui Kong was understandably proud that her nunnery of women practitioners was the one to honor Huike with the new temple complex.
We visited during an Avalokitesvara celebration. It was inspiring to see both Abbesses in front of the female Bodhisattva of Compassion altar.
As we have traveled east in China, the level of air pollution has been increasing. We have been wearing masks to help protect our lungs. Kristina is pictured with our new friend Angus.
The final Ch’an Ancestor we are studying on the tour is Zhaozhou. Born in the late 8th century, he is said to have lived to be 119 years old. This is his rebuilt burial stupa in the temple complex called Cypress Grove.
We spent two days at Cypress Grove. This is the front gate.
We paid our respects to Jing Hui (Pure Wisdom) who died in April.
When Jing Hui came to Cypress Grove in 1988, all that was left of the temple were the ruins of Zhaozhou’s stupa. As the Abbot, Jing Hui rebuilt the whole temple complex. Shown here is the massive Buddha Hall.
We were told that in all the world, only the Japanese Todai temple in Nara is larger.
The Buddha hall houses 10,000 bronze Buddha statues in the red niches along the walls. There are another 3,600 Bodhisattva statues here too.
We attended the afternoon service where we bowed many times to the Buddha. We were glad that the yellow kneeling cushions were padded.
In front of the Buddha hall these twin boys were doing their version of bowing to the Buddha. Notice how their pants are open at the back since the boys are not yet potty trained.
We visited the nearby Zhaozhou bridge that was completed in 605.
It was so well architected that only the handrails have had to be replaced during the last 1,400 years.
The current Abbot at Cypress Grove temple is Ming Hai (Bright Sea). He is a good friend of Andy’s and we were blessed to hear a wonderful Dharma talk by him. He also spent time to answer our questions and to meditate with us.
He invited us to have some tea, reminding us of one of Zhaozhou's famous teachings. Zhaozhou told his monks, both novice and experienced, when they asked for instruction, "Go drink tea." Our interpretation of this koan is that drinking tea and enlightenment are the same type of of ordinary, signless activity. And the caffeine may help you to realize the Way!
Ming Hai arranged for us to hear an erhu virtuoso. The erhu is a two-stringed instrument like a violin. We really enjoyed the music.
He also played this flute that is similar to Japanese shakuhachi. The sound was hauntingly beautiful.
After the performance, we all posed for a group photo.
Andy gave the Abbott a photo of the tour group in front of Zhaozhou’s bridge.
And we ended our visit with the Abbot by eating a delicious hot pot meal together.
We are glad we participated in this Buddhist pilgrimage tour and we've learned a lot that we will continue to reflect upon. Next we travel to Beijing where the tour ends, and we are looking forward to exploring Beijing for a few days on our own.
