To recap (i.e., the story so far): Bodhidharma, the crown prince of Koshi, leaves his home and takes a treacherous, 3-year sea voyage, arriving in Liang-dynasty China on August 3, 527. He meets Emperor Wu, who turns out to be a devout but egotistical patron of Buddhism, and answers the Emperor's question, "Who are you?" by saying, "I don't know."

What other answer could he have given? To say that he was the third son of the King of Koshi would have been a relative answer, but would have still missed the mark. It would only have addressed who he was in relation to others - in this case, his father - but it still wouldn't have answered the absolute question of who he was. To have said that he was the 28th Patriarch of Buddhism bringing the authentic Buddha-dharma to China would have described his function, his role, but not his true nature.

Having awakened to his true nature, Bodhidharma understood that he, like everything else in the Universe, not only had, but was, buddha-nature. That is to say, he was not separate or apart from everything else, and like everything else he was part of a field of infinite potential, the potential to be Buddha. As I discussed last month, this infinite field of potential that composes all of the Universe is beyond comprehension, in that any conception of it is in itself but a part of the infinite field. So his "I don't know" wasn't a statement of ignorance, it was an expression of wisdom, a direct pointing to the incomprehensible. It was, in short, the best possible answer to the Emperor's question. He nailed it.

But the Emperor did not understand and Bodhidharma was lucky to get out of there alive. By telling the Emperor that all of his good deeds has accrued no merit, and by not answering the "Who are you?" question in a way that the Emperor could understand, his life was quite literally in jeopardy.

Even though Emperor Wu had outlawed capital punishments, old habits of the palace guards are hard to break. There is a story about the Emperor receiving a visit from the Kowtow Monk while he was involved in a game of Go. The Emperor was so excited about a strategic advantage he had just seized in the game that he yelled out the word "Kill!" All of a sudden, the guards rushed into the palace, seized the Kowtow Monk and executed him outside the palace gate. Unfortunately, the Emperor was so absorbed in the game that he didn't even realize what had just transpired. After the game, he remembered the monk and summoned him. The Emperor's guards reported to him that the monk had been executed per his order, and the Emperor was deeply regretful.

On the other hand, the Kowtow Monk didn't know why he was executed, and thought that it was the judgement for killing an earthworm when he was young.

Bodhidharma was more fortunate than the Kowtow Monk and managed to leave the palace without a fatal exclamation from the Emperor. He traveled north along the Yangtze River and left the land of the Liang dynasty, arriving at Rakuyō in the land of the Wei dynasty. There, he accepted the makeshift accommodations of Shōrinji Temple on Sūzan Mountain, found a cave, and sat in meditation facing the wall for the next nine years.

There are many who misunderstand those years. Some think that he was training himself for some higher purpose, others think that he was chastising himself for not saving the Emperor. Such people do not understand that practice is itself enlightenment, and that to be sitting in mediation is the natural state of an enlightened being. Unless there's something else that needs to be done, the natural repose is to be in zazen, and since there was nothing else Bodhidharma had to offer China, he just sat (shikantaza) for the next nine years.

The effort and steadfastness of his sitting is the stuff of legends. It has been said that he fell asleep only after seven years of continuous sitting, and was so disappointed with himself that he cut off his eyelids to stay awake. Where his discarded eyelids fell on the ground outside of the cave, there arose the first tea plant in China, which is why tea to this day keeps us awake. As I said, the stuff of legends.

Bodhidharma sat in the cave facing the wall for nine straight years, season after season, and would have continued to sit if nothing else came along for him to do. Eventually, the next thing did come along, but that will be discussed here at a later date.