The End of the Bodhidharma Story

So the happy ending to the Bodhidharma story is that after Eka presented himself and made his sacrifice, Bodhidharma accepted him as his first student, eventually passing the dharma on to China and hence to Japan and to the rest of the world. Bodhidharma took on more students, including the monks Daofu and Daoyu and the nun Zongchi, and eventually even came to run his own temple.

One day, Bodhidharma called his students together and asked them to each express their own understanding.

Daufu said, "My present view is that we should neither be attached to letters nor be apart from letters, and to allow the Way to flow freely."

An outstanding answer, one free from one-sided, dualistic views. Avoiding the gutters, he navigated right down the middle of the road. Bodhidharma replied, "You have attained my flesh."

Zongchi stepped forward and said, "My view is that is is like the joy of seeing the Buddha Land just once and not again."

Only an adept can speak like this; she was, after all, a lioness' cub. Pleased with her response, Bodhidharma said, "You have attained my sinew."

Daoyu took his answer to an even higher level, saying, "The four great elements are originally empty and the five aggregates of being do not exist. Therefore, I see nothing to be attained."

Everyone was blown away. Deaf, dumb, and blind, Daoyu stumbled right into the truth of the matter. Bodhidharma replied, "You have attained by very bones."

But Eka, well, he stepped forward and silently made a full bow, stood back up, and returned to where he was. Proceeding down Bodhidharma's own road, he had walked right into the old man's belly.

Bodhidharma said, "You have attained my marrow," and made him his successor.

His life work now completed, Bodhidharma made no attempt to resist an attempt by a jealous rival teacher to poison him. He is said to have passed away sitting in an upright position.

Three years later, a monk named Song Yun, who was on an official mission to the West, saw an old man without a coat walking alone across the Himalaya, carrying one sandal in his hand. Song Yun asked the old man where he was going, and the old man replied, "To India." When Song Yun returned to China, he told this story to the new emperor. On a hunch, the new emperor ordered Bodhidharma's tomb opened, and his body was discovered to be missing. The only thing that remained in the tomb was a single sandal.