Bodhidharma

According to the Chinese Chan School, Bodhidharma was the 28th Patriarch of the Indian lineage. During the Southern Dynasties, he traveled across the sea to Guangzhou and was invited to Jinling by Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty. After conversing with the Emperor, Bodhidharma sensed that the time was not ripe to propagate the Dharma. He crossed the river and arrived at Shaolin Monastery in Songshan. There he meditated facing a wall. Those who did not understand his behavior called him the Wall-Gazing Brahmin. This continued for nine years until the arrival of Huike, who grasped his teachings. Thus, Bodhidharma passed the robe of Dharma succession and the Lankavatara Sutra to Huike, saying, “I came here to spread the Dharma and liberate the deluded, a flower with five petals will bloom and bear fruit naturally.” Since then the Chan teachings were transmitted generation after generation, and Bodhidharma became known as the First Patriarch of the Chinese Chan School.