BODHIDHARMA'S TEACHINGS :
[h=3]The
Laá¹…kÄvatÄra SÅ«tra[/h] The Lankavatara Sutra
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lankavatara_Sutra, one of the Mahayana Buddhist sutra's
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutra, is a highly "difficult and obscure" text[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-37[/SUP] whose basic thrust is to emphasize "the inner enlightemment that does away with all duality and is raised above all distinctions".[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-38[/SUP] It is among the first and most important texts in the Yogacara, or "Conciousness-only
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consciousness-only", school of MahÄyÄna Buddhism.[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-39[/SUP]
One of the recurrent emphases in the
Laá¹…kÄvatÄra SÅ«tra is a lack of reliance on words to effectively express reality:
If, Mahamati, you say that because of the reality of words the objects are, this talk lacks in sense. Words are not known in all the Buddha-lands; words, Mahamati, are an artificial creation. In some Buddha-lands ideas are indicated by looking steadily, in others by gestures, in still others by a frown, by the movement of the eyes, by laughing, by yawning, or by the clearing of the throat, or by recollection, or by trembling.[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-40[/SUP]
In contrast to the ineffectiveness of words, the sūtra instead stresses the importance of the "self-realization" that is "attained by noble wisdom"[SUP]
[/SUP]and occurs "when one has an insight into reality as it is":[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-42[/SUP] "The truth is the state of self-realization and is beyond categories of discrimination".[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-43[/SUP] The sūtra goes on to outline the ultimate effects of an experience of self-realization:
[The Bodhisatvva] will become thoroughly conversant with the noble truth of self-realization, will become a perfect master of his own mind, will conduct himself without effort, will be like a gem reflecting a variety of colours, will be able to assume the body of transformation, will be able to enter into the subtle minds of all beings, and, because of his firm belief in the truth of Mind-only, will, by gradually ascending the stages, become established in Buddhahood.[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-44[/SUP]
One of the fundamental Chán texts attributed to Bodhidharma is a four-line stanza whose first two verses echo the
Laá¹…kÄvatÄra SÅ«tra's disdain for words and whose second two verses stress the importance of the insight into reality achieved through "self-realization":
The stanza, in fact, is not Bodhidharma's, but rather dates to the year 1108.[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-46[/SUP] Nonetheless, there are earlier texts which explicitly associate Bodhidharma with the
Laá¹…kÄvatÄra SÅ«tra. Daoxuan, for example, in a late recension of his biography of Bodhidharma's successor Huike, has the sÅ«tra as a basic and important element of the teachings passed down by Bodhidharma:
In the beginning Dhyana Master Bodhidharma took the four-roll
Laá¹…kÄ SÅ«tra, handed it over to Huike, and said: "When I examine the land of China, it is clear that there is only this sutra. If you rely on it to practice, you will be able to cross over the world."[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-47[/SUP]
Another early text, the
Record of the Masters and Disciples of the Laá¹…kÄvatÄra SÅ«tra (楞伽師資記
Léngqié shÄ«zÄ« jì) of Jìngjué (淨覺; 683–750), also mentions Bodhidharma in relation to this text. Jingjue's account also makes explicit mention of "sitting meditation", or zazen:[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-48[/SUP]
For all those who sat in meditation, Master Bodhi[dharma] also offered expositions of the main portions of the
Laá¹…kÄvatÄra SÅ«tra, which are collected in a volume of twelve or thirteen pages, bearing the title of
Teaching of [Bodhi-]Dharma.[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-50[/SUP]
In other early texts, the school that would later become known as Chán is sometimes referred to as the "Laá¹…kÄvatÄra school" (楞伽宗
Léngqié zÅng).[SUP]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodhidharma#cite_note-51[/SUP]