The Doctrine of No Mind by Bodhidharma (无心论）
This translation has been superseded
The earlier translation previously displayed on this page has been withdrawn to avoid confusion with the newer translation.
Please read The High-Fidelity Transmission of Bodhidharma: A New Translation, which provides the current edition and downloads.
The new edition is a fresh translation from the Chinese sources. This page remains here so that existing links lead readers to the newer edition.
Labels:
Anatta
Zen Patriarch Bodhidharma
Comments
Bodhidharma is talking about Stage 5 here.
Again : Do you comprehend how many lifetimes upon lifetimes( Or how hard) it took for realization to occur? DO YOU ?
again, if im wrong on yr stages and attainment, i still will say yr too rigid as a teacher and not fluid enough ....
When conditions are ripe, conditions are ripe.
I took much longer than Bahiya -- I knew Thusness in 2004 and only realised anatta 6 years later. I already had conceptual understanding of anatta and emptiness in 2006. I can assure you my realizations are non-conceptual and direct. I also know of many who got it even faster than me.
In Mahasatipatthana sutta, the Buddha assured that by practicing according to his four foundations of mindfulness, one will attain either anagami or arahantship as quickly as 7 days and no more than 7 years. The problem is who is truly following his instructions and practicing seriously?
Don't believe those teachers that say you have to practice 20, 30 years, or take many lifetimes. They either don't know what they're talking about, have no skill to guide students, or are being very dogmatic, and frankly is going against what Buddha said in Mahasatipatthana Sutta.
Although Stephen Norquist is only at Stage 4, I agree with him on this:
http://www.spiritualteachers.org/what-is-enlightenment/
...Basically any practice that can shock you into seeing what is really going on is acceptable. But understand, you want to know what’s really going on, to feel it, to contact reality. It shouldn’t take long, a few years at most, less for some. If a practice or a teacher tells you it will take 10 or 20 years, find a new practice or teacher. Remember you are your own salvation, ultimately it is you who will wake you up. Any method that can shock you into seeing what is really going on is acceptable but the perspective shift must occur...
...99.999% of the spiritual books and teachers out there are completely wrong. They are wrong for one simple reason, they are not enlightened, they don’t know what’s going on...
Well, I completely disagree with this. The world lacks a very clear spiritual map. Without a map, we are just talking past each other, you are talking about A when I am talking about B. Just confusion all around.
This blog, me and Thusness, have helped 25+ people reach realization of anatta/emptiness. The results speak for itself -- there is clarity in what we say.
I prefer the clarity of Daniel M. Ingram: https://www.mctb.org/mctb2/table-of-contents/part-v-awakening/37-models-of-the-stages-of-awakening/the-nothing-to-do-and-you-are-already-there-schools/