Skip to content
The ConsciousLibrary

Library Bodhidharma

Treatise on the Two Entrances and the Four Practices — Bodhidharma

Recorded oral teaching · Essential works

Treatise on the Two Entrances and the Four Practices

二入四行論 (菩提達磨大師略辨大乘入道四行觀)

Huike ofrece su brazo a Bodhidharma, de Sesshū Tōyō (1496)
byBodhidharma

A short teaching that sums up the path in two 'entrances': entrance by principle (理入), which consists in deep faith that all beings share one true nature, hidden by the dust of thoughts, and in 'abiding firmly in wall contemplation'; and entrance by practice (行入), unfolded in four practices: accepting suffering as the fruit of past deeds, adapting to circumstances, seeking nothing, and acting in accord with the Dharma. It is the core of what can be attributed to Bodhidharma with any plausibility.

Buy the book

amazon.com · Link to the store.

Read the full textEditions and translations · 3

EnglishEspañol

Authorship note

The only work with any possibility of authenticity. It survives with a preface by his disciple Tanlin and is reproduced almost verbatim by Daoxuan in his biography of 645; Dunhuang manuscripts transmit it at the head of a larger compilation. In any case it is an oral teaching recorded by disciples, not something Bodhidharma wrote.

Editions and translations

Editions in your language first, without hiding the others. Each with its cover and its store.

English

  • The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen — Bodhidharma

    The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen

    University of California Press, 1999

    Translation: Jeffrey L. Broughton

    ISBN 9780520219724

    Traducción del tratado con el prefacio de Tanlin y del «Rollo largo» de Dunhuang.

    Buy the book · Amazon (amazon.com)
  • The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma («Outline of Practice») — Bodhidharma

    The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma («Outline of Practice»)

    North Point Press, 1989

    Translation: Red Pine (Bill Porter)

    ISBN 9780865473997

    Edición bilingüe con los sermones atribuidos.

    Buy the book · Amazon (amazon.com)

Español

  • Antología del Bodhidharma — Bodhidharma

    Antología del Bodhidharma

    Kier, 2003

    ISBN 9789501710304

    Versión española de la antología de Broughton.

Other works by Bodhidharma

Sources

  • Tanlin (atrib.). Prefacio al «Tratado de las dos entradas y las cuatro prácticas» (菩提達磨大師略辨大乘入道四行觀), según el Xinzuan Xu zangjing. Texto chino en Wikisource.

Affiliate link: if you buy through it, the library may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. When an edition's real cover is not available, we show an illustrative library cover.