Traditional attribution · Essential works
The Bloodstream Sermon (Xuemai lun)
達磨大師血脈論
A question-and-answer dialogue that opens by stating that buddhas are transmitted 'from mind to mind, without relying on written words' and holds that seeking the buddha outside one's own nature is useless: 'whoever wishes to see the buddha must see his nature'. It already sets out the mature Chan doctrine of sudden awakening and the critique of external practices.
Authorship note
A late attribution: the text does not appear in the sixth- and seventh-century sources, and scholarship (Faure, McRae, Broughton) regards it as the work of later Chan authors who used the patriarch's name to lend it authority. Its vocabulary is that of ninth- and tenth-century Chan; it was circulating by 1153, the date of Ren Zhe's preface.
Editions and translations
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English
The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma («Bloodstream Sermon»)
North Point Press, 1989
Translation: Red Pine (Bill Porter)
ISBN 9780865473997
Other works by Bodhidharma
- Treatise on the Two Entrances and the Four Practices
- The 'Long Scroll': Dunhuang Compilation around the Two Entrances · 700
- The Wake-up Sermon (Wuxing lun) · 1100
- The Breakthrough Sermon (Poxiang lun) · 700
- The Dharma Gate of Pacifying the Mind (Anxin famen)
- Verses on the Heart Sūtra (Xinjing song)
- The Six Gates of Shaoshi (Shaoshi liumen)
- Sinew-Changing Classic (Yijin jing) · 1624
- Marrow-Washing Classic (Xisui jing) · 1650
Sources
- Ren Zhe. Prefacio al «Sermón de la línea de sangre» (達磨血脈論序), fechado en 1153 (紹興癸酉). Texto chino en Wikisource.
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