What did Bodhidharma realize after nine years of facing the wall?
Dharma faced the wall for nine years and realized the Eastern Zen Buddhism.
In the third year of Xiaochang in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Bodhidharma arrived at the Shaolin Temple. After Bodhidharma arrived at the Shaolin Temple, he faced the wall of a natural stone cave on the upper part of the middle peak of Wuru Peak at the western foot of Songshan Mountain, not far from the top. nine years.
He was in this cave, facing the stone wall, sitting there upright, with his legs bent, his hands making Amitabha seals, his eyes looking down, and his five hearts facing the sky in concentration. After attaining concentration, he stood up, did some walking activities, and exercised his body. After recovering from fatigue, he sat in meditation again. In this way, I practiced zazen for nine years.
In the end, I realized a Buddhist teaching that could be accepted by people in the Central Plains: Eastern Zen Buddhism, which means that Zen Buddhism does not need words to explain it. As long as you understand your own mind, you can achieve enlightenment and become a Buddha. Therefore, even if some masters do not know a single word, it does not prevent them from becoming masters.
Extended information:
Among the many writings that have been passed down as Bodhidharma's theory since ancient times, only the "Two Entrances and Four Elements Theory" seems to be the true thought of Bodhidharma. The "Biography of Bodhidharma" in Jingjue of the Tang Dynasty's "Lengjia Teacher Zi Ji" contains: "A brief analysis of the four elements of the Mahayana path", which was recorded and spread by Tan Lin, a disciple of Bodhidharma.
According to Tan Lin's preface, he compiled Bodhidharma's words and deeds into one volume, called "Dharma Treatise"; and Bodhidharma wrote "Essentials of Shilangga" for the zazen group, also called "Dharma Theory". These two essays were both theoretically sound and very popular at that time.
There are also "Monk Bodhidharma's Jue Guan Lun" unearthed in Dunhuang, "Sha Bodhi Bodhi Dharma's Unintentional Lun", "South Tianzhu Bodhi Bodhi Dharma Zen Master's Contemplation" (a "Mahayana Dharma"), etc. , as well as the first and second volumes of "The Essentials of Zen Buddhism" engraved by Beomyu Temple in North Korea, and the essays on Bodhidharma collected in the "Shaoshi Yishu" published by Suzuki Daizhuo in Japan. The contents of these writings are roughly the same.