The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen

I am only about a quarter of the way through this book and so far its really full on, one of those really good Chan books that takes your breath away, not for the beginner. This is no modern Zen book, it goes right to the heart of the matter (Mind) so beware! If your interested Chan Buddhism and Bodhidharma and the early Chan Buddhism its really worth a read. I think its a great accompaniment to Red Pines translation of Bodhidharma teachings so read that as well alongside or before this. I would highly recommend this book, probably the best Chan book I have read since John Blofelds Transmission of the Mind /Huang Po and that's saying something...

Currently, there exists only two book-length English language translations of Bodhidharma's teachings: The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma translated by Red Pine (see my review on Amazon) and Broughton's The Bodhidharma Anthology. I would recommend the former for those who wish to go directly to the core of Bodhidharma's teaching unencumbered by expanded commentaries, copious notes, footnotes, citations, and appendices. Those readers who are interested in the lineage and history of the material may not be daunted by Broughton's densely written scholastic approach, or find the effort worth the struggle.Broughton relies heavily on codicology and chronological stratification to support the authenticity of the retrieved T'ang Dynasty (618-907 C.E.) source material and numerous texts attributed to Bodhidharma. The codicological criteria include: analysis of paper used in the original copies, manuscript forms, handwriting, and recto texts. Not everyone who might be interested in exploring the teaching will demand such academic rigor.Nevertheless, both volumes are valuable for understanding Zen (C'han) as taught by Bodhidarma, the first Zen Patriarch in China. The reader who wants a comprehensive, detailed examination of the teaching will be satisfied with Broughton's translation. Those looking for a concise introduction will be better served by Red Pine, at least initially.And a sidebar: Although the monks of Shaolin Monastery claimed, centuries after his death, that Bodhidharma was the founder of the martial art Kung-fu, there is no such evidence to be found in the early records. Rather, the records indicate that the Shaolin Abbot banished him from the monastery for his critical evaluation of the monks and he lived in a cave about a mile away where he practiced a type of meditation metaphorically referred to as "wall gazing." While some of the resident monks may have approached him to learn this meditation, one may wonder if the monastery misappropriated or co-opted his name in order to elevate the status of their previously established martial arts tradition. This may have also served as a rationale for circumventing the Buddhist prohibition against violence. Self-serving myth? For further elaboration see The Shaolin Monastery: History, Religion and the Chinese Martial Arts and/or The Shaolin Grandmasters' Text (both available on Amazon).

I do appreciate Broughton's description of the texts related to Bodhidharma from the Dunghuang library, and if he'd stuck to that he would have been fine. But when he goes into analysis of What They Mean he reveals an embarrassing ignorance of Buddhism and comes to some weird conclusions.

Greaaat service! Thank you, I'm impressed!

I live in the Buddhist hell of Too Many Zen Books. This nicely accompanies all my other ones, and clearly stands out in its own right.