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Outline of practice
Of the texts ascribed to Bodhidharma, one—the Outline of Practice—is considered the most likely to be authentic. In it Bodhidharma describes two paths to enlightenment, by principle and by practice. For entry through practice he taught four aspects: patient acceptance, equanimity, determination and insight—all classic Mahayana qualities.
The Two Entrances and the Four Practices
The noble enter the Way by many paths, but essentially there are but two of which I speak. One is by principle and one is by practice. Those who enter by principle avail themselves to the teaching of the enlightened doctrine that all beings possess the same true nature, though it is obscured and not apparent due to worldly attachments and delusion. If one forsakes delusion and returns to the true, fixing one's gaze on a wall and forsaking thoughts of self and other, sacred and profane, and so on, then, by not moving and not chasing after scriptures or teachings, one is in accord with principle. [When one undertakes] silent, non-discriminating non-action it is called entering the Way through principle. . . .
Entering by practice entails four essential practices that. encompass all others. What four types of practice are these? The first is enduring the results of past actions. The second is the practice of acting according to conditions. The third practice is seeking nothing, and the fourth is known as practicing the Dharma.
In his teaching on entry through practice we find Bodhidharma addressing practices to be cultivated in daily life, as relevant today as they were a millennium and a half ago.
As John Wu observed:
This discourse is a gem of spiritual literature.
It shows that the author was in the grand tradition of Buddhist writers
. . . . But, profound as it is as a piece of spiritual literature,
it is certainly not Zen at its most characteristic. We have here nothing
of the breathtaking abruptness, the blinding flashes, the deafening
shouts, the shocking outbursts, the mystifying koans, the rocket-like
soarings beyond the sphere of reason, the tantalizing humor and whimsicality,
the unaccountable beatings, which were to fill the pages of Zen literature
as such. ![]()
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