Bodhidharma

By Victor M Fontane

Emperor Liang Wu Di asked Bodhidharma:

“Are you a mortal or a saint?”

The Patriarch replied: “Empty, not a saint.”

Explanation: What is “empty, not a saint”?

1. “Empty”

It is a state of emptiness, silence, no attachment, as vast as space, without form, without trace, not clinging to anything.

2. “Not a saint”

It is the negation of the distinction between mortal and saint, not stuck in duality.

Because:

If you still see “I am a saint”, then you have not yet left the subtle ego.

Why did the Patriarch answer like that?

Because he came from the True Nature, where there is neither mortal nor saint, there is nothing to attain.

It is in that “nothing to attain” that the Way appears completely like the moonlight shining on a lake, no one lights it up, no one extinguishes it.

The king asked with a discriminating mind,

The Patriarch answered with a non-discriminating knowing nature.

 Conclusion:

"What is that" is still wanting to attach a name, a single thought of saint and profane is already falling into egoism.

Only those who touch the true nature of emptiness,

Will dare to say: "Empty, not holy”