Through conversations with literati and Buddhist scholars along the way, he gradually learned about Buddhist philosophy. He felt that only Buddhism paid attention to human suffering and to freeing all living beings from their misery.

He went to Hsiang Shan Temple (香山寺) in Lung Men (龍門), Henan Province (河南), and was led to see Master Pao Ching (寶靜). Hui Ke informed the monk of his background and his own desire to become a monk. Delighted to learn that a young man like this had the noble goal of engaging in spiritual cultivation, Pao Ching agreed to take him in as a novice at the temple.

Hui Ke spent much time studying the sutras (the Buddhist scriptures) and memorizing all kinds of precepts (the rules and regulations that Buddhist monks and nuns live by). After two years, he was officially ordained as a monk. He finished studying all the sutras in the temple within a few years. Impressed with Hui Ke's diligence and progress, Master Pao Ching advised him to study in Luoyang (洛陽), about 17 miles from the temple. Luoyang at that time was the center of politics, economy, culture, and Buddhism.

Hui Ke spent three years at the White Horse Temple (白馬寺), built in 75 a.d., in Luoyang. The temple was famed as the oldest Buddhist temple in China and was one of the major Buddhist learning centers in town. Afterwards, he spent another two years traveling around China to study with other monks and to gain more personal experiences.

Bodhidharma

Hui Ke returned to Hsiang Shan Temple and continued his studies of the sutras he had collected. One day his master told him about an Indian monk named Bodhidharma (菩提達摩, please see his story in our Winter 1999 issue) who had made the long journey from India to propagate Ch'an Buddhism in China.

Upon hearing this, Hui Ke suddenly felt that this Indian monk was the one he should follow. That night while Hui Ke was asleep, a voice suddenly thundered in his head: "Why are you still here? If you want to obtain the ultimate wisdom of the Buddha, you must go south!"

Startled, Hui Ke woke up from his sleep, but the voice had disappeared. The next morning, such great pain shot through his head that large beads of perspiration rolled down from his forehead. He could not get out of bed at all. When Pao Ching came to see him, he was surprised to notice that five little bumps had appeared on top of Hui Ke's head. The room was suddenly filled with red light and Hui Ke had no more headaches. He told Pao Ching about the voice he had heard the night before. Pao Ching then said solemnly, "Hui Ke, I must congratulate you! The voice last night and the red light we just saw indicate that you should follow Bodhidharma because Shao Lin Temple (少林寺), the place where he is residing, is south of us. I believe the bumps on your scalp represent an auspicious sign in attaining enlightenment in the future. You should go there as quickly as possible.

Shao Lin Temple, built in 496, was also in Henan Province. When Hui Ke arrived and asked for Bodhidharma, a monk said to him with a smile, "Oh, that old guy! Ever since he arrived, he's been meditating before a wall of rocks in a cave all day long. It seems he specializes in something different from what we have learned. Frankly, not many monks in the temple like him."

At the monk's instructions, Hui Ke followed a narrow path over a mountain behind the temple and walked for a few miles before coming to a small grass hut. Bodhidharma wasn't there, so Hui Ke continued on until he saw a cave. Inside, he found a monk meditating before a stone wall. This monk's head was bald on top but with some curly hair on the sides. Hui Ke believed this monk had to be Bodhidharma.

He didn't want to disrupt the monk's meditation, so he stood at the entrance without making a sound. All that could be heard was the blowing wind. Slowly the sky became darker and Hui Ke's stomach started growling, so he decided to come back the next day.

After eating a little breakfast, Hui Ke came to the cave again. He found Bodhidharma already meditating in front of the same wall. He was frustrated that he hadn't come earlier, or else he could have talked to the monk. He again stood at the entrance without making a sound. Time passed quickly and the sun set again. Hui Ke was exhausted after standing there all day long, but Bodhidharma seemed unmoved. Hui Ke decided to come even earlier the next day.

Before the sun rose, Hui Ke scurried to the cave, and to his surprise Bodhidharma was already meditating there on the same spot. "Does the great monk never sleep or eat? I'll do the same!"

Hui Ke put his bag down on the ground and stood there. The temperature fell and it started to snow. Hui Ke wondered if he should go back to the temple. However, he immediately realized this would be a setback for his spiritual cultivation. He decided to stay despite the bad weather.

Bodhidharma was actually quite aware of what was happening around him. Many people had desired to be his disciples, but none of them had strong determination. Even though he faced the wall all the time, the sunlight outside cast shadows into the cave, and he could tell a person's determination by his shadow on the wall--a flickering shadow revealed a person's weak willpower and lack of resolution.

Another night passed, and the snow completely covered Hui Ke. Bodhidharma felt that he might have found one who really desired to learn from him. He turned around, opened his eyes slightly, and asked coldly, "Why have you been standing in the snow for so long?"

Hui Ke was delighted that the master had spoken. He said in a shaky but forceful voice, "I beg you to accept me as your disciple so that I may learn the Buddha's true teachings from you."

Bodhidharma was silent for a moment. Then he replied solemnly, "The Buddha attained enlightenment by going through life after life of spiritual cultivation and even at the expense of his own life. He endured all sorts of suffering that no one else could. What makes you think you can just come here and ask me to teach you the Buddha's teachings?"

Bodhidharma turned back and faced the wall again. Hui Ke thought, "Yes, what the master said does make sense." He took an axe from his bag, clenched his teeth, and chopped off his left hand!

When Bodhidharma turned around and saw what had happened, he ran to Hui Ke at once, tore off a piece of cloth from his own robe, and wrapped it tightly around Hui Ke's wound to stop the bleeding. Carrying the injured man on his back, he rushed back to his hut. After putting Hui Ke on his bed, Bodhidharma placed some herbs on Hui Ke's wound and boiled some hot water for him to drink to warm him up.

Hui Ke's act was beyond Bodhidharma's imagination. He realized this man might be the one he had been looking for so many years to pass his teachings to. He said kindly, "You're very brave! The Buddha sacrificed his life many times because he wanted to seek the Way to enlightenment. Your action has proved your determination. I will accept you as my disciple."

Hui Ke struggled to get up to prostrate himself in front of his new master, but Bodhidharma stopped him. After regaining some energy, Hui Ke asked his master to bring tranquility to his distracted mind.

Bodhidharma said, "Bring your mind to me!"

Hui Ke pondered for a while and replied, "I can't find it."

Bodhidharma replied, "Then, I have already brought peace to your mind."

The clever Hui Ke, then aged 40, smiled and bowed to Bodhidharma as he was fully aware what his master wanted to teach him: no one can bring tranquility to one's mind except oneself. A peaceful mind can be obtained only by eradicating the greed, anger, arrogance, and suspicion hidden inside one's mind.

Learning from Bodhidharma

Hui Ke spent the following few months convalescing in Bodhidharma's hut. After he recovered, Bodhidharma and Hui Ke started meditating together in the cave. Bodhidharma told him, "Ch'an is a practice of concentration. When a practitioner of Ch'an has achieved a certain level, he can realize the truth behind all illusory forms such as oral and written language and arcane theories. That was why Venerable Kasyapa immediately understood the Buddha's message and smiled when the Buddha held up a lotus flower, which symbolized the sage's wordless teaching. If a person's mind transcends all exterior circumstances and remains calm and at ease at all times, then this person is in touch with Ch'an."

Hui Ke looked puzzled, so Bodhidharma explained further: "When you start to meditate, you need to be unattached to everything and to observe your own mind with enormous concentration. You have to train your mind to be void or to be like a wall that nothing can hang onto. Not even your own anxieties, worries, and thoughts can cling to it."

Bodhidharma's answers to Hui Ke's questions were often elusive. For instance, Hui Ke once asked Bodhidharma, "Master, whenever I meditate now, I can feel my mind in a state of tranquility. Is that in accordance with Ch'an?"

Bodhidharma replied, "When you are thirsty, drink some water; when you are hungry, eat some food."

Bodhidharma brought the Lankaavatara Sutra to Hui Ke and said to him, "This sutra explains that 'mind alone creates everything.' Buddhist doctrines should be sought after through one's mind. I want you to spend some time studying this sutra so you will be able to comprehend Ch'an better."

After that, Hui Ke meditated in the morning and studied in the afternoon. Besides Hui Ke, four other people also became Bodhidharma's disciples: Tao Yu (道育), Tao Fu (道副), Tsung Chih (總持), and Tan Lin (曇林). Even though Bodhidharma refused them several times, their strong will impressed him such that he eventually accepted them as his disciples.

Bodhidharma's fame spread far and wide, but it did not mean he had no opponents. One of them was Bodhiruci (菩提流支), who came from northern Indian to China in 508. He was highly respected by Emperor Hsuan Wu (宣武帝) of the Northern Wei Kingdom (北魏) and helped translate numerous sutras into Chinese. When Bodhiruci heard about Bodhidharma and his teachings, he felt he had to do something to take the wind out of Bodhidharma's sails. Therefore, he challenged him to a debate.

On the day of the debate, two platforms were set up on a hill behind Shao Lin Temple, and a huge crowd gathered to watch. Bodhiruci and Bodhidharma each sat down on their respective platforms and Bodhiruci started the debate. "Master Bodhidharma, your Ch'an focuses on meditation and not on the sutras, but we need sutras so that people in the present and in the future can understand what the Buddha talked about almost a thousand years ago. How does your Ch'an, which doesn't emphasize the use of words, promote the Buddha's teachings?"

Bodhidharma replied, "The Buddha's teachings are so profound and vast that language itself is unable to fully convey their meaning. Even the Buddha once said so. There were numerous times when the Buddha didn't answer questions posed to him because only the Buddha himself could understand the answers. On the day when the Buddha took up a lotus flower and showed it to all his disciples, only Venerable Kasyapa smiled since he understood the flower stood for the Buddha's wordless sermons, and only Kasyapa received the true teaching from the Buddha's mind. This is what Ch'an tries to teach."

Bodhiruci countered by saying, "If that's the case, then why do we need sutras? We can just throw them away!"

Bodhidharma replied, "Master Bodhiruci, I'm not denying the usefulness of the sutras and commentaries since they also help people carry out their spiritual cultivation. Nevertheless, I want to bring to your attention that there are currently some fabricated sutras going around that could mislead people who are learning the Buddha's teachings. Sutras serve as a vehicle to help us understand the Buddha's teachings; however, we should not get attached to them. We should prefer to appreciate the Buddha's wisdom and compassion by tracing them in our own minds directly."

At this Bodhiruci was speechless, and the abbot of Shao Lin Temple declared that Bodhidharma had won the first stage of the debate. The debate continued after a short break. To help Bodhiruci save face, Bodhidharma didn't challenge him with any tough questions throughout the debate, but it was obvious that he had gained the upper hand in the debate from the start.

Bodhiruci eventually lost the debate, but he didn't lose his temper. Instead, he went to congratulate Bodhidharma. He gathered his disciples afterwards and told them calmly, "I may have lost the debate, but I don't want all of you to feel ashamed because it seems that some of Bodhidharma's words do make sense. What we have to do now is continue translating more sutras because someday the sutras might match Bodhidharma's Ch'an."

Even though Bodhiruci had such an open mind, not all of his disciples shared the same view. Hatred grew among them and they planned revenge.

The second Ch'an patriarch

One morning, Bodhidharma told his disciples that he would soon leave for India because his mission of spreading Ch'an in China had been completed. Then he told them, "Now I want all of you to tell me your thoughts and reflections on learning Ch'an."

Tao Fu said, "Ch'an can't be fully described by language, so we can't use language, but at the same time, we also need language to help propagate Ch'an."

Bodhidharma said, "You have grasped the skin of Ch'an."

Tsung Chih said, "It is like Venerable Ananda seeing the Pure Land of the Buddha: the true form of all things is like seeing an illusory land only once because everything we sense is not real."

Bodhidharma said to her, "You've grasped the flesh of Ch'an."

Tao Yu said, "The four elements of the universe and we ourselves are impermanent, so to me the Pure Land of the Buddha is also impermanent and false. I don't see any of the Buddha's teachings."

Bodhidharma said to him, "You've grasped the bone of Ch'an."

Hui Ke simply stood up, prostrated himself before his master respectfully, and retreated to his seat without saying a word. Bodhidharma smiled and said, "Hui Ke has understood the essence of Ch'an."

Bodhidharma then passed his bowl, robe, and sutras to Hui Ke, making him the second patriarch of Chinese Ch'an.

Poison

One day while Hui Ke was approaching the hut, Tao Yu yelled from a distance that their master had been poisoned. Hui Ke immediately rushed into the hut and found his master in bed and all the other disciples beside him. Bodhidharma gathered his strength and said to them, "My final day is here, so don't bother to do anything for me." He rested a moment and continued. "Someone put poison in my food, but I'm not concerned about it because I've found Hui Ke as my successor. If you ever find the person who poisoned my food, remember, you can only guide him to realize his mistake. I don't want any revenge on my part. These are my final words! Is that understood?”

Bodhidharma died and his disciples cried sadly. Tao Yu told the others that after he had prepared the master's lunch, he left for the washroom. When he came out, he noticed someone who looked like Pu Yen (普言), one of Bodhiruci's disciples, running away from the hut. He didn't think too much about it and brought the meal to the master. A few moments later, the master cried out that he had been poisoned. Upon hearing this, Hui Ke believed that Pu Yen was the culprit and ran to inform the abbot of Shao Lin Temple. The abbot was shocked to hear the news and immediately ordered a young monk to find Pu Yen, who was then staying in the temple. The young monk returned and reported that Pu Yen had gone. The abbot ordered several monks to chase him on horseback and to bring him back. The abbot also ordered all the other monks to gather in the main hall and informed them of the news of Bodhidharma's untimely death. In a short while, two monks dragged Pu Yen into the main hall and pushed him to the ground. Pu Yen shook with fear and didn't dare to look at anyone. Hui Ke asked him sternly whether he had poisoned Bodhidharma's food, and Pu Yen replied that he did because he wanted to avenge his master, Bodhiruci.

Hui Ke and Bodhidharma's other disciples were extremely angry at Pu Yen's deed. Following Bodhidharma's last instruction to take no revenge on the culprit, Hui Ke held back his anger and told Pu Yen that such a terrible deed should not be forgiven. However, they decided to let him go on the condition that Pu Yen do good deeds and repent his crime. Pu Yen kowtowed to Hui Ke and knelt in front of Bodhidharma's body for three days before leaving quietly at night.

After Bodhidharma's funeral, Hui Ke gave a talk on Ch'an in Shao Lin Temple and received a good response from the audience. Except for Tan Lin, who decided to stay to look after the hut they lived in, Hui Ke and the other three disciples set off on their own to spread Bodhidharma's teachings. Hui Ke went back to Hsiang Shan Temple first. All the monks there, including his former master, Pao Ching, were excited to see him back. The following two days, Hui Ke lectured on Ch'an and Bodhidharma's teachings to the roomful of monks. Then he went to the White Horse Temple and again was well received. He gave a lecture to the monks there as well. However, the majority of the audience could not fully accept Bodhidharma's Ch'an teachings, and the abbot of the temple was forced to tell Hui Ke not to give any more talks. Many other temples in the city also would not welcome Hui Ke to give talks. Nevertheless, the news of his lectures at Shao Lin Temple had spread to such an extent that many common folks invited Hui Ke to lecture in their homes.

Anyang

In 534, Luoyang was in chaos due to a civil war that split the Northern Wei dynasty (北魏) into Eastern Wei (東魏) and Western Wei (西魏). Hui Ke went to Anyang, the capital of the new Eastern Wei, and moved into Hsing Yeh Temple (興業寺). He talked to people everywhere about Ch'an Buddhism, hoping to bring some peace to people's minds.

One evening when he was talking to a group of people in a restaurant, a monk suddenly shouted, "Master, I listened to your lectures on how to attain enlightenment in Shao Lin Temple. But for the past two years, I haven't seen my own nature, so could you please help me see my nature?"

Hui Ke heard some people laughing and knew that this monk was a troublemaker. Therefore, he told him that there were six things he couldn't help him with. The first five were: eating, drinking, urinating, having bowel movements, and sleeping. Everyone present laughed loudly at this. When the monk asked him what the sixth thing was, Hui Ke replied sternly, "It's your mental emancipation! If you can't do it yourself, how can I help you? Even if the Buddha were standing before you, he couldn't help you with it either!"

Other people echoed Hui Ke's response and then kicked the monk out. However, Bodhiruci's disciples never stopped trying to interfere with Hui Ke's work. They wrote a petition with many monks' signatures on it and presented it to the city's monastic superintendent. The petition stated that Hui Ke was promoting non-Buddhist doctrines and should be banished from the city. The fainthearted superintendent immediately issued an official order barring Hui Ke from giving lectures in the city.

When Hui Ke read the notice, he could do nothing but simply pack up and leave the city. When he had just walked out of the Hsing Yeh Temple, a fashionably dressed man approached him and said, "Master Hui Ke, I am Szutu Fen (司徒芬). May I talk to you for a minute?"

Szutu was a rich man who had listened to Hui Ke's talks many times. When he read the notice on Hui Ke's ban, he came immediately to see him. Szutu's family lived outside the city and he admired Hui Ke very much. He hoped that by inviting this great monk to his home, he could cultivate some blessings by providing him offerings. At the same time, Hui Ke could continue his public lectures at his home without breaking the ban. He was delighted by the suggestion and followed Szutu home.

The next patriarch

One afternoon a leper approached Hui Ke and asked him to help cure his illness. Hui Ke told him, "Your sickness is contagious; I can't do anything about it."

The man said to him, "But Master, a sick person's mind is no different from that of any monk's!"

Hui Ke then realized that this person might be extraordinarily intelligent, so he asked this man what he could do for him. The leper replied that he felt that his disease was caused by the bad deeds he had done in his past lives. He hoped Hui Ke could help him rid himself of his past karma. Hui Ke said to him, "Then bring your bad karma out to me!"

"Bring out bad karma? How can bad karma be brought out?" the man wondered. Suddenly an idea flashed inside his head: All bad deeds stemmed from one's mind, so in reality, to remove one's bad karma, one had to start from one's mind! He replied, "Master, I've found my bad karma. It started from my mind."

Hui Ke was delighted to have found one who was wise enough to continue propagating Ch'an Buddhism. Therefore, he granted the man's request to shave his head and become a monk, and he gave him a Buddhist name, Seng Tsan (僧燦).

At Hui Ke's request, Szutu cleared out a storage room for Seng Tsan to live in. Miraculously, Seng Tsan recovered completely from his leprosy after a few months of good care by Hui Ke.

One night Hui Ke told Seng Tsan that Master Prajnatara, Bodhidharma's master, had predicted that Buddhism might experience a disaster in China, so Hui Ke urged Seng Tsan to find a hiding place and said he would join him later. Seng Tsan told him about his uncle who was then the abbot of Shan Ku Temple (山古寺) in Anhui Province (安徽) in central China. He left the following morning.

Suppression of Buddhism and Taoism

In 574, Emperor Wu (武帝) of the Northern Chou ordered the suppression of Buddhism and Taoism in his kingdom. He ordered the destruction of all scriptures, temples, and statues, and Buddhist monks and Taoist priests had to return home and become commoners.

After the Northern Chou had defeated the Eastern Wei, it turned its attention to the Northern Chi kingdom (北齊), where Anyang was located. Northern Chou was winning every battle against Northern Chi, which made the monks in Northern Chi very worried. In 576, Northern Chou troops approached Anyang, forcing people to flee from the city, including Hui Ke.

He went to see Seng Tsan at Shan Ku Temple in Anhui. After a short chat with Seng Tsan and Abbot Yun Hsiao (雲霄), who was Seng Tsan's uncle, Hui Ke informed them that he would leave the temple in two days. After the abbot left, Seng Tsan asked Hui Ke why he wanted to leave so soon. Hui Ke replied that since Master Yun Hsiao belonged to a different Buddhist sect, his presence would stir up troubles both for the abbot and for himself. He hoped to find a suitable place nearby for his own cultivation.

Seng Tsan led his master to Szu Kung Mountain (司徒山), less than 100 kilometers (62 miles) west of the temple. They found a cave on the mountain and settled there. Then they prepared a piece of land for cultivating so that Hui Ke could sustain himself with his own vegetables. It seemed everything was set, so Seng Tsan bid farewell to his master and returned to the temple. He also promised that he would return to see Hui Ke a month later.

However, two months passed and Seng Tsan still did not show up. One day, Seng Tsan, looking thin and exhausted, finally appeared and informed Hui Ke that Master Yun Hsiao had died from illness. Seng Tsan had become the new abbot, and he had been busy arranging for his uncle’s funeral. After everything was over, he finally had time to see Hui Ke again.

After that, Seng Tsan would come to study with Hui Ke once a month, and he would stay between ten days and two weeks. But slowly, the news of Seng Tsan studying with Hui Ke leaked out to the extent that more and more people also came to inquire of Hui Ke about Buddhism.

Time to leave

In 580, a new king ascended the throne and the Northern Chou dynasty again permitted religious activities, but Hui Ke didn't hear about this until 582. He was delighted to hear the news, and he informed Seng Tsan that he planned to return to Anyang to help suffering people there. He also told Seng Tsan that he had decided to appoint him as the third Ch'an patriarch. Hui Ke placed a portrait of Bodhidharma against the wall and made three prostrations. Then he handed over the robe, the bowl, and the sutra to Seng Tsan. Seng Tsan thus became the third patriarch of the Chinese Ch'an sect.

When Hui Ke arrived in Anyang, he was stunned to see the destruction caused by the war. Many of the city walls were blackened from fire. Many of the buildings were ruined, and the population in the city had also dwindled to a large extent. Hui Ke first went to see Szutu, but he discovered that Szutu and his wife had died and the rest of the family had moved away.

While he was walking, someone called his name and ran to him. It was Seng Fu (僧撫), Tao Heng's disciple who had once tried to disrupt Hui Ke's lectures before converting. After Seng Fu left Tao Heng (道恆) (Bodhiruci's disciple who had bribed the city magistrate to jail Hui Ke), he became a commoner who worked at various jobs and then finally established his own transport business. Seng Fu now lived in nearby Cheng An County (成安) and invited Hui Ke to live with him.

One day while Hui Ke was out strolling, he came across a group of monks discussing a sutra outside Kuang Chiu Temple (匡救寺). These monks had listened to a monk named Pien He (辨和) lecturing on the Maha Parinirvara Sutra in the temple, but his talks were rather shallow, so these monks withdrew from the temple to discuss problems they were having. Hui Ke had studied the sutra before, so he was able to explain it to them. As he talked, more and more people gathered around him to listen.

Pien He noticed that fewer and fewer people were staying in the temple, so he ended the lecture and went to see what was happening. He was stunned to see Hui Ke talking to a huge crowd of people, and he became very upset because he was also Bodhiruci's disciple.

To get Hui Ke out of the way, Pien He went to his nephew, Chai Chung-kan, the magistrate of Cheng An County. After learning about his uncle's problem, the magistrate dispatched his soldiers to capture Hui Ke, and he sentenced him to death under the charge of rumormongering. At night, a jail guard came with a cup of venomous liquid and forced it down Hui Ke's throat. Very shortly afterwards, Hui Ke passed away. That year was 593 and Hui Ke was 107 years old.

Hui Ke's body was dumped outside the city. When Seng Fu heard the news, he was shocked and extremely sad because he felt he was responsible for Hui Ke's death. He went with two of his servants to retrieve Hui Ke's body. They cremated Hui Ke's body and buried the ashes.