Reddit reviews The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen (Philip E. Lilienthal Book)

Broughton's [The Bodhidharma Anthology] ( http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0520219724?pc_redir=1404325243&robot_redir=1) is pretty good.

Go for it.

This is good too
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0520219724?pc_redir=1403765741&robot_redir=1

What are you looking for? What the Buddha Taught is a general intro to Buddhism focused on the Sravakayana teachings while In Buddha's Words is a collection of Pali texts. They aren't of the same genre.

There generally won't be texts like in Buddha's Words for the Mahayana as Mahayana Sutras are often much longer then Pali ones though there are collections of various sutras formed into one like the Avatamsaka Sutra which you can find on the internet or Sutras with commentaries like the

Surangama Sutra:

http://promienie.net/images/dharma/books/sutras_surangama-sutra.pdf

Heart Sutra Commentary:

https://www.amazon.com/There-No-Suffering-Commentary-Heart/dp/1556433859/ref=la_B001JOMDEC_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1503124435&sr=1-2

Collection of Bodhidharma's texts:

https://www.amazon.com/Bodhidharma-Anthology-Earliest-Records-Lilienthal/dp/0520219724/ref=pd_sim_b_18

If you are looking for texts like What the Buddha Taught then there is:

Chan Teachings of Master Xu Yun: Considered the Greatest Master of the past century in China, similar to someone like Ajahn Chan

http://www.thezensite.com/ZenTeachings/Master_Hsu-Yun_Discourses_and_Dharma_Words.pdf

Buddhism of Wisdom of Faith: Comprehensive Teachings on Mainland Buddhism focused on Pureland

http://www.ymba.org/books/buddhism-wisdom-faith-pure-land-principles-and-practice

Master Yin Shun: Teachings in Chinese Buddhism, a general intro to Mahayana

http://www.buddhanet.net/chin_bud.htm

Some Free Ebooks on Mahayana Buddhism

http://chancenter.org/cmc/publications/free-literature/

See also The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen (Paperback, Amazon) by Jeffrey L. Broughton also available at Terebess.hu as a bootleg "scan". The origin myth is studied in depth there. Starting on p. 63 is mention of the Lankavatara Sutra (of the Yogacara, i.e. "mind-only" school) and the lore surrounding its association with Bodhidharma. Prajnatara is mentioned on p. 78.

See also Bodhidharma's and Huineng's Buddhisms from An Introduction to Buddhist Philosophy, also available at Terebess.hu.

> This same tradition not only records other obviously apocryphal stories about Bodhidharma (i.e., that out of frustration over his drowsiness and in order to avoid falling asleep while meditating, he pulled off his eye lids, and
when he disposed of them tea plants grew on the spot; that his wall gazing and yoga practice was so intense and prolonged that eventually his legs withered away from excessive sitting – this is the origin of the Japanese
Daruma doll; that on finding the monks of Shaolin temple unable to defend themselves against local thieves, he taught them physical exercises and the martial arts techniques of self-defense known as kung fu; and that he did not die until he was 150 years old) but it also attributes numerous texts to him. Most contemporary scholars, however, are of the opinion that aside from a brief biography, two short letters, and a few recorded dialogues, only the Two Entrances and Four Practices (or the Outline of Practice as it is also known) contains Bodhidharma’s authentic teaching. We shall try to answer our previous question about why Bodhidharma became so famous by examining this text.

And also The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma where Red Pine (translator and commentator) wrote:

>It was Hui-k'o that Bodhidharma entrusted the robe and bowl of his lineage and, according to Tao-hsuan, a copy of Gunabhadra's translation of the Lankavatara sutras. In the sermons translated here, though, Bodhidharma quotes mostly from Nirvana, Avatamsaka, and Vimilakirti Sutras and uses none of the terminology characteristic of the Lankavatara. Perhaps it was Hui-k'o, not Bodhidharma, who thought so highly of this sutra.

So, I wonder, did Bodhidharma come from the Lankavatara Sutra "school" (i.e. Yogacara) or from some other "lineage" (such as the Madhamakya/Sunyavada emptiness school)? And what came of that lineage in India? Perhaps Advaita Vedanta? Or, if the Lankavata/Yogacara connection was not fabricated, why did he only cite other sutras? Were those "sermons" not his, but only attributed to him? Or was the entire Bodhidharma character a myth, used to add authority and legitimacy to a struggling Chinese sect?

If we read those sermons, we do see doctarines "preached". (See the above cited references for more detailed information). So, if the the "zen community" sees Bodhidharma as it's founder, and defines itself as as a lineage descending from this founder, and believes these sermons are indeed Bodhidharma's, and believes the doctarines asserted within those sermons, then it does begin to sound to me like a religion. But a religion that is about a "vast emptiness" of "nothing holy", transmitted by "I don't know". We can "study" zen without having to "believe" doctarines. Perhaps that was the intention. The doctarines are "not zen", as in the "realization" or "experience" of zen, perhaps, but they are a part of "zen" philosophy, history, and culture.

>HIstorically, there is no evidence that Bodhidharma wrote outline of practice.

"In the early part of this century, the discovery of a walled-up cave in northwest China led to the retrieval of a lost early Ch'an (Zen) literature of the T'ang dynasty (618-907). One of the recovered Zen texts was a seven-piece collection, the Bodhidharma Anthology. Of the numerous texts attributed to Bodhidharma, this anthology is the only one generally believed to contain authentic Bodhidharma material." - The Bodhidharma anthology: The earliest records of Zen

I imagine this is the source in English. I imagine the bulk of the scholarship surrounding the texts was done in Chinese.

>Zen Masters don't ascribe outline of practice to Bodhidharma or even mention the text at all, let alone in relation to Zen, anywhere that I've found.

I have no idea who you would include as "Zen Masters" so I can't help there.

>What Zen Masters say about Bodhidharma would suggest that outline is unrelated to Bodhidharma.

Again, I don't know who you include as "Zen Masters". It appears scholars agree that it is from him.

>There is no evidence that Bodhidharma or anybody else thought "wall gazing" was meditation; Dogen lied about this in FukanZazenGi, and like Jesus being resurrected, lots of people thought it sounded good.

I don't think the text suggested that he thought wall was meditation. I was just sharing the only connection to meditation in that book which scholars generally agree came from Bodhidharma.

Someone here recommended this to me and I am working my way through it. Shipping took forever. 😐