Mumonkan / Wumenguan · CASE 41
Bodhidharma Pacifies the Mind
The Gateless Gate
Case
Bodhidharma sat facing a wall. The Second Patriarch stood in the snow, cut off his arm, and said, “My mind is not at peace. Master, please pacify it.” Bodhidharma said, “Bring me your mind, and I will pacify it for you.” “I have searched for mind, and it cannot be found.” “I have finished pacifying it for you.”1
Verse
The direct pointing that came from the west: trouble arose because it was entrusted. It has disturbed the monasteries—and all along it was you.
Footnotes 1
- Traditional biography identifies the disciple as Huike. The act of cutting off an arm is hagiographic violence and should not be treated as a model for practice or proof of the dialogue's historicity. ↩
About this version and its sources
- Full source citation
- 達磨安心 — CBETA T2005: T48n2005_p0298a15–p0298a24.
- Method
- Direct critical-edition translation from the cited received base text. Source claims, hagiography, uncertainty, and unresolved readings remain identified in the notes and project record.
- Editorial uncertainty
- Independent philological and reader review remain pending.
- Rights
- Project translation © Tulsa Zen Center Critical Edition contributors. Source text is cited by edition; redistribution policy requires final organizational approval.
- Revision identifier
- b86259fbd4cb
Wumen's commentary
The toothless old foreigner deliberately sailed a hundred thousand miles to come here—raising waves where there was no wind. In the end he obtained one disciple, and that disciple did not even have all six faculties intact. Ha! Third Son Xie does not recognize four written characters.