166 Fist Fighting and Self-Cultivation
of Liang [in south China] to the Kingdom of Wei [in the north]. He
faced the wall [in meditation] at the Shaolin Monastery. One day he
addressed his disciples saying: Why would not each of you tell us what he
knows so that we can evaluate his level of self-cultivation. The monks
then proceeded to expound each what he had attained. The master
declared: “So and so will receive my skin; so and so will receive my flesh;
so and so will receive my bones.” Only to Huike he said: “You will receive
my marrow (sui).” People of later generations arbitrarily explained this
as a metaphor for the disciples’ depth of spiritual attainment. They
failed to realize that he meant what he said. The master’s words were no
metaphor.
After his nine years of meditation were completed, the master
pointed the way to Nirvana. His remains were enshrined on Mt. Xionger
[in Western Henan]. Then carrying one shoe he returned to the west.
Later, the brick wall he faced in meditation was damaged by wind and
rain. When the Shaolin monks repaired it, they discovered inside a
metal case.... Hidden inside it were two scrolls, one titled Marrow
Cleansing Classic (Xisui jing), the other titled Sinews Transformation
Classic....
The Marrow Cleansing Classic was handed over to Huike and along
with his cassock and bowl became part of a secret transmission. In later
generations it was rarely seen. Only the Sinews Transformation Classic
remained as the cornerstone of the Shaolin Monastery, treasuring
forever the master’s virtue. However, because it was written entirely in
the language of India, Shaolin monks could not fully understand it.
Occasionally one or another would understand some twenty or thirty
percent of it, or even forty or fifty percent. However the secrets they
unraveled were not orally transmitted to future generations. Thus, each
Shaolin monk interpreted and performed the classic as he pleased.
Eventually, the Shaolin monks strayed into side paths, and sank into
trivialities. Therefore, they failed to enter the true Dharma Gate of
Buddhism. To this day, if the Shaolin monks excel in martial competi-
tions only this is because of their limited understanding of the Sinews
Transformation Classic.
There was among the Shaolin crowd a monk of unsurpassed
wisdom who reflected that if the Great Master Bodhidharma had left a
sacred scripture it could not possibly contain trifle techniques only.
Since the Shaolin monks could not read it, a translator had to be found.
Therefore, he held the Sinews Transformation Classic to his bosom and
traveled far to all the famous mountains. One day he arrived at the land
of Shu [Sichuan] and climbed Mt. Emei, where he encountered the
Indian holy monk Pramiti.^90 The [Shaolin] monk told Pramiti of the
Sinews Transformation Classic and explained the purpose of his visit,
whereupon the Indian holy monk said: “Indeed the Buddhist patriarch’s