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of Chinese have been converted to Buddhism, thousands of temples have been raised for Buddha. What is going to be my merit for all this doing?" Bodhidharma was very ferocious and he looked into the emperor's eyes and said, "Your Majesty, there is no merit in it."
The emperor was very much shocked, because many Buddhists had come before -- monks and missionaries -- and they all said to him, "This will be your merit: you will reach to the seventh paradise. Do more virtuous acts, donate more, make more monasteries, temples, Buddha statues, convert the whole country to Buddhism. Your merit is going to be great, Your Majesty." And now here comes this Bodhidharma and he says no merit at all?
But the emperor was a very cultured man. He changed the subject; he dropped the subject before so many people. And this man looked dangerous. He said, "Then tell me something about the holy truth of Buddha." And Bodhidharma said, "Nothing can be said about it because it is vast, and, remember, there is nothing holy in it. Holy, unholy, is part of a dual mind. There is nothing holy, nothing unholy; it simply is."
Now this was too much. The emperor was very much offended. He is denying even Buddha's truth and saying nothing is holy in it. He became angry. He forgot for a moment all his courteous manner, courtly manner and politeness, and he said, "Then who is this fellow who is standing before me?" And Bodhidharma bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, I don't know."
My sannyas is not spiritual, because I don't divide the world into the material and the spiritual. It is nothing holy, because I don't divide the world into the unholy and the holy. By becoming a sannyasin you have not become a saint, because I don't divide people into sinners and saints. People are people. All are beautiful -- sinners and saints and all.
In fact, if there are only saints in the world and no sinners, the world would not be worth living in. Just think of a world which consists only of holy saints. Can you conceive of any worse world than that? No, it cannot be of much value. The sinner and the saint, they are the warp and woof, they are together, they are one -- the dark and
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