The Bodhidharma Anthology: The Earliest Records of Zen (Philip E. Lilienthal Book)
His name comes up in mentions of Zen's misty past, but without any  writings or authentication, modern authors have often referred to Bodhidharma as  semilegendary. In 1935, D.T. Suzuki had rummaged through a number of newly  discovered Zen texts dating back over a thousand years, but not until recently  did scholars agree that some may contain the words of Bodhidharma himself. Now  Jeffrey Broughton has brushed off the dust for the English reading world. In  question-and-answer style anticipating later Zen classics like theLin-Chi  Lu(Zen Teachings of Master  Lin-Chi), Bodhidharma fields questions from his students on dharma, the  mind, and reality. Vintage Zen iconoclasm permeates every line as dharmas are  dispensed with and scriptures shot down. A rock painted with a Buddhist image is  still just a rock. Just so, reality is just reality. A previously unknown  student of Bodhidharma, one Master Yuan, shows himself to be a worthy adept,  equal to the more well-known Hui-kuo, who also appears. The actual Bodhidharma  texts are quite brief, with the bulk of this work consisting of Broughton's  scholarly introduction, commentary, appendices, and translations of related  finds.--Brian Bruya