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During the Liang Dynasty, Emperor Wu was a model ruler famous for building and repairing roads and bridges, and especially for building many temples to propagate Buddhism. when the emperor heard that Bodhidharma had arrived from India to spread the Dharma, he invited him to visit.
“I have built many temples,” the emperor told Bodhidharma. “What merit have I gained?”
“No merit whatever.” Bodhidharma replied.
Without offering any explanation, Bodhidharma took leave of the deflated emperor with a flip of this sleeve.
When we reject the false duality of being and non-being, we can see that our “good deeds” gain “no merit whatever”. When we transcend our deluded attachment to duality, we can appreciate the reality of all dharmas: “there is non-existence, there is existence, there is not non-existence, there is not existence, there may be existence, there may be non-existence, there is originally existence, there is originally non-existence.” This transcendence is the path the every Chan practitioner must take. It is the original face of Chan practice.