Many scholars nowadays say that the meeting of Emperor Wu and Bodhidharma is a made-up story, yet most Zen texts consider this event the beginning of Zen. In this way the Sixth Patriarch told a very important part of the history of Zen. You do this with your own ancestors’ lives, reviewing significant events in their lives. We are doing the same kind of thing with the life of Suzuki Rosh. He was living with us and we have many memories. If we don’t correct the record of these memories, the meetings with him, he will be like a foreigner living in a deep mountain. Nobody would know what happened. The point of this text is to clarify what is the essence of Zen, the essence of Buddhism. It is not just how we think, but in the way that we live. The Sixth Patriarch spoke of the Precepts, homage to the Buddha, and now he speaks of true virtue, true merit, the difference between merit and blessings…Internally see the Buddhanature, and externally practice respect and reverence. A friend of mine came right after New Year’s breakfast, a Jesuit Father. He came just to say “Happy New Year,” and “God bless you.” “Thank you very much,” I said. The words are like the sound of wind. It doesn’t matter what he says. He appears, and wants to express something. I cannot think, “He is a Jesuit Priest and I am a Buddhist monk.” It is very clear what is happening. I gave him a little present of incense from Japan. I was feeling what a huge world existed in his mind. I was so glad to be in his world. (Kobun noted that the first koan of the Blue Cliff Record and Case 2 of the Book of Equanimity are also about Bodhidharma and Emperor Wu, the Blue Cliff Record from a Rinzai perspective, and the Book of Equanimity from a Soto point of view. Ed.) When Bodhidharma discussed with Emperor Wu, everyone knew what Buddhism was. It was kind of a national religion, and it wasn’t unusual to see Buddhist monks. This emperor is symbolic of the Chinese nation at that time, and Bodhidharma is a symbolic figure who came from India to China, like a first raindrop in the field. You can imagine that Emperor Wu built many temples and that many monks took care of them, studied, were educated. Emperor Wu made a great effort to establish the Buddha way, from his point of view. Bodhidharma said there was no merit at all in this for Emperor Wu. In a later period, the age of the Sixth Patriarch, most people were not familiar with Zen. People didn’t know the real Dharma, 200 years after Bodhidharma. From our view Bodhidharma came and taught Zen, but the sociological view of history is different. “Bodhidharma” is the name of a person, but you mustn’t forget that ”Bodhidharma" is also a name for many persons who taught Zen. We use Suzuki Roshi’s name this way. Remember this: "Roshi" is also a name for yourself. Otherwise Suzuki Roshi will really laugh at you from the grave! The main topic here is that Bodhidharma replied to the Emperor that there was no merit at all in building temples. The Sixth Patriarch completely agreed, but you must not understand this to mean that "no merit" is a denial of the whole work of Emperor Wu. An example is, this apple has a sweet taste. If the Emperor asks, "Is the sweetness of this banana the same as an apple?" the answer is, "No." The Sixth Patriarch’s explanation is a kind of comment on this koan, to answer the governor’s question. The concept of “merit” had become mixed up with “blessings.” Bodhidharma was saying that merit is something you have to find out for yourself. Blessings you get from someone else. That we were born on this earth is a blessing. The whole world is a blessing. We didn’t do anything. There are very interesting things to discuss here.