28. Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma, the Twenty-eighth Patriarch and the First Patriarch of Chinese Chan, was a South Indian prince. Following his master’s advice to wait until the Dharma-medicine was needed in the East, he traveled to China to find men of superior roots. He is the legendary founder of the Shaolin tradition and is famous for his nine years of wall-gazing meditation. His teachings emphasized direct contact with one’s own nature rather than reliance on scriptures, effectively establishing the foundation for all Chan and Zen Buddhism.