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Bodhidharma

Indian-Chinese philosopher and Buddhist Monk

  • Fame59.4
  • Momentum1.5
  • Wikipedia53.6K
Source-basedStable
Lived 483–540, aged 57
AcademicsAcademic
  • Wikipedia
    60 languages
    Cross-language footprint
  • Era
    483–540
    Aged 57
Summary
Updated 2026-06-08

A monk whose face everyone knows and whose life almost no one can verify. Bodhidharma brought meditation practice from somewhere west into 5th or 6th century China, became the first patriarch of Chan Buddhism, and later — centuries after his death — got retrofitted as the founder of Shaolin kung fu.

Biography

About

The sources can't agree where he came from (Central Asia? South India? Third son of a king?) or when he arrived (420s? 500s?). What's consistent: he showed up from the Western Regions during the age of the Northern Wei, taught meditation rooted in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, and became the figure through whom Chan Buddhism entered China. Later traditions drew a lineage stretching back 28 generations to the Buddha himself. The kung fu origin story came much later — 17th century texts tied him to martial exercises, and the 20th century made it canonical. In art he's rendered as the bearded, wide-eyed…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Bodhidharma

Bodhidharma
saidundated
Many roads lead to the Path, but basically there are only two: reason and practice.
— Red Pine. The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma. 1989. p. 3
Bodhidharma
saidundated
Neither gods nor men can forsee when an evil deed will bear its fruit.
— Red Pine. p. 5
Bodhidharma
saidundated
Trying to find a buddha or enlightenment is like trying to grab space. Space has a name but no form. It's not something you can pick up or put down.
— Red Pine. p. 10-11
Bodhidharma
saidundated
To find a buddha, you have to see your nature. Whoever sees his nature is a buddha.
— Red Pine. p. 12-13
Bodhidharma
saidundated
Unless they see their nature, how can people call themselves buddhas? They're liars who deceive others into entering the realm of devils.
— Red Pine. p. 15
via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA
Where to find them

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By the numbers

Score breakdown

The six component signals behind the Fame score, and their ranks across the leaderboards.

Fame
Stable
59.4
Composite of search demand, mentions, audience & graph footprint.
Score components
Momentum1.5
Historical25.9
Now attention16.7
Source confidence60.0
Completeness60.0
Global rank
—
Country rank
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Category rank
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Receipts

Sources

  • Wikidata
    wikidata · wikidata.org
    High confidence
  • Wikipedia
    wikipedia · en.wikipedia.org
    High confidence
  • Pantheon 2.0
    database · pantheon.world
    High confidence