Emperor Wu of Liang
Boasts of His Own Merit and Virtue
When Patriarch Bodhidharma first arrived in
Nanjing from Guangzhou, he went to convert Emperor Wu. Emperor Wu
asked him, "In my whole life, I have built many temples, helped many
people to leave the home-life, provided the needy with money from the
national treasury, and also made vegetarian meal offerings to the
Sangha. What merit and virtue have I created?" At that time, whoever
left the home-life would be treated well by the Emperor, with
everything including food, dwelling, and clothing provided for.
As long as you were a left home person, the
emperor would make offerings to you, pay reverence to you, and bow
to you. Emperor Wu was the kind of person who wanted
to be number one in everything. That was why when he met Patriarch
Bodhidharma, he didn't seek Dharma from him. Instead he was totally
engrossed in how to win praise from the Patriarch. He wanted to
inflate his ego. Concerned that the Patriarch might not know of the
good deeds that he had done, such as building temples, converting
monks, practicing giving, and making vegetarian meal offerings, he
went ahead and pointed them out as he introduced himself to the
Patriarch.
He said, "You see, I have built hundreds of temples. This
one and that one all house many monks whom I helped to leave the
home-life. The amount of giving I have done is not small and the
number of monks I have provided for is not small. How much merit and
virtue would you say I've amassed?" Basically, he was providing his
own promotion campaign. He was saying, "Look at me! I am different
from other emperors. I specialize in doing good deeds, creating
merit and virtue. How much merit and virtue would you say I have?"
He did not want to seek the Dharma for ending birth and death;
instead, he wanted to boast of his own merit and virtue first.
