Definition
Reading: soshi seirai i / soshi sairai i
祖師西来意 (The Meaning of the Patriarch's Coming from the West) is a phrase that questions the fundamental truth of Zen and the state of enlightenment. Using the form of the question, "Why did Bodhidharma (the Patriarch) travel all the way from India (the West) to China?", it asks about the ultimate purpose of the Buddhist teachings. In Japanese, it is pronounced as "Soshi-seirai-i."
Q&A
- Q: Why are there various answers to the question of "the Patriarch's coming from the West," and no single correct one?
- A: Because the purpose of this question is not to "acquire correct knowledge," but to reveal the respondent's own direct experience.Therefore, the correct answer is not found within knowledge; it exists only within "your very existence" at the moment you confront the question.
