Poison Cannot Invade the Body of a Sage

圣人之体　毒不可侵

While Patriarch Bodhidharma was in China, people attempted to poison him six times. Who poisoned him? It was Bodhiruchi, also called Vinaya Master Guang Tong, the same Small Vehicle Dharma Master who forced the Patriarch's two disciples out of China. He was extremely jealous of Patriarch Bodhidharma. He prepared a vegetarian meal and offered it to the Patriarch. The problem was, he laced the food with a lethal poison. Anyone would have died from the dose.

Well, did the Patriarch Bodhidharma know that the food was poisoned? He knew! Although he knew it was poisoned, he ate it anyway. After he ate it, he asked someone to bring him a tray, and then he vomited the food onto the tray. The poison he vomited was transformed into a pile of writhing snakes. That was the first time.

达摩祖师到中国，曾经被人下了六次毒。谁来毒他呢？就还是赶跑他两位徒弟的那位小乘法师菩提流支，又叫光统律师，他最妒忌达摩祖师，所以就做一些斋菜来供养达摩祖师；但是在菜饭里，下了最毒的毒药，无论谁吃了，都会死的。达摩祖师知不知道饭菜里有毒呢？知道！可是还是照吃不误，把这个毒饭吃了。吃了后，就叫人拿一个盘子给他，他就吐了；吐出什么来呢？这个毒药完全都变成蛇了；这是第一次。

After that unsuccessful attempt, Dharma Master Bodhiruchi couldn't figure out why the Patriarch had not been poisoned to death. The second time he doubled the dose of poison. It hadn't worked the previous time; this time he used more poison. He even used a more lethal variety to try to poison the Patriarch. Again, Patriarch Bodhidharma ate the food. Then he sat atop a huge boulder and relieved nature. The force of the poison that was eliminated exploded on the boulder, breaking not only the potency of the poison but also splitting the boulder as well. That was the second time.

以后，菩提流支法师看毒不死达摩祖师，也不知道是怎么回事，第二次又来加倍下毒；以前没有毒死你，这回下多一点毒药！就用另一种更毒的药来毒达摩祖师，达摩祖师也是又把它吃了。吃了后，怎样呢？坐到一块大石头上，把毒药屙出去，屙出毒药的这种力量，把石头都毒爆了，毒破坏了，一块大磐石也破坏了，这是第二次。