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The title of this essay is taken
from a well known story, in which Bodhidharma asks four disciples
to state their understanding of Buddhism. After each does so,
Bodhidharma characterizes their degree of understanding. To the
first, Daofu, he says, “You get my skin”; to the second,
the nun Zongchi, he says, “You get my flesh”; to the
third, Daoyu, he says, “You get my bones.” The fourth
disciple, Huike (who will become Bodhidharma’s successor),
makes no reply but instead does obeisance before Bodhidharma
and is then told, “You have gotten my marrow.”
The text of this essay exists
in a shorter and longer version. The former occurs in the 75-chapter
Shôbôgenzô, often now treated as the
“standard” redaction; the latter is preserved only
in the so-called “secret Shôbôgenzô”,
in 28 chapters, housed at Eiheiji. The additional material in
the longer version was incorporated into the popular 95-chapter
Honzan edition of the Shôbôgenzô, published
in the early nineteenth century. We have translated the longer
version here, with the additional material appearing after the
first colophon.
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