The story of Bodhidharma is one in which history and legend are thoroughly intertwined. His life, in many ways, echoes that of the Buddha himself, and his achievements are enormous. Bodhidharma is credited with introducing the form of Buddhism known as Zen to China. He is also regarded as the father of Chinese martial arts.

Like the Buddha himself, Bodhidharma, was the son of an king in India. He is believed to have been born around 482 CE. While training to follow in his father's footsteps and become the next ruler of the kingdom, Bodhidharma encountered Buddhist monks who introduced him to the teachings of the Buddha. In the same way that the Buddha had given up his life of leisure and power as a royal son, Bodhidharma also gave up his inheritance and his power to follow the Buddhist path.

Bodhidharma studied under one of India's most famous monks and quickly mastered many aspects of Buddhist practice. Soon Bodhidharma was given the task of going to China to help reinvigorate Buddhism there. Bodhidharma traveled to China via the high southern routes across the Himalayas, a trecherous journey filled with storms, landslides and bandits.(Some sources claim Bodhidharma traveled by ship to South China)

Upon reaching China in 527 CE, Bodhidharma traveled to the capital where he was introduced as a learned master of Buddhism. Since he had traveled at great peril from India, the home land of Buddhism and the site of the oldest Buddhist teachings, Bodhidharma was greeted as a great sage. The emperor himself was Buddhist, so the arrival of a sage was considered a blessing on the empire.