The Dharma flowed east and entered this land
Where Bodhidharma was the First Patriarch.
Six generations transmitted the robe, as heard throughout the land,
And those who later attained the Tao cannot be counted.


This stanza describes the transmission of Dharma in the Ch'an school ─ transmission not through words. The Dharma banner is a long, circular tube of cloth that hangs from the eaves of temple roofs. The banner is a sign to let people know what is happening in such places. Yung-chia uses it as a symbol to show that Ch'an does not rely on words or language, but on direct comprehension.

The stanza says that Ch'an was transmitted through direct comprehension from the time of the Buddha to the Sixth Patriarch, of whom Yung-chia was a contemporary. In India there were twenty-eight generations of patriarchs, starting with Mahakasyapa. The 28th Patriarch was Bodhidharma, and he became the First Patriarch in China. Hui-neng (Ts'ao-ch'i) was the Sixth Patriarch in China. This does not mean that only patriarchs have attained enlightenment. There have been many practitioners before and after Bodhidharma who have realized Ch'an.

The truth does not stand, the false is originally empty.
When both existence and non-existence are swept away, not empty is empty.
The twenty empty doors teach non-attachment.