Daruma (Bodhidharma) and the Doll

For those unable to attend on Sunday, it was a great morning of sitting and the talk by Chikyo on Bodhidharma was wonderful.

The First Patriarch is still part of today's Japanese culture. It is a popular custom in Japan to get a "Daruma Doll" for special intentions; see link here for a company that sells the dolls, plus an explanation and interesting links. Basically, you purchase or are given a doll painted in the likeness of Daruma (the Japanese transliteration of Dharma), and it is legless, eyeless, and armless (which is what some imagine happened when he meditated for nine straight years!). However, the doll is weighted on the bottom and when tipped over always rights itself. You make a wish or a vow, fill in one of the blank eyes, then fill in the other when the wish is fulfilled.