The Venerable Buddhabhadra was of the same family as Shakyamuni Buddha since he was a descendant of the Buddha's paternal uncle, Amritodana. His grandfather's name in Sanskrit means "Dharma Heaven"; his father's name means "Dharma Sun." He was born in kapilavastu, which was a wealthy city with an abundance of the objects of the five desires. Moreover, its citizenry had the virtue of much learning and liberation.

Despite his noble ancestry, Buddhabhadra's luck was poor. When he was three years old, his father died, and when he was five, his mother died as well. Since he was a remarkably intelligent child, he didn't cry when his parents died. "Life among men," he said, "is truly bitter." His maternal grandfather adopted him when he heard that his grandson, although an orphan, understood the nature of human existence so well.

"You have no parents," his grandfather said one day; "perhaps you should leave home and become a Shramanera."

Young Buddhabhadra excelled as a novice. He was young in years, but possessed such great wisdom that he even caused his teacher to remark, "You are truly inconceivable. You can master in one day what it takes others at least a month to learn. If this isn't intelligence, what is?" when Buddhabhadra was seventeen, he studied several hundreds of the Sutras, cultivating diligently with his Dharma brother Sanghadatta, who held him in great esteem. Even after cultivating together for more than a year, Sanghadatta still had no inkling of the level of his partner's cultivation. One day, however, when Sanghadatta had locked himself in his room to meditate, Buddhabhadra suddenly appeared before him.

"I thought I locked the door," said Sanghadatta. "How did you get in here?"

"I've just returned form the Tushita Heaven where I visited Maitreya Bodhisattva," Buddhabhadra replied. So saying, he vanished without a trace. "He's a sage," thought Sanghadatta. "My Dhyana brother has certainly certified to the fruit," After that, he watched all of Buddhabhadra's spiritual transformations which went unnoticed by those less observant. Later, because he had asked in a most respectful manner, Buddhabhadra informed him that he had indeed been certified to the third fruit of Arhatship, that of an Anagamin, a 'never-returner." Now his greatest desire was to travel to all countries in order o spread the Buddhadharma and teach and transform living beings.
When the two of them were in Kashmir, Great Master Chih Yen (Second Hua Yen Patriarch) came from Chung Kuo to visit. He praised them saying, "The conduct of these two Dharma Masters is extremely impressive and their cultivation is correct and pure and very much in accord with the Dharma. If only the monks in Chung Kuo could be like this! But there are no Good Knowing Advisors in Chung Kuo at present and so no one has an opportunity to become enlightened.," He had resolved to return to Chung Kuo with a Good Knowing Advisor and so he addressed the Assembly saying, "Which one of you will be compassionate and cultivate the Bodhisattva way by returning with me to the land of Yao Chin (Chung Kuo) to convert living beings?"

All the many High Masters in Kashmir at the time, recommended Buddhabhadra. "This Indian Dharma Master," they said, "was born and raised in a great noble family. He left home at an early age and studied unfathomably deep Dharmas under his Good knowing Advisor, Buddhasena. He's the one to go to Chung Kuo."

Buddhasena himself said, "If you truly wish to propagate the Law and to instruct members of the Sangha, take Dharma Master Buddhabhadra with you." But when Master Chih Yen asked Dharma Master Buddhabhadra to go, he refused. Master Chih Yen then knelt for two days without rising until Dharma Master Buddhabhadra compassionately agreed. At that time, of course, there were no busses, trains, or planes, and while Buddhabhadra, as a certified Sage, could have "flown" to Chung Kuo without a plane, he knew it would have frightened people too much. So he shouldered his pack and the two of them walked to Chung Kuo. They walked for more than three years and passed through six countries. The kings of all these countries, on hearing that he was going to Chung Kuo to spread the Dharma, were delighted and made offerings to him with great enthusiasm. They walked as far as Chiao Chih, the present day Vietnam, and then took a boat for Chung Kuo.

They sailed peacefully until one day, as they passed a certain mountain, Dharma Master Buddhabhadra said to the captain, "We should stop here."

"We can't stop now," said the captain. "We've got favorable winds and are making good time." They sailed another two hundred miles and ran into a gale which blew the ship, strangely enough, right back to the mountain where they disembarked. Seeing his spiritual powers, the people on board all took refuge with him and made offerings. When the wind stopped a few days later, he again cautioned the people to wait, but some didn't listen, and their boat capsized shortly after they set sail.

Those who had heeded his instructions, of course, didn't drown, but when he told them one night, "We should leave right away," not a single person listened. "All right," he said, "stay if you like, but I'm leaving," and he threw the lines off the deck and left. An hour later, those who had stayed behind were raided by thieves. they finally understood that Dharma Master Buddhabhadra was special!

When Buddhabhadra arrived in Chung Kuo at Ching Chou, Tung Lai Prefecture, he was informed that Kumarajiva was in Chang An, the Western Capital, and went to visit him. When Kumarajiva saw him he was extremely happy. "So you've come!" he exclaimed. "You must help me!" The two of them translated the Sutras, and whenever Kumarajiva had a question, he would ask Buddhabhadra. When ancient translators did not understand a passage, they were not reluctant to ask someone else for fear of losing prestige. Kumarajiva's wisdom, of course, was very high, but he still asked Buddhabhadra about certain points. One day Buddhabhadra said, "Your translation are really quite ordinary. There's nothing particularly special about them. Why are they so famous and so well-received?"

"Probably because I am so old," said Kumarajiva. When Prince Yao Hung of Yao Chin heard of Buddhabhadra's unobstructed eloquence and limitless wisdom, he asked Kumarajiva to invite him to the palace to teach the Dharma. After several discussions, Buddhabhadra finally accepted and, at the palace, Kumarajiva requested the Dharma, asking "How can dharmas be made empty?"

Buddhabhadra replied, "A multitude of fine dust particles make up form; that is, they create the appearance of form. This appearance, however, has no self-nature. Thus the very substance of form itself is empty. The basic substance of form is empty."

Knowing that the Assembly had not understood, Kumarajiva further asked, "If, dividing form into its smallest particles of form dust, you take that to be the destruction of emptiness, then what about the particles of dust?"

Buddhabhadra said, "Most Dharma Masters suppose that a particle of dust must be destroyed before it can be considered to be empty. I disagree, I don't think that this particle of fine dust has to be destroyed to be empty; it's very existence is emptiness."

The listeners still hadn't understood, so Kumarajiva asked, "Then is this one remaining particle permanent and unchanging?"

Buddhabhadra said, "Because the one particle is empty, the collection of particles is empty. Because the collection of particles is empty, the single particle is empty. That is, the collection of fine particles is made up of many single particles which are of themselves non-existent. Thus when the collection of particles making up form disperses, the single particles then also disappear--it's all empty.

One day when the Chung Kuo Dharma Masters interrogated Buddhabhadra on this subject, Buddhabhadra said, "Dharmas do not arise of themselves but are created from causal conditions. Whatever is created form causal conditions has no self-nature and therefore, its very substance is emptiness.

Later Dharma Masters, possibly because of inaccuracies in the translation of Dharma Master Pao Yun, thought that Buddhabhadra was claiming that a dust particle is permanent. However, Buddhabhadra was saying that although a dust particle is an appearance of form, since form has no self-nature, the dust particle is empty. Now, an accumulation of dust particles creates a form, but on dispersion of these dust particles, the form becomes empty. Hence, Buddhabhadra asserted, "It's all empty."

The Emperor, Yao Hsing, was a firm believer in Buddhism. He had invited Kumarajiva to stay at the palace, and supported and made offerings to more than three thousand members of the Sangha who were free to wander in and out of the palace and who were on familiar terms with the Emperor believed in the Buddha and respected the Sangha, the palace ministers and lesser officials did too. Knowing they had the Emperor's respect, the Sangha members often went to the court to fawn. If a person was really cultivating, what would he be doing at the palace? So even then Chung Kuo Dharma Masters sought high positions. The only on who didn't go to the palace was Buddhabhadra. But the ways of the world are strange. Since he and his disciples didn't go, they were different from the other members of the Sangha who, in turn, became jealous. If you are the only good one among the bad, unless you also join their evil party, they will not be at all satisfied with you. Because Buddhabhadra was not like the others, they were upset with him. To his face they said, "You truly cultivate," but behind his back they slandered him. Having been certified to the third fruit of Arhatship, Buddhabhadra more or less knew what they were saying and decided to return to India. He said to his several hundred disciples, "Yesterday, I saw five big boats leave India headed for Chung Kuo; when they arrive, we will depart on them."

Whenever there's trouble, the disciples are always behind it, heating matters up. It's a headache to take disciples. I hope no one believes in me; then I won't have such a great responsibility! Buddhabhadra's disciples went everywhere saying, "None of you Chung Kuo High Masters pass, If he didn't have the penetration of the Heavenly Eye, how could he have known this?"

This made everyone even more jealous. The rumors got heavier and heavier and the leading Dharma Masters objected: "He's just manifesting a special style to make people believe in him."

Being slandered is one thing. But among his own disciples there were many braggarts and liars who never cultivated but still claimed to have certified to the first, second, or third fruits of Arhatship. Buddhabhadra didn't pay attention to such trivial matters and never told them that it was an offense to make such false claims. His bad disciples were only interested in making people believe that their words were efficacious and their knowledge extraordinary. They didn't cultivate, but cheated everyone with their phony talk. When they let out the news about their accomplishments, the Chung Kuo Dharma Masters were incensed. "On top of the five boats from India, this is really too much," they said, and couldn't forget about it.

High Master Tao Heng said to Buddhabhadra, "You say five boats are on their way from India. The Buddha himself did not permit one to speak about any personal attainments. This the Buddha's precept and yet you continue to spread false, baseless rumors. What proof have you?"

There was no way of course, to send a telegram, or telephone to discover if, in fact, there were five boats headed for Change Kuo. Tao Heng called Buddhabhadra a liar and added that some of Buddhabhadra's disciples were claiming to have certified to the fruit. "If you can't even keep track of your own disciples," he said, "how can you possibly teach other people?"

When the government heard Buddhabhadra's disciples were making false claims, it wanted to arrest and imprison them. This frightened his disciples and some changed their names; others escaped over the wall in the middle of the night. Of several hundred disciples, only forty or so remained.

Then Tao Heng came to throw Buddhabhadra out.........., "Your disciples don't follow the rules and so, according to the Buddha's Precepts, you can't stay here. From today onward, you'll have to leave right away! Get out!"

Buddhabhadra said, "Fine. My body is like a floating reed and leaving poses no problem. I only regret that I haven't expressed the bulk of what I brought here." And then he and his great disciple, Hui Kuan, and the forth other disciples left.

When the Emperor Yao Hsing beard that they had gone, he said to Tao Heng, "Master Buddhabhadra brought the Way to Chung Kuo, intending to spread the Buddha's teaching. How could you throw him out for such a small matter? This is not right. How could you let such a trivial thing deprive the entire populace of a Good Knowing Advisor?" The Emperor immediately sent a party out to apologize to Buddhabhadra, but when they found him, Buddhabhadra said to the attendant, "The Emperor has been most compassionate towards me, but I can't return with you. Please tell him I can't obey his command." That night he and his disciples escaped to Lu Mountain.

On Lu Mountain, Dharma Master Hui Yuan propagated the Pure Land School. He had long wished to meet Buddhabhadra because he greatly admired Buddhabhadra's translation work with Kumarajiva at Chang An. So when Dharma Master Hui Yuan heard that Buddhabhadra had arrived at Lu Mountain, he was extremely happy. The two of them chatted like old friends and Buddhabhadra helped Hui Yuan translate many Sutras.

The dwellings on the mountain were humble, but Buddhabhadra paid no attention to this nor did he accept the offerings of those who came to meet him. After more than a year he left Lu Mountain for Chiang Ling (the present day Nanking). En route he went out to beg for his food every day. He begged without discrimination, paying no attention to whether the families he begged from were rich or poor.

Once, Buddhabhadra and his disciples begged at the house of Yuan Pao, who was the general for the Emperor Wu Ti of the Liu-Sung Dynasty (5th to 6th Century, AD.). General Yuan Pao neither believed in the Triple jewel nor respected the Sangha. In addition to the fact that Buddhabhadra was a foreigner, Yuan Pao's offerings were stingy and there was not enough food to go around.

Those who eat vegetarian food should regulate their diet carefully. If the food is not varied and well-cooked, you cannot cultivate. If you eat cabbage one day, then you should eat turnips the next, and the next day sprouts. In general, it doesn't have to be as pungent as meat, nor should it be as foul smelling as garbage.

Now, Yuan Pao's food offering was probably half-raw and half-cooked, and his rice half-raw and partly spoiled. So no one ate his full. Yuan Pao said, "Eat some more! You don't come here often to beg and even though they aren't good offerings, you should eat your fill."

"Your heart is too small," said Buddhabhadra. "Your decision to make offerings has been half-hearted. You are not generous, and your rice is all gone; what would you have us eat?"

"Impossible!" said Yuan Pao, "Quickly, bring in some more rice!"

"It's all gone," said the servant. Yuan Pao thought, "This Dharma Master hasn't been to the kitchen. How does he know that the rice is gone?" He felt this was very strange. Later, he asked Hui Kuan, "What kind of a person is this Shramana?" Hui Kuan said, "This Shramana's virtue is lofty and limitless, something common men can't fathom. His state is inconceivable."

Yuan Pao greedily wanted to know more about him, and thinking, "Are there still such men left in the world?" invited Buddhabhadra to live in Nanking. Buddhabhadra dwelt there in Tao Chang Monastery where he was very frugal. He was completely different from the Chinese in his habits, neither wearing fine clothes nor eating rich food. For this reason, many Chinese Bhikshus and Bhikshunis respected him and made offerings to him. Later he translated the first thirty-six thousand verses of the Avatamsaka Sutra and helped Dharma Master Fa Hsien translate the Mahasanghika Vinaya. He died in the sixth year of the Yuan Chia reign of the Liu Sung Dynasty (430 A.D.), aged seventy-one.

This Sage had been certified to the fruit and often manifested spiritual powers. When he was thrown out of Chung Kuo by jealous rivals, forty truly faithful disciples accompanied him.