(Religion) Indischer Mönch, 28. Nachfolger Buddhas und erster Patriarch des chinesischen Zen, gilt als der Begründer des Zen-Buddhismus.

The form of empty - handed fighting, which we know as karate, is generally traced to the exercises which were developed at the famous Shaolin Monastery in the Hunan district of China, the monastery which is also the traditional birthplace of Zen Buddhism. According to tradition, both Zen Buddhism and the I - Chin exercises of the Shaolin Monastery were introduced by an Indian Buddhist monk called Taishi Daruma (Japanese), Bodhidharma (Hindi), or Tamo (Chinese).

Taishi Daruma is a legendary figure. Some scholars believe he is actually the personification of a number of persons. Most, however, agree that he was a single, historical figure who was born in Southern India in the latter years of the 5 th century, A.D. He was the third son of a noble of the Kshatriya (warrior caste) and bore the title of “prince.” However, Taishi Daruma forsook the privileges of nobility and became a Buddhist monk.