Bodhidharma's reputation as a Dhyana master was said to have preceded his arrival in China, and so and the Chinese Emperor Wu, a devout Buddhist, called upon Bodhidharma to visit the Imperial Palace to teach. Having sponsored the construction of a great many Buddhist monasteries and temples and patronizing the teachers of the various Buddhist sects, Emperor Wu—in accordance with his understanding of their teachings—assumed that he would gain much 'merit' in the form of a happy and prosperous reign. And he assumed he was earning an auspicious rebirth in what some Buddhist schools called a 'Pure Land' where, unlike on earth, all the conditions of life would be conducive to his attainment of Enlightenment.
Emperor Wu: "I have built many temples, copied innumerable Sutras and ordained many monks since becoming Emperor. Therefore, I ask you, what is my merit?"
Bodhidharma: "None whatsoever!"
Emperor Wu: "Why no merit?"
Bodhidharma: "Doing things for merit has an impure motive and will only bare the puny fruit of rebirth."
Emperor Wu: (a little put out) "What then is the most important principle of Buddhism?"
Bodhidharma: "Vast emptiness. Nothing sacred."
Emperor Wu: by now bewildered, and not a little indignant: "Who is this that stands before me?"
Bodhidharma: "I do not know."
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