Flower Sermon
The Flower Sermon is a story of the origin of Zen Buddhism in which Gautama Buddha transmits wisdom (prajñā) directly to his disciple Mahakasyapa without speaking. In the original Chinese, the story is Niān huá wéi xiào (拈華微笑, literally "Pick up flower, subtle smile").
Content
In the story, the Buddha gives a wordless sermon to his disciples by holding up a white flower. No one in the audience understands the meaning of this gesture except Mahakasyapa, who smiles.
Within the Zen tradition, the Flower Sermon communicates the ineffable nature of "suchness" (tathātā) and Mahākāśyapa's smile signifies that he has received a direct transmission of wisdom without words. The Buddha affirmed this by saying:
I possess the true dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa.[1]
History
The story of the Flower Sermon appears to have been created by Chinese Chán Buddhists.[2] The earliest known version of the tale appeared in 1036.[2]
Similarity with Eleusinian Mysteries
Carl Jung and Karl Kerényi demonstrate a possible commonality in intent between the Flower Sermon and the Eleusinian Mysteries:
One day the Buddha silently held up a flower before the assembled throng of his disciples. This was the famous "Flower Sermon." Formally speaking, much the same thing happened in Eleusis when a mown ear of grain was silently shown. Even if our interpretation of this symbol is erroneous, the fact remains that a mown ear was shown in the course of the mysteries and that this kind of "wordless sermon" was the sole form of instruction in Eleusis which we may assume with certainty.[3]
See also
Notes
- ↑ Heinrich Dumoulin (2005). Zen Buddhism: a history. p. 9. ISBN 0-941532-89-5.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Harmless, William (2007). Mystics. Oxford University Press. p. 192. ISBN 9780198041108.
- ↑ Jung, C. G. & Kerényi, C. (2005). Essays on a Science of Mythology: The Myth of the Divine Child and the Mysteries of Eleusis. Routledge; 2 edition. ISBN 0-415-26742-0. Routledge, p. 179. Source: [1] (accessed: November 28, 2007)
References
- Welter, Albert. 2000. Mahākāśyapa’s Smile: Silent Transmission and the Kung-an (Kōan) Tradition. In The Kōan: Texts and Contexts in Zen Buddhism, edited by Steven Heine & Dale S. Wright. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 75–109.
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