Flower Sermon

Within Zen, and thus from an emic perspective, the origins of Zen Buddhism are ascribed to what is rendered in English as the "Flower Sermon": in which "Śākyamuni Buddha" transmitted direct "prajñā" to the disciple "Mahākāśyapa". The Flower Sermon was wordless, encapsulating ineffable "tathātā": it comprised the purity of direct communication wherein "Śākyamuni" proffered a white flower to the "sangha" (a flower by which he had been gifted immediately prior to ascendence of the teaching dais), amongst whom there was no realization except "Mahākāśyapa", who smiled. According to tradition, the smile signified "Mahākāśyapa"'s direct cognition, and Śākyamuni affirmed this by saying:

I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of Nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle [D] harma [G] ate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside of the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahākāśyapa. [Harvcolnb|Dumoulin|2005|p=9]

Thus, a way within Buddhism developed which concentrated on direct experience rather than on rational creeds, doctrinal scholasticism, intellectualism and analysis. Zen is essentially a spiritual discipline, an exploratory methodology that maps consciousness, a meditative tradition that foregrounds direct experience of "tathātā" which may only be forded by the entrance, the trance, of the "gateless" Dharma Gate. [PDFlink| [http://dl-gamma.tccd.edu/academic/booklets/sp07/PHIL_1304.pdf Great religions of the world. Center for Distance Learning. Tarrant County College District] |1.03 MiB ]

Jung and Kerényi (2002: p.179) 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. [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 (December 16, 2005). ISBN 0415267420. Routledge. Source: [http://books.google.com/books?id=5DLNW0T1eOoC&pg=PA180&lpg=PA180&dq=%22flower+sermon%22+history&source=web&ots=kHtZQw2782&sig=P2A37hTRQ5RsouSF_Rt4AkUcHPo#PPA179,M1] (accessed: November 28, 2007)]

ee also

*Lotus Sutra
*Platform Sutra
*Indra's Net
*Chhatra
*Southern School
*Linji
*Fly-whisk
*Vimalakirti

Notes