The Buddha's Flower

When the Buddha was on Grdhrakuta mountain, he turned a flower in his fingers and held it before his listeners. All were silent. Only Maha-Kasapa smiled. Buddha said, "I have the eye of the true teaching, the heart of Nirvana, the true aspect of non-form, and the ineffable stride of Dharma. It is not expressed by words but especially transmitted beyond teaching. This teaching I have given to Maha-Kasapa."

When the Buddha turned a flower in his fingers and held it before his listeners, only Maha-Kasapa smiled. He understood the mind of the Buddha. The flower is flower, nothing else. It has no pretense, no pride, no shame, The essence of all things is the wordless word, the formless form. Truth is not words. Words and teachings merely point. Zen is transmitted without words from mind to mind.