Revealing the Family Shame - The Tradition of Zen Transmission
Opening talk at the first transmission ceremony of our School.
In the Zen records there are a number of cases that give us an
example of dharma transmission. The first is the root
transmission coming from Shakyamuni Buddha to Mahakashyapa. One
day on Vulture's Peak, Buddha was going to give a dharma speech
and the whole assembly was there. He mounted the rostrum and sat
silently for several minutes. Everyone waited, expectantly. What
will the Buddha talk about today? Finally, he held up a flower.
No one understood except Mahakashyapa, who smiled. And Buddha
said, "I have the all pervading true dharma, incomparable
nirvana, exquisite teaching of formless form. This I give to
Mahakashyapa." Zen Master Mu Mun writes a poem about the case
and comments: "Holding up the flower, tail already appears." "A
tail already appears" is like an animal with something trailing
behind. Like a turtle who crawls up on the beach, digs a hole,
plants its eggs - and as