Over zen en leven
Talk at ZEN onder de Dom, June 12th, 2014
The Buddha holds up rotten fish
Postscript in advance: it has become quite a lot of questions. Will do better next time.
Today I would like to talk about the sixth koan (Zen question) from the Mumonkan, ‘Shakyamuni Holds Up a Flower’. First I’ll read it, then I will deal with two aspects of the story.
The koan
Long ago when the World-Honored One was at Mount Grdhrakuta to give a talk, he held up a flower before the assemblage. At this all remained silent. The Venerable Kasho alone broke into a smile. The World-Honored One said, “I have the all-pervading True Dharma, incomparable Nirvana, exquisite teaching of formless form. It does not rely on letters and is transmitted outside scriptures. I now hand it to Maha Kasho.”
Dharma can mean reality, truth or teaching, Nirvana is liberation or redemption, literally ‘extinguishing’. Kasho or Maha Kasho is the Japanese rendering of Mahakashyapa, a close disciple of the Buddha.
This koan is about transmission in the Zen tradition. The story is not historic. Most of what is being said and written about the Buddha is hard to verify. Of this, we are certain that is was written down in China, probably around 800, so about 1300 years after the Buddha’s life. The koan gives transmission a basis in the tradition: from the earliest moments of Buddhism, transmission was an essential part of it. Transmission from heart to heart, from mind to mind.
There are two aspects that I would like to look at a little closer. The first is the holding up of the flower. What is that, why does the Buddha do that, what does he mean by it? The second aspect is the part about transmission. What happens there, what is the essence of that?
The flower
Of course, the first question you could ask is: why a flower for heaven’s sake? Maybe someone from the audience has given the Buddha a flower, and now he holds it up. But why not a screw, a nail or a squid? My son wanted to have a squid in the story, so here it is. Or a rotten fish. Why is it the sweet scent of a flower that pervades the whole universe, and not the terrible stench of rotten fish? And is it the same, or different? Is the flower not too obvious, too beautiful?
The question is also what we realize when the Buddha holds up a flower. What does it mean for you? Can you do it like the Buddha did it, fully and without any doubt or hesitation? Maybe that’s why we’re here: find the place from where you can do that. Can you uncover that, can you come to that? Without anything in between, with full conviction?
With holding up the flower, is everything said? Is that the whole talk? And can you affirm it like Mahakashyapa could, with a smile? Can you bring it to life?
The transmission
That brings us to the second part of the koan, the story about the transmission. Everyone sees it, one person smiles. Then, the Buddha speaks a lot of wonderful words. He says: I have all that, and now I give it to him! Well, that’s settled then. The Buddha got rid of it and now Mahakashyapa is stuck with the mess.
The question here is: in this interplay, in that meeting, in that recognition – who gives what to whom? Mahakashyapa gives everything to the Buddha, in all openness and honesty, without holding back anything. And he could do nothing other than give everything, as he is.
On the other hand, the Buddha hands an extra burden to Mahakashyapa. A lot of big words, a lot of nonsense. He gives him something that is nothing, nothing at all. And he is quite weighty about it.
But that too is not the final word. Finally, they both stand on the same spot, they’re on the same page. A meeting from heart to heart, from mind to mind, without anything in between. That’s why the Buddha can ‘give’ it to Mahakashyapa – because the meeting is so total.
The final, real question for us here is simple. Can we see it? Can you discover it for yourself, right here, right now? In the moment you see the flower, can you recognize it without holding back? The flower as yourself, the flower that swallows the whole universe. That’s why I rather have rotten fish: that swallows everything! You cannot go anywhere, straight in your face. You exactly as you are, the whole universe, can we discover that?
The koan
Long ago when the World-Honored One was at Mount Grdhrakuta to give a talk, he held up a flower before the assemblage. At this all remained silent. The Venerable Kasho alone broke into a smile. The World-Honored One said, “I have the all-pervading True Dharma, incomparable Nirvana, exquisite teaching of formless form. It does not rely on letters and is transmitted outside scriptures. I now hand it to Maha Kasho.”
Dharma can mean reality, truth or teaching, Nirvana is liberation or redemption, literally ‘extinguishing’. Kasho or Maha Kasho is the Japanese rendering of Mahakashyapa, a close disciple of the Buddha.
This koan is about transmission in the Zen tradition. The story is not historic. Most of what is being said and written about the Buddha is hard to verify. Of this, we are certain that is was written down in China, probably around 800, so about 1300 years after the Buddha’s life. The koan gives transmission a basis in the tradition: from the earliest moments of Buddhism, transmission was an essential part of it. Transmission from heart to heart, from mind to mind.
There are two aspects that I would like to look at a little closer. The first is the holding up of the flower. What is that, why does the Buddha do that, what does he mean by it? The second aspect is the part about transmission. What happens there, what is the essence of that?
The flower
Of course, the first question you could ask is: why a flower for heaven’s sake? Maybe someone from the audience has given the Buddha a flower, and now he holds it up. But why not a screw, a nail or a squid? My son wanted to have a squid in the story, so here it is. Or a rotten fish. Why is it the sweet scent of a flower that pervades the whole universe, and not the terrible stench of rotten fish? And is it the same, or different? Is the flower not too obvious, too beautiful?
The question is also what we realize when the Buddha holds up a flower. What does it mean for you? Can you do it like the Buddha did it, fully and without any doubt or hesitation? Maybe that’s why we’re here: find the place from where you can do that. Can you uncover that, can you come to that? Without anything in between, with full conviction?
With holding up the flower, is everything said? Is that the whole talk? And can you affirm it like Mahakashyapa could, with a smile? Can you bring it to life?
The transmission
That brings us to the second part of the koan, the story about the transmission. Everyone sees it, one person smiles. Then, the Buddha speaks a lot of wonderful words. He says: I have all that, and now I give it to him! Well, that’s settled then. The Buddha got rid of it and now Mahakashyapa is stuck with the mess.
The question here is: in this interplay, in that meeting, in that recognition – who gives what to whom? Mahakashyapa gives everything to the Buddha, in all openness and honesty, without holding back anything. And he could do nothing other than give everything, as he is.
On the other hand, the Buddha hands an extra burden to Mahakashyapa. A lot of big words, a lot of nonsense. He gives him something that is nothing, nothing at all. And he is quite weighty about it.
But that too is not the final word. Finally, they both stand on the same spot, they’re on the same page. A meeting from heart to heart, from mind to mind, without anything in between. That’s why the Buddha can ‘give’ it to Mahakashyapa – because the meeting is so total.
The final, real question for us here is simple. Can we see it? Can you discover it for yourself, right here, right now? In the moment you see the flower, can you recognize it without holding back? The flower as yourself, the flower that swallows the whole universe. That’s why I rather have rotten fish: that swallows everything! You cannot go anywhere, straight in your face. You exactly as you are, the whole universe, can we discover that?