Traditionally, the Buddha himself was said to be the originator of Zen. When he was teaching at Vulture Peak Mountain, several thousand people arrived to hear him talk. He sat in front of them in silence. Time went past and there was still silence. At last, he held up a flower, Nobody understood the gesture except Mahakashyapa, who smiled, having understood that words were not a substitute for the living flower. He understood the essence of the Buddha’s teaching on the spot, and with this, the first transmission from mind to mind took place. This lineage of transmission which began then is of
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