Holding a flower

Nenge

When Buddha was in the Ryoju Mountains, he turned a flower in his fingers and presented it in front of the audience. Everyone kept silent. Only the head disciple, Mahakasyapa, smiled. Buddha said, "I have the eyes of the True Dharma, the subtle mind of nirvana, the true form of no-form. This Dharma is beyond words, but I now declare that the spirit of this Dharma has been transmitted to Mahakasyapa." This was the beginning of the Dharma transmission from Sakyamuni Buddha to his disciples.

Nenge means "holding a flower." "Holding a flower" shows Buddha's appreciation of it; he and the flower became one. Observing this, Mahakasyapa smiled in appreciation of this oneness. Mumon, in his cynical comment, asked, "If everyone in the audience had smiled, how could Sakyamuni Buddha have transmitted the Dharma? If Mahakasyapa had not smiled, how could the Buddha have transmitted the Dhama?" After all, it is just holding a flower, nothing more, nothing less. A great Zen saying goes: "Just do it!"