Our founder, the World-Honored Shakyamuni Buddha, once held up a flower before the assembly on Vulture Peak. At that moment, the hundreds of thousands of heavenly and human beings present all remained silent. Only the Venerable Mahakashyapa broke into a gentle smile.
The World-Honored One said: "I possess the treasury of the true Dharma eye, the wondrous mind of nirvana, the subtle Dharma gate of the true mark beyond marks. It is not established upon words and letters, and is a special transmission outside the teachings. I now entrust it to Mahakashyapa, and I also instruct Ananda to assist in its transmission and propagation, so that it may never be cut off."
The verse of Dharma transmission says:
The Dharma originally has no Dharma, The no-Dharma is also Dharma. Now when entrusting the no-Dharma, How could any Dharma ever be Dharma?
The long road fades in twilight's hue, My home's near gate is closed from view. One point of true light shines beyond the sea, A blind turtle and the vast ocean—both share this grace.
The First Patriarch, Mahakashyapa, was once asked by Ananda, "Senior brother, besides passing on the golden robe, what else did the World-Honored One transmit?"
The Patriarch called out, "Ananda!" Ananda responded, "Yes?"
The Patriarch said, "Take down the flagpole in front of the gate."
Later, when the Patriarch was about to enter meditation at Vulture Peak Mountain, he summoned Ananda and said, "I will soon depart this world. I entrust the true Dharma to you—guard it well."
He then transmitted the Dharma verse, saying: "Dharma is originally Dharma, No Dharma, no non-Dharma. How can there be, within the one Dharma, Dharma and non-Dharma?"
A pure breeze sweeps across the vast cosmos, In boundless peace, oxen and horses rest. The drum of awakening thunders from the clouds, The general’s command echoes beyond the frontier.