I have the hidden Dharma Eye, the wonderful mind of Nirvana, the formless reality, the subtle Dharma door, and I have no written words. ——"Five Lanterns Huiyuan·Seven Buddhas·Sakyamuni Buddha·Volume 1"
The story is like this: One day, Sakyamuni Buddha's vulture in India When Shan was about to give a lecture, someone offered him a lotus flower. After the crowd gathered, Shakyamuni Buddha did not start speaking like before, or someone asked questions and then started speaking. He held the lotus and said nothing. The Buddha's unusual behavior made everyone present at the meeting very confused. What does this mean? Only a monk named Kasyapa - he is the oldest among the disciples of the Buddha, older, and practices very hard - can smile in the crowd. In other words, only he understands The Dharma taught by the Buddha, then the Buddha said: "I have the righteous Dharma eye, the wonderful mind of Nirvana, the true form without form, the subtle Dharma door, without any writing or characters, and I have taught it to outsiders, and I have given instructions to Maha Kassapa ." This sentence is very famous in the history of Zen Buddhism. Later, many Zen practitioners often asked: What method did the Buddha teach to Kassapa at that time? This is the origin of Zen. After that, Venerable Kasyapa became the first Indian founder of Zen after the Buddha. Starting from him, it was passed down to Bodhidharma. Bodhidharma is the 28th patriarch in India, and is revered as the first ancestor of Zen in China.