[Buddha-l] Kashyapa question

[Bob Zeuschner]

Hi Mitchell --
Sorry for the delay in responding to your question.
As far as I know, the "Flower Sermon" is the invention of Ho-tse 
Shen-hui, an 8th century student of Hui-neng.
Shen-hui invented much of Ch'an history, especially the mythical 
connection of Ch'an to India.
I hope this helps.
Bob Zeuschner
Dept. of Philosophy



Mitchell Ginsberg wrote:
> Hello all, 
> 
> The furthest back I have been able to track the flower-holding story down 
> is to a little work said to be by Bodhidharma (in Chinese), Xuemailun, where 
> Kashyapa is mentioned as the only one to "get it." As for the explicit story 
> itself, I find it in two texts of the eleventh century CE (1000s), and then in 
> later works... 
> 
> Questions for anyone: 
> 1. Are there any Indic sources for this story (and if so from what age/time)?
> 2. What is the earliest recounting of this flower-demonstration teaching (in 
> Chinese, or another language)? 
> 
> Thank you, everyone. 
> 
> Mitchell G. 
> ==========