禅Masters

Mahakashyapa

Kizil Caves mural depicting Mahakashyapa, 5th century CE

Indian Patriarchs

Mahakashyapa

5th c. BCE – c. 400 BCE

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Mahakashyapa was a senior disciple of Shakyamuni Buddha who became the first patriarch of the Chan lineage. Born into a wealthy brahmin family, he was known for his austere practice and mastery of the dhutanga disciplines, the ascetic purification practices. The Buddha singled him out as the foremost practitioner of these strict observances, and their relationship exemplified the directness and simplicity that would become hallmarks of Chan.

According to Chan tradition, at the Flower Sermon on Vulture Peak, the Buddha held up a golden lotus without speaking a word. Only Mahakashyapa smiled in understanding. The Buddha said: "I possess the true Dharma eye, the marvelous mind of nirvana, the true form of the formless, the subtle Dharma gate that does not rest on words or letters but is a special transmission outside the scriptures. This I entrust to Mahakashyapa." This wordless transmission is the fountainhead of the entire Chan lineage. After the Buddha's death, Mahakashyapa presided over the First Council, where Ananda recited the sutras and Upali recited the Vinaya.

Names

dharma · enMahakashyapa
alias · enKashyapa
alias · enKasyapa
alias · enMahakassapa
alias · zh摩訶迦葉

Teachers

Students

  • Anandaprimary · 5th c. BCE – c. 400 BCE

Teachings

  • koanKashapa's Preaching Sign

    Mumonkan Case 22

    Ananda asked Kashapa: "Buddha gave you the golden-woven robe of successorship. What else did he give you?" Kashapa said: "Ananda." Ananda answered: "Yes, brother." Said Kashapa: "Now you can take down my preaching sign and put up your own." Mumon’s comment: If one understands this, he will see the old brotherhood still gathering, but if not, even though he has studied the truth from ages before the Buddhas, he will not attain enlightenment. The point of the question is dull but the answer is intimate. How many persons hearing it will open their eyes? Elder brother calls and younger brother answers, This spring does not belong to the ordinary season.

    tr. Nyogen Senzaki, Paul Reps, 1934

    Speaker: Mahakashyapa, Commentator: Wumen Huikai

Master Record Sources

  • datesZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

    trad. 5th c. BCE

    Reliability: editorial

  • nameZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

    Mahakashyapa

    Reliability: editorial

  • schoolZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

    Indian Patriarchs

    Reliability: editorial

  • teachersZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

    Shakyamuni Buddha

    Reliability: editorial

Image: Wikimedia Commons: Kizil Caves mural of Mahakashyapa, carbon dated 422-529 CE · Public Domain / CC (Wikimedia)