Kashapa's Preaching Sign

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.

A Zen koan from the classic collection The Gateless Gate. Original transcription by Ben Walter and Adam Fuller of iBiblio.

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