Flower Sermon

In the original Chinese, the story is Niān huā wéi xiào (拈花微笑, meaning "Picking up a flower and smiling").

In the story, the Buddha gives a wordless sermon to his disciples (sangha) by holding up a white flower.

Within Zen, the Flower Sermon communicates the ineffable nature of tathātā (suchness) and Mahākāśyapa's smile signifies the direct transmission of wisdom without words.

Formally speaking, much the same thing happened in Eleusis when a mown ear of grain was silently shown.

Even if our interpretation of this symbol is erroneous, the fact remains that a mown ear was shown in the course of the mysteries and that this kind of "wordless sermon" was the sole form of instruction in Eleusis which we may assume with certainty.