Work of art

Work of art                                                                                                      
 
Buddha upheld a flower,
the assembled monks straining
 
to grasp the meaning,
the venerable Kashyapa alone
 
smiling in a reciprocal silence.
A flower has no meaning, no explanation;
 
nameless like a river, a mountain, an ocean, a star;
like fish, beast, beetle or bird; like a human being
 
it has no designation or import not assigned
to it from the outside by the separative mind.
 
To move through the world without naming,
without assessment or identification
 
is to remain ever within the Oneness,
the suchness, of direct experience.
 
O child of God, unfolding existence is not
a signification but a self-validating work of art.