Case 3
Gutei Raises a Finger
Whenever Gutei Oshō was asked about Zen, he simply raised his finger. Once a visitor asked Gutei’s boy attendant, “What does your master teach?” The boy too raised his finger. Hearing of this, Gutei cut off the boy’s finger with a knife. The boy, screaming with pain, began to run away. Gutei called to him, and when he turned around, Gutei raised his finger. The boy suddenly became enlightened. When Gutei was about to pass away, he said to his assembled monks, “I obtained one-finger Zen from Tenryū and used it all my life but still did not exhaust it.” When he had finished saying this, he entered into eternal Nirvana.
MUMON’S COMMENT
The enlightenment of Gutei and of the boy does not depend on the finger. If you understand this, Tenryū, Gutei, the boy, and you yourself are all run through with one skewer.
MUMON’S VERSE
Gutei made a fool of old Tenryū,
Emancipating the boy with a single slice,
Just as Kyorei cleaved Mount Kasan
To let the Yellow River run through.
Two Zen Classics (pp. 34-35). Shambhala. Kindle Edition.
I'd tell you how I read this, but then I'd just be depriving you of your own understanding. I will say that I enjoyed contemplating how Gutei made a fool of Tenryu and found Mumon's verse made this one for me this reading. Kyorei is some kind of river god or something.
Submitted April 17, 2021 at 11:19AM by foomanbaz https://ift.tt/3mThKgy
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