Full case
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.
Comment
What does Oshō mean when he lifts up his finger? What would you say when someone asks you what is Zen? Nonsense, these questions! It's of no use to be answered by yourself to yourself. What is really important is asking yourself, "are the words I use really mine? Or do I preach what I don't understand?"
The boy used Oshō's gesture, not his own. Of course, the boy being elightened after having his finger cut and shown the same gesture is just a Zen meme, don't bother with it. Just notice: was the boy speaking something he understood? If he was not, then he wasn't being truthful with his nature.
Verse
A finger pointing directly to the heavens Remove your finger You can now point directly to Mind
From Mumonkan, "As for those who try to understand through other people's words, they are striking at the moon with a stick; scratching a shoe, whereas it is the foot that itches. What concern have they with the truth?"
When you get home, you take your shoes off. What if the whole world was your home?
Submitted January 18, 2020 at 04:26PM by felipeforte https://ift.tt/2NCUseu
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