I vow to taste the truth of the love of God as it works. Morning. Morning. This morning I'm going to present this case very well-known case from the Mu'man Khan, Mu'man's collection of koans, called, Is that better?

[01:11]

That was closer. Is that better? Okay. Did you hear what I said? Good. Gute is one finger. Zen. That's the case. So I'll read the case for you. There's no introduction, but I will give an introduction after I read the case. A Zen master, Master Gutei, whenever he was questioned, just stuck up one finger. At one time, he had a young attendant whom a visitor asked, what is the Zen your master is teaching? The boy also stuck up one finger. Hearing of this, Gutei cut off the boy's finger with a knife. As the boy ran out screaming with pain, Gutei called to him. When the boy turned his head, Gutei stuck up his finger.

[02:14]

The boy was suddenly enlightened. When Gutei was about to die, he said to the assembled monks, I attained Tenryu's zen of one finger. I used it all through my life, but could not exhaust it. When he had finished saying this, he died. So, Gutei was a Chinese monk. I'm using the Japanese names for the Chinese. Gutei was a Chinese monk in the 9th century, and at that time, middle of the 9th century, there was a purge of Buddhism. And the Taoists and the Confucianists and the Buddhists were all, all during the history of China, after the second century or so, were vying for the attention of the emperor, the favor of the emperor.

[03:25]

and they would always put down the other two. So at this time, either the Taoists or the Confucianists were in favor, and whispering in the emperor's ear, and Buddhism was out of favor, and there was a purge. This happened every once in a while. Monasteries were closed, and monks were disrobed, and there was a lot of chaos. But The Zen monks especially, although this was a tragedy, at the same time it was a renewal as things go. It was a renewal of Buddhism, because probably at that time Buddhism had become somewhat degenerate, which helped the emperor to decide to purge Buddhism. So there are many factors. Anyway, so there was a rejuvenation as well, which took place in the mountains.

[04:30]

The Zen monks fled to the mountains and practiced up there, and the other schools suffered more. But Chenryu No, no. Kute set up his small temple in the mountains. And so one day he was sitting, zazen, in his little room, in his little small temple, probably just a hut, and a None appeared. Her name was Jisai, which means something like true encounter or true world. And she circumambulated Gutei three times, but she didn't bow.

[05:31]

She says, if you can give me a word, I'll take off my hat. And he couldn't say anything. So she did it again. She says, if you give me a word, I'll take off my hat. She gave him another chance. She said, she circumambulated three times. Circumambulating is historically the way one greets a teacher if one wants to have an encounter or a dialogue or something like that. And you read in Buddhist time, the monk would circumambulate three times and then bow and then present his question. So, a third time she did that and then she left. And he said, wait a minute, wait a minute. It's getting dark out, you know, don't you want to spend the night? She said, if you can give me a word, I'll spend the night. And he couldn't say anything, so she left into the midnight sky.

[06:38]

So, Kute was very downcast, as you can imagine. He was really, everything that he had thought about himself, as far as his understanding, was completely gone. And he said to himself, well, what I really have to do is put on my traveling bag and go visit more teachers. So he went to sleep that night and he had a dream. And in the dream, a mountain deity or something like that appeared to him in the dream and said, you know, in a little while, someone will come who will help you. So he decided to stay and see what happened. So a few days later, a monk came, an old man, and he said, this must be the person.

[07:43]

And it was Tenryu. So he told Tenryu the story. And when he told Tenryu the story, Tenryu did this, and Gutei was enlightened. So Gutei got his one finger from Tenryu. And he used it all the time. He didn't use it all the time. When do I say he used it all the time? It means he used it frequently. I'm sure that he had other responses as well. But he was characterized by this kind of response, raising his one finger when someone asked him a question. So he had this young acolyte. In the temples in those days, they had young acolytes who were studying in the temple for one reason or another.

[08:52]

they would study sutras and learn about Buddhism. And apparently this young acolyte didn't have much understanding of Buddhism, but he knew how to say the right things. But anyway, this story is fraught with, you know, doubtful chinks in its makeup, you know. You can always question, well, why this and why that? But if you just go along with the story, it'd be helpful. Why did he cut off the finger, you know? So, when someone asked the acolyte about Gutei's, how does Gutei teach? The acolyte said, hmm.

[09:54]

And when Gutei found out about that, he cut off his finger. And then when the young guy was leaving, he said, wait. And the kid turned around and Gutei went like this. So, this is called having realization abruptly. So, Mumon has a commentary And Mamuman says, the Satori of Gutei and the boy attendant are not in the finger. If you really see through this, Tenryu, Gutei, the boy, and yourself are all run through with one skewer or one finger.

[11:08]

And then Mumon has a poem. He says, Gutei made a fool of old Tenryu. With a sharp knife, he chastised the boy. Korei raised his hand with no effort. And lo, the great ridge of Mount Ka was split in two. So I'll talk about what that means. So what is an appropriate response when we think about the nun, Chi Se, and Gu Te. In Gu Te's time, the expulsion of the monks and the closing of the monasteries was a kind of tragedy. In our day, we have immense tragedies.

[12:17]

We have worldwide tragedies that are going on all the time. Right now, our world is engulfed in both natural disasters and people-made disasters. What do you do about that? What is the appropriate response? Everyone is looking for an appropriate response. Everyone is looking for an appropriate response. What is that appropriate response? What is the response that is real? What is the response that is both fundamental and workable?

[13:19]

This is what he was faced with. And we're all faced with that. We're all faced with, give me an appropriate response. Give me a response that is real, that goes beyond thought, our usual way of thinking, our usual way of responding, but expresses reality and truthfulness. So what is Gutei's one finger?

[14:29]

If we understand Gutei's one finger, If we say, I understand Gutei's one finger, then we don't understand Gutei's one finger. Even Gutei didn't understand his one finger. But he could use it freely, and it worked. There is a history of Zen teachers using one thing, a fist, or a needle, or a mu, or a shout, or a stick, something that breaks through our usual thinking patterns and wakes us up. Zazen actually is one finger. Zazen is, I think, everyone can practice this one finger by sitting Zazen.

[15:43]

And then you can practice this one finger in all of your activities in your life. So, is when Gutei raised his one finger, every time he raised that one finger, it was a different finger. You may say, oh, same thing. No, it's not the same thing. Every time he raised his finger, it was a different finger. It meant something else. And at the same time, it meant the same thing. When the boy raised his finger, He didn't know what he was talking about. So, you can't imitate. You have to raise your own finger. Each one of us has to raise our own finger, but we can't imitate someone else's finger. It has to be genuine. Poor boy.

[16:48]

I think he got a raw deal. He was just answering the guy's question. But this is Zen mythology. And in mythology, you don't question fact. You just, the story conveys something. In Jack and the Beanstalk, you don't question that the beanstalk went up to heaven. You just accept it. but it's very dramatic and it means something. When cutting off the finger is like cutting off delusions. When Eka cut off his arm and presented it to Bodhidharma, do you think that he really cut off his arm?

[17:55]

He cut off his delusions. But we say things in a dramatic way to make a point. If we say, oh, he cut off his delusions, uh-huh. But if he cut off his arm or his finger, oh, wait a minute, that hurts. Yes, it hurts. When you cut off your delusions, you feel empty. Something's missing. Okay. You know, sometimes people say, well, you know, like I really got into a place where I don't have a lot of things going on, you know, maybe I should do something more. I always say, don't do something more. Just be with that. Just be with that.

[19:00]

Just let that happen. We always want to add more because we think we need more. But if we have what is essential, then what is essential can be very fulfilling, making you feel full. So one finger is the whole universe. The whole universe is one finger. Suzuki Roshi always used to say, whatever you do covers the whole world. The whole world is right there in whatever you do. If you do it with totality, if you're fully present, without any self-centeredness,

[20:04]

So, and Dogen says, letting go, it fills your hand. Rinzai, Master Rinzai, used to shout all the time, a lot. He probably didn't shout all the time, but his shouts were significant enough so that it's not, it seems like he shouted all the time. But his shouts would cut the heads off of, or cut the tongues out of his students, so they no longer had a head. They're very fortunate he could do that for them. When Master Rinzai was a young monk, he visited Obaku, who finally gave him a great shout, and he said that his ears were ringing for three days.

[21:25]

So sometimes things happen in a way that are dramatic. This is a very dramatic story. Realization is not always dramatic. Actually, we say, walking in the fog, you reach down and feel that, oh, my robe's got wet. Little by little. But I didn't even realize it. So slow, fast, sudden, gradual, it's really all the same. But we like these dramatic stories because they tend to wake us up, give us something to deal with. When Kyogen was with his master, Issei. He was a very erudite scholar and knew all about Buddhism, but his teacher would never verify his understanding.

[22:58]

So he decided to leave. And when he left, he went to sweep the monument of the third patriarch or somebody like that. And he said, all I can do really is, I'm such a poor monk, is just sweep. I'll just spend my days cleaning up. So he let go of everything. which, of course, was the condition for his attaining enlightenment. He just let go of everything, let go of all ambition, let go of his understanding, what he thought he knew. And he was sweeping, and he swept a little pebble that hit a piece of bamboo and went, ping, and he woke up. but the conditions were all, through his long practice, the conditions were set up for his awakening.

[24:06]

And all it took was that little ping. And in Gutei's case, he was all set up. His years of practice and his discouragement And his decision to let go of everything was what set him up for understanding the one finger. So at 10 we raised the one finger, boom. So main thing I think for us is to empty our mind. MTR, let go of what we think we understand, to always be ready and open for something. And this is what my teacher Suzuki Roshi was always talking about, the frog practice, the fish practice. The fish goes, swims around. Something goes by.

[25:11]

No real intention, just practicing without any idea about getting something. The frog sits on the rock with his mouth open, just sitting there for a long, long time. It may be blinking. And the fly goes by. And then as soon as he gets right in front, the tongue goes, catches the fly. And then maybe he blinks. And then if he likes it, he'll swallow it. If he doesn't like it, spit it out. So this openness, readiness, just being ready, just being open with nothing special in your mind, being open and ready.

[26:27]

And when something needs a response, you respond. So, old Goethe would always present the fundamental thing. But he didn't say, this is the fundamental thing. It's just a finger. It could be a spoon. It could be his toe. It could be the way he walks back and forth. It could be the way he sits down. So, the satori of Gutei and the boy attendant are not in the finger.

[27:37]

If you really see through this, if you see through this, then Tenryu, Gutei, the boy, and you yourself are all run through with one skewer. In other words, you're all in the same boat. You're all run through with the same finger. So Gutei made a fool of old Tenryu. Well, you know, this is a Zen way of talking. Means, actually, he really got Tenryu's Zen. And with a sharp knife, he chastised the boy. So it looks like he's criticizing Gutei. He didn't have to do that. And then Koré raised his hand with no effort, and lo, the great ridge of Mount Ka was split in two. So this is an example of doing something easily, you know, rather than the clumsy way that Gutei did this with a boy.

[28:43]

So Kore was a mountain god or one of those Chinese deities. And he split this mountain in two in order for the Yellow River to run through. And he did it easily, you know, no effort, no big deal. But, you know, he's saying, but Gutei made this big deal of cutting off this boy's finger. Shame on him. And, you know, making a fool of old Tenryu at the same time. So it's a compliment in the guise of a criticism. Do you have any questions? This is rather complex. Yes? Can you talk about this case with an emphasis on how to help someone?

[29:45]

Well, it depends on what you want to accomplish and the circumstances and what is available to you. So this is a case where The circumstances were such, I think that there was some, we can talk about the circumstances of cutting off the finger, you know, it's not a nice thing to do. But that's another story, you know. It's unethical, right? But this is getting, it's like going over the boundaries of ethics.

[30:47]

It's going over the boundaries of what's ethical. You know, like cutting the cat in two. If you can say a word, you save the cat. If you can't say, this is very similar, actually, in the same vein. If you can say a word, you'll save the cat. Otherwise, I'll cut the cat in two." So what would a word be? The same thing as the nun asked Gutei, if you give me a word, I'll take off my hat. It's the same thing as, if you can give me a word, you'll save the cat, or I'll cut it in two. So he's getting the monks up to where they don't know what to do, but they have to bring out an appropriate response. Dogen said, If I was asked the question, I would say, well, why don't you cut the cat in one? They could also have said, well, please put the cat down, or don't do that, or something.

[31:51]

Lawsuit. What? Lawsuit. Lawsuit. Goutei could have said, Well, why don't you sit down, you know, anyway, or, you know, I'll make you some tea or something." But he was lost for words. He couldn't say anything. So, and it's very interesting because he thought that he had to make a Zen answer, you know, something profound and deep and blah, blah, blah, when he could have just said anything. Yes, yes. Nancy. Well, just the idea of the bamboo or the frog and the message of being ready and open. I appreciate that.

[32:51]

Thank you. But this about cutting the arm off and the finger and slicing the cat. It seems that these kinds of And did these things really happen, any of them? If I say yes, that might not be right. If I say no, that might not be right. So I'll just leave it up to you to decide whether you want it to be yes or no. I don't know. Is there any way that these acts don't imply disability? You know, the person who steps on ground, You know, it goes away with half an arm. He saved the boy by cutting off his finger. That's the point.

[33:54]

He saved the boy by cutting off his finger. But his finger magically jumped back on again after the story was over. And all the actors left the stage. one thing that is very effective? One thing that expresses your understanding, your true understanding. It could be a phrase or a gesture or something like that, but not necessarily something that would be obvious.

[35:08]

Suzuki Roshi expressed it in the way he moved. He was very fond of this story. And he expressed the same thing just in the way he moved. And as far as the phrase, his, I think, most fundamental phrase was, everything changes. Last night I went to see a movie in Berkeley, and this happened quite a few times. The movie was called Innocent Voices. It was about the El Salvador Civil War. It was a very powerful movie. And while I was watching it, you know, I had this reaction right in my body, so it felt more real than thinking reaction. And whatever thoughts would come out of it, they might be something like, I can't live my life in the same way after this.

[36:30]

Then, you know, I went out. And pretty much started living my regular life. the same little concerns. Yes, well, your reaction was part of the story. So it might take something more immediate to make you change the way you do things. On the other hand, what's wrong with the way you do things? you do what you can. I think everybody's just doing what they can. Some of us could do more than what we do, we think. So Tenryu never used up.

[37:37]

He said, I never used up. Well, on his deathbed, he said, I used this all my life, but I never used it up. I've never exhausted it. That means there's no end to You know, there's nothing definitive. Even the definitive thing is still developing. So, although you may think, well, I'm still doing the same as I always did, which you can't help doing, you can't just suddenly change your life. But that has an effect on you. Everything you do has an effect on you, little by little. And there's something like an accumulative effect that someday you'll trip over the curb and bang your knee and get enlightened.

[38:39]

Of course, I'm always hoping for that. Because of all the stuff that's accumulated so far. Just listening to your dialogue, I think what popped into my mind was that that's kind of what Gupte was saying to the boy, you can do better. So my image with that is that he, like he might have, if someone asked him, what does your teacher say, he could have done that in a respectful way, but it must have been that he was kind of making fun or taking it lightly or not really taking the whole thing very seriously. Seriously. Yeah. So you can't do this element of this is life and death. That's very right. You know, like the boy, like for Gutei, this was fundamental. For the boy, it was saying, well, he does this. No, he said, no, I don't just do this. I do this. Because the boy was brash enough, stupid enough, presumptuous enough to imitate his teacher, he also set up the causes and conditions for his own awakening in relationship to his teacher.

[40:01]

That's really such a wonderful interplay. He dared to make a mistake. The mountain god, Koray? The what? Koray, the mountain god. Yes. Who raises his hand and splits this mountain range so that the river can come through. And it seemed to me that this is a metaphor in the natural earthquakes and so on. And it just happens like that.

[41:03]

But that corresponds in the, I don't know what word to use, the spiritual world to the one finger, which splits, somehow splits the mountains of impediments It allows the river to flow through. It allows the river to flow through because when Gautam says that this is inexhaustible, I think what he's talking about, he's not talking about his fingers, he's talking about something that comes through him, that he must feel, and that his students must feel. And it's some inexhaustible source. Right, so this whole, you know, this just, the mountain god splitting open the mountains so the Yellow River runs through is the same as, analogous to, raising the finger, or cutting off the finger so that... Or the truth, the image of truth of the woman who appears.

[42:21]

the truth and its effect and this image of a magical woman who appears. It's interesting that it's a woman. He doesn't say, he doesn't say, who are you? No, that's right. She just gets things going for him. Thank you. That's right.

[42:50]

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