The Story of ‘Gutei's Finger’

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I have been fortunate enough to experience and study the various world religion first hand through the places I have lived across the globe and then pursued them afterwards through my own interest in the subject matter.

Buddhism in its various forms seem to have come naturally to me, and I especially enjoy contemplating the Koans’s of Zen Buddhism a great deal!

One particular Koan stuck with me for a few years called ‘Gutei's Finger’. Compared to the other Koan’s which I could understand after a few days of meditation, this one took me a number of years.
I remember coming to the ‘aha’ moment when falling asleep at the point when I was giving up on this story. Kind of funny how that happens huh?

Anyway, here is the Koan and please do leave your thoughts and comments about what it could mean in the comments section below:

‘Gutei's Finger’

Gutei raised his finger whenever he was asked a question about Zen.
A boy attendant began to imitate him in this way.
When a visitor asked the boy what his master had preached about, the boy raised his finger.
Gutei heard about the boy’s mischief, seized him and cut off his finger with a knife.
As the boy screamed and ran out of the room, Gutei called to him.
When the boy turned his head to Gutei, Gutei raised up his own finger.
In that instant the boy was enlightened.

When Gutei was about to die, he said to the assembled monks, “I received this one-finger Zen from Tenryu. I used it all my life and yet could not exhaust it”, and then he passed away.
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Peace,
Shenobie