Gutei's Finger

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In the 13th century there was a Zen master, Mumon Ekai, who had compiled 48 koans or lessons which he presented to his students during their training. One such lesson is "Gutei's Finger" and it goes as follows:

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.

Here the question is what was the significance of Gutei's practice of raising his finger every time a question about Zen was asked to him.  Secondly and more importantly,  how was the boy enlightened? We know that Zen stories have a deep meaning which is not generally obvious, but provide invaluable lessons.  The lessons we learn from this story is revealed from the answers to these questions.

When asked a question about Zen, the master raising his finger and remaining silent meant that he is pointing to the One singular Truth that prevails over everything. An extension of this could also allude to negation of the individual self. Words are superfluous and can only fragment the One singularity, hence his silence. You can call it the affirmation of, Om Tat Sat, or That is Truth. 

The cutting of the boy's finger could mean the master is cutting off duality, the fakeness, pretense or outward show, which the boy represented by imitating the master. He was brought dramatically to the present moment while he experienced the pain. While in this state, when the master called him and he turned his head, what he saw was the master raising his own finger. In the emptiness the boy felt at that vulnerable moment, he faced an identity crisis. 

With the cutting off the finger, the master had in effect metaphorically relieved the boy of the sense of duality. At that moment he was shorn of all egoistic tendencies, false ideas, self-indulgent ways and the façade that one generally puts up. For the first time he now came face to face with reality and saw the one Singularity which his master represented.   It was as if the master was showing a mirror of who he really was. That was the moment of his Enlightenment.

In a way the master had prepared the boy for enlightenment and knew he was ready for it. It was like in the 11th chapter of Gita where Krishna gives Arjuna his Vishwarup darshan, but not before giving him hard realizations on the nature of Self.

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