How to Answer the Greatest Koan Ever! You in Gutei's house now baby!!
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- Опубліковано 16 жов 2024
- Case #3 of the Mumonkan -- "Gutei's finger" -- is, admittedly, bat**** crazy.
It's also one of the most profound teachings in Zen Buddhism!
As luck would have it, I recently got a book of my teacher's transcribed talks (said book revealed to you here in a special "Unboxing Segment"!!). In this book my teacher unpacks Gutei's One-Fingered Zen and brings us to some pretty dang profound conclusions!
The story goes that whenever someone asked Zen master Gutei what the Buddhist teachings were all about, homeboy would simply raise one finger. Gutei's attendant started doing the same thing when asked the same question. "Hmm," Gutei thought. "The little rat is imitating me. Time to teach him a lesson!" And so one day, when Gutei asked his attendant what the Buddhist teachings meant, and the little copycat raised his finger, Gutei took out his trusty hatchet and chopped the kid's finger off! (Trigger warning [belated])!
In this video we dig deep into the essence of Zen, and in doing so we "cut off" the very teachings themselves as we touch upon what my teacher called "the true encounter."
This encounter is where one's ego, or one's thinking/perseverating/overly logical & stuck human mind dissolves, and "Zero" or "Satori" or "the Original Face" or "true relationship/true love" (as my teacher called it) is born.
Ahhhhhhh..... true love!
Now an interesting thing happens in my teacher's text. He explains how the "true self" is realized, but it is realized through...? The limited or conditional self, i.e. crummy old YOU! Make sense? Well, don't worry! In this video I do my darnedest get this really sophisticated point across with the help of my teacher's transcribed teaching, which contains one of the most beautiful, complex, and interesting sentences that I have ever come across re: Zen.
So click here to hear said sentence -- and welcome to Gutei's One-Fingered Zen, baby!!
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Sometimes i think i got it and that in the next moment i don‘t 🤪 but i'm making small progress. Thank you very much for your help by this little steps!
🙏🙏💡
Thank you! 🙏🏼
Me like big koan. Always exciting. and scary. It clicked when you said something like : self dissapearing into this moment, self disappearing and appearing in self. Raising one finger is a bit like saying : just this. But there is nothing magical about merely parroting "just this, just this". Also cool the bit near the end (with subtitles) about the clear love of awareness manifesting when reflected in ordinary dirt (or something like that) - Namaste!
Namaste my friend.
Understanding how the universe is concurrently empty but not-empty may be the only Koan you need. To get started, look up virtual particles or quantum void.
Best Wishes
Perfect point, thank you.
I really enjoyed this! I read a book called "the history of Zen" half the book was stories about the Chan masters doing all kinds of crazy things to "enlighten " each other. It also went over some koans and the back stories of how they came to be. I would love to hears more about these koans and the meanings behind them. Thanks for another great video!!!
Thank you my friend! More vids on koans coming up!
This was brilliant! Thank you
You're so welcome!
i love how he calls him back. i put my money on this: in his searing universal pain, hearing his name and seeing the old master's face, he was confronted with the cosmic and the complete human and the thusness of his self he felt from hearing his own name come from the mix of these was just enough to foist him into satori. or something like that.
I like that. You've taken it a step further. Thank you.
It is important to lift the index finger, not the thumb, let alone the middle finger.
In parallel with the nose 👃
what do you apprehend from that expression? I use apprehend because it differs from understand.
As the child learned it wrong. As a child did not pay attention to the adult who always raise his finger when they want to get your attention, it is a way to reprimand by raising the authority with the accusing finger.... then Gutei takes a knife, not an axe, and cuts his finger. - I'm afraid this coan will soon be banned....-
The child learned the gesture like a trained monkey. And he lost his finger. And the world is unfair and cruel. I can imagine the pain he felt. All his being, all his blood in that lost finger. He runs and flees from there when Gutei calls him back, turns his face and sees the finger parallel to his teacher's nose, the blood returns to its channels and he realizes he is more alive than ever.
On his deathbed Gutei said:
I have received this one-finger Zen from Tenryu, I have used it all my life, but I have not exhausted it.
And it's when you raise your finger parallel to your nose, meekly I would say, inside a breath rises up asleep in chores, and realizes that his heart is still alive....
More like a Brothers Grimm story than a coan.
Just a joke
Absolutely bonkers! Thank you Shozan Jack Haubner! This reminds me of Advaita. And an exp. I had on weed where I momentarily lost myself. Are you stealing more from Hardcore Zen's thing?
Do you have a video or recommendations on how to sit Zazen? I want further my practice beyond reading Thich Nhat Hanh and watching Zen UA-cam videos.
Thanks my friend! Ok, I wrote a video called 10 minute power sit. Also the livestreams I've done offer zazen instruction. That's what I have to offer from my end, I must say it's hard to find a good book on zazen.
Disappear into the Moon today!
Let me summarize this talk:
1. Stupid imitation is not true practice.
2. Buddha is an ordinary guy, gazing at me.
Conclusion:
A few fingers less, but so many fingers left. Never forget to cut off!!! 😄
Stupid imitation is a little bit better than amazing imitation! Or, you're an ordinary guy gazing at Buddha. Infinite fingers! So little time..... ;)
I am really amazed by your imitation!
Witness is gazing at us without eyes.
Time has been cut off with one finger.
Nothing left under this ordinary moonlight.
Preach Brother.
BTW mid-roll ads are back again.
Mid roll meaning they play mid video??
@@zenconfidential25 yuppers
@@zenconfidential25 also just realized you might not know but ads are playing before the video also
Noice.
NOICE! Nnnnnnnoooooiiiiicccceeeeeee ;)
😅@@zenconfidential25
Thank you. Now I understand… now I don’t. 🙏
Happy to help! And then not help!! ;)
I bet ya his toilet bowl is covered with skid marks. Why the pretentious tie? Oh, I got to 1:37 and thought, bored I am.
get out the sponge!