Pointing to the moon
One day, a nun named Wujincang asked the Sixth Zen Patriarch, Huineng, "I've been studying the Nirvana Sutra for years and years, and there are still some passages that I don't quite understand. Do you think you could explain them to me?"
"I'm sorry, But I can't read. If you can read the passages out for me, I'll see if I can help you understand them."
"If you can't even read the words, how can you understand the truth behind them?"
"The truth and the words are unrelated. The truth can be compared to the moon. And words can be compared to a finger. I can use my finger to point out the moon, but my finger is not the moon, and you don't need my finger to see the moon, do you?"
"I'm sorry, But I can't read. If you can read the passages out for me, I'll see if I can help you understand them."
"If you can't even read the words, how can you understand the truth behind them?"
"The truth and the words are unrelated. The truth can be compared to the moon. And words can be compared to a finger. I can use my finger to point out the moon, but my finger is not the moon, and you don't need my finger to see the moon, do you?"
21.12.2010 |
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