Observe yourself carefully to see how much you imitate others. In imitation, your true origin remains dead. Cut off imitation. It may be painful. Suffering can be profound. But your true, your authentic will appear in you.
Zen Master Gatei had the habit of raising his finger whenever he explained Zen.
A very young student began to imitate him, and when someone asked the student what the Master was talking about, he also raised his finger. Gatei found out about this and one day came to see. He crept up from behind, and when the boy raised his finger, Gatei pulled out a knife and cut off his finger. And before the boy could scream, Gatei shouted:
- Stop!
The boy fell silent, turned around and saw the Master through his tears. Gatey raised his finger, and the boy, out of habit, began to raise his too. And when he did it without a finger, he became enlightened.
The master never does anything unnecessary, even raising a finger. Gatei did not always raise his finger, but only when teaching Zen. Why? All problems arise while you are fragmented, incomplete. Because then you are in discord, in chaos, and there is no harmony. What is meditation? Nothing. But integrity comes. Gatei's explanations were secondary, but he raised his finger as a primary thing. With this he said:
- Be one! And your problems are solved.
The boy began to imitate him in appearance. Imitation cannot guide you everywhere. Imitation means that the ideal is somewhere outside. This is not what happened to you. This is not from the inside. You have the seed in you, but if you imitate others, the seed will remain dead. Imitation and imitation must be resolutely rejected. The finger is just a symbol.
Gatey shouted: “Stop!” The moment you stop there is no more pain. And when the Master raises his finger, the boy raises his finger. A finger that isn't there. And for the first time he understands that he is not the body - he is awareness, consciousness, intelligence. He is the soul, and the body is only a house.
You are the light within yourself, not a lamp, but a flame.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru