Chapter 6 calloused fingers

Whenever the Zen master Kuti was explaining a question about Zen, he would raise a finger. A very young disciple began to imitate him, and whenever he was asked what his master was saying in the sermon, the boy would hold up one of his fingers. Judi heard of this.One day he happened to come across the boy imitating, and he seized him, drew a knife, cut off his finger, and threw it away. As the boy ran away howling, Judy yelled, "Stop!" The boy stopped, turned, and looked at his master through his tears. Kutti was holding up his own finger, and the boy started to lift his finger too, and when he realized that the finger was not there, he bowed to the master, and at that moment, he became enlightened.

This is a very strange story, and there is a good chance that you will misunderstand it, because in life, the most difficult thing to understand is the behavior of an enlightened person. You have your own criteria, and you always see through those criteria.An enlightened man is on a different plane altogether, in that plane he lives without rules, without scales, without any morality, without ego, because all the rules belong to the ego, a The enlightened man just lives, he doesn't manipulate his life, he is a floating cloud, he has nowhere to go, nothing to achieve, nothing is good for him, nothing Is bad, he doesn't know any god, he doesn't know any devil, he only knows life, and the whole life itself is beautiful.

God is also ugly because he is a part and not the whole; the devil is also ugly because he is a part and not the whole.God is not alive and the devil is dead, because life exists in the rhythm of the polarities of good and bad, god and devil, in such polarities.Life cannot be at one pole, the river of life is flowing between the two banks.An enlightened person has realized this, he is neither against anything nor for anything, he reacts from moment to moment without comment.That's why it's very difficult, the enlightened person is always more or less like a madman, so the first thing to understand is: don't judge an enlightened person by your criteria - it's very difficult, because you only can do this.

I have heard it once: A very great painter once invited a doctor friend to look at a painting he had just finished. The pinnacle of artistic creation, so naturally wanted his doctor friend to come and see the painting.The doctor looked at it for several minutes, from this side to that side, ten minutes passed, the artist was a little worried, so he asked the doctor, "What's the matter? What do you think of this painting?" The doctor said, "It looks like double pneumonia!" Everyone is like that, because the doctor has his own way of seeing things, he sees the picture -- he can only see things in his fixed way, otherwise he cannot see -- he makes a diagnosis.That painting didn't need any diagnosis, he missed it, and the thing of beauty became pneumonia.

This is the function of the mind, when you look at something you color it with your mind.Don't do that to an enlightened person, because, it doesn't matter to an enlightened person, but you will miss the opportunity to see the beauty in it. Second: An enlightened person acts from the center, never from the periphery.You are always acting on the periphery, you live on the periphery, on the circumference, for you the circumference is the most important thing, you have killed your soul and saved your body.The enlightened man can sacrifice his body, but it is impossible to lose his soul. He is ready to die -- anytime he is ready to die -- that is not a problem, but he is not ready to lose his center, his the core of being.

To an enlightened person, the body is just a way, so if need be, an enlightened person will even tell you, "Leave the body, but don't leave your inner being." That's all Tapaska Asia (tapascharya), how all the penances come about, the circle is to sacrifice for the center, even if it needs to cut off the head - if that will help you, if at the same time your head, your ego can disappear - a beginning Enlightened people will tell you to give up the head, cut it off: "If the head helps the ego, don't take it with you, because you are losing everything for nothing!"

This has to be remembered that when you are living in the center, you see things completely differently, then no one dies, no one will die -- death is impossible.If you are living on the periphery, then everyone dies, death is the end of everyone, eternal life is nowhere. Krishna's conversation with Arjuna in the Gita Sutra is really a center-periphery conversation, and Arjuna lives in the periphery: he thinks of the body, he doesn't know anything about the soul.Krishna spoke from the center, he said, "Don't bother with these bodies, they have died many times, they will die many times, death is just a change, as if someone took off his clothes, Leaving his old house and entering a new one, this body is nothing. Don't worry about it, Arjuna, look inside!" But if Arjuna has not looked inside himself, how can he look inside others ?

Remember this: this Zen master Kuti, he is Krishna, he lives in the center, so his actions are also in the center, and this happened to a disciple who lived in the periphery.Remember, however, that a callus doesn't cut off your fingers.That disciple is worth it, he has deserved it - only then the master will do it to such a degree, to such a degree the disciple must have realized, must have deserved it, otherwise Judgment would not have achieved that level .Even Arjuna was not as valuable as the disciples of Kuti, because Krishna said it to him -- and Kuti did it. Remember the difference, the master is only when you deserve it, he will do it to you, otherwise he is just talking to you.Only do it when you are ready, when the moment is too close to miss, there is nothing to say but do.Because if you say it, it takes time; if you say it, then others have to understand that something has to be done right away, right away.Only when the master sees that you are on the edge, he will do it: now talking is useless, now he has to push you, now you are at the door, and a moment later, you may miss the door, you may not be able to come to this door again for many lifetimes forward.

Life is very complicated, you rarely approach that door, if the master says, "Look, here is the door!" and starts explaining to you, by the time you understand, the door is no longer there, life is in constant motion So, the master has to do it, even if he thinks killing you will help, he will kill you.That's why surrender is needed. Surrender is not easy, because surrender means saying to the master, "From now on, my life and death are yours." Surrender means, "I am ready, and if you say: Die! I will go Die, I will not ask why." If you ask why, there is no surrender, there is no trust.And in ancient times, many people were able to become enlightened because they were able to surrender. There was an atmosphere of trust. You feel jealous when you're there - he's such a beautiful person.

But now it is almost impossible to meet people who are full of trust, that beauty has disappeared.You will meet doubters, skeptics, silent people, they are ugly, but they are everywhere, and gradually you will be fed by doubt.It is from the first day your mother nursed you that you have been drinking doubt.The whole science is designed to depend on doubt, you have to doubt, wonder, only then science can work. Religion operates on completely opposite paths. You have to trust, you have to be someone who says yes from the bottom of your heart, and then surrender is possible.This disciple of Kuti is a surrendered person, that's why now he is enlightened.

Now that we enter this strange story, every word has a great meaning. Whenever the Zen master Kuti was explaining a question about Zen, he would raise a finger. The master never does anything unnecessary, not even lifting a finger.The unnecessary things have disappeared, the master is only the most basic existence, if it is not basic, he will not make a movement, a gesture, the non-basic is with ignorance, so whatever you do is trivial, Unnecessary - nothing is lost if you throw it away. Look at your life, no matter what you are doing, if you leave it, what will you lose?Nothing will gain through it - it's trivial from morning to night, then you get bored, then you go to bed, and in the morning you're ready to do the same non-essential thing again - again and again, becomes vicious Loop: one non-essential thing after another non-essential thing, they are connected, but you are so afraid to see these trivial things in life, you always turn your back on it, because looking at the trivial things in life Trifles, you get frustrated: "What am I doing?" If you see that everything you're doing is completely useless, your ego will be lost, because only when you're doing something significant Only when the ego can feel meaningful, so you create some meaning in trivial things, and then you feel that you are doing a great duty to the nation, to the family, to humanity - as if without you, existence would be lost.Whatever you are doing, nothing is important - but you have to give it meaning, because through meaning the self is nourished, strengthened. In ignorance everything is non-essential, whatever you do, even if you meditate, you pray, you go to the temple - all are trifles, even when you pray, it is not necessarily deeper than when you read the newspaper, Because it's not a question of prayer, it's a question of you.If you have depth, whenever you act, whatever you do, that action will have depth; if you have no depth, even if you go to a temple, it makes no difference: you enter a temple the same as you enter a hotel, you is the same, then there will not be much difference between temples and hotels. Give a child the most expensive toy made of diamonds - he will treat it like a normal toy, because he is a child, he will play with it for a while, then throw it in the corner and go away . Your depth brings depth into your actions.When an enlightened master even raises his finger, it is also meaningful, it makes a lot of sense, why does this kutti raise his finger... whenever he explains about Zen?Not all the time, but every time he explains something about Zen, he raises a finger, why?Because he is explaining, he is showing, because whatever you ask about religion, a raised finger is the answer. All your problems arise because you are not one; all your problems arise because you are broken; all your problems arise because you are not one, you are chaos - disharmony of.And what is Zen, what is yoga, what is meditation?Just become one. The word and meaning of "Yoga" is exactly oneness, the one, the whole, the whole. So, when Kutti explains about Zen: the explanation is secondary, the raised finger is primary.He is saying something and he is showing, and this is the life of an enlightened man: he says and he shows, his being, his gestures, his actions, shows what is religion. If you cannot see, if you are blind, or if you have lost the level of understanding, the level of seeing, then all you hear are words.But if you know how to see, there is no need for words, words are useless, they can be dropped, they are secondary, but the raised finger cannot be dropped, that is the original, that is the only answer.All over the world, all those who have realized, they are all raising a finger: they are saying "one" and you are living in "many". Problems arise when you live in "many", because living in In "many", acting simultaneously in many directions, then you become many parts, you are not together, one desire leads south, another desire leads north; one part of the mind is love, and the other One part is hate; one part of the mind wants to accumulate wealth, and another part says, "It's no use, throw it away!" One thought wants to meditate, to become deep, to become peaceful, and another thought says: "Why are you wasting your time?" I once heard that there was a man, when he was young, he gave up the world and went to the Himalayas, where he meditated for almost 20 years, he was almost 40 years old, he sat and meditated, sat and meditated Standing there, doing nothing, even the birds and wild animals are gradually not afraid of him, and there he is, a very peaceful person, just sitting.And the animals would come and sit, and the animals would have to hunt... They would leave their babies with him, in his care, and his hair would grow long, and the birds would nest in his hair, where Lay eggs, and he has to take care of them. Twenty years later, he was tired of this whole life, and he said, "If I'm going to take care of other people's children, animals, birds - why don't I marry a woman and take care of my own children? It's really Ridiculous, I didn't get anywhere, I lost these 20 years, now I can't waste any more time, because I am 40 years old, life will be old soon!" What's the question?He is really meditating. What is the problem? Twenty years is a long time - but the mind is still splitting, one part is meditating, the other part is going on and on saying, "It's no use! Why are you wasting time? Others are enjoying - dancing, drinking, Eat, make love, the world is a pleasure, and here you sit like a fool." After 20 years of listening to this other part, gradually the first part faded. On the surface, he is repeating the mantra: Ram, Ram, Ram.But deep down there is another mantra: another part of the mind keeps saying, "It's no use! Sitting like a fool, everyone is enjoying life, and now your life is decaying, and soon you'll be You can't enjoy it anymore, you're getting old." This is the real mantra.On the surface "ram, ram, ram" - deep down, this is the real mantra. When your mind is divided you cannot pray, you cannot meditate, because one part is always going on against it, and sooner or later it will win.Remember this: the busy part loses energy every moment, and the idle part, which is the critical part, does not lose any energy, and sooner or later it becomes more powerful. You love a woman and another part hates her, you may hide this - everyone hides another part - but unless you are enlightened there is another part.Sooner or later this loving part will become weaker because it is always using, always using energy; and the other hidden part, the hating part, will become stronger.So, every marriage leads to divorce, whether you leave or not, that is another matter -- but every marriage becomes divorce, unless you marry an enlightened person: that is very difficult. One day, the man gets tired, he comes down from the Himalayas, he thinks, "Where do we start?" -- he has completely forgotten the worldly way, he has been away from the world for too long. "Where do you start?" If you want to go into this world, you need a guide, just like you want to go into another world, you need a guide, who in this world will be a good guide?At this time, he remembered that in the past, kings would send their sons—princes to find prostitutes to learn how to enter the world. No one is better than a whore as a guide - to the world she is the embodiment of the world, to whom even love becomes a business - the last thing in the world - even love It has also become a profession, a commodity, she sells love, money has become more important than love, this is the last thing in the world, this may also become a door. So he ran straight to a prostitute.In the evening, the prostitute was preparing to go to the king.She said, "You're welcome, but the king has invited me, and he's a miser, and I don't expect much from us, but will - who knows? Sometimes even misers give, come, you Come with us." So the monk followed them. The whole night the prostitute danced and sang while the king sat silently, he gave her nothing, the night was coming to an end, and soon it would be dawn, the woman was very tired, and she sang to say that she was beating tabla The husband of the double drum said that she said to him: "I have done everything I can do." Looks hopeless, best we go." The monk was thinking, "This is the situation I am in: all that can be done has been done, there is nothing more to do, and I should go." So he listened very attentively. The husband said, "All we can do, we've done, but there's still, one last night, who knows? We've got to get the whole thing done, stay a little longer, be patient." Hearing this, the monk thought, "What should I do now? Maybe when I leave the Himalayas, I am just on the verge—should be a little more patient." He had only one blanket, and his lower body was naked, and he became so delighted that he threw the blanket at the feet of the whore, and ran out of the palace, and the king said to him, "Stop! This is so rude." Here The custom is: when the rich man is present, the rich man should pay first, otherwise it is an insult-the king is present, and this person has already paid first. The monk said, "If it's against the custom, you can kill me, but she has saved my life, and this is such a joyous moment for me, I have to give, I have nothing else but that a blanket, and I can't wait for you, I'm off to the Himalayas." "This woman, this man who is playing the tabla, they have revealed to me a secret: a little more patience." It is said that the man became enlightened at the moment, and he never went to the Himalayas again, but was walking As he descended the steps of the palace, he became enlightened. what happened?Those two parts became one for the first time, and that's what patience means.Patience means: don't let the other part fight. Patience means that you are ready to wait indefinitely. If you are ready to wait indefinitely, it is impossible for the other part to say, "It hasn't happened yet." See, "Why are you wasting your life?" If you are prepared to wait indefinitely, then nothing is in vain, and if your waiting is eternal, infinite, then the other part will not say anything. The whole is needed - when the other part does not continue to struggle.That's why Kutti always uses one finger whenever he explains Zen, he's saying: "Be One!—all your problems will be solved." Many religions have many paths and many ways, but the basic point is the same: to be one.Whatever you choose, be one; if you can have infinite patience, you will be one; if you can surrender completely, you will be one; if you become utterly silent, you will be one; if you have no thought, you will be one. You meditate, you become one.If you pray to God and the prayer becomes so intense that the one who prays is no longer there, the one who prays is dissolved in the prayer, the whole is there -- that's all right. Digging in a garden, if you can dig in such a way that you are completely immersed in that digging, the person is no longer there, you have become the digging, the doer has become the action, the observation The meditator has become the watcher, the meditator has become the meditator -- and suddenly all the vibrations of illusion disappear, all illusions fall.You have risen to a different level, a different plane of being, you have become One. When you are one you have reached the whole; when you are many you are in the world, the world is many and God is one.But to know the One you first have to be the One, otherwise you cannot know it. Only when you become like it can you know it. Whenever the Zen master Kuti was explaining a question about Zen, he would raise a finger. "Zen" (Zen) is the name in Sanskrit, it comes from Dhyan, which is the Japanese form of Dhyan, when Bodhidharma brought the Buddha's teachings to China, Dhyan, Chinese became Chan, when Chan was brought to Japan, it became Zen.But the original name was jhana.Whenever Kuti talked about jhana, meditation, he would raise a finger. One is jhana, one is all that has to be achieved -- that is the end. A very young disciple begins to imitate him... Of course he must be very young, because only children imitate, and the more mature you are, the less you imitate; the less mature you are, the more you imitate.If you are imitating, you are young, you are not yet mature, you are not growing.What is "growth"?If you ask me, I'd say: You realize that you have to be yourself and not be a copycat, and that's what it means to be mature. If you look inside yourself, you haven't found this maturity yet, you are imitating others, someone has a new car - suddenly you are imitating, you need a new car too; someone has a bigger The house, you need a bigger house too, the neighbors keep on stimulating your nerves, they keep having this and that, and you have to imitate, and when you imitate you are like a monkey. Don't imitate!Be mature!Because imitation can't lead you anywhere, why?What is imitation, what is the nature and authenticity of existence? Imitation means an ideal that comes from outside, it is not your desire, it does not happen within you, it is not a natural flowering within you, someone else gives you an ideal and you follow that ideal, if you do not achieve it, You will suffer because you have not achieved the ideal: if you have achieved it, you will suffer also because it was never your ideal, you never wanted it, because it never happened in your inner nature. That's why there is so much misery in the world: people are imitating others.If they fail, they suffer because they think they have not achieved; if they succeed, they suffer too.Remember, nothing fails like success - and nothing fails like success if it's imitation.After a long, all-out journey, you may reach your goal, after effort, time and energy, and then suddenly you realize: "I never wanted it, it was someone else's, I borrowed that ideal ." Don't borrow ideals, it's naive. A very young disciple begins to imitate him... Must have been very young, juvenile, childish: he began to imitate him. . . . and whenever he was asked what his master said in the sermon, the boy would hold up one of his fingers—as the master always did, in the same way, in the same gesture. People will appreciate it, they will laugh, that boy is a great imitator: he will make the same face, he will hold the same finger, he will look the same way, he imitates well. In imitation, however competent you become, you are still immature.Be true to yourself, even if you are not that capable, but be true to yourself, because your truth will lead you to the ultimate truth, and the truth of others cannot be your truth. Inside you there is a seed, and only that seed sprouts and becomes a tree, and you will blossom, and then you will have an ecstasy, a blessing.But if you follow someone else, that seed dies, and you may pile up all the ideals in the world and succeed, but you will feel empty because there is nothing else to fill you up - only your seed , when it becomes a tree, it will enrich you.You will feel full only when your truth blossoms, never before. And people may appreciate your successful imitation—they always appreciate it.In the temple, the boy must also be admired, because he is really doing like a master, and he will definitely be famous.Imitators become famous people, but they don't know, they are killing themselves, and if people admire you, you will kill yourself. I once heard of an actor who died and his funeral drew a huge crowd, thousands of people.His wife was beating her breast, crying, and screaming, and when she saw many people coming, she said, "If he had known this—there would be so many people coming—he would have died sooner." If you are admired then you will kill yourself, you have all killed yourself because the imitators are always admired, the real man is never appreciated because the real man is a rebel, he does not imitate anyone, He will say, "I don't want to be Buddha, I don't want to be Krishna or Jesus, one is enough! One Jesus is enough, why imitate?" And the second Jesus, however beautiful, is just a Carbon copy - worthless.Why imitate Jesus?And in the end God doesn't intend to ask you why you didn't become Jesus, He asks why you didn't become yourself. I once heard of a Hasidic mystic: he was a very poor man, his name was Majd, people didn't know much about him, but he was a real real man.He was dying, and someone said to him, "McJudd, have you ever prayed to God that you would be like Moses?" McJude opened his eyes and said, "Shut up! Don't say things like that when I'm dying, because God doesn't intend to ask me: Why don't you become Moses? He will ask: MacJude, why don't you become the real MacJude Good deeds?" Others don't get what he means, they don't understand because it looks like an insult to Moses, no, it's not an insult to Moses.Moses became Moses, that was his beauty, Macjed had to be Macjed, that was his beauty.You can only offer beauty, you can only offer the flower of existence to God, how can God ask a rose, "Why don't you become a lotus flower?" How can God be so stupid as to ask a rose, "Why don't you become a lotus flower?" A lotus?" "No!He is not as stupid as you think, he will ask the rose, "Why don't you bloom at all? Why are you like a bud and not like a flower?" Blooming is the essence, whether you are a lotus flower, or a rose, or some nameless, ordinary flower, it doesn't matter, who you are is not the key, whether you are like a flower, blooming, opening, reaching the divine door, or you are still closed... A very young disciple begins to imitate him... Whenever you go to the master, there is a possibility -- the first possibility -- that you will start imitating him.Remember, this is not helpful, this is dangerous, you are committing suicide, realize the master, drink his existence as much as you can, eat his existence, but don't be an imitator, don't become false. Judi heard of this.One day he happened to meet the boy doing that, and he grabbed him, drew a knife, cut off his finger, and threw it away. It seemed that he was a very harsh, very cruel master.Masters are brutal, otherwise they won't do you any good.They are cruel because they have such deep compassion.Why did the master cut off his fingers?Without sternness, he would be no help to the boy.It needs to be very strict, it needs to go straight to the heart, and this has to be realized. You listen to me, if you listen only as a curious person, then it won't go very deep; if your curiosity is only intellectual, to know what I'm talking about, then it's not possible to go in either It's so deep, you won't understand what I'm saying at all.If life has given you a lot of pain and you are here because of that pain, to understand how to go beyond it, then what I am saying goes deep, pain gives you depth, pain brings you to the centre. If you're in love with me, it's not an intellectual relationship - that's not a relationship at all - but a loving relationship, if you touch me affectionately, it goes deeper, because when you love someone, You listen with your heart, not your head.The mind is the most rotten thing, garbage, like a wastebasket -- nothing, all garbage that you keep collecting in the head. Garbage never enters the heart, it accumulates in the head.In the heart, only the most essential enters. So if you're here, just as a curious person, just out of curiosity, then you'll listen to me, but it's just superficial and it won't do you much.If you're here because you've suffered -- if you've come not as a wonderer, but as someone who knows life, knows its pain, you've developed a maturity that you want to truly Earth metamorphoses - then you will listen from greater depths. But the depth can go even deeper, if you love me, if you have a trust, you will be more open -- because only trust can open, otherwise you are always afraid, you are always closed.When you are fully open - you suffer, life gives you a depth, and then you trust, you are fully open - then there is instant access to the heart, once you hear it, you will never different. Judi heard about it... The master will always know who the imitators are, there is no need to go... They are so obvious, so conspicuous.I know who is the imitator here. An imitator cannot deceive the person he is imitating. He can deceive others, but he cannot deceive the person he is imitating. His falsehood is so obvious. People come to me and they repeat my words, my gestures, they think they can fool me, they can fool people, they can't fool me because their words are so superficial, you can repeat the same words , that's no problem: the words are not a problem - what depth you bring into the words, that comes from your being, words can be used by anybody.You can sing the whole Gita, but the words will not be the same as when Krishna used them. You can repeat the Bible, but when those words are used by Jesus, they have tremendous energy, a transformative power, because Jesus is in those words, in every word, His presence is coming towards you.You can use the same words that are repeated by millions of priests in every Christian pulpit: the Sermon on the Mount...and those words are so superficial they are just not helping if they don't Repetition is even better because when you repeat certain words over and over again, they lose their charm, they become so commonplace, people get used to hearing them, they become almost useless, Became a cliché. Kutti must have known that the boy was imitating him, and... one day, while he was doing that, he grabbed the boy and drew a knife.Cut off his finger and threw it away. Too harsh!But Kuti must be very, very compassionate.Only with compassion can you be so severe.It is difficult to understand because we think that cruel actions, harsh actions are always unmerciful.No - you don't understand an enlightened person, if an enlightened person doesn't have compassion then he won't treat you so harshly - why should you care?But he treats you so harshly because he cares, he worries about you, he wants to help you, nothing less. What's the matter?When he drew the knife, took the boy's finger, chipped it and threw it away.What happened?When the boy saw the master draw the knife, what must have happened?What would happen if someone suddenly pointed a knife at you? —thoughts stopped. You cannot imagine, this is so new, so strange, the old mind just stops, it doesn't work, what is happening?No one would believe that Kuti was carrying a knife.Can you imagine me carrying a knife someday?它是如此不可能、不可思议。而俱胝抽出了一把刀——那个男孩一定吓了一跳：思想停止了，这是一个伟大的休克疗法，而这是俱胝做的，几乎不可能！那个男孩做梦也不会……那时他不仅是抽出了刀，而且还削下了手指。 当俱胝削下了手指，当手指从手上断落，在那个男孩的内在正在发生什么呢？在他的生命中，第一次他没有思想地注意，在这样的时刻，他无法昏昏欲睡，谁会在有人削下你的手指时想睡觉呢？你无法瞌睡。 疼痛是如此剧烈，痛苦是如此强烈，就在那突然中，那个男孩蜕变了，他不再是个孩子了，他成熟了。这能够在当下发生，这或许在很多世中都不会发生。模仿必须被严厉地削掉，痛苦必定进入了他的存在之根，它是如此的未知，以致于他无法将它变成理论——他无法思想，他无法将它哲学化——他只是被吓了一跳，头脑无处可去，他一定是第一次在用新鲜的眼光寻找，其中没有思想流动，痛是如此的剧烈，这样的突然，以致于它一定会进入到心。 记住，快乐从来不会像痛苦那样深入，快乐从来不会进到如此深！它不可能深入，快乐的本质就是表层的，所以生活在快乐中的人们总是表层的、肤浅的。你无法在富人中发现一种深度——很难，你或许能在乞丐中发现，你或许不会看一眼乞丐，因为你想他是一个乞丐——但是不太符合你的观念，当一个乞丐经过你时，看看！他受了很多苦，他经历了很多痛苦，而痛苦给予深度：一个富人总是肤浅的、表层的，他经历了许多快乐，快乐不可能进入很深。 在这个痛苦中，疼痛是剧烈的，而且是如此突然以致于头脑停止了转动，心被击中了。 当男孩嚎叫着跑开时，俱胝大声喊道："停！" 这就是我一直在告诉你的。但是首先你必须是在很深的痛苦中，嚎叫着，只有那时的"停"才会有意义。那个男孩在痛苦和疼痛中嚎叫着跑开，而俱胝大声喊道："停！"如果在合适的片刻喊"停"，那么它的作用非常深刻。 突然，他停住了！在这个停中发生了什么？不再疼痛了。如果你突然地停下，全部的注意力会移向那"停"的声音，身体忘记了，你变得专心，当你是这样的专心时，身体不会干扰，不会让你分心。手指不在了，鲜血在流着——疼痛也在。 但是这声"停"将全部的注意力转向了师傅。 当注意力不在时，就没有疼痛，疼痛是在注意力中，而不是在身体中。如果你病了，躺在床上，你干什么呢？你会不停地将注意力放在你的病上，你在滋养它，对此必须要有所改进，因为它已经成了全世界很大的一个问题了。 医生们建议，每当你生病时："躺下休息。"但是你会在休息时干什么呢？你会注意到那个病痛，那时你正在滋养它，注意力在滋养它，你不断地考虑它，这成了一种内在的咒语、圣歌："我病了，我病了，这个和那个不行。"诉苦——你一次又一次地查遍全身，你试图找到哪里病了，那便成了一种孵卵、一件非常病态的事了！这或许成了那病痛的继续，你会被那病痛催眠！ 将太多地注意力放在病痛上，你会成为催眠的牺牲品。如果你不停地诉着苦，它会变成恶性循环：你诉着苦，那么你就正在邀请它，因为每一次诉苦都意味着你一而再，再而三地给予关注，它成了一种重复的事。 What's going on?我听说过——这已经发生了许多次。一个人病了，瘫痪了，15年无法走路。一天晚上，突然，房子着火了，火正在将房子燃烧着，每个人都从里面跑了出来，那个人忘记他是瘫痪的，所以他也从房子里跑了出来。在房子外面，当他的家人发现他正跑出来时，他们说："哎呀！你是瘫痪的！"——那个人倒下了。 What's going on?在这个意外的特定的时刻——房子着火了——那个人在那一刻忘记了他是瘫痪的。如果你能忘记你的病，那么病痛便会很快消失，超过任何药物的效力。如果你不能忘记它，如果你不停地孵化它，那么你便是在玩你的伤口，你越玩它，它进入得就越深。 当俱胝大声喊："停"时，发生了什么呢？那个男孩看着俱胝，嚎叫着停下了，疼痛消失了，好像手指不曾被削掉。 那男孩停住了，转过身来，透过眼泪看着他的师傅。 眼睛里充满着泪水，他嚎叫着，哭着，流着泪，他停住了！疼痛消失了，但是眼泪无法很快消失，它们还在。 俱胝正举着他自己的手指，那男孩也开始要举起他的那个手指，而当他意识到手指不在时，他向师傅鞠了个躬。 当下，他开悟了。 俱胝正举着他自己的手指——一个非常强烈地觉知的时刻，一个非常伟大的设计，一个由师傅创造出来的情景。念头不在了，疼痛消失了，因为注意力已经被叫到别的地方了……那个男孩在此情景中好像无法呼吸了，"停！"——而呼吸也已经停止了，思想也停止了，他也已经忘了现在他没有那个手指了。只是由于旧的习惯，当师傅举起他自己的手指时，他也举起他的——那已经不在了。这显示了他已经完全忘记发生了什么。 在那个片刻，他不是那个男孩了，否则你怎么能忘记呢？——疼痛，以及你的手指已经被削掉，你正在出着血，眼睛里充满泪水，就在刚才他还在嚎叫着。这个"停！"触发了奇迹。 那男孩停住了，转过身来，透过眼泪看着他的师傅。 俱胝正举着他自己的手指。 正是由于旧的习惯，每当师傅在向门徒讲有关禅的问题时，他总习惯地举起他的手指，他会站在椅子旁边，或站在椅子后面，当师傅举起他的手指时，他也同样地这样做，这已经变得如此自动。身体是自动化的，它是机械装置，它是机械的。 那个男孩也开始要举起他的那个手指，而当他意识到手指不在时——那时他看见，那个手指不在了——他鞠个躬。 what happened?为什么他变得这样感激而鞠躬呢？因为他第一次意识到他不是身体，他是注意力，不是身体，是觉知，不是身体，是意识，不是身体！手指不在了，疼痛已经消失，也不再嚎叫了，思想不再围着伤口转了，他一点也不在孵化它，他不再是一个身体，他不是一个躯体，他只是在身体之外第一次他意识到他是一个灵魂，一个意识——身体只是房子。 你不是身体，你在它里面，但是你不是身体。如果你的注意力变得很集中，那么你会意识到你不是身体，而一旦你意识到你不是身体时，你会知道你是不死的，谁能削掉你的手指呢？怎么会有人对你这样激烈呢？没有人能摧毁你。那就是他向师傅鞠躬，深深地感谢的道理："你给了我这个去领悟我最深的本性的机会，这个本性就是永生。" 当下，他开悟了。 什么是开悟？开始领悟到，开始意识到你不是身体，你是内在的光，不是灯，而是火焰，你既不是身体，也不是头脑，头脑属于身体，头脑不是超越身体的，它是身体的一部分——最微妙，最精致的，但是它是身体的一部分，头脑也像身体一样是原子的。 你既不是身体也不是头脑——那么你会知道你是谁，知道你是谁，这即是开悟。 当俱胝削掉了门徒的手指时，那只桶，那只旧桶落地，破了，水跑了出来——没有水，没有月亮！那个门徒开悟了。 但是俱胝一定等待着适当的时刻，很多，很多年来，这个年轻的门徒正在做那件事——他等着，等着。你无法强迫那个时刻，当它来时，它就来了，你助长着它，你摸索着它，而师傅等待着。当它来时，当它在时，任何事都能成为藉口，任何事。甚至一声大喊"停！"那只旧桶也会破裂。突然间，映象消失了，因为没有水了，你会看到真正的月亮，你开悟了。 开悟意味着你已经知道你是谁了。