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The Gateless Gate Case 3

In this Video John discssuss case 3 of the gateless gate.

The Case:

This Koan tells the story of the 9th-century Chinese Zen master Jùzhī Yīzhǐ. Whenever Jùzhī Yīzhǐ was asked a question about Zen he would answer by raising one finger. One day someone asked his attendant what his master preached. The boy raised a finger. Hearing of this, Jùzhī Yīzhǐ cut off the boy’s finger with a knife. As the boy ran away Jùzhī Yīzhǐ called to him, when he turned his head, Jùzhī Yīzhǐ raised a finger, the boy was suddenly enlightened. When Jùzhī Yīzhǐ was about to die, he said to his assembled monks, “I received this one finger zen from Tenryu, I used it all my life, but never used it up”.

Adapted from a koan commentary given on 26th September 2020