Core tenet of Zen
Words point at the moon. Do not mistake the finger for it.
Doctrine — including this list — is a pointer. Useful, and not the thing.
Understanding it — context, not catechism: how this passage is held
Zen's warning label about itself. Every formulation — including the five on this page — is a pointer, useful exactly until it is gripped. The tradition institutionalized this self-suspicion: the koan exists to exhaust the reasoning that grips, and the teacher exists to knock the finger loose.
From the sources — the passages this rests on; concise renderings, cited
The teachings are like a finger pointing at the moon. The one who looks at the finger sees no moon.
Attributed across the sutras and the Zen recordA warning the tradition repeats about itself.
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideas
Sound rightly spoken has power.
Vedic Religion
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Samadhi — union in stillness.
Hinduism · the interior
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V
Vairocana — the cosmic buddha.
Buddhism · figure
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K
Kundakunda.
Jainism · figure
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God contracted to make room for the world.
Judaism
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The presence — assurance to fire.
Christianity · the interior
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Sign in to open the first thread. Everything here is attributed.