Whenever anyone asked him about Zen, the great master Gutei would quietly raise
one finger into the air. A young disciple began to imitate this behavior.
Whenever he heard people asking him about Gutei's teachings, he would quietly
raise his finger.Gutei heard about the boy's mischief.
One day he called up the young disciple to his resting room and said,
"What is the Dharma-Buddha?"
The boy, pleased to demonstrate his own attainment regarding Gutei's teachings,
proudly raised the finger.Quickly, the master seized him and cut off his finger.
The boy cried and began to run off, shocked, hurted and disappointed.
But Gutei called out to him. When the boy turned to look, Gutei asked him again,
"What is the Dharma-Buddha?"
The boy raised his finger, but he hasn't the finger any more...
Silently Gutei raised his own finger into the air.
At that moment the boy became enlightened.