The nun Wu Jincang asked the Sixth Patriach Huineng, "I have studied the Mahaparinirvana sutra for many years, yet there are many areas I do not quite understand. Please enlighten me."
The patriach responded, "I am illiterate. Please read out the characters to me and perhaps I will be able to explain the meaning."
Said the nun, "You cannot even recognize the characters. How are you able then to understand the meaning?"
"Truth has nothing to do with words. Truth can be likened to the bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger can point to the moon’s location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger.
It really is extraordinary where an exegesis of Bruce Lee can end up taking you.
Which reminds me, when I was in Chinatown with the Bomber and Raybs last week (Icons passim) we naturally ended up in back street shops in search of exotic weaponry.
We couldn't find any shuriken but nunchaku were on display; labelled, to my delight, wind-chimes in, what I took to be, an heroically imaginative preemptive attempt to stave off issues of legality.
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