Whenever anyone asked him about Zen, the great master Gutei
would quietly raise one finger into the air. A boy in the
village began to imitate this behavior. Whenever he heard
people talking about Gutei's teachings, he would interrupt
the discussion and raise his finger.
Gutei heard about the boy's mischief. When he saw him in the
street, he seized him and cut off his finger. The boy cried
and began to run off, but Gutei called out to him. When the
boy turned to look, Gutei raised his finger into the air. At
that moment the boy became enlightened.
