In an early scene from one of the greatest martial arts movies of all time, Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee is shown sparring with a student. Unsatisfied with the student’s performance, he implores him to throw his technique with emotional content. After a marked improvement, Bruce asks the student how it felt. “Let me think…” says the student. Bruce hits him on the head and says, “Don’t think! It’s like a finger pointing the way to the moon. Don’t concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.”
This line is borrowed from the Buddha, who said, “I am a finger pointing to the moon. Don’t look at me; look at the moon.”
What does this mean?
Simply put, all teachings and teachers are fingers pointing the way. Followers of religion often take their charismatic leaders or the words they say as the truth. The real truth is what is beyond words. The Tao Te Ching opens with
The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name
This teaching is a yet another finger pointing to the truth, which is that all teachings are fingers pointing to the truth. But I digress.
This is something that we can experience when practicing martial arts and meditation. If I am in front of the class demonstrating a punch, this is very different from you throwing that punch in class. It is a finger pointing to your punch. In turn, the punch that you throw is pointing to the truth that is beyond that, some Platonic ideal of a perfect punch that we may never become good enough to throw, even after a lifetime of practice.
As you’ve heard me say many times in class, the purpose of throwing even a perfect punch, as well as the process of learning the perfect punch, is really to be more mindful, present, in the moment. The same is true with grappling in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Tai Chi, even meditation. The purpose of all of these things is to connect us to the moment. They are fingers pointing us to the present, just like the finger pointing the way to the moon.
The higher purpose of the finger pointing to the moon
On some level, to throw a punch is all we need, as sitting to meditate is all we need. There is no greater aim, no higher purpose. To focus on something beyond is to take us out of the moment. Yet on another level it is certainly true that there is a higher purpose. There is even a higher purpose to living in the moment: enlightenment, happiness, connection to God and the universe. Self-realization. The higher purpose, that which all our practice points to, is the same higher purpose that the all of life points us towards.
Yet we get caught up. We confuse a teacher, or their words, with the Truth. The teaching should not satisfy us. That is the finger pointing the way to the moon. Look where it points. That is where Truth lies. That is the moon. Go and find it.
