Finger Pointing at the Moon

A friend of mine always tells me to remember to notice the Moon instead of the finger pointing to the Moon. The Moon is God, Spirit, our Higher Power, God's love, the Universe, Mother Earth, our Buddha nature, or love itself. The finger can be anything from a teacher, friend, Temple, Church, relationships, jobs, money or anything we cling too.

I often cling to my job because it is my security. However, my job is not as powerful as the Universe or God. Without Spirit there wouldn’t be a job because there wouldn’t be any natural resources to organize and trade. Our trust actually needs to be with the Universe itself because that is where our true security rests.

I often cling to the love of individuals in my life. I feel that if a certain group of people stops loving me or giving me attention that I would be lost. It isn’t true because again, they just represent the fingers pointing to the moon again. There is always more love and more attention from other people coming. These are God’s gifts.

My Dharma teacher told me that all we really need is our mind-body. Everything else is just a gift. Clinging to the gifts is ignorance and causes a lot of suffering. It is an attempt to avoid the life-death cycle. If you cling then you end up living a fantasy. If you hold onto a fantasy and choose to see illusions instead of reality then it will eventually evaporate before your eyes.

So, keep your eyes on the Moon and not the finger pointing at the Moon. See the truth.