Fingers Pointing Towards the Moon: Reflections of a Pilgrim on the Way

by Wei Wu Wei

Fingers Pointing Towards the Moon was the first of a series of extraordinary spiritual manifestos written by the anonymous Wei Wu Wei. Like a master instructing every reader who has the dedication to read this book, the author maintains direct and unrelenting perspective, giving Fingers Pointing to the Moon its status as one of Zen Buddhism's essential classics. The depth of understanding evinced by Wei Wu Wei places him with Paul Reps, Alan Watts, and Philip Kapleau as one of the earliest and most profound interpreters of Zen.

Genres: Spirituality, Buddhism, Zen, Philosophy, Nonfiction

178 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 25, 2003

About the author

Terence James Stannus Gray was a theatre producer who created the Cambridge Festival Theatre as an experimental theatre in Cambridge. He produced over 100 plays there between 1926 and 1933. Later in life, under the pen name Wei Wu Wei, he published several books on Taoist philosophy.

Reviews

[Dean Paradiso · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and concise words from someone who "got to the other side". A favourite of mine.

[Mattheus Guttenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wei Wu Wei is a "Pilgrim on the Way," as he says, a spiritual seeker, and is in the same tradition as other Western expositors of Eastern wisdom like Alan Watts and Philip Kapleau. His writings are not essays or chapters, just aphorisms on various subjects. They are sometimes disjointed, but he builds on them throughout. His perspective on liberation, the ego, the nature of life and death, love, time, and more is very interesting; imagine Flatland meets Krishnamurti.

[Sky Feather · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though most of Wei Wu Wei’s thoughts and insights are penetrating deep into the perceived reality and the sensory illusory world with the quest of the true self, the book was not compiled and organized in the best way. There are phrases in the book written down as insights of the moment, which contradict Wei Wu Wei’s other concepts that we find in other parts of the book.

While most of his reasoning and concepts are of a higher mind, there are some concepts in which his level of enlightenment is not high.

[Błażej · Rating 4 out of 5]

Myślałem że to będzie miłe pierdu pierdu, a tu proszę, treściwe wykłady z Zen, z filozoficznym zacięciem.

[Pat Wendorf · Rating 5 out of 5]

WwW's first and best book on the subject of no-mind/all-is. If you've been struggling with the obtuseness of direct translations of advanced eastern philosophy, this book really opens up the subject in a more modern and western context. If you still struggle with the idea of good/evil in the world and self purpose, this book isn't quite appropriate. If you're seeing the world through the moment and trying to figure out what is doing the seeing, this is a good place to start.

[Mary]

enlightening!

[Onokotulu · Rating 4 out of 5]

it is insightful stuff that is worth reading.