Pointing Finger at the Moon

Pointing Finger at the Moon

The older generations used to warn children not to point finger at the moon, or else their ears would be cut off. Offering little explanation, most obedient children heeded the advice anyway, whereas a few naughty ones still had their ears intact despite disobeying their mothers.

This urban legend somehow died off in the early nineties.

There is, however, a Buddhist teaching about pointing finger to the moon, where the moon is the truth and the finger represents words. Words and language are symbols that express the truth, just like the finger that points to the moon is not the moon itself.