The Buddha never advocated any kind of Sutra worship. His discourses and those of his disciples were expedients. The most famous is the Parable of the Raft (M. i. 134-135).
“Depending on this raft and striving with my hands and feet, I have crossed over safely to the beyond. Suppose now that I, having beached this raft on dry ground or having submerged it under the water, should proceed as I desire?' In doing this, monks, that man would be doing what should be done with that raft. Even so, monks, is the Parable of the Raft dhamma [dharma] taught by me for crossing over, not for retaining. You, monks, by understanding the Parable of the Raft, should get rid even of (right) mental objects, all the more of wrong ones.”
Another kind of parable, if we may call it that for now is found in the Surangama Sutra (Taisho 945).
“This is like a man pointing a finger at the moon to show it to others who should follow the direction of the finger to look at the moon. If they look at the finger and mistake it for the moon, they lose (sight of) both the moon and the finger. Why? Because the bright moon is actually pointed at; they both lose sight of the finger and fail to distinguish between (the states of) brightness and darkness. Why? Because they mistake the finger for the bright moon and are not clear about brightness and darkness.”
Another finger/moon illustration is found in the Lankavatara Sutra.
As the ignorant grasp the finger-tip and not the moon, so those who cling to the letter, know not my truth.
While these examples are pretty clear as to their intent, most Zen students either cling to the tip of the finger or believe putting away the finger or not crossing to yonder shore is all that Zen is really asking them to do in addition to 'just sitting'. This is a prevarication of the teachings.
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