{"id":29723,"date":"2021-11-05T01:00:18","date_gmt":"2021-11-05T08:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=29723"},"modified":"2021-11-02T20:52:19","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T03:52:19","slug":"the-gateless-gate-opens-wide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2021\/11\/the-gateless-gate-opens-wide.html","title":{"rendered":"The Gateless Gate Opens Wide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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The Gateless Barrier<\/em> (sometimes Gateless Gate<\/em>) (\u7121\u9580\u95dc W\u00fam\u00e9ngu\u0101n<\/i>; Japanese: \u7121\u9580\u95a2 Mumonkan<\/i>) was first published on this day, the 5th of November, in 1228.<\/p>\n

And with that seven hundred and ninety-three years of admonition, invitation, and general all around Zen hilarity ensues\u2026<\/p>\n

The Gateless Barrier<\/em> is an anthology of forty-eight koans, those brief and seemingly enigmatic objects of meditation and conversation with a spiritual director that are unique to the Zen schools.<\/p>\n

It was compiled by Wumen Huikai (1183-1260), a master of the Linji school. After many years of wandering when he was head monk at Longxiang monastery. He was forty-five at the time.<\/p>\n

During his years wandering, he wore old and tattered robes, and let his beard and hair grow long. He was sometimes referred to as the old lay monk, although he was ordained.<\/p>\n

In addition to the koans themselves, Wumen added appreciatory verses and brief sermons. The book also has a small handful of addenda and appendixes. It is often compared to the other great early koan anthology, the Blue Cliff Record (Chinese:\u00a0\u78a7\u5dd6\u9304<\/span>;\u00a0B\u00ecy\u00e1n L\u00f9<\/i>; Japanese: \u78a7\u5dcc\u9332<\/span>;\u00a0Hekiganroku<\/i>). The modern Japanese master Zenkei Shibayama tells us \u201c(W)hole the Hekigan-roku<\/em> is poetic and spiritual with literary splendor, the Mumonkan<\/em> is direct, straightforward, with a stimulating and disciplinary tone, and is apparently designed to encourage the actual training of monks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Its rough and ready style has proven particularly appealing to many Western Zen students. As the American Zen master Robert Aitken suggests, \u201cThe Gateless Barrier<\/em> is a collection of stories and verses that present fundamental perspectives on life and no-life, the nature of the self, the relationship of the self to the earth \u2013 and how these interweave. Such stories and verses are called koans, and their study is the process of realizing their truths. What many be known abstractly becomes personal, a vital experience of one\u2019s own.\u201d<\/p>\n

This was certainly true for me. This is one of the handful of spiritual books that I revisit over and over again. It speaks my heart.<\/p>\n

There have been a number of translations into English. Here\u2019s a link to an early version<\/a> by the monk Nyogen Senzaki and Paul Reps.<\/p>\n

I especially recommend four that include particularly insightful commentaries. I don\u2019t provide links as excepting Guo Gu\u2019s more recent book, the rest have been around for years and may be obtained both new and used. (I am a longtime fan of Abebooks,<\/a> which I think is used by more professional used book dealers as their sales platform than any other site). I think there are good arguments for each of these if you were only to read one. If I were forced to choose, I would vacillate, but probably land on Aitken Roshi\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Robert Aitken, The Gateless Barrier (The Wu-Men Kuan \u2013 Mumonkan)<\/em><\/strong>, North Point Press, 1991, New York
\nGuo Gu, Passing Through the Gateless Barrier: Koan Practice for Real Life<\/em><\/strong>, Shambhala, 2016, Boulder
\nZenkei Shibayama, The Gateless Barrier: Zen Comments on the Mumonkan<\/em><\/strong>, Shambhala, 2000, Boston
\nKoun Yamada, <\/strong>The Gateless Gate<\/strong>, <\/em>University of Arizona Press, 1979\/1990, Tucson<\/p>\n

Over the years I have commented on various cases in this anthology. Here are seventeen of them, addressing sixteen of the cases.<\/p>\n

On the Ordinariness of Mu, Gateless Gate, Case 1<\/a>
\nMy Life as a Fox, Gateless Gate, Case 2<\/a>
\nWhere Is Paradise?\u00a0Gateless Gate, Case 5<\/a>
\nThe Flower Sermon: Gateless Gate, Case 6<\/a>
\nCreatures of Pain & Joy: Gateless Gate, Case 7<\/a>
\nGo Wash Your Bowls: Gateless Gate, Case 7\u200b<\/a>
\nRyuyan Calls To Himself, \u201cMaster\u201d: Gateless Gate, Case 12
\n\u200b<\/a>The Last Word. Gateless Gate, Case 13<\/a>
\n\u200bA Love Letter from the Deep: Gateless Gate, Case 15\u00a0<\/a>\u200b
\nOrdinary Mind is the Way: Gateless Gate, Case 19<\/a>
\nYunmen\u2019s Dried Shitstick, Gateless Gate, Case 21<\/a>
\nThe One Sermon: Gateless Gate, Case 25<\/a>
\nIntimate Intimate: Gateless Gate, Case 26<\/a>
\nThe Buddha and the Non Believer, Gateless\u00a0Gate, Case 32<\/a>
\nKnowing. is not the way, Gateless. Gate, Case 34<\/a>
\n\u200b<\/a>One Continuous Mistake, Gateless Gate, Case 38<\/a>
\n\u200b\u200b<\/a>Doushuai\u2019s Three Barriers: Gateless Gate, Case 47<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 The Gateless Barrier (sometimes Gateless Gate) (\u7121\u9580\u95dc W\u00fam\u00e9ngu\u0101n; Japanese: \u7121\u9580\u95a2 Mumonkan) was first published on this day, the 5th of November, in 1228. And with that seven hundred and ninety-three years of admonition, invitation, and general all around Zen hilarity ensues\u2026 The Gateless Barrier is an anthology of forty-eight koans, those brief and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":120,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Gateless Gate Opens Wide<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    The Gateless Barrier (sometimes Gateless Gate) (\u7121\u9580\u95dc W\u00fam\u00e9ngu\u0101n; Japanese: \u7121\u9580\u95a2 Mumonkan) was first published on this day, the 5th of November,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2021\/11\/the-gateless-gate-opens-wide.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Gateless Gate Opens Wide\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    The Gateless Barrier (sometimes Gateless Gate) (\u7121\u9580\u95dc W\u00fam\u00e9ngu\u0101n; 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