English (machine translation)

Translation of 無門關

Language: English
Extent: 291 passages, 10,061 words
Text: complete digital text
Source: pramana-mt · Machine translation by Gemini 3.8 Flash (2026-10-21) of in.bauddha.taisho.2005 · Machine output without human authorship: no copyright is claimed (CC0 1.0). The original text keeps its own…

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Text

To say there is no gate: all the people of the great earth may enter. To say there is a gate: the reverend master has no share. In the first place, forcibly adding a few footnotes is very much like putting a bamboo hat on top of a bamboo hat. To insist that Old Xi praise it is again like squeezing juice from dry bamboo. Bearing these blustering volumes, they do not need Old Xi's single toss. With a single toss, let not a single drop fall into rivers and lakes—even a thousand-league black steed could not catch up. On the last day of the seventh month, the first year of Shaoding [1228]. Written by Chen Kui, Xi'an.

1.3

On the fifth day of the first month in the second year of Shaoding, respectfully encountering the sacred festival of Tianji, your subject monk Huikai, having previously on the fifth day of the twelfth month of the first year printed and circulated forty-eight cases of the dynamic encounters of the Buddhas and patriarchs with comments, prays for the sacred person of the reigning Emperor: may he live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years! Your Majesty the Emperor: I respectfully wish that your sacred brilliance equal the sun and moon, and your sagacious longevity rival heaven and earth; that the eight directions sing of a ruler possessed of the Way, and the four seas rejoice in the transforming influence of non-action.

1.4

Respectfully stated by the former abbot of the Ciyi Empress Merit-Reward Youci Chan Monastery, transmitter of the Dharma, subject monk Huikai.

1.5

The Gateless Barrier of the Chan School

1.6

The Buddha's words take mind as the source, and gatelessness as the Dharma gate. Since it is gateless, how on earth do you pass through? Have you not heard it said: What enters through the gate is not the family treasure; what is obtained from conditions is subject to arising and decay from beginning to end? Such talk is very much like raising waves where there is no wind, or gouging into healthy flesh to make a wound. How much more so when clinging to words and phrases, seeking understanding: swinging a staff to strike the moon, scratching an itch from outside the boot—what connection does that have? In the summer of the wuzi year of Shaoding [1228], Huikai was head monk at Longxiang in Dongjia. Because patch-robed monks requested instruction, I thereupon took the gong'ans of the ancients to serve as tiles for knocking at the gate, guiding students in accordance with their capacities. Before I knew it, as they were transcribed, they formed a collection. From the first, they were not arranged in any sequence; together they make forty-eight cases, collectively titled The Gateless Barrier. If you are a fellow who pays no heed to peril or demise, and charges straight in with a single blade, eight-armed Nata could not hold you back. Even if the four times seven of the Western Heavens and the two times three of the Eastern Land were to appear, they could only watch your dust and beg for their lives. If you hesitate, it will be like watching a horseman through a window: in the blink of an eye, you have already missed it. A gāthā says:

1.7

The Great Way has no gate; / A thousand diverse paths have roads. / Pass through this barrier, / And walk alone through heaven and earth.

1.8

Forty-Eight Cases of the Dynamic Encounters of the Buddhas and Patriarchs

1.9

Table of Contents

1.10

Zhaozhou's Dog; Baizhang's Wild Fox; Juzhi Raises a Finger;

1.11

The Barbarian Has No Beard; Xiangyan Up a Tree; The Bhagavat Holds Up a Flower;

1.12

Zhaozhou Washes the Bowl; Xizhong Makes Carts; Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū;

1.13

Qingshui, Poor and Solitary; Zhaozhou Tests the Hermitage Masters; Ruiyan Calls the Master;

1.14

Deshan Carries His Bowl; Nanquan Kills a Cat; Dongshan's Thirty Blows;

1.15

The Sound of the Bell and the Seven-Strip Robe; The National Teacher Calls Three Times; Dongshan's Three Pounds;

1.16

Ordinary Mind Is the Way; The Person of Great Strength; Yunmen's Dried Shit-Stick;

1.17

Kāśyapa's Flagpole; Not Thinking of Good or Evil; Leaving Words Behind;

1.18

Preaching the Dharma from Three Seats; Two Monks Roll Up the Blinds; Neither Mind Nor Buddha;

1.19

Long Resounding Longtan; Not the Wind, Not the Banner; Mind Itself Is Buddha;

1.20

Zhaozhou Tests the Old Woman; An Externalist Inquires of the Buddha; Neither Mind Nor Buddha;

1.21

Wisdom Is Not the Way; Qiannü's Departed Spirit; Meeting a Man of the Way on the Road;

1.22

The Cypress Tree in the Courtyard; The Buffalo Passes Through the Window Lattice; Yunmen's Verbal Lapse;

1.23

Kicking Over the Pure Pitcher; Bodhidharma Pacifies the Mind; The Woman Comes Out of Samādhi;

1.24

Shoushan's Bamboo Spatula; Bajiao's Staff; Who Is He?;

1.25

Stepping Forward from the Top of the Pole; Doushuai's Three Barriers; Qianfeng's Single Road.

1.26

Table of Contents (End)

1.27

Compiled by the investigating bhikṣu Miyan Zongshao.

1.28

Zhaozhou's Dog

1.29

Upādhyāya Zhaozhou was asked by a monk: "Does even a dog have Buddha-nature, or not?" Zhaozhou said: "Wu."

1.30

Wumen said: To investigate Chan, you must pass through the barrier of the patriarchs. For sublime awakening, you must exhaust the road of the mind until it comes to an end. If you do not pass through the barrier of the patriarchs, and if the road of the mind does not come to an end, you are altogether a ghost clinging to grass and trees. Tell me: what is the barrier of the patriarchs? Just this single word "wu" is the one barrier of the school. Thereupon it is named the Gateless Barrier of the Chan School. Those who can pass through will not only see Zhaozhou in person, but can also walk hand in hand with the successive generations of patriarchs, their eyebrows tangled together, seeing with the same eyes and hearing with the same ears. How could that not be joyous and invigorating! Is there anyone who wishes to pass through the barrier? Bring your three hundred and sixty bones and joints and your eighty-four thousand pore-openings to raise a single mass of doubt throughout your whole body, and investigate this word "wu". Rouse it day and night! Do not understand it as nothingness; do not understand it in terms of being and non-being. It is like having swallowed a hot iron ball: you try to spit it out, but cannot spit it out. Purge away all your past faulty knowledge and faulty perceptions. When it is thoroughly seasoned over a long time, naturally inside and outside will become one piece. Like a mute person having a dream, it is only known to oneself. Suddenly it bursts open, shaking heaven and earth—like seizing General Guan's broadsword into your hands: meet a Buddha, kill the Buddha; meet a patriarch, kill the patriarch! At the brink of birth and death, you attain great freedom; amidst the six destinies and four modes of birth, you sport in samādhi. And how do you rouse it? Exhaust the strength of your whole life to raise this word "wu". If there is no interruption, it will be fine—like a Dharma candle that catches fire at a single touch.

1.31

A gāthā says:

1.32

The dog's Buddha-nature: / Fully holding forth the correct command! / The moment you dabble in being or non-being, / You lose your body and forfeit your life.

1.33

Baizhang's Wild Fox

1.34

Whenever Upādhyāya Baizhang held an assembly, there was an old man who would regularly follow the crowd to listen to the Dharma. When the crowd withdrew, the old man also withdrew. Suddenly one day he did not withdraw. The master then asked: "Who is the person standing before me?" The old man said: "Indeed, I am not a human being. In the past, in the time of Kāśyapa Buddha, I once resided on this mountain. Because a student asked, 'Does even a person of great cultivation fall into cause and effect, or not?', I answered him saying, 'They do not fall into cause and effect.' For five hundred lifetimes, I fell into the body of a wild fox. Now I beg the upādhyāya to give a turning word on my behalf, so that I may be released from the wild fox." He then asked: "Does even a person of great cultivation fall into cause and effect, or not?" The master said: "They are not blind to cause and effect." At these words, the old man experienced great awakening. He made obeisance and said: "I have already been released from the body of a wild fox, and am staying behind the mountain. I make bold to inform the upādhyāya, and beg that I be treated according to the precedent for a deceased monk." The master ordered the karmadāna to strike the gavel and announce to the assembly that after the meal they would send off a deceased monk. The assembly discussed among themselves: "The whole community is well, and in the nirvana hall no one is sick; why is it like this?" After the meal, they only saw the master leading the assembly to the crag behind the mountain, where he poked out a dead wild fox with his staff and then cremated it according to the rites. In the evening, the master went up to the hall and brought up the previous circumstances. Huangbo then asked: "The ancient gave one wrong response with a turning word and fell into a wild fox's body for five hundred lifetimes. If turn after turn he had not been wrong, what would he have become?" The master said: "Come forward, and I will tell you." Huangbo then came forward and gave the master a slap. The master clapped his hands and laughed, saying: "I thought the barbarian had a red beard, but here is a red-bearded barbarian!"

1.35

Wumen said: "Not falling into cause and effect"—why did he fall into a wild fox? "Not blind to cause and effect"—why was he released from a wild fox? If you can set an eye here, you will know that the former Baizhang won five hundred lifetimes of free and uninhibited elegance.

1.36

A gāthā says:

1.37

Not falling, not blind: / Two sides of the same coin. / Not blind, not falling: / A thousand errors, ten thousand mistakes.

1.38

Juzhi Raises a Finger

1.39

Whenever Upādhyāya Juzhi was questioned, he would only raise one finger. Later, there was an attendant boy. When an outsider asked, "What Dharma essential does the upādhyāya teach?", the boy also raised his finger. When Juzhi heard of this, he sliced off the boy's finger with a blade. The boy, bearing the pain, cried out and ran away. Juzhi called after him again; the boy turned his head, and Juzhi then raised his finger. The boy suddenly had an awakening. When Juzhi was about to pass away, he said to the assembly: "I obtained Tianlong's one-finger Chan, and have used it throughout my life without exhausting it." Having finished speaking, he manifested extinction.

1.40

Wumen said: The place of awakening for Juzhi and the boy was not on the finger. If you can see into it here, Tianlong, together with Juzhi, the boy, and yourself, will all be strung together on a single skewer.

1.41

A gāthā says:

1.42

Juzhi made light of old Tianlong, / Lifting a sharp blade alone to test the young boy. / The giant spirit Ju Ling raised his hand without much effort, / Splitting Mount Hua into ten thousand folds.

1.43

The Barbarian Has No Beard

1.44

Huo'an said: "Why does the barbarian of the Western Heavens have no beard?"

1.45

Wumen said: In investigation, you must truly investigate; in awakening, you must truly awaken. As for this barbarian, you must see him in person once before you have it. But to say you see him in person has already made two.

1.46

A gāthā says:

1.47

In front of a fool, / You cannot speak of dreams. / The barbarian has no beard: / Being clear-headed only adds to confusion!

1.48

Xiangyan Up a Tree

1.49

Upādhyāya Xiangyan said: "It is like a person up in a tree, hanging from a branch by his mouth, his hands not grasping a branch, his feet not treading on the tree. Someone under the tree asks him the meaning of the Patriarch coming from the West. If he does not answer, he fails the questioner; if he does answer, he loses his body and forfeits his life. Right at such a time, how would you answer?"

1.50

Wumen said: Even if you have eloquence like a torrent, it is of no use at all; even if you can explain the whole great canon of teachings, it is also of no use. If you can answer appropriately here, you will bring to life what was previously a dead end, and put to death what was previously a live path. If not yet, you must wait until the future to ask Maitreya.

1.51

A gāthā says:

1.52

Xiangyan is truly making things up; / His vicious poison has no limit. / Gagging the mouths of patch-robed monks, / Ghostly eyes burst forth all over their bodies.

1.53

The Bhagavat Holds Up a Flower

1.54

Formerly, in the assembly on Vulture Peak, the Bhagavat held up a flower and showed it to the assembly. At that time the assembly was entirely silent; only the Venerable Kāśyapa broke into a smile. The Bhagavat said: "I have the treasury of the true Dharma eye, the wondrous mind of nirvana, the true form without form, the subtle Dharma gate, not establishing words and letters, a special transmission outside the teachings. I entrust it to Mahākāśyapa."

1.55

Wumen said: The yellow-faced Gautama acted as if nobody were around, forcing the respectable into servitude, hanging a sheep's head to sell dog meat. One would think: how extraordinary is that! Just suppose that at that time the whole assembly had laughed: how would the treasury of the true Dharma eye have been transmitted? Or suppose that Kāśyapa had not smiled: how would the treasury of the true Dharma eye have been transmitted? If you say the treasury of the true Dharma eye has a transmission, the yellow-faced old fellow was deceiving the common folk. If you say there is no transmission, why did he approve only Kāśyapa?

1.56

A gāthā says:

1.57

Holding up the flower, / The tail was already exposed. / Kāśyapa broke into a smile; / Humans and gods were at a loss.

1.58

Zhaozhou Washes the Bowl

1.59

Because a monk asked, "I have just entered the monastery; I beg the master for instruction," Zhaozhou said: "Have you eaten your porridge yet?" The monk said: "I have eaten the porridge." Zhaozhou said: "Go wash your bowl." The monk had an awakening.

1.60

Wumen said: Zhaozhou opened his mouth and showed his gallbladder, exposing his heart and liver. This monk did not listen truly, mistaking a bell for an earthen jar.

1.61

The gāthā says:

1.62

Just because it is extremely clear, / It causes the attainment, conversely, to be delayed. / Had you known early on that the lamp was fire, / The rice would have already been cooked long ago.

1.63

Xizhong Makes Carts

1.64

Upādhyāya Yue'an asked a monk: "Xizhong made carts with a hundred spokes. If you take away both ends and remove the axle, what matter does this clarify?"

1.65

Wumen said: "If you can clarify it directly here, your eye will be like a shooting star, your dynamic action like a flash of lightning."

1.66

The gāthā says:

1.67

Where the wheel of dynamic action turns, / Even the adept is still bewildered: / The four cardinal points, above and below, / South, north, east, and west.

1.68

Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū

1.69

A monk asked Upādhyāya Rang of Xingyang: "The Buddha Mahābhijñājñānābhibhū sat at the place of awakening for ten kalpas, yet the Buddha Dharma did not appear before him, and he could not attain the Buddha Way. What about this?" Rang said: "Your question is very apt." The monk asked: "Since he had sat at the place of awakening, why did he not attain the Buddha Way?" Rang said: "Because he did not become a Buddha."

1.70

Wumen said: "I only allow that the old barbarian knows it; I do not allow that the old barbarian understands it. If an ordinary person knows it, they are a sage; if a sage understands it, they are an ordinary person."

1.71

The gāthā says:

1.72

How can liberating the body compare to setting the mind at rest? / When the mind is liberated, the body has no worries. / If both body and mind are completely liberated, / Why must an immortal be enfeoffed as a marquis?

1.73

Qingshui Is Destitute

1.74

A monk asked Upādhyāya Caoshan: "Qingshui is lonely and destitute; I beg the master to give relief." Caoshan said: "Ācārya Shui!" Shui responded: "Yes?" Caoshan said: "You have drunk three cups of the Bai family wine of Qingyuan, yet you still say that your lips have not been moistened!"

1.75

Wumen said: "Qingshui yielded the advantage—what was his mental working? Caoshan had the eye and deeply discerned the incoming dynamic. Even though it is so, tell me: where is the place where Ācārya Shui drank the wine?"

1.76

The gāthā says:

1.77

As poor as Fan Dan, / His spirit is like Xiang Yu's; / Though he has no livelihood, / He dares to compete in wealth.

1.78

Zhaozhou Tests the Hermits

1.79

Zhaozhou went to a hermit's place and asked: "Is anyone here? Is anyone here?" The master held up a fist. Zhaozhou said: "The water is shallow; this is not a place to moor a boat," and thereupon left. He came to another hermit's place and said: "Is anyone here? Is anyone here?" That master also held up a fist. Zhaozhou said: "He can release, he can take away; he can kill, he can give life," and thereupon made a bow.

1.80

Wumen said: "Both alike held up a fist; why did he approve one and not approve the other? Tell me, where is the discrepancy? If you can produce a turning word here, you will see that Zhaozhou's tongue has no bone: in raising up and throwing down, he possesses great ease. Even though it is so, how can he avoid having been seen through by the two hermits? If you say that the two hermits have superiority and inferiority, you do not yet possess the eye of investigation and study; if you say there is no superiority and inferiority, you also do not yet possess the eye of investigation and study."

1.81

The gāthā says:

1.82

The eye a shooting star, / The dynamic action a flash of lightning: / The sword that kills people, / The sword that gives people life.

1.83

Ruiyan Calls His Master

1.84

Upādhyāya Yan of Ruiyan would daily call out to himself: "Master!" and would then answer himself: "Yes?" He would then say: "Be alert!"—"Yes!"—"At another time and on a different day, do not be deceived by others!"—"Yes, yes!"

1.85

Wumen said: "Old man Ruiyan buys and sells by himself, displaying so many ghostly heads and demonic faces. Why so? One that calls, one that answers; one that is alert, one that is not deceived by others. If you recognize them, it is still not it as before. If you imitate him, it is all the view of a wild fox."

1.86

The gāthā says:

1.87

Those who study the Way do not recognize the real, / Merely because from before they have recognized the conscious spirit. / The root of birth and death for immeasurable kalpas, / The foolish call the original person.

1.88

Deshan Carries His Bowl

1.89

One day, Deshan carried his bowl down to the hall. Seeing him, Xuefeng asked: "This old fellow—the bell has not yet rung, the drum has not yet sounded; carrying your bowl, where are you going?" Deshan thereupon returned to the abbot's quarters. Xuefeng brought this up to Yantou. Yantou said: "Even great Deshan has not understood the last word." Deshan heard of this and had his attendant summon Yantou. He asked: "Do you not approve of this old monk?" Yantou secretly disclosed his meaning; Deshan then desisted. The next day, when he ascended the hall, it was indeed not the same as usual. Yantou went before the monks' hall, clapped his hands, and laughed heartily, saying: "How joyful that the old fellow understands the last word! Henceforth, no one in the world can do anything about him."

1.90

Wumen said: "As for the last word, neither Yantou nor Deshan has even dreamed of it yet. Examining them closely, they are just like a troupe of puppets."

1.91

The gāthā says:

1.92

If you recognize the first word, / Then you understand the last word. / The last and the first / Are not this one word.

1.93

Nanquan Kills a Cat

1.94

Upādhyāya Nanquan, because the Eastern and Western Halls were contending over a cat, held it up and said: "Great assembly! If you can speak, it will be saved; if you cannot speak, it will be cut in two." The assembly had no response. Nanquan then cut it in two. In the evening, Zhaozhou returned from outside; Nanquan related this to him. Zhaozhou then took off his straw sandals, placed them on his head, and went out. Nanquan said: "Had you been here, you would have saved the cat."

1.95

Wumen said: "Tell me: what was Zhaozhou's intention in putting the straw sandals on his head? If you can produce a turning word here, you will see that Nanquan's decree was not carried out in vain. If not, danger!"

1.96

The gāthā says:

1.97

Had Zhaozhou been there, / He would have executed this decree in reverse: / Snatching away the knife, / Nanquan would beg for his life.

1.98

Dongshan's Three Blows

1.99

When Dongshan came for an interview, Yunmen asked: "Where have you recently come from?" Dongshan said: "Chadu." Yunmen said: "Where were you for the summer?" Dongshan said: "Baoci in Hunan." Yunmen said: "When did you leave there?" Dongshan said: "August twenty-fifth." Yunmen said: "I remit you three score blows." The next day Dongshan went up to make inquiries: "Yesterday I received the Upādhyāya's remittance of three score blows; I do not know where my fault lay." Yunmen said: "You rice bag! Going off in this way to Jiangxi and Hunan!" At this, Dongshan had a great awakening.

1.100

Wumen said: "Yunmen immediately gave him the proper fodder at that time, causing Dongshan to have a separate path of vitality, so that his family house would not fall into desolation. For one night, Dongshan was trapped in a sea of right and wrong, until daybreak, when he came again and Yunmen explained it away for him. That Dongshan awakened directly was not rashness. Let me ask you all: did Dongshan deserve to receive the three score blows or not? If you say he deserved them, all the grasses, trees, and groves deserve to receive blows. If you say he did not deserve them, Yunmen was speaking falsely again. If you clarify it here, you will finally breathe the same breath as Dongshan."

1.101

The gāthā says:

1.102

The lion teaches its cub the trick of bewildering the cubs: / Intending to leap forward, it has already turned around. / For no reason, repeating it, he strikes right on the head: / The first arrow was still light; the second arrow is deep.

1.103

The Bell Sound and the Seven-Striped Robe

1.104

Yunmen said: "The world is so vast and wide; why do you put on your seven-striped robe at the sound of the bell?"

1.105

Wumen said: "Generally, in investigating Chan and studying the Way, it is strictly forbidden to follow sounds and pursue forms. Even if one awakens to the Way by hearing sounds and clarifies the mind by seeing forms, that is still ordinary. One does not know at all that patch-robed monks ride on sounds and cover over forms: in every circumstance they are clear; in every move they are marvelous. Even though it is so, tell me: does the sound come to the ear, or does the ear go to the sound? Even if reverberation and quietude are both forgotten, when you arrive here, how will you speak of it? If you listen with the ear, it will surely be difficult to understand; only when you hear sound at the eye will you first become intimate."

1.106

The gāthā says:

1.107

If you understand, things are of the same family; / If you do not understand, there are ten thousand differences and a thousand distinctions. / If you do not understand, things are of the same family; / If you understand, there are ten thousand differences and a thousand distinctions.

1.108

The National Teacher's Three Calls

1.109

The National Teacher called his attendant three times, and the attendant responded three times. The National Teacher said: "I thought I was disappointing you, but actually it was you who disappointed me."

1.110

Wumen said: "The National Teacher called three times, his tongue falling to the ground; the attendant responded three times, spitting it out harmonizing with the light. The National Teacher, old and feeling lonely, pressed the cow's head down to eat grass; the attendant was not willing to take it upon himself: fine food does not serve to feed a full person. Tell me, where was his disappointing? When the state is clear, the talented are valued; when the house is rich, the children are pampered."

1.111

The gāthā says:

1.112

An iron cangue with no holes requires one to bear it; / It brings trouble upon descendants, not casually. / If you want to prop up the gates and support the household, / You must further climb a mountain of swords with bare feet.

1.113

Dongshan's Three Pounds

1.114

A monk asked Upādhyāya Dongshan: "What is the Buddha?" Dongshan said: "Three pounds of hemp."

1.115

Wumen said: "Old man Dongshan practiced a bit of clam Chan: as soon as the two shells opened, he exposed his liver and entrails. Even though it is so, tell me: where do you see Dongshan?"

1.116

The gāthā says:

1.117

Abruptly produced: 'Three pounds of hemp'! / The words are intimate, the meaning even more intimate. / Those who come to speak of right and wrong / Are precisely people of right and wrong.

1.118

The Ordinary Is the Way

1.119

Zhaozhou asked Nanquan: "What is the Way?" Nanquan said: "The ordinary mind is the Way." Zhaozhou said: "Can one still direct oneself toward it?" Nanquan said: "To intend to direct yourself toward it is to deviate." Zhaozhou said: "Without intending, how can one know it is the Way?" Nanquan said: "The Way does not belong to knowing, nor does it belong to not knowing. Knowing is false perception; not knowing is indeterminate neutral. If you truly reach the unintended Way, it is like the great void, vast and clearly open; how could you force right and wrong upon it?" At these words, Zhaozhou was suddenly awakened.

1.120

Wumen said: "Nanquan, questioned by Zhaozhou, was directly broken like tiles and melted like ice, unable to explain himself. Even if Zhaozhou awakened, he still had to investigate for thirty more years before he got it."

1.121

The gāthā says:

1.122

Spring has hundreds of flowers, autumn has the moon; / Summer has cool breezes, winter has snow. / If no idle matters hang upon your mind, / It is truly a good season in the human world.

1.123

A Person of Great Strength

1.124

Upādhyāya Songyuan said, "Why is it that a person of great strength cannot lift his foot?" He also said, "Opening one's mouth does not depend on the tongue."

1.125

Wumen said: "Songyuan can be said to have poured out his guts and emptied his belly, but he just lacks someone to take it up. Even if someone took it up directly, it would be just the right time to come to Wumen's place to take a painful blow of the stick. Why is that? If you want to recognize true gold, look at it in the midst of fire."

1.126

The gāthā says:

1.127

Lifting a foot, he kicks over the Sea of Fragrant Water; / Lowering his head, he looks down upon the Four Dhyāna Heavens. / With such an entire body, there is nowhere to put it— / Please add a line!

1.128

Yunmen's Dried Shit-Stick

1.129

Because a monk asked, "What is the Buddha?", Yunmen said, "A dried shit-stick."

1.130

Wumen said: "Yunmen may be said to have a house so poor he cannot prepare vegetarian food, and business so pressing he cannot write in cursive. Whenever he acts, he brings out a shit-stick to prop up the gates and bar the doors. The rise and fall of the Buddha Dharma can be seen here."

1.131

The gāthā says:

1.132

A flash of lightning, / Sparks struck from flint; / In the blink of an eye, / Already missed!

1.133

Kāśyapa's Temple Flagpole

1.134

Because Ānanda asked, "Apart from transmitting the golden brocade kāṣāya, what else did the Bhagavat transmit?", Kāśyapa called out, "Ānanda!" Ānanda responded, "Yes?" Kāśyapa said, "Knock down the flagpole in front of the gate!"

1.135

Wumen said: "If you can give an intimate turning word here, you will see that the assembly on Vulture Peak has solemn and intact never dispersed. If not, then Vipaśyin Buddha took care of it early on, yet right down to the present day it has not been mastered."

1.136

The gāthā says:

1.137

How could the asking be as intimate as the answer? / How many people develop sinews in their eyes over this! / Elder brother calls, younger brother responds, airing the family disgrace; / Not belonging to yin and yang, it is a different spring.

1.138

Think Neither of Good nor Evil

1.139

Because Senior Monk Ming chased after him as far as Dayu Ridge, the Sixth Patriarch, seeing Ming arrive, threw the robe and bowl onto a rock and said, "This robe symbolizes faith; can it be contested by force? Take it as you please!" Ming then tried to lift it, but it was as unmovable as a mountain. Hesitant and trembling with fear, Ming said, "I have come to seek the Dharma, not for the robe. I pray that the postulant will give me instruction." The Patriarch said, "Think neither of good nor of evil. At just such a moment, which is Senior Monk Ming's original face?" Ming had a great awakening right then. Sweat poured over his whole body. Weeping tears, he bowed and asked, "Apart from the secret words and secret meanings given above, is there still further meaning?" The Patriarch said, "What I have spoken for you just now is not secret. If you reflect back upon your own face, the secret is on your side." Ming said, "Although I was among the assembly at Huangmei, I truly had not realized my own face. Now, receiving your instruction on an entry point, it is like a person drinking water: he knows for himself whether it is cold or warm. Now the postulant is my master." The Patriarch said, "If you are like this, then you and I share Huangmei as our master. Guard and maintain it well."

1.140

Wumen said: "The Sixth Patriarch can be said to have acted out of an emergency in his household, with an earnest grandmotherly mind. It is like peeling the shell from a fresh lychee, removing the pit, and putting it into your mouth, needing only for you to swallow it once."

1.141

The gāthā says:

1.142

You cannot describe it, nor can you paint it; / Praise cannot reach it—stop trying to endure it! / The original face has nowhere to hide; / When the world is destroyed, it does not decay.

1.143

Leaving Aside Speech and Language

1.144

Because a monk asked, "Speech and silence touch upon transcendence and subtlety; how can one penetrate without transgressing?", Upādhyāya Fengxue said, "I constantly recall Jiangnan in the third month: / Where the partridges cry, the hundred flowers are fragrant."

1.145

Wumen said: "Fengxue's dynamic working was like flashing lightning; finding an opening, he moved right in. Yet what could he do about failing to cut off the tongues of the ancients? If you can see intimately here, you will naturally have a way out. Leaving aside the samādhi of speech and language, say a phrase!"

1.146

The gāthā says:

1.147

A phrase that does not reveal its backbone, / Handed over before a word is spoken. / Advancing with a chattering mouth, / I know you are utterly at a loss.

1.148

Expounding the Dharma from the Third Seat

1.149

Upādhyāya Yangshan dreamed that he went to Maitreya's place and was seated in the third seat. An elder struck the gavel and said, "Today the third seat should expound the Dharma." Yangshan then arose, struck the gavel, and said, "The Mahāyāna Dharma is free from the four propositions and cut off from the hundred negations. Listen attentively! Listen attentively!"

1.150

Wumen said: "Now tell me, did he expound the Dharma or not expound the Dharma? If you open your mouth, you fail; if you shut your mouth, you lose it again. Neither opening nor shutting, it is one hundred and eight thousand [leagues away]."

1.151

The gāthā says:

1.152

In broad daylight under the blue sky, / Telling a dream within a dream! / Fabricating oddities, fabricating oddities, / Duping the whole assembly!

1.153

Two Monks Roll Up the Blinds

1.154

When monks came to see him before the meal, the Great Fayan of Qingliang pointed with his finger to the blinds. At that time, two monks went together to roll up the blinds. Fayan said, "One has gained, one has lost."

1.155

Wumen said: "Now tell me, who gained and who lost? If you can set an eye here, you will know where National Preceptor Qingliang blundered. Although this is so, you must absolutely avoid deliberating over gain and loss."

1.156

The gāthā says:

1.157

Rolled up, it brightly penetrates empty space; / Yet empty space still does not accord with our lineage. / How can that compare to letting everything fall from emptiness— / Dense and seamless, not letting the wind through!

1.158

It Is Not Mind, Nor Buddha

1.159

Because a monk asked, "Is there a Dharma that is not explained to people?", Upādhyāya Nanquan said, "There is." The monk said, "What is the Dharma that is not explained to people?" Nanquan said, "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing."

1.160

Wumen said: "Confronted by this single question, Nanquan was forced to lay bare all his family property, cutting no small figure of disgrace."

1.161

The gāthā says:

1.162

Too much explanation impairs your virtue; / Being without words has real efficacy. / Even if the blue sea should turn to dust, / It would never be communicated for your sake.

1.163

Longtan Famed from Afar

1.164

Because Deshan went to Longtan to ask for instruction until late into the night, Longtan said, "It is late at night; why don't you go down?" Deshan then took his leave, parted the blind, and went out. Seeing that it was dark outside, he turned back and said, "It is dark outside." Longtan then lit a paper candle and handed it to him. As Deshan was about to take it, Longtan blew it out. Deshan thereupon suddenly had an awakening, and bowed. Longtan said, "What principle have you seen?" Deshan said, "From this day forward, I will not doubt the tongues of the old upādhyāyas under heaven." The next day, Longtan ascended the hall and said, "There is a fellow here whose teeth are like a forest of swords, whose mouth is like a blood bowl; though struck with a staff, he does not turn his head. In the days to come, he will establish my way on an isolated peak!" Deshan then took his commentaries, brought a torch in front of the Dharma hall, held them up, and said, "Even if one exhausts all profound debates, it is like placing a single hair in great emptiness; even if one exhausts the pivotal workings of the world, it is like casting a single drop into a great chasm." He then burned the commentaries, bowed, and departed.

1.165

Wumen said: "Before Deshan had passed through the barrier, his mind was indignant and his mouth protested. Intentionally he came south, wanting to wipe out the tenet of the special transmission outside the teachings. When he reached the road in Lizhou, he asked an old woman to buy refreshments. The old woman said, 'Great Worthy, what writings are in your cart?' Deshan said, 'Commentaries on the Vajracchedikā-sūtra.' The old woman said, 'The sūtra says: past mind cannot be grasped, present mind cannot be grasped, and future mind cannot be grasped. Which mind does the Great Worthy wish to refresh?' Confronted by this single question, Deshan's mouth was like a flat carrying-pole. Although this was so, he refused to die under the old woman's phrase. He then asked the old woman, 'What master is nearby?' The old woman said, 'Five li away is Upādhyāya Longtan.' When he arrived at Longtan, he laid bare all his defeat; it may be said that his former words did not match his later words. Longtan was very much like someone loving a child without noticing its ugliness: seeing that Deshan had a little spark of fire, in haste he poured foul water right over his head to douse it completely. Viewed from a cold distance, it is truly laughable!"

1.166

The gāthā says:

1.167

Hearing the name is not as good as seeing the face; / Seeing the face is not as good as hearing the name. / Although he rescued his nostrils, / What could he do about having his eyes blinded?

1.168

Neither the Wind nor the Banner

1.169

Because the wind was flapping a temple banner, two monks were debating it: one said the banner was moving, and the other said the wind was moving. Going back and forth, they had not yet tallied with the truth. The Sixth Patriarch said, "It is not the wind moving, nor the banner moving; it is your minds, kind sirs, that are moving." The two monks were awe-struck.

1.170

Wumen said: "It is not the wind moving; it is not the banner moving; it is not the mind moving—where do you see the Patriarch? If you can see intimately here, you will realize that the two monks bought iron and got gold, and that the Patriarch, unable to contain himself, made an utter slip."

1.171

The gāthā says:

1.172

Wind, banner, and mind moving— / Indictments accepted across the board! / Knowing only how to open the mouth, / He did not notice his verbal lapse.

1.173

Mind Itself Is Buddha

1.174

Because Damei asked, "What is the Buddha?", the Patriarch Mazu said, "Mind itself is Buddha."

1.175

Wumen said: "If you can comprehend this directly, wearing Buddha's clothes, eating Buddha's food, speaking Buddha's words, and practicing Buddha's conduct—that is the Buddha. Although this is so, Damei led so many people to mistake the fixed mark on the steelyard! How could they know that if one utters the word 'Buddha', one must rinse one's mouth for three days? If he were a fellow [of true mettle], hearing it said that mind itself is Buddha, he would cover his ears and run away."

1.176

The gāthā says:

1.177

Blue sky, bright sun! / Avoid searching for it! / If you ask further 'What is it?', / You are clutching stolen goods and crying injustice.

1.178

Zhaozhou Tests the Old Woman

1.179

Because a monk asked an old woman, "Which way is the road to Mount Tai?", the old woman said, "Go straight on." When the monk had walked only three or five paces, the old woman said, "A fine monk, and off he goes like that too!" Later a monk related this to Zhaozhou. Zhaozhou said, "Wait until I go and test that old woman for you." The next day he went and asked the same question, and the old woman gave the same answer. Zhaozhou returned and said to the assembly, "I have seen through that old woman of Mount Tai for you."

1.180

Wumen said: "The old woman only understood devising strategies within the tent, yet in the end was caught by a bandit. She did not know that old Zhaozhou is adept at raiding camps and storming strongholds, and moreover has no posture of a great man. Scrutinizing them, both are at fault. But tell me: where was it that Zhaozhou saw through the old woman?"

1.181

The gāthā says:

1.182

The questions were alike,
And the answers were similar.
There is sand in the rice;
There are thorns in the mud.

1.183

A Non-Buddhist Questions the Buddha

1.184

The Bhagavat was once questioned by a non-Buddhist: "I do not ask about what has words; I do not ask about what is without words." The Bhagavat remained seated. The non-Buddhist praised him, saying, "The Bhagavat's great kindness and great compassion have opened the clouds of my delusion, allowing me to enter." He then bowed with full courtesy and departed. Ānanda then asked the Buddha, "What did the non-Buddhist realize that he praised you and departed?" The Bhagavat said, "Like a fine horse of the world, running at the mere shadow of the whip."

1.185

Wumen says: Ānanda was a disciple of the Buddha, yet his understanding was not quite equal to that of the non-Buddhist. Tell me, how far apart are the non-Buddhist and the disciple of the Buddha?

1.186

The gāthā says:

1.187

Walking on the edge of a sword,
Running over ridges of ice,
Not taking steps or stairs,
Letting go on the hanging cliff.

1.188

Neither Mind Nor Buddha

1.189

Mazu was asked by a monk, "What is Buddha?" The Master said, "Neither mind nor Buddha."

1.190

Wumen says: If you can see into this point, your task of study is complete.

1.191

The gāthā says:

1.192

If you meet a swordsman on the road, you must show it;
If you do not meet a poet, do not present it.
When meeting someone, speak only three tenths;
You must not give away the whole piece.

1.193

Wisdom Is Not the Way

1.194

Nanquan said, "Mind is not the Buddha; wisdom is not the Way."

1.195

Wumen says: Nanquan may be called an old man who knows no shame. No sooner does he open his foul mouth than he airs the family disgrace outside. Even though this is so, those who know gratitude are few.

1.196

The gāthā says:

1.197

The sky clears and the sun comes out;
Rain falls and the ground is wet.
He has spoken with all his heart;
One only fears it cannot be believed.

1.198

Qiannv's Soul Departs

1.199

Wuzu asked a monk, "Qiannv's soul separated: which was the real one?"

1.200

Wumen says: If you awaken to the real one here, you will know that leaving the husk and entering the husk is like lodging in an inn. If you have not, you must never run about wildly. When suddenly earth, water, fire, and wind disperse, you will be like a crab dropped into boiling water, thrashing with all eight legs. At that time, do not say I did not warn you.

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