The Gateless Gate

 

The Gateless Gate or The Gateless Barrier (Chin. Wu-wen kuan; Jap. Mumonkan)

The author is Chinese Ch'an master Wu-men Hui-hai (無門慧開 Mumon Ekai, 1183-1260).

 

English Translation

By late Zen master Katsuki Sekida (Two Zen Classics 26-137)

 

Original Chinese Text

The original Chinese text is taken from the following Japanese web site:

 

                  http://homepage1.nifty.com/poem-club/mumonnkan/mumonkanwoyomu.htm

 

The Chinese and Japanese texts in this web site are taken from the book titled Mumonkan, published in Japan by Iwanami Bunkõ.

 

Chinese Characters

Unfortunately a few Chinese characters were not given in this site. Luckily these characters are less than 1% of the text. Where there was a definition about these ideograms, they are entered them using Chinese system (Big 5). There are also ideograms that appear as mere black boxes, without any explanations. These are replaced with dummy characters (empty square boxes).

 

 

The Gateless Gate 無門關

Wu-wen kuan (Mumonkan)

 

 

Mumon's Preface

 

佛語心爲宗、無門爲法門。

Buddhism makes mind its foundation and no-gate its gate.

既是無門、且作麼生透。

Now, how do you pass through this no-gate?

豈不見道、從門入者不是家珍、從縁得者始終成壞。

It is said that things coming in through the gate can never be your own treasures. What is gained from external circumstances will perish in the end.

恁麼説話、大似無風起浪好肉抉瘡。

However, such a saying is already raising waves when there is no wind. It is cutting unblemished skin.

何況滯言句覓解會。 掉棒打月、隔靴爬痒、有甚交渉。

As for those who try to understand through other people's words, they are striking at the moon with a stick; scratching a shoe, whereas it is the foot that itches. What concern have they with the truth?

 

慧開、紹定戊子夏、首衆于東嘉龍翔。因納子請益、遂將古人公案作敲門瓦子、隨機引導學者。

In the summer of the first year of Jõtei, Ekai was in Ryûshõ Temple and as head monk worked with the monks, using the cases of the ancient masters as brickbats to batter the gate and lead them on according to their respective capacities.

竟爾抄録、不覺成集。初不以前後敍列、共成四十八則。

The text was written down not according to any scheme, but just to make a collection of forty-eight cases.

通曰無門關。

It is called Mumonkan, "The Gateless Gate."

 

若是箇漢、不顧危亡單刀直入。

A man of determination will unflinchingly push his way straight forward, regardless of all dangers.

八臂那咤、擱他不在。

Then even the eight-armed Nata cannot hinder him.

縦使西天四七、東土二三、只得望風乞命。

Even the four sevens of the West and the two threes of the East would beg for their lives.

設或躊躇、也似隔窓看馬騎、貶得眼來、早已蹉過。

If one has no determination, then it will be like catching a glimpse of a horse galloping past the window: in the twinkling of an eye it will be gone.

 

Verse 頌曰

大道無門      The Great Way is gateless,

千差有路      Approached in a thousand ways.

透得此關      Once past this checkpoint

乾坤獨歩      You stride through the universe.

 

Case 1 Jõshû's "Mu"                        一　趙州狗子

 

趙州和尚、因僧問、狗子還有佛性也無。州云、無。

A monk asked Jõshû, "Has a dog the Buddha Nature?" Jõshû answered, "Mu."

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、參禪須透祖師關、妙悟要窮心路絶。

In order to master Zen, you must pass the barrier of the patriarchs. To attain this subtle realization, you must completely cut off the way of thinking.

祖關不透心路不絶、盡是依草附木精靈。

If you do not pass the barrier, and do not cut off the way of thinking, then you will be like a ghost clinging to the bushes and weeds.

且道、如何是祖師關。

Now, I want to ask you, what is the barrier of the patriarchs?

只者一箇無字、乃宗門一關也。

Why, it is this single word "Mu." That is the front gate to Zen.

遂目之曰禪宗無門關。

Therefore it is called the "Mumonkan of Zen."

透得過者、非但親見趙州、便可與歴代祖師把手共行、眉毛厮結同一眼見、同一耳聞。

If you pass through it, you will not only see Jõshû face to face, but you will also go hand in hand with the successive patriarchs, entangling your eyebrows with theirs, seeing with the same eyes, hearing with the same ears.

豈不慶快。

Isn't that a delightful prospect?

莫有要透關底麼。

Wouldn't you like to pass this barrier?

 

將三百六十骨節、八萬四千毫竅、通身起箇疑團參箇無字。

Arouse your entire body with its three hundred and sixty bones and joints and its eighty-four thousand pores of the skin; summon up a spirit of great doubt and concentrate on this word "Mu."

晝夜提撕、莫作虚無會、莫作有無會。

Carry it continuously day and night. Do not form a nihilistic conception of vacancy, or a relative conception of "has" or "has not."

如呑了箇熱鐵丸相似、吐又吐不出。

It will be just as if you swallow a red-hot iron ball, which you cannot spit out even if you try.

蕩盡從　前惡知惡覚、久久純熟自然内外打成—片、如唖子得夢、只許自知。

All the illusory ideas and delusive thoughts accumulated up to the present will be exterminated, and when the time comes, internal and external will be spontaneously united. You will know this, but for yourself only, like a dumb man who has had a dream.

驀然打發、驚天　動地。

Then all of a sudden an explosive conversion will occur, and you will astonish the heavens and shake the earth.

 

如奪得關將軍大刀入手、逢佛殺佛、逢祖殺祖、於生死岸頭得大自在、向六道四生中遊戲三昧。

It will be as if you snatch away the great sword of the valiant general Kan'u and hold it in your hand. When you meet the Buddha, you kill him; when you meet the patriarchs, you kill them. On the brink of life and death, you command perfect freedom; among the sixfold worlds and four modes of existence, you enjoy a merry and playful samadhi.

 

且作麼生提撕。

Now, I want to ask you again, "How will you carry it out?"

盡平生氣力擧箇無字。

Employ every ounce of your energy to work on this "Mu."

若不間斷、好似法燭一點便著。

If you hold on without interruption, behold: a single spark, and the holy candle is lit!

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

狗子佛性      The dog, the Buddha Nature,

全提正令      The pronouncement, perfect and final.

纔渉有無      Before you say it has or has not,

喪身失命      You are a dead man on the spot.

 

Case 2 Hyakujõ's Fox                     二　百丈野狐

 

百丈和尚、凡參次、有一老人常隨衆聽法。

When Hyakujõ Oshõ delivered a certain series of sermons, an old man always followed the monks to the main hall and listened to him.

衆人退、老人亦退。

When the monks left the hall, the old man would also leave.

忽一日不退。師遂問、面前立者復是何人。

One day, however, he remained behind, and Hyakujõ asked him, "Who are you, standing here before me?"

老人云、諾。

The old man replied.

某甲非人也。

"I am not a human being.

於過去迦葉佛時曾住此山。

In the old days of Kashyapa Buddha, I was a head monk, living here on this mountain.

因學人問、大修行底人還落因果也無。

One day a student asked me, 'Does a man of enlightenment fall under the yoke of causation or not?'

某甲對云、不落因果。

I answered, 'No, he does not.'

五百生墮野狐身。

Since then I have been doomed to undergo five hundred rebirths as a fox.

今請、和尚代一轉語貴脱野狐。

I beg you now to give the turning word to release me from my life as a fox.

遂問、大修行底人、還落因果也無。

Tell me, does a man of enlightenment fall under the yoke of causation or not?"

師云、不昧因果。

Hyakujõ answered, "He does not ignore causation."

老人於言下大悟。

No sooner had the old man heard these words than he was enlightened.

作禮云、某甲、已脱野狐身住在山後。

Making his bows, he said, "I am emancipated from my life as a fox. I shall remain on this mountain.

敢告和尚。 乞、依亡僧事例。

I have a favor to ask of you: would you please bury my body as that of a dead monk."

 

師、令維那白槌告衆、食後送亡僧。

Hyakujõ had the director of the monks strike with the gavel and inform everyone that after the midday meal there would be a funeral service for a dead monk.

大衆言議、一衆皆安、涅槃堂又無人病。何故如是。

The monks wondered at this, saying, "Everyone is in good health; nobody is in the sick ward. What does this mean?"

食後只見師領衆至山後嵒下、以杖挑出一死野狐、乃依火葬。

After the meal Hyakujõ led the monks to the foot of a rock on the far side of the mountain and with his staff poked out the dead body of a fox and performed the ceremony of cremation.

師、至晩上堂、擧前因縁。

That evening he ascended the rostrum and told the monks the whole story.

黄蘗便問、古人錯祗對一轉語、墮五百生野狐身、轉轉不錯合作箇甚麼。

Õbaku thereupon asked him, "The old man gave the wrong answer and was doomed to be a fox for five hundred rebirths. Now, suppose he had given the right answer, what would have happened then?"

師云、近前來與伊道。

Hyakujõ said, "You come here to me, and I will tell you."

黄蘗遂近前、與師一掌。

Õbaku went up to Hyakujõ and boxed his ears.

師拍手笑云、將謂、胡鬚赤。 更有赤鬚胡。

Hyakujõ clapped his hands with a laugh and exclaimed, "I was thinking that the barbarian had a red beard, but now I see before me the red-bearded barbarian himself."

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、不落因果、爲甚墮野狐。

Not falling under causation: how could this make the monk a fox?

不昧因果、爲甚脱野狐。

Not ignoring causation: how could this make the old man emancipated?

若向者裏著得一隻眼、便知得前百丈贏得風流五百生。

If you come to understand this, you will realize how old Hyakujõ would have enjoyed five hundred rebirths as a fox.

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

不落不昧      Not falling, not ignoring:

兩采一賽      Two faces of one die.

不昧不落      Not ignoring, not falling:

千錯萬錯      A thousand errors, a million mistakes.

 

Case 3 Gutei Raises a Finger                    三　倶胝堅指

 

倶胝和尚、凡有詰問、唯擧一指。

Whenever Gutei Oshõ was asked about Zen, he simply raised his finger.

後有童子。因外人問、和尚説何法要。

Once a visitor asked Gutei's boy attendant, "What does your master teach?"

童子亦堅指頭。

The boy too raised his finger.

胝聞遂以刃斷其指。

Hearing of this, Gutei cut off the boy's finger with a knife.

童子、負痛號哭而去。

The boy, screaming with pain, began to run away.

胝復召之。 童子廻首。 胝却　堅起指。

Gutei called to him, and when he turned around, Gutei raised his finger.

童子忽然領悟。

The boy suddenly became enlightened.

 

胝將順世、謂衆曰、吾得天龍一指頭禪、一生受用不盡。

When Gutei was about to pass away, he said to his assembled monks, "I obtained one-finger Zen from Tenryû and used it all my life but still did not exhaust it."

言訖示滅。

When he had finished saying this, he entered into eternal Nirvana.

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、倶胝並童子悟處、不在指頭上。

The enlightenment of Gutei and of the boy does not depend on the finger.

若向者裏見得、天龍同倶胝並童子興自己一串穿却。　

If you understand this, Tenryû, Gutei, the boy, and you yourself are all run through with one skewer.

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

倶胝鈍置老天龍    Gutei made a fool of old Tenryû,

利刃單提勘小童    Emancipating the boy with a single slice,

巨靈擡手無多子    Just as Kyorei cleaved Mount Kasan

分破華山千万重    To let the Yellow River run through.

 

Case 4 The Western Barbarian with No Beard                          四　胡子無髭

 

或庵曰、西天胡子、因甚無髭。

Wakuan said, "Why has the Western Barbarian no beard?"

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、參須實參、悟須實悟。

Study should be real study, enlightenment should be real enlightenment.

者箇胡子、直須親見一回始得。

You should once meet this barbarian directly to be really intimate with him.

説親見、早成兩箇。

But saying you are really intimate with him already divides you into two.

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

癡人面前      Don't discuss your dream

不可説夢      Before a fool.

胡子髭無      Barbarian with no beard

惺惺添□      Obscures the clarity.

 

Case 5 Kyõgen's "Man up in a Tree"                   五　香嚴上樹

 

香嚴和尚云、如人上樹、口啣樹枝、手不攀枝、脚不踏樹。

Kyõgen Oshõ said, "It is like a man up in a tree hanging from a branch with his mouth; his hands grasp no bough, his feet rest on no limb.

樹下有人問西來意、不對即違他所問、若對又喪身失命。

Someone appears under the tree and asks him, 'What is the meaning of Bodhidharma's coming from the West?' If he does not answer, he fails to respond to the question. If he does answer, he will lose his life.

正恁麼時、作麼生對。

What would you do in such a situation?"

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、縱有懸河之辨、惣用不著。

Even if your eloquence flows like a river, it is of no avail.

説得一大藏教、亦用不著。

Though you can expound the whole of Buddhist literature, it is of no use.

若向者裏對得著、活却從前死路頭、死却從前活路頭。

If you solve this problem, you will give life to the way that has been dead until this moment and destroy the way that has been alive up to now.

其或未然、直待當來問彌勒。

Otherwise you must wait for Maitreya Buddha and ask him.

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

香嚴眞杜撰 Kyõgen is truly thoughtless;

惡毒無盡限 His vice and poison are endless.

唖却納僧口 He stops up the mouths of the monks,

通身迸鬼眼 And devil's eyes sprout from their bodies.

 

Case 6 The Buddha Holds Out a Flower                        六　世尊拈花

 

世尊、昔、在靈山會上拈花示衆。

When Shakyamuni Buddha was at Mount Grdhrakuta, he held out a flower to his listeners.

是時、衆皆默然。

Everyone was silent.

惟迦葉者破顔微笑。

Only Mahakashyapa broke into a broad smile.

世尊云、吾有正方眼藏、涅槃妙心、實相無相、微妙法門、不立文字、教外別傳、付囑摩訶迦葉。

The Buddha said, "I have the True Dharma Eye, the Marvelous Mind of Nirvana, the True Form of the Formless, and the Subtle Dharma Gate, independent of words and transmitted beyond doctrine. This I have entrusted to Mahakashyapa."

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、黄面瞿曇、傍若無人。

Golden-faced Gautama really disregarded his listeners.

壓良爲賤、縣羊頭賣狗肉。

He made the good look bad and sold dog's meat labeled as mutton.

將謂、多少奇特。

He himself thought it was wonderful.

只如當時大衆都笑、正方眼藏、作麼生傳。

If, however, everyone in the audience had laughed, how could he have transmitted his True Eye?

設使迦葉不笑、正方眼藏又作麼生傳。

And again, if Mahakashyapa had not smiled, how could the Buddha have transmitted it?

若道正方眼藏有傳授、黄面老子、誑□閭閻。

If you say the True Dharma Eye can be transmitted, then the golden-faced old man would be a city slicker who cheats the country bumpkin.

若道無傳授、爲甚麼獨許迦葉。

If you say it cannot be transmitted, then why did the Buddha approve of Mahakashyapa?

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

拈起花來      Holding out a flower,

尾巴已露      The Buddha betrayed his curly tail.

迦葉破顔      Heaven and earth were bewildered,

人天罔措      At Mahakashyapa's smile.

 

Case 7 Jõshû's "Wash Your Bowl"                      七　趙州洗鉢

 

趙州、因僧問、其甲乍入叢林。

A monk said to Jõshû, "I have just entered this monastery.

乞師指示。

Please teach me."

州云、喫粥了也未。

"Have you eaten your rice porridge?" asked Jõshû.

僧云、喫粥了也。

"Yes, I have," replied the monk.

州云、洗鉢盂去。

"Then you had better wash your bowl," said Jõshû.

其僧有省。

With this the monk gained insight.

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、趙州開口見膽、露出心肝。

When he opens his mouth, Jõshû shows his gallbladder. He displays his heart and liver.

者僧聽事不眞、喚鐘作甕。

I wonder if this monk really did hear the truth. I hope he did not mistake the bell for a jar.

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

只爲分明極 Endeavoring to interpret clearly,

翻令所得遲 You retard your attainment.

早知燈是火 Don't you know that flame is fire?

飯熟已多時 Your rice has long been cooked.

 

Case 8 Keichû the Wheelmaker               八　奚仲造車

 

月庵和尚問僧、奚仲造車一百輻。

Gettan Oshõ said, "Keichû, the first wheelmaker, made a cart whose wheels had a hundred spokes.

拈却兩頭、去却輻、明甚麼邊事。

Now, suppose you took a cart and removed both the wheels and the axle. What would you have?"

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、若也直下明得、眼、似流星、機、如掣電。

If anyone can directly master this topic, his eye will be like a shooting star, his spirit like a flash of lightning.

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

機輪轉處      When the spiritual wheels turn,

達者猶迷      Even the master fails to follow them.

四維上下      They travel in all directions, above and below,

南北東西      North, south, east, and west.

 

Case 9 Daitsû Chishõ Buddha                  九　大通智勝

 

興陽讓和尚、因僧問、大通智勝佛、十劫坐道場、佛法不現前、不得成佛道時如何。

A monk asked Kõyõ Seijõ, "Daitsû Chishõ Buddha sat in zazen for ten kalpas and could not attain Buddhahood. He did not become a Buddha. How could this be?"

讓曰、其問甚諦當。

Seijõ said, "Your question is quite self-explanatory."

僧云、既是坐道場、爲甚麼不得成佛道。

The monk asked, "He meditated so long; why could he not attain Buddhahood?"

讓曰、爲伊不成佛。

Seijõ said, "Because he did not become a Buddha."

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、只許老胡知、不許老胡會。

I allow the barbarian's realization, but I do not allow his understanding.

凡夫若知、既是聖人。

When an ignorant man realizes it, he is a sage.

聖人若會、既是凡夫。

When a sage understands it, he is ignorant.

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

了身何似了心休    Better emancipate your mind than your body;

了得心□身不愁    When the mind is emancipated, the body is free,

若也身心倶了了    When both body and mind are emancipated,

神仙何必更封候    Even gods and spirits ignore worldly power.

 

Case 10 Seizei Is Utterly Destitude                     十　清税弧貧

 

曹山和尚、因僧問云、清税弧貧。

Seizei said to Sõzan, "Seizei is utterly destitude.

乞、師賑濟。

Will you give him support?"

山云、税闍梨。

Sõzan called out, "Seizei!"

税、應諾。

Seizei responded, "Yes, sir!"

山曰、青原白家酒、三盞喫了、猶道未沾唇。

Sõzan said, "You have finished three cups of the finest wine in China, and still you say you have not yet moistened your lips!"

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、清税輸機、是何心行。

Seizei pretended to retreat. What was his scheme?

曹山具眼、深辨來機。

Sõzan had the eye of Buddha and saw through his opponent's motive.

然雖如是、且道、那裏是税闍梨、喫酒處。

However, I want to ask you, at what point did Seizei drink wine?

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

貧似范丹      Poverty like Hantan's,

氣如項羽      Mind like Kõu's;

活計雖無      With no means of livelihood,

敢與鬪富      He dares to rival the richest.

 

Case 11 Jõshû Sees the Hermits              十一　州勘庵主

 

趙州、到一庵主處問、有麼有麼。

Jõshû went to a hermit's cottage and asked, "Is the master in? Is the master in?"

主、堅起拳頭。

The hermit raised his fist.

州云、水淺不是泊舡處。 便行。

Jõshû said, "The water is too shallow to anchor here," and he went away.

又到一庵主處云、有麼有麼。

Coming to another hermit's cottage, he asked again, "Is the master in? Is the master in?"

主亦堅起拳頭。

This hermit, too, raised his fist.

州云、能縱能奪、能殺能活。便作禮。

Jõshû said, "Free to give, free to take, free to kill, free to save," and he made a deep bow.

 

Mumon's Comment

無門曰、一般堅起拳頭、爲甚麼肯一箇、不肯一箇。

Both raised their fists; why was the one accepted and the other rejected?

且道、□訛在甚處。

Tell me, what is the difficulty here?

若向者裏下得一轉語、便見趙州舌頭無骨、扶起放倒、得大自在。

If you can give a turning word to clarify this problem, you will realize that Jõshû's tongue has no bone in it, now helping others up, now knocking them down, with perfect freedom.

雖然如是爭奈、趙州却被二庵主勘破。

However, I must remind you: the two hermits could also see through Jõshû.

若道二庵主有優劣、未具參學眼。

If you say there is anything to choose between the two hermits, you have no eye of realization.

若道無優劣、亦未具參　學眼。

If you say there is no choice between the two, you have no eye of realization.

 

Mumon's Verse 頌曰

眼流星           The eye like a shooting star,

機掣電           The spirit like a lighting;

殺人刀           A death-dealing blade,

活人劍           A life-giving sword.

 

Case 12 Zuigan Calls His Master                         十二　巖喚主人

 

瑞巖彦和尚、毎日自喚主人公、復自應諾。

Zuigan Gen Oshõ called to himself every day, "Master!" and answered, "Yes, sir!"

乃云、惺惺着。