(Anima Creativa) 30 minutes of pure genius: Alan Watts on The Gateless Gate (rare talk)
The Gateless Gate (Mandarin Chinese 無門關, Wúménguān, Japanese 無門関, Mumonkan), sometimes translated as The Gateless Barrier, is a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans ("public cases" popularly but mistakenly thought of as insoluble riddles).
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| The enso is the Zen zero or circle symbol |
It was compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Master Wumen Huikai (無門慧開, Japanese Mumon Ekai, 1183–1260) during the Song Dynasty.
The title has a double meaning and may also be understood as Wumen's Barrier because Wumen's name, which literally means "no gate," is the title's first two characters.
Wumen's preface indicates that the volume was published in 1228. Each koan is accompanied by a commentary and verse by Wumen.
A classic edition includes a 49th case composed by Anwan in 1246. Wuliang Zongshou also supplemented the volume with a verse of four stanzas composed in 1230 about the three barriers of Chan Master Huanglong Huinan.
Since the Southern Song Dynasty, the Chinese Buddhist canon has not included The Gateless Gate, but Wumen's disciples brought the work to Japan, where it has been reprinted many times.
(Official Alan Watts Archive) Alan Watts: Don't be afraid of NOTHING | nothingness
It is collected in volume 48 of the Taishō Tripiṭaka [1]. Along with the Blue Cliff Record and the oral tradition of Hakuin Ekaku, The Gateless Gate is a central work much used in Rinzai Zen School practice.
Five of the koans in the work concern the sayings and doings of Zhaozhou; four concern Ummon. The common theme of the koans and Wumen's comments is the inquiry and introspection of dualistic conceptualization. (See Mahayana-Hinduism's nondualism or Advaita Vedanta).
Satori (Japanese 悟り) is a Japanese Zen Buddhist term for "awakening," "comprehension," "understanding" [1], or "insight" (an epiphany, a sudden moment of "clear-seeing" or vipassana, liberating insight). The word derives from the Japanese verb satoru [2, 3]. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, satori refers to a deep experience of kenshō [4, 5], "seeing into one's true nature" [that true nature being the Three Marks of Existence that lead to enlightenment/bodhi in Theravada Buddhist terms]. Ken means "seeing," shō means "nature" or "essence" [4]. Satori and kenshō are commonly translated as "enlightenment," a word that is also used to translate bodhi, prajñā ("wisdom"), and Buddhahood. More
To suddenly see clearly into the nature of things
Each koan epitomizes one or more of the polarities of consciousness that act like an obstacle or wall to the insight.
The student is challenged to transcend the polarity that the koan represents and demonstrate or show that transcendence to the Zen teacher.
Structure and contents
The text was originally prepared by Wumen as a record of his teaching during a monastic training period held at Longxiang Temple (now Jiangxin Temple in Wenzhou) in the summer of 1228.
Wumen selected the 48 koans and commented on and added a verse for each koan. As was customary in China at the time, an edition might have additions of text inserted by a subsequent owner or publisher.
The best-known version of the text is from the Japanese woodblock edition made from the 1246 manuscript edition that contains the following sections. More
- Anima Creativa; Official Alan Watts Archive; Eds., Wisdom Quarterly Wiki edit
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