By Guo Gu
The vintage thirteenth-century selection of Zen koans with essentially the most obtainable commentaries up to now, from a chinese language Zen teacher.
Gateways to awakening encompass us at each second of our lives. the entire function of kōan (gong’an, in chinese language) perform is to maintain us from lacking those myriad possibilities via major us to convinced gates that experience often been powerful for individuals to entry that extraordinary awakening. The forty-eight kōans of the Gateless Barrier (Chinese: Wumenguan; jap: Mumonkan) were waking humans up for good over 8 hundred years. Chan instructor Guo Gu offers right here a clean translation of the vintage textual content, in addition to the 1st English remark by way of a instructor of the chinese language culture from which it originated. He indicates that the kōans during this textual content usually are not mere tales from previous, yet are particularly tips to the areas in our lives the place we get stuck—and that every sticking aspect, whilst tested, can develop into a gateless barrier in which we will be able to input into profound knowledge.
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Passing Through the Gateless Barrier: Kōan Practice for Real Life
The vintage thirteenth-century selection of Zen koans with probably the most available commentaries so far, from a chinese language Zen instructor. Gateways to awakening encompass us at each second of our lives. the full function of kōan (gong’an, in chinese language) perform is to maintain us from lacking those myriad possibilities through best us to convinced gates that experience generally been potent for individuals to entry that excellent awakening.
Additional resources for Passing Through the Gateless Barrier: Kōan Practice for Real Life
Example text
To stop engaging in vexations, and when you can, return to your method. ” However, if you want to use this case as your gong’an or huatou method, you will have to get permission from a teacher to ensure you are using it correctly. You shouldn’t feel that this wu has nothing to do with you. You may ask yourself, “Who cares if the dog has buddha-nature or not? Actually, does this question have anything to do with dog or buddha-nature? No. It has to do with you. The real question is: Where is your buddha-nature?
It is that which makes you feel you are who you are. But this self is just a deep-seated assumption, because what you actually experience internally is quite confusing, scattered, contradicting. Sometimes you feel this, other times you feel that. You doubt yourself, criticize yourself, and boast about yourself. In front of one person you may feel confident; in front of another, you may be weak. Rarely do you feel grounded, unified, or congruent. Yet despite these varied experiences, the conviction of an abiding self is strong.
Anyone interested in understanding what a kōan really is, how it can be used, and how it uses us, will be informed and enriched by this book. ” —James Ishmael Ford, author of If You’re Lucky, Your Heart Will Break and co-editor of The Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen’s Most Important Koan “Guo Gu’s translation of The Gateless Barrier and his commentary reveal a fresh, eminently practical approach to the famous text. Reminding again and again that it is the reader’s own spiritual affairs to which each kōan points, Guo Gu writes with both broad erudition and the profound insight of a Chan practitioner; in this way he reveals himself to be a worthy inheritor of his late Master Sheng Yen’s teachings.