禅Masters

Wumen Huikai

Linji

Wumen Huikai

c. 1183 – c. 1260

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Wumen Huikai was the compiler of the Wumenguan (Gateless Barrier), the most widely studied koan collection in the world. He practiced with the koan "Mu" for six years before his awakening, sitting with it day and night until the entire universe of his conceptual mind collapsed and he burst through into realization. His breakthrough verse—"A thunderclap under the clear blue sky! All beings on earth open their eyes"—expresses the totality of the experience.

Wumen selected forty-eight cases and added his own commentaries and verses, creating a collection noted for its directness and accessibility compared to the more literary Blue Cliff Record. His preface states that the Great Way is gateless, approached from a thousand roads, and that those who pass through this barrier walk freely between heaven and earth. The Mumonkan became the standard introductory koan text in Rinzai Zen and has been translated into virtually every major world language.

Names

dharma · enWumen Huikai
alias · enMumon Ekai
alias · enWu-mên Hui-k'ai

Teachers

Students

Teachings

  • proverbEvery Season Is a Good Season

    In spring, hundreds of flowers. In autumn, the moon. In summer, a cool breeze. In winter, snow. If useless things do not clog your mind, every season is a good season.

    Attributed_to: Wumen Huikai

  • sermonPreface to the Gateless Barrier

    Buddhism makes mind its foundation and no-gate its gate. Now, how do you pass through this no-gate? 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. However, such a saying is already raising waves when there is no wind. It is cutting unblemished skin. As for those who try to understand through other people's words, they are striking at the moon with a stick, scratching a shoe when the foot itches. What concern have they with the truth? In the summer of the first year of Jotei, Ekai was in Ryusho Temple and as chief monk led the monks, using the cases of the ancient masters as brickbats to batter the gate, and leading them on according to their type and capacity. The collection was made in a rather unmethodical fashion. It has forty-eight cases.

    Attributed_to: Wumen Huikai

Master Record Sources