Huanglong's Three Barriers

Text

Huanglong Huinan asked every monk who came to him three questions that he called his three turning words. He would ask: "Everyone has a birthplace—what is your birthplace?" Then: "My hand resembles the Buddha's hand—why?" Then: "My leg resembles a donkey's leg—why?" No student was ever able to pass through all three barriers to Huanglong's satisfaction. He said: "I am not withholding an answer. I am waiting for the question that does not need an answer."

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Speaker
  Huanglong Huinan

Lineage: Linji

By Huanglong Huinan

• The Way of the Patriarchssaying
• Huanglong's Three Barriersdialogue

From Jingde Chuandenglu

• On Gradual Cultivation
• Watch the Mind
• On Sudden Enlightenment
• The Debate at Huatai
• Before Thinking Arises
• The One Who Has No Rank
• The Arrow on High
• Meeting the Poet Li Ji
• Just This Is It
• Cold Ashes, Dead Tree

Sources

• contentZen Editorial Overlay - Originals Curation

  Zen project editorial

  Jingde Chuandenglu, Song supplement; Wudenghuiyuan, Huanglong chapter

  Jingde Chuandenglu: Huanglong's Three Barriers