A Man Up a Tree

Text

A man hangs from a tree by his teeth. Hands cannot hold a branch, feet cannot reach a limb. Someone asks the meaning of the patriarch's coming from the west. If he opens his mouth, he loses his life. If he does not open it, he fails to answer. What does he do?

tr. Zen Lineage editorial

license: public_domain

Attribution

• Attributed To
  Xiangyan Zhixian

Lineage: Guiyang

By Xiangyan Zhixian

• Kyogen Mounts the Treekoan
• Proceed From The Top Of The Polekoan
• The Sound of Bamboodialogue
• A Painting of a Rice Cake Cannot Satisfy Hungerproverb
• Tile Striking the Bambooproverb

Sources

• contentMumonkan (Gateless Barrier) — Senzaki & Reps translation, 1934

  Nyogen Senzaki, Paul Reps (trans.)