The Gateless Gate is a Chan classic I have not yet read, so thought I would circle around and connect with it, the Blue Cliff Record, and The Book of Equanimity. I was meditating and I remembered that there were the three classics that I hadn't read that I'd wanted to read. I used to think my memory was pretty bad. I think in a way the educational system taught me that attitude towards myself because I couldn't remember things for the test. I'm not sure in the age of information that children will be taught to fill their minds up with facts, but being conversant in the subject may include that. I remember what is important. Other people might have ideas about that.
Hakuin Ekaku (above) spoke the koans of Mumonkan around 1200. It Wumen Huikai, who compiled the koans and commented on them?
The translation and commentary and translation I'm reading is by Katsuki Sekida. Katsuki Sekida 'was by profession a high school teacher of English until his retirement in 1945. Zen, nevertheless, was his lifelong preoccupation. He began his Zen practice in 1915 and trained at Empuku-ji in Kyoto and Ryutaki-ji in Mishima, Shizuoka Prefecture. He taught at the Honolulu Zendo and Maui Zendo from 1963 to 1970 and at the London Zen Society from 1970 to 1972." (Shambhala)
Reading this has been fun so far. Do I have to confine myself to just the Buddhavacana? No, of course not. It's like reading interesting developments in Buddhism, I love all of Buddhism. And Chinese culture. Chan originated in China.
The koan tradition is about transcending duality. And it's also about developing your own ideas and insight. It's a way of trying to bring insight into the moment. I could write my own commentary on the commentary.
I was relieved, I was concerned about reading this without a teacher, but the preface laid that worry to rest. It's quite possible I'm going to get something out of it, though of course it was would be hard to predict. Transcending dualism is impossible, and you can't say much about the transcendental.
There's violence, smacking people and chopping off fingers. The translator doesn't know if it's true or not. It's no surprise with this violent language, literal or not, that the Zen monks of Japan participated in supporting the military of Japan during WW2. The Samurai culture is a blending of warrior and Buddhism, which is really odd to me. Gautama was born into the warrior cast, but he did not wish to rule. It's a pretty macho meditation culture, challenging each other verbally to transcend duality.
People are referred to, and they lead lineages. That kind of bolsters their standing. Sekida says one person never surpassed his teacher. How you can know that kind of stuff about people written about 900 years ago, almost a millennium ago is questionable.
People wake up, get enlightened, like in the Pali Canon. Someone says something and that unlocks something and most likely is built upon a quit solid foundation of intense meditation. Does it cheapen it by having it happen all the time without mentioning all the groundwork?
I don't like the Zen style of cryptic answering sometimes, but in the controlled format of a book it's palatable. There's a kind of reverence to these teachers that I find somehow inspiring.
I liked this little poem:
Two faces of one die.
Not ignoring, not falling:
A thousand errors, a million mistakes.
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