“Katsuki Sekida brings to these works the same fresh and pragmatic approach that made his Zen Training so popular. The insights of a lifetime of Zen practice and his familiarity with Western as well as Eastern ways of thinking make him an ideal interpreter of the texts for the people of today.” —Asahi Evening News “These notes are the fullest and most intelligent that have so far appeared in English.” —Japan Times “Two Zen Classics is a product of Herculean labors, wrought with dedication and understanding.” —Philip Kapleau ABOUT THE BOOK The strange verbal paradoxes called koans have been used traditionally in Zen training to help students attain a direct realization of truths inexpressible in words. The two works translated in this book, Mumonkan (The Gateless Gate) and Hekiganroku (The Blue Cliff Record), both compiled during the Song dynasty in China, are the best known and most frequently studied koan collections, and are classics of Zen literature. They are still used today in a variety of practice lineages, from traditional zendos to modern Zen centers. In a completely new translation, together with original commentaries, the well-known Zen teacher Katsuki Sekida brings to these works the same fresh and pragmatic approach that made his Zen Training so successful. The insights of a lifetime of Zen practice and his familiarity with both Eastern and Western ways of thinking make him an ideal interpreter of these texts. KATSUKI SEKIDA (1893–1987) 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. Sign up to receive weekly Zen teachings and special offers from Shambhala Publications. Or visit us online to sign up at shambhala.com/ezenquotes. TWO ZEN CLASSICS The Gateless Gate and the Blue Cliff Records translated with commentaries by KATSUKI SEKIDA edited and introduced by A. V. GRIMSTONE SHAMBHALA Boston & London 2014 SHAMBHALA PUBLICATIONS, INC. Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 www.shambhala.com ©Katsuki Sekida and A. V. Grimstone All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA Two Zen classics: the Gateless gate and the Blue cliff records/translated with commentaries by Katsuki Sekida; edited and introduced by A. V. Grimstone.—1st Shambhala ed. p. cm. Originally published: Weatherhill, 1995. Includes bibliographical references and index. eISBN 978-0-8348-2556-7 ISBN 978-1-59030-282-8 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Huikai, 1183–1260. Wumen guan. 2. Yuanwu, 1063–1135. Bi yan lu. 3. Koan. I. Sekida, Katsuki, 1893–1987. II. Grimstone, A. V. III. Huikai, 1183–1260. Wumen guan. English. IV. Yuanwu, 1063–1135. Bi yan lu. English. BQ9289.H843T94 2005 294.3′4432—dc22 2005048966 CONTENTS Preface Introduction MUMONKAN Memorial to the Throne Mumon’s Preface 1 Jōshū’s “Mu” 2 Hyakujō’s Fox 3 Gutei Raises a Finger 4 The Western Barbarian with No Beard 5 Kyōgen’s “Man up in a Tree” 6 The Buddha Holds Out a Flower 7 Jōshū’s “Wash Your Bowl” 8 Keichū the Wheelmaker 9 Daitsū Chishō Buddha 10 Seizei Is Utterly Destitute 11 Jōshū Sees the Hermits 12 Zuigan Calls His Master 13 Tokusan Holds His Bowls 14 Nansen Cuts the Cat in Two 15 Tōzan’s Sixty Blows 16 When the Bell Sounds 17 Chū the National Teacher Gives Three Calls 18 Tōzan’s “Masagin” 19 Nansen’s “Ordinary Mind Is the Way” 20 The Man of Great Strength 21 Ummon’s “Kanshiketsu” 22 Kashyapa’s “Knock Down the Flagpole” 23 Think Neither Good Nor Evil 24 Fuketsu’s Speech and Silence 25 Kyōzan’s Dream 26 Two Monks Roll Up the Blinds 27 Nansen’s “Not Mind, Not Buddha, Not Things” 28 Ryūtan Blows Out the Candle 29 The Sixth Patriarch’s “Your Mind Moves” 30 Baso’s “This Very Mind Is the Buddha” 31 Jōshū Investigates an Old Woman 32 A Non-Buddhist Philosopher Questions the Buddha 33 Baso’s “No Mind, No Buddha” 34 Nansen’s “Reason Is Not the Way” 35 Seijo’s Soul Separated 36 When You Meet a Man of the Way 37 Jōshū’s Oak Tree 38 A Buffalo Passes the Window 39 A Mistake in Speaking 40 Tipping Over a Water Bottle 41 Bodhidharma’s Mind-Pacifying 42 The Girl Comes out of Samadhi 43 Shuzan’s Shippei 44 Bashō’s Staff 45 Hōen’s “Who Is He?” 46 Proceed On from the Top of the Pole 47 Tosotsu’s Three Barriers 48 Kempō’s One Road Mumon’s Postscript Mumon’s Zen Warnings Sōju’s Verses on Ōryū’s Three Barriers Mōkyō’s Epilogue Amban’s Forty-ninth Case HEKIGANROKU 1 Emperor Wu Asks Bodhidharma 2 Jōshū’s “The Real Way Is Not Difficult” 3 Baso’s “Sun-faced Buddha, Moon-faced Buddha” 4 Tokusan Visits Isan 5 Seppō’s “A Grain of Rice” 6 Ummon’s “Every Day Is a Good Day” 7 Hōgen’s “You Are Echō” 8 Suigan’s Eyebrows 9 Jōshū’s Four Gates 10 Bokushū’s “Empty-headed Fool” 11 Ōbaku’s “Partakers of Brewer’s Grain” 12 Tōzan’s “Masagin” 13 Haryō’s “Snow in the Silver Bowl” 14 Ummon’s “Preaching Facing Oneness” 15 Ummon’s “No Preaching on Oneness” 16 Kyōsei’s Instruction on Pecking and Tapping 17 Kyōrin’s “Sitting Long and Getting Tired” 18 Emperor Shukusō Asks About the Style of the Pagoda 19 Gutei’s One-Finger Zen 20 Ryūge Asks Suibi and Rinzai 21 Chimon’s Lotus Flower and Lotus Leaves 22 Seppō’s Turtle-nosed Snake 23 Hofuku Points to Myōhōchō 24 Ryūtetsuma the Old Female Buffalo 25 The Master of Rengehō’s Staff 26 Hyakujō Sits on the Great Sublime Peak 27 Ummon’s “Golden Breeze” 28 What the Holy Ones Have Not Preached 29 Daizui’s “It Will Be Gone with the Other” 30 Jōshū’s “A Big Radish” 31 Mayoku Comes to Shōkei 32 Jō Jōza Stands Still 33 Chinsō Shōsho Comes to Visit Shifuku 34 Kyōzan’s “You Have Not Visited Rozan” 35 Manjusri’s “Threes and Threes” 36 Chōsha Went for a Walk 37 Banzan’s “Three Worlds, No Dharma” 38 Fuketsu and the Dharma Seal of the Patriarch 39 Ummon’s “Kayakuran” 40 Nansen’s “This Flower” 41 Jōshū and the Great Death 42 Hō Koji’s “Beautiful Snowflakes” 43 Tōzan’s “No Cold or Heat” 44 Kasan’s “Beating the Drum” 45 Jōshū’s Seven-Pound Hempen Shirt 46 Kyōsei’s “Voice of the Raindrops” 47 Ummon’s “Beyond the Six” 48 Ō Taifu and the Tea Ceremony 49 Sanshō’s “The Golden Carp out of the Net” 50 Ummon’s “Particle After Particle’s Samadhi” 51 Seppō’s “What Is This?” 52 Jōshū’s Stone Bridge 53 Hyakujō and a Wild Duck 54 Ummon Stretches Out His Hands 55 Dogō’s “I Would Not Tell You” 56 Kinzan and One Arrow Piercing the Three Barriers 57 Jōshū’s “I Alone Am Holy Throughout Heaven and Earth” 58 Jōshū’s “No Justification” 59 Jōshū’s “Why Not Quote to the End?” 6o Ummon’s Staff Becoming a Dragon 61 Fuketsu’s “One Particle of Dust” 62 Ummon’s “One Treasure” 63 Nansen Cuts the Cat in Two 64 Jōshū Puts His Sandals on His Head 65 A Non-Buddhist Philosopher Questions the Buddha 66 Gantō Laughed Loudly 67 Fu Daishi Concludes His Lecture on the Sutra 68 Kyōzan Asks Sanshō’s Name 69 Nansen Draws a Circle 70 Isan’s “I Would Ask You to Say It” 71 Gohō’s “Shut Up” 72 Ungan’s “Do You Have Them or Not?” 73 Baso and the Hundred Negations 74 Kingyū Oshō and the Rice Pail 75 Ukyū’s Unfair Blows 76 Tanka’s “Have You Had Your Dinner?” 77 Ummon’s “A Sesame Bun” 78 Bodhisattvas in the Bath 79 Tōsu and “Every Voice Is the Buddha’s Voice” 80 Jōshū’s “A Newborn Baby” 81 Yakusan’s King of the King Deer 82 Tairyū’s “Indestructible Dharma Body” 83 Ummon’s “The Old Buddha Communes with the Pillar” 84 Yuima’s “The Gate to the One and Only” 85 The Master of Tōhō Hermitage Roars Like a Tiger 86 Ummon’s “Everybody Has His Own Light” 87 Ummon’s “Medicine and Sickness Cure Each Other” 88 Gensha’s Man of Three Disabilities 89 Ungan’s “The Whole Body Is Hand and Eye” 90 Chimon and the Essence of Prajna 91 Enkan and the Rhinoceros Fan 92 The World-honored One Takes His Seat 93 Taikō’s “You Fox-Devil” 94 The Surangama Sutra and “Unseeing” 95 Chōkei and Hofuku Discuss the Buddha’s Words 96 Jōshū’s Three Turning Words 97 The Diamond Sutra’s “The Transgression Is Wiped Out” 98 Tempyō’s Two Wrongs 99 Chū Kokushi and the Ten-bodied Herdsman 100 Haryō’s Sword Against Which a Hair Is Blown Genealogical Table Index E-mail Sign-Up PREFACE IN MY PREVIOUS BOOK, Zen Training: Methods and Philosophy, I tried to explain some aspects of the theory and practice of Zen in a way that would be intelligible to a contemporary Western reader. My approach in that book was deliberately not a traditional one but made use of current ideas in philosophy, psychology, and physiology.