The Gateless Checkpoint of the
Zen Lineage
Chan Zong Wumen Guan (J. Mumonkan)
禅宗無門關
By Wumen Huikai (1183-1260,
J. Mumon Ekai)
Translated by Gregory Wonderwheel © 2007
24. Abandon Language
Venerable Fengxue: Because a monk asked, “Talking and silence wade
across brightness and subtlety. So how is
one to flow unobstructed and not offend?”
Xue
said, “I long remember South of
the River* in the 3rd month
The place the mountain quail cry,
The fragrance of a hundred flowers.”
Wumen says: Fengxue’s function was like pulling
on lightening and obtaining an expedient path for walking. He contended, but he sat on the tongue of the person who came before, he didn’t cut it
off. If within you are able to see intimately,
naturally it happens you go out personally on the zig-zag path. Just abandon the samadhi of language and be
ready to say one line of verse when you come.
[MM36]
The Ode says
The verse did not
reveal Feng’s bones;
He was not the
first to say this part that was handed down.
Progressing
with mouths twittering,
Be aware, all of you, of the great net arranged.
[* "South of the River" is the region known as Jiangnan.]
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This page last edited September 08, 2007.