The Gateless Gate

The Classic Book of Zen Koans

Koun Yamada

• Publisher: Wisdom Publications
• Year: 2005
• Print ISBN:
  9780861713820
• eBook ISBN:
  9780861719716
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Asian Literary Collections

In The Gateless Gate, one of modern Zen Buddhism's uniquely influential masters offers classic commentaries on the Mumonkan, one of Zen's greatest collections of teaching stories. This translation was compiled with the Western reader in mind, and includes Koan Yamada's clear and penetrating comments on each case. Yamada played a seminal role in bringing Zen Buddhism to the West from Japan, going on to be the head of the Sanbo Kyodan Zen Community.

The Gateless Gate would be invaluable if only for the translation and commentary alone, yet it's loaded with extra material and is a fantastic resource to keep close by:

• An in-depth Introduction to the History of Zen Practice
• Lineage charts
• Japanese-to-Chinese and Chinese-to-Japanese conversion charts for personal names, place names, and names of writings
• Plus front- and back-matter from ancient and modern figures: Mumon, Shuan, Kubota Ji'un, Taizan Maezumi, Hugo Enomiya-Lasalle, and Yamada Roshi's son, Masamichi Yamada.

A wonderful inspiration for the koan practitioner, and for those with a general interest in Zen Buddhism.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface to the Wisdom Edition
• Preface to the Wisdom Edition
• Author’s Preface to the First Edition
• Note on Chinese and Japanese Therms
• Shūan’s Prepace
• Dedication
• Mumon’s Preface
• 1 - Jōshū’s Dog
• 2 - Hyakujō and the Fox
• 3 - Gutei’s One Finger
• 4 - The Barbarian Has No Beard
• 5 - Kyōgen’s Man Up a Tree
• 6 - Buddha Holds Up a Flower
• 7 - Jōshū’s “Wasb Your Bowls”
• 8 - Keichū Makes Carts
• 9 - Daitsū Chishō
• 10 - Seizei the Poor
• 11 - Jōshū Examines the Hermits
• 12 - Zuigan Calls Himself “Master”
• 13 - Tokusan Carries His Bowls
• 14 - Nansen Kills the Cat
• 15 - Tōzan’s Sixty Blows
• 16 - The Sound of the Bell and the Seven-Panel Robe
• 17 - The National Teacher’s Three Calls
• 18 - Tōzan’s Masagin
• 19 - Ordinary Mind Is the Way
• 20 - A Man of Great Strength
• 21 - Unmon’s Kanshiketsu
• 22 - Kashyapa’s Flagpole
• 23 - Think Neither Good Nor Evil
• 24 - Leaving Speech and Silence Behind
• 25 - The Sermon of the Third Seat
• 26 - Two Monks Roll Up the Blinds
• 27 - Not Mind, Not Buddha
• 28 - Ryūtan’s Name Echoed Long
• 29 - Not the Wind, Not the Flag
• 30 - Mind Is Buddha
• 31 - Jōshū Sees Through an Old Woman
• 32 - A Non-Buddhist Questions Buddha
• 33 - No Mind, No Buddha
• 34 - Knowing Is Not the Way
• 35 - Seijo’s Soul Is Separated
• 36 - Meeting a Man Who Has Accomplished the Way
• 37 - The Oak Tree in the Garden
• 38 - A Cow Passes Through a Window
• 39 - Unmon and a Mistake in Speech
• 40 - Kicking Over the Water Jug
• 41 - Bodhidharma Puts the Mind to Rest
• 42 - A Woman Comes Out of Samadhi
• 43 - Shuzan’s Shippei
• 44 - Bashō’s Shujō
• 45 - Who Is That One?
• 46 - Stepping Forward From the Top of a Pole
• 47 - Tosotsu’s Three Barriers
• 48 - Kempō’s One Way
• Mumon’s Postscript
• Mumon’s Zen Warnings
• Ōryū’s Three Barriers
• Muryō Sōju’s Verses on Ōryū’s Three Barriers
• Mōkyō’s Epilogue
• Amban’s Forty-ninth Case
• Appendix 1 - Introduction to the History of Zen Practise
• Appendix 2 - Writings and Zen Records Mentioned in the Introduction to the ...
• Appendix 3 - Personal Names, Place Names, and Writings (Japanese — Chinese)
• Appendix 4 - Personal Names, Place Names, and Writings (Chinese — Japanese)
• Appendix 5 - Lineage Charts
• Appendix 6 - Foreword to the Previous Edition
• Appendix 7 - Preface to the Previous Edition
• About the Author
• More Books from Wisdom Publications
• About Wisdom Publications
• Copyright