Talk:Wumen Huikai

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Below is my suggestion on re-writing the stub "Wumen". I know the formatting and referencing is probably all wrong and would appreciate an editor's help in this. Most of the information comes from Aitken (and Cleary in Yamada). I can find no reference to Wu-men being "abbot at Ryusho (Lungxiang) monastery " and therefore have left it out. If someone can reference this, we should put it in. The only reference I can find in at http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/ZenPages/Koans-WMK.html which labels him a "head monk" at the time of publishing. I don't know if this is good enough for Wikipedia as I've not written for this before (my first crack at this). The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen merely states that he was "abbot of a large Ch'an monastery near the capital in 1246". It also says that in his latter years he "withdrew to a small monastery in the mountains" whereas Aitken calls it a "hermitage". I suspect that both are true: he retired to perhaps a small temple and attempted to live the life a hermit which, in those days, does not have quite the same meaning as in modern English. Any preferences? Comments, suggestions, etc most welcome. If an editor thinks this is better than what's up, it would be nice if someone else formatted it correctly for me and put it up as I'm still trying to learn the technical (and social) side of this. Thanks

Wu-men

Wu-men Hui-k’ai (J. Mumon Ekai) (1183-1260) is a Sung period Ch’an (J. Zen) master most famous as the compiler of and commentator on the 48-koan collection The Gateless Gate (J. Mumonkan; Chinese: the Wu-men Kuan), published 5th Nov 1228, also called in English The Gateless Barrier (Aitken, 1990). Wu-men was at that time the head monk of Lung-hsiang (J. Ryusho) monastery. (Buddhist Studies – About the Wu-men Kuan koans at: http://www.ciolek.com/WWWVLPages/ZenPages/Koans-WMK.html)

Wu-men was born in Hang-chou and his first master was Kung Ho-shang. However, it was Zen master Yeih-lin who gave Wu-men the koan Chao-chou’s Dog (also known as the koan “mu”), (Shambhala) with which Wu-men struggled for six years before he finally attained realization. After his understanding had been confirmed by Yueh-lin, Wu-men wrote his enlightenment poem:

A thunderclap under the clear blue sky

All beings on earth open their eyes;

Everything under heaven bows together;

Mount Sumeru leaps up and dances. (Aitken, 1990)

He received Dharma transmission in the Lin-chi line (J. Rinzai) from his master, Yueh-lin Shih-Kuan (J. Gatsurin Shikan) (1143-1217). In many respects he was the classical eccentric Ch’an master. He wandered for many years from temple to temple, wore old and dirty robes, grew his hair and beard long and worked in the temple fields. He was nick-named ‘Hui-k’ai the Lay Monk’. In his latter years he retired to a hermitage but was constantly disturbed by others seeking his teachings.

His teachings as revealed in his comments in the Mumonkan closely followed the teachings of Ta-hui Tsung-kao (J. Daei Soko) (1089-1163). The importance of ‘Great Doubt’ was one of his central teaching devices. Wu-men said, “…it’s [understanding Zen] just a matter of rousing the mass of doubt throughout your body, day and night, and never letting up.” (Recorded Sayings of Mumon, cited in Yamada) In his comment on Case 1, Chao-Chu’s Dog, he called it “a red-hot iron ball which you have gulped down and which you try to vomit up, but cannot”. Wu-men believed in blocking all avenues of escape for the student, hence the ‘gateless barrier’. Whatever activity the student proposed, Wu-men rejected: “ If you follow regulations, keeping the rules, you tie yourself without rope but if you act any which way without inhibition you’re a heretical demon. …Clear alertness is wearing chains and stocks. Thinking good and bad is hell and heaven. … Neither progressing nor retreating, you’re a dead man with breath. So tell me, ultimately how do you practice?” (Cleary in Yamada)

References: Aitken, Robert (1990) The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-men Kuan (Mumonkan); North Point Press, ISBN 0-86547-442-7 Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen (1991), ISBN 0-87773-520-4 Yamada, Koun (1979) Gateless Gate: newly translated with commentary by zen master Koun Yamada; Center Publications ISBN 0-916820-08-4

Further Readings: Cleary, Thomas (1993) No Barrier: unlocking the zen koan; Aquarian/Thorsons ISBN 85538-24 Sekida, Katsuki (1995) Two Zen Classics: Mumonkan and Hekiganroku Weatherhill ISBN 0-8348-0130-2

Thinman10 07:25, 9 January 2007 (UTC)thinman10

Wumen

I've worked on this a bit more but I'm still not very happy with the links and would appreciate some editing on this. There are some problems here which could use further editing. 1) The use of Japanese, Wade-Giles and Pinyin is, quite frankly, a bit of mess here. Can anyone help out? 2)"At the age of 64 he founded (Japanese: Gokoku-ninno) temple near West Lake" Does anyone know the Pinyin/Wade-Giles name of this temple? The reference comes from Yamada and he only used Japanese names. 3) for some reason I can't seem to find the Wikipedia reference for Ta-hui. I'm sure there's one somewhere. 4) for some reason, the footnote references don't seem to work. What have I done wrong? 5) I've used references to the same book by just citing, eg., Aitken, p4. Is this acceptable? I've no idea.

As this is my first attempt at writing for Wikipedia, I'm sure there are many improvements that can be made in both content and formatting. Help would be appreciated. thank you Thinman10 07:01, 11 January 2007 (UTC)thinman10

Hi, Thinman. Thanks for your work on this. Looks good. I have gone through and standardised spellings, where possible, to Chinese pinyin. I couldn't find a Chinese name for Gokoku-ninno, though, so I've left that in as Japanese (not the end of the world). I don't recall seeing a Wikipedia aricle on Dahui Zonggao. The footnotes seem to be working now and I think your citations are fine.—Nat Krause^{(Talk!·What have I done?)} 18:12, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

Wumen cleanup

I'm not sure whether "cleanup" is the correct label; however, I feel this article needs a little more work.

• it would be nice to have more Chinese characters here, such as for Wumen's name, the Gateless Gate, Lung-hsiang monastery (what is the Wade-Giles for this?)Kung Ho-shang, Yeih-lin Shih-Kuan,and some Wade-Giles transliterations.
• the line "At the age of 64 he founded (Japanese: Gokoku-ninno) temple near West Lake" needs the Chinese name for this temple. Unfortunately, Yamada uses only Japanese names. Does anyone know?
• is there really no Wikipedia entry for Ta-hui Tsung-kao (Japanese: Daei Soko) (1089-1163)? I can't seem to find one. If there is one, a link would be useful.

Maybe others have more suggestions to improve this.

Thinman10 06:15, 16 January 2007 (UTC)thinman10

By the way, "Lung-hsiang" is Wade-Giles; the pinyin equivalent is "Longxiang". I've added some characters here and there, but I think it might clutter the article a bit too much if we were to include them too frequently.—Nat Krause^{(Talk!·What have I done?)} 18:14, 30 January 2007 (UTC)