Gateless Gate 27

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Gateless Gate (Mumonkan, Wumenguan) #27
What the Holy Ones Have Not Preached (Briefer)

Personnel

• NANQUAN Puyuan (Nansen Fugan, 748-835, 9th gen), disciple of Mazu

Case

A monk asked Nanquan in all earnestness, “Is there any Dharma that has not been preached to the people?”
Nanquan said, “There is.”
The monk said, “What is the Dharma which has never been preached to the people?”
Nanquan said, “This isn't mind; this isn't Buddha; this isn't a thing.”

Wumen's Comment

Nanquan was merely asked a question, and he exhausted all his possessions at once and was brought to naught.

Wumen's Verse

Speaking too much degrades virtue,
No-words is truly effective;
Even though the great ocean should change,
It can never be communicated to you.

Aitken's Comment

Mind, Buddha, and beings have been linked in Buddhist thought since early times. The Zen proverb, "Mind, Buddha,and beings -- these three are not different" comes from the Avatamsaka (Huayen) Sutra. But, Nanquan says, that's not it! Tell me, what is the antecedent of it? "Well," you might respond, "it is the teaching that has never been expounded." Not incorrect, but that doesn't advance world understanding at all. The question is not about one truth among many which has or has not been expounded for people. It is about the fundamental matter itself.

Cleary's Comment

Absolute reality in itself transcends any conception we may form of it. There is no way to actually describe the direct experience of reality as such. Ultimate reality can only be witnessed and cannot be spoken. "It is not mind" refers to the stage of detachment from thoughts. "It is not Buddha" refers to the stage of detachment from clear consciousness. "It is not a thing" refers to the stage of detachment from immediate perception. What lies beyond this procedure is the experience that cannot be spoken.

Guo Gu's Comment

“Is there a teaching that has not yet been told to people?” We might rephrase the monk's question this way: Generations of teachers have taught great things. Can you put something on the table that’s new?
"There is!" The monk was surely expecting the answer to be no. Our tradition entails the silent or wordless teaching, beyond words and language. Nanquan's answer, of course, astonished the monk. Why? Because Nanquan was a disciple of Mazu, who always taught that one’s own mind is buddha. The monk would have been expecting Nanquan to remain silent because they both already knew that mind is buddha. But Nanquan lured him in and went for the kill. “Ah, yes, in fact, I do have a secret teaching!
“It is not mind, not buddha, not a single thing.” That’s what the monk needed to hear. Chan teaching is sometimes also called mind teaching, and mind is identical to buddha. If we realize the mind, the self-nature, we realize buddha. Nanquan responded differently to the monk: “For you it is not wordless teaching. There is no mind, no buddha, no thing.” In your daily life don't you tend to make everything into “things”? What we see, hear, touch, taste, and think, we reify and solidify into something that is graspable and attainable. Some people engage in practice intellectually, conceptually, which is the way they acquire material things. The more they acquire, the more they know and become full of themselves. This teaching, surely, is something that the monk already knew. The master pointed out to him that he needed to put down everything.
The correct view is that the self that’s getting in your way is originally not there. Practice with that understanding. The Chan view is this: In this moment, now, no vexations, no self. It’s all good. Whatever the task at hand needs, do it.
It is fair to say that from the perspective of human beings, there is progress; there is process. From the perspective of enlightenment, however, there is no progress. So, objectively, when people practice they become more peaceful, less argumentative, more compassionate, more understanding, more insightful. This is progress. From the perspective of an enlightened person, there is no progress. Teachers see the buddha-nature in people; they see that everyone has this potential and one student is no different from another. The teacher does not get caught up in the student’s vexations. The teacher does not think less of the students because they have vexations and somehow can’t practice well.
In your own life, please do not seek out answers from your teacher. If you are uncertain about who you are or what the mind is, ask only to find it within yourself. Question your own being. All the teachings your teacher can offer point to this. Do not take “not mind, not buddha, not a single thing” as some kind of ultimate teaching. It is not. What is it then?

Low's Comment

Negation has been a way by which mystics have attempted to express transcendental unity. Absolute transcendental unity is affirmed, but as unknowable. Truth is, but is inexpressible because unknowable. However, it is just this fundamental error that the koan is tackling.

Sekida's Comment

Shakyamuni Buddha delivered about three hundred sermons during his lifetime, but when he was dying he said, "During the forty-nine years of my teaching I did not preach even one word." Nanquan denies the mind, Buddha, and all things. In your samadhi, you are directly exercising that which is not mind, not Buddha, not things. Only then can you say that you exercise your mind, your Buddha, and your things.

Senzaki's Comment

All masters describe or explain Truth, but none of them can make you realize it. You must open your own inner gate by yourself. When Zen is answered by words it is no longer Zen. I would like to grab hold of the monk's chest and say, "Speak! Speak!" If you add a word to Nanquan's answer, you spoil his Zen. If you take a word from the answer, you break the completeness of his Zen.

Shibayama's Comment

The Dharma that has not been taught is the Dharma that cannot be taught. A true Zennist always maintains the standpoint that transcends talking and not-talking, teaching and not-teaching, and lives the Truth, which is in fact the Dharma that has not been taught. How do you actually live the essence of Zen, which upholds the Dharma that has not been taught to the people? Your answer has to be an experiential fact. Master Hakuin said, commenting on this koan, "If I were asked, I would answer, 'Avatamsaka, Agam, Vaipulya, Prajna, Saddharmapundarika, and Nirvana!" He deliberately mentioned the names of the sutras Sakyamuni taught the people during his lifetime. Here again, you must not be deluded by Master Hakuin's terminology. For one who has his Zen eye clearly opened, whatever he sees, whatever he hears, is all the Dharma that has not been taught to the people.

Yamada's Comment

If you think you understand what Nanquan meant when he said, "The exceptionally secret Dharma is not mind, not Buddha, not a thing," then you are not only totally mistaken but you have not even found the point of the koan. I will give you a hint. Put the emphasis on "This!" THIS is not mind; THIS is not Buddha; THIS is not a thing! THIS is all! Nothing remains apart from it. You must realize THIS directly at this very moment! WHACK! THIS!

Hotetsu's Verse

Preaching comes down the chimney with presents wrapped in quote marks.
For you, "mind," "Buddha," and "beings." How to unwrap them?
Explanations cover the package with more shiny paper and sticky tape.
Wanting to live disquotationally puts your life into a gift-wrapped "disquotationally" box.
Merry Christmas.

Illustration by Mark Morse, http://www.thegatelessgate.com/

Appendix: Alternate Translations

Case

A monk asked Nanquan in all earnestness, “Is there any Dharma that has not been preached to the people?” Nanquan said, “There is.” The monk said, “What is the Dharma which has never been preached to the people?” Nanquan said, “This isn't mind; this isn't Buddha; this isn't a thing.”

Aitken: A monk asked Nan-ch'uan, "Is there a fundamental truth that has never been expounded for people?" Nan-ch'uan said, "There is." The monk said, "What is the fundamental truth that has never been expounded for people?" Nan-ch'uan said, "It is not mind; it is not Buddha, it is not beings."

Cleary: A monk asked Master Nanquan, "Is there a truth not spoken to people?" Nanquan said, "There is." The monk asked, "What is the truth not spoken to people?" Nanquan said, "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not a thing."

Guo Gu: A monk asked Nanquan, "Is there a teaching that has not yet been told to people?" Nanquan said, "There is." The monk asked, "What is that teaching that has not yet been told to people?" Nanquan replied, "It is not mind, not buddha, not a single thing!"

Hinton: A monk asked Wellspring-South Mountain: "Is there dharma no one's ever taught?" "There is," replied Master Wellspring. "What is it, this dharma no one's ever taught?" "It isn't mind. It isn't Buddha. It isn't things."

Low: A monk asked Nansen, "Is there a truth which no one has yet taught?" Nansen replied, "There is." "What is this truth which no one so far has taught?" asked the monk. Nansen answered, "It is not mind, not Buddha, not things."

Sekida: A monk asked Nansen, "Is there any Dharma that has not been preached to the people?" Nansen answered, "There is." "What is the truth that has not been taught?" asked the monk. Nansen said, "It is not mind; it is not Buddha; it is not things."

Senzaki: A monk asked Nansen, "Is there a teaching no master has ever preached?" Nansen said, "Yes, there is." "What is it?" asked the monk. Nansen replied, "It is not mind, it is not Buddha, it is not things."

Shibayama: A monk once asked Master Nansen, "Is there any Dharma that has not yet been taught to the people?" Nansen said, "Yes, there is." The monk asked, "What is the Dharma that has not been taught to the people?" Nansen said, "It is neither mind, nor Buddha, nor beings."

Verse

Speaking too much degrades virtue, /No-words is truly effective; /Even though the great ocean should change, /It can never be communicated to you.

Aitken: Scrupulous care dissipates your virtue; /no-words truly have an effect; /though the great ocean becomes a field, /it cannot be communicated to you.

Cleary: Meticulous instruction diminishes your virtue; /The unspoken truly has effect. /Even if the oceans transmute, /It's never conveyed to you.

Guo Gu: Repeated admonitions harm one's virtue. /Wordlessness is truly efficacious. /Even if you had crossed oceans, /I would not have told you!

Hinton: Talk only means mirror-sight clarity ruined. /Not a word: that's true success for Absence. /Broad seas are transformed into high peaks, /but how does that explain anything for you?

Low: Say too much and you lose your worth; /No-words have great power! /Even in a blue moon /You can never be told it.

Sekida: Talking too much spoils your virtue; /Silence is truly unequaled. /Let the mountains become the sea; /I'll give you no comment.

Senzaki: Too much attentiveness caused him to lose his dignity. /Only silence would bring real merit. /Even if the mountain were to become the sea, /Words could never open another's mind.

Shibayama: Too much courtesy impairs your virtue; /Silence is certainly effective. /Let it be so. Even if the blue ocean should change, /"It" will never be communicated to you.