Gateless Barrier: Zen Comments on the Mumonkan

An excellent anthology of Zen koans and it is titled 'gateless barrier' for a very good reason: for the non-Buddhist, or for casual students of Buddhism, the contents of this publication will present itself as utterly nonsensical & incomprehensible. It is not unreasonable to expect such individuals who purchase this book to end up tossing it or stashing it beneath a heap of magazines, collecting dust. To those individuals, may I ask that you defer your decision to buy this book & buy another book instead......please. For those who are advanced in their practice, I recommend also purchasing a companion book of capping phrases with which to help you express your understanding (satori) of each case (example: 'Zen Sand'). Thank you.

This is simply the best commentary I have read on the Mumonkan. I first read it several years ago, and recently adopted it as the text for a zen reading group I run. We spent 13 weeks reading and discussing the book every week, and it was universally acclaimed by the group. It is a must for anyone interested in the subject.

My favorite book of koans and favorite translation. You can't go wrong with Zenkei Shibayama.

i mostly concur with previous reviewers. this is sadly my n'th zen book, but still i find it as tasty as some of the best, even after only 2 pages. when will the madness stop?

Great

the book i know and it is great. bought it as a present to a friend. i thought it was a new book, but it was second hand and not in a very good condition. it was quite embarrassing.

Shibayama's Zen issues fully and clearly from deep understanding, built on, but transcending cultural/intellecutual understanding. He grasps "it" at every turn; more importantly, through his insight into each Koan - while always leaving the ultimate work for the student - he shapes out "it," which includes understanding why the buffalo easily got through the window, but the tail could not. If this intrigues you - buy this book immediately. Behind the astonishing rigour and discipline, the blue sky awaits. RMG

this book is a thoroughly enjoyable read. shibayama has reached a high degree of freedom through his understaning of 'it' and this comes across as one reads his commentary, however he displays an attachment to 'it', in my opinion.(as did mumon/wu men) i have never encountered such freedom in the writings of any modern authors of zen books. infact i was really thrilled to read this book.the mumonkan is a tremendous tool for losening up and freeing the mind from conceptual and accepted norms and values (knots). this book would have been worth reading alone for its text of the original mumonikan, but especially for the letters at the end which are very important, though not part of the actual main body of the text with its koan stories.there will be students of zen who read the collection of koans in this book, common to ch'an/zen buddhism (see shoyo roku, hekigan roku)and they will not realise that wu men and shibayama believed that 'it' is the key to them all. they will focus on the first koan 'mu' and struggle to see that a dog does not have buddha nature. 'it' actually is not the ultimate key to the koans. it is a tool in freeing up the mind. infact a dog has no buddha nature is 'it', so too a dog has buddha nature is 'it', this is because there are always more than one way to approach a problem. the truly liberated/free mind is able to see this. my ability to liguistically say "it isnt it" proves that 'it' is not the ultimate. the ultimate embraces and yet is beyond language (True Love).actually, 'is' is also a very strong root concept that denotes existence or non existence, but as with 'it', it can be a-moral and lead ultimately to nihilism. "it is", it isnt, this is, this isnt, this 'is' it, that 'is' it. life is what 'is', what 'is' is what 'is', if is what is, it is what is, what is is what is. "what is" the cause of suffering? "what is is what is, just so". what am i doing right now? i am using the computer is what is, how do i feel? i feel fine is what is. what will i be doing in the future? i will be living or dead is what is (this is the way things are/what is). and yet though future is spoken of it is only what is, future is not future, future is what is. ie what is that matters. now is what is, but future also is what is and past is what is. perhaps this almost gets to the very root of the problem, seeing that everything 'is', even 'isnt'. without conceptualising. a wise man has said that conceptualising is what is, so is non conceptualising. non conceptualising is what is, both are "what is". "what is non-conceptualising? non conceptualising is what is" perhaps one of the greatest mysteries is: "this is it". what is this is it? this is it is what is. simplifying this is it is... consciousness, self, subject, identity, being, and placement. what is what is? what is is what is. why is my life quite easy? my life is not easy, it is what is. what is what is? what is is is. what is suffering? suffering is what is, what is is what is. i think you will find that 'is' is a little closer to enlightenment than 'it'. what is the truth? the truth is neither subjective nor objective, what is is what is. or subjective is what is, or objective is what is. you ask me "what is?" i tell you what is is what is. what is what is? what is 'is' what is. just so!ultimately i have chosen one attachment as the ideal supreme ultimate and see this as 'true love', beyond all concept, yet within concept and generally limited to experience, being and action, infact true love is what is, but it is also what isnt. love can be talked about, but it is very elusive. i do not have the knowledge, nor the wisdom, nor much experience to talk about that most elusive and most precious thing of all... True Love. to talk of it would be to dress it/him/her etc etc etc in dirty rags. sufice it to say... True Love is what is and what isnt!"it is good, it is evil" proves that 'it' and 'is' are both limited (mixed).'it' itself is a koan that leads to further freedom once understood. without the tutelage of someone like shibayama, such truths and freedoms would never be possible in the lives of students, or ordinary people such as myself.its been a while since i read this book, which has been an instrumental stepping stone across the river in my own mental way. i will try to say a little about wu men kuans golden key... 'it'!:'it' is, 'it' isnt, this is 'it', this isnt 'it', that is 'it', that isnt 'it', i am is 'it', you are is 'it', 'it' is coming, 'it' is going, 'it' is seated, 'it' is standing, 'it' is large, 'it' is small, 'it' is unborn, 'it' is born, 'it' is undying, 'it' dies, 'it' is a buddhist, 'it' is a christian,'it' is an atheist, 'it' is reason, 'it' is faith,'it' is foolish, 'it' is wise, 'it' is happy, 'it' is sad, 'it' meditates, 'it' does not meditate, 'it' burns the sutras, 'it' reveres the sutras, 'it' sleeps, 'it' wakes, 'it' eats, 'it' works, 'it' rests, 'it' is everything, 'it' is nothing. coming 'it' goes, going 'it' comes, eating 'it' sleeps, sleeping 'it' eats, nothing is everything all are true all are false in living 'it' dies and dying 'it' lives, eating 'it' sleeps and sleeping 'it' eats. living 'it' dies and dying 'it' lives, truth is normal, truth is a lie, a truth eaten cannot die, should you sleep you will wake, in dreaming you partake of that which is alive, in the depths of your sorrow you cannot survive, living i find, dying i live, eating i survive, dying i give. what cannot be a place without a place being. in receiving a truth, a gift i give of all that is a lie, one understanding another not, why give to truth when you cannot. spot.this book is a useful tool in liberating the mind, but in itself only points towards the answer to our questions, it is not, nor does it contain the answer, perhaps this was shibayamas intention. he gives a little encourgement to guide us on our path.seek and you will find, if you seek a certain kind of truth you will find it, if you seek a certain kind of lie you will find it. if you seek ultimate truth you will find it. if you seek to delude yourself you will. we find whatever we seek, if its emptiness we find it, if its fullness we find it. infact, such is the nature of logic, you can prove or disprove anything with it. logic is a donkey led by a carrot, you are the carrot, the donkey is the logic. wherever you lead your logic is wherever it follows/goes.the problem with such mental freedom is that it can lead one into nihilism, the arch bug-bear of the buddha, at root of all knowledge there needs to be the constraining anchor of love, or 'loving kindness' as the buddha put it. otherwise we become the monster, as have many of genius.in retrospect, my appreciation of wu-men's 'it' has grown. it can be seen as a linguistic/actual root of is and isnt. a non-dualism. what is the opposite of 'it'? there is no opposite to it and yet it is the root of is and isnt! it is a cool little word. its compactness reveals to some degree its common importance. only two letters, as is 'is', but not as compact as 'i' hey? it will bring freedom of mind, but its truly the heart that really matters and emotional freedom is far more important.if we introduce emotion, then 'he' or 'she' is more emotive than it. 'he' is, is more meaningful than 'it' is. if emotion is considered to be meaningful, and it must be. emtionality is itself "time+ feeling + truth". without awareness of emtion one will be unaware of the truth of a matter or person. as said by lao tse, "the sage is guided by what he feels and not by what he sees". emotionality is the core source of truth. the truest of all... the very truth itself at its purest is true love.may all who read these words find their mind, heart and insight leap to a high level of understanding. and once having attained balance, reach forward towards perfection (possibly forsaking balance for perfections sake)... true love, amen.love, tom xxx.

Roshi Shibayama comments are really helpful, especially if you have been around this busyness for a longer period of time :-)

It's definitely one of the best books on koans, but why do we need books on koan? mr. Zenkei repeats ad nauseam in the book how you have to break-through the koans on your own, through meditation. So the book really isn't that useful.

To praise this book would insult what it contains. If you have any interest in the Rinzai Zen or Koan tradition - this should be on your bookshelf.

Very good koan book