Wumen was born in Hangzhou and his first master was Gong Heshang. However, it was Zen master Yuelin Shiguan who gave Wumen the koan "Zhaozhou’s dog", with which Wu-men struggled for six years before he finally attained realization. After his understanding had been confirmed by Yuelin, Wumen 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.
He received Dharma transmission in the Linji line of Zen from his master, Yuelin.
In many respects, Wumen was the classical eccentric Chan 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 ‘Huikai the Lay Monk’. At the age of 64, he founded Gokoku-ninno temple near West Lake where he hoped to retire quietly but visitors constantly came looking for instruction.
His teachings as revealed in his comments in the Mumonkan closely followed the teachings of Dahui Zonggao . The importance of ‘Great Doubt’ was one of his central teaching devices. Wumen said, “…it’s just a matter of rousing the mass of doubt throughout your body, day and night, and never letting up.” In his comment on Case 1, Zhaozhou’s dog, he called ''mu'' “a red-hot iron ball which you have gulped down and which you try to vomit up, but cannot”. Wumen believed in blocking all avenues of escape for the student, hence the ‘gateless barrier’. Whatever activity the student proposed, Wumen 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?”
Further reading
Cleary, Thomas No Barrier: unlocking the zen koan; Aquarian/Thorsons ISBN 85538-24
Sekida, Katsuki Two Zen Classics: Mumonkan and Hekiganroku; Weatherhill ISBN 0-8348-0130-2
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