Gateless Checkpoint of the Chan Tradition
(C:Wumen guan; 無門關)
Quotes:
"Once, in front of a Dharma congregation on Vulture Peak, the World-Honored One held up a flower. None but the Venerable Kāśyapa broke into a subtle smile. The World-Honored One then announced, “I possess the treasury of the true Dharma Eye, that which is the wondrous nirvanic mind, the signless ultimate reality, the wondrous and subtle Dharma door. It does not rest on words or letters and is distinctively transmitted, other than the scriptures. I confer it to the Venerable Mahākāśyapa." Wumen Guan
【世尊昔在靈山會上，拈花示眾，是時眾皆默然，惟迦葉尊者破顏微笑。世尊云：吾有正法眼藏，涅槃妙心，實相無相，微妙法門，不立文字，教外別傳。付囑摩訶迦葉。】無門關
Remarks:
According to the Lankavatara Sutra, “the Gateless gate is the dharma gate.” Ancient Chan patriarchs also say, “Entering a Path through a gate is not the treasure from home.” That is, if we enter the gate that leads to the Path through gradually accumulated cultivation, this Path is not the inherent treasure that each being fully possesses. The patriarchs also said that the Path obtained through gradual cultivation will definitely disintegrate in the future. That is, having attained enlightenment, we will realize that the reality-suchness (Buddha nature) fully exists in each of us inherently. As such, its existence is not a result of accumulated practices.
Chan Master Nanquan Puyuan (C:南泉普願禪師) once said, “The Path does not belong to cultivation.” We need to diligently and perseveringly hear, foster, and learn the correct Buddha knowledge and practice meditative absorption to gradually prepare ourselves to attain enlightenment. The entity of enlightenment itself, however, has nothing to do with these efforts. As an analogy, we need to learn to climb a tree and pick its fruit to taste it. We will not know the splendid taste of the fruit when we have only started climbing the tree, nor can we gradually know the taste when we climb the tree. We need to pick the fruit and bite and taste it to know how it tastes. This shows that knowing the taste of the fruit has nothing to do with climbing the tree. But climbing the tree is a prerequisite for knowing the taste of the fruit!
On the other hand, a gradually enlightened bodhisattva, as defined in the Cheng Weishi Lun, is one who has completed the process of Chan sudden enlightenment. After uncovering the True Mind, the tathāgatagarbha, the practitioner will rely on it to further cultivate the knowledge-of-all-aspects. Notably, there are also some unenlightened practitioners who assert that those who claim to have been awakened demonstrate an attachment to it and have not really been awakened. This erroneous allegation has misled many Chan learners and has made them refrain from approaching truly enlightened mentors. However, there are many records of Gong'an cases talking about enlightenment. These include the Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarchs (六祖壇經), Song of Enlightenment (證道歌), Jingde chuandeng lu (景德傳燈錄), and the World-Honored One in the Gateless Checkpoint (C: Wumen Guan). We can tell by now that so many ancient patriarchs and bodhisattvas talked about attaining enlightenment. Why can contemporary practitioners not achieve the same feat and speak out about this achievement?
Therefore, after practitioners realize the gateless checkpoint in
Chan, as taught in the vijnana-only school, they look for the True Mind, the tathāgatagarbha, to align themselves with
it. They thus rely on alaya-vijnana to further cultivate the knowledge-of-all-aspects
and eventually achieve Buddhahood. The transmission of Chan since the flower
sermon by Buddha Sakyamuni to Venerable Mahākāśyapa signifies when and where
the Chan lineage began, and the Chan tradition continues today.
#Buddha #Buddhism
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