GATELESS BARRIER PA: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan) - Softcover

Aitken, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0865474427 ISBN 13: 9780865474420

Publisher: North Point Press, 1996

Synopsis

The Gateless Barrier "The Gateless Barrier" is generally acknowledged to be the fundamental koan collection in the literature of Zen. Gathered together by Wu-men (Mumon), a thirteenth-century master of the Lin-chi (Rinzai) school, it is composed of forty-eight koans, or cases, each accompanied by a brief comment and poem by Wu-men. Robert Aitken, one of the premier American Zen masters, has translated Wu-men's text, s... Full description

About this title

Review:

"Aitken Roshi poses these koans in a manner accessible to Westerners through his depiction of his personal struggles with them (as a student) and his approach to them as a teacher. His commentary allows the transformative power of this traditional koan collection to come alive for modern students." --Joko Beck, author of Everyday Zen

"[Aiken] has cultivated the moon of Zen for over half a century. I trust the rich and juicy harvest . The Gateless Barrier will be the door to open the Treasure House which has neither inside nor outside." --Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi, Abbot, Zen Center of Los Angeles

From the Back Cover:

The 'Gateless Barrier' is generally acknowledged to be the fundamental koan collection in the literature of Zen. Gathered together by Wu-men (Mumon), a thirteenth-century master of the Lin-chi (Rinzai) school, it is composed of forty-eight koans, or cases, each accompanied by a brief comment and poem by Wu-men.

About this edition

• Publisher: North Point Press
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0865474427
• ISBN 13: 9780865474420
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 348