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This file is the work of Stan Rosenthal. It has been placed here, with
his kind permission, by Bill Fear. The author has asked that no hard
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Stan Rosenthal may be contacted at 44 High street, St. Davids,
Pembrokeshire, Dyfed, Wales, UK. Bill Fear may be contacted at 29
Blackweir Terrace, Cathays, Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales, UK. email
fear@thor.cf.ac.uk. Please use email as first method of contact, if
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.......................................................................

TAO: THE GATELESS GATE
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                             T A O :

                T H E   G A T E L E S S   G A T E



                       T R A N S L A T E D

                    &   I N T E R P R E T E D

                               B Y

                S T A N L E Y   R O S E N T H A L



                              F O R

               T H E   B R I T I S H   S C H O O L

             O F   T A O I S T   P H I L O S O P H Y

                       ( T A O   C H I A )

I N T E R P R E T E R ' S   P R E F A C E

T O   T H E   F I F T H   E D I T I O N


It is with obvious pleasure that I introduce this fourth edition of 'The
Gateless Gate', which represents my interpretation of the teaching of
Tekisui Roshi.  The first edition was published in May, 1972, the second
impression in January of the following year, and the third edition in
1974.  Although the British School of Ordinary Taoist-Zen (Zen Tao Bompu
Gakkai) was established shortly after this last date, and even thugh
numerous requests have been received for the work of Takisui to be
republished, this has been the first opportunity to fulfil those
requests.

My pleasure has been doubled in that I have been provided with the
motivation to gather together material written and told by Tekisui's own
students for inclusion in this revised and enlarged edition.  On this
occasion the funding for hte publication has come from the School
itself, and as Roshi to the School, it has been my privilege to include
some material relevant to the procedures (originally taught by Tekisui)
which we still use to this day.  It is Tekisui's work which is the basis
of our teaching.

As in the rpevious editions the small oriental characters along- side
the text state the principle or aspect of the philosophy to which that
portion of the text refers.  Approximate English pronunciations and
figurative translations are shown in written form.  Material new to this
edition may be recognised by the slightly smaller typeface (as used in
this preface).

On behalf of myself and the members of our school, I extend to you our
wish that yu may find this work of some value, and that you will enjoy

     Love and Peace,
     and the Freedom to Grow

          Stanley Rosenthal
          (Shi-Tien Roshi, Zen Tao Bompu Gakkai)
          Cardiff, December 1981

FOR MY STUDENTS,
PAST,
PRESENT,
AND FUTURE .........




              '..... and none may depict reality,
               save he who has experienced it,
               and with calm detachment,
               has found the courage
               to use it in his chosen art .....'

C O N T E N T S


     Title page
Interpreter's Preface
Dedication
Contents
Acknowledgements
Recommended Reading
Author's Preface

ROJI : THE COURTYARD
The many paths
On choosing a path
On choosing a destination
On choosing a guide
The time of waiting

KO MON : THE LESSER GATES
The kinds of gate
The minor gateways
The level of the object
The level of the senses
The level of reason
On giving up mindfulness
Tranquility through acceptance

O MON : THE MAJOR GATES
Jaku : tranquility
Tzu tsai : self being
Kensho : looking at one's self
Kufu : the technique beyond technique
Mushin no shin : mind of no mind
Tomaranu kokoro : the non-stopping mind
Kino mama : quintessence
Isagai yoku : returning to eternity

TANIN : UNDERSTANDING THROUGH EXPERIENCE

SABI TAO : THE WAY TO TRANQUILITY
Introdution
Rai wo suru : bowing
Za : sitting
Takhi : rising
Raku hitzu : the contact
Zazen : seated meditation

TANG HSAI I NIEN : INSTANTANEOUS THOUGHT


A C K N O W L E D G E M E N T S


I wish to thank :
the late Prof. D.T. Suzuki, the late Prof. M. Otani, and Prof. Kenshiro
Abbe, for their instruction and encouragement; Mr. Pat Caldwell, for
re-awakening my inteest in Oriental philosophy; our students of 1969,
for their gift of Nelson's Japanese-English Dictionary (Charles E.
Tuttle Co. Publishers), which has since been my constant companion; our
students of the 70/71 year, for their constant attention and questions;
our students of the 71/72 year, whose request provided the incentive for
the compilation of this translation; our subsequent students,
particularly those currently attending our newly revived weekly sesshin;
the executives of the South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education
branch of the Students' Union, particularly Mr. Paul Frowen, President,
1971/72, for their financial aid in the publication of the first
edition; Jackie Day for her proof-reading, and typing of the drafts of
this, the fifth edition.



R E C O M M E N D E D   R E A D I N G

(In the English Language)


The Zen Teaching of Huang Po: J. Blofeld: Buddhist Society
The Practice of Zen: Garma C.C. Chang: Harper & Row
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: Paul Reps: Pelican Books
Buddhist Texts: E. Conze: Bruno Cassirer
Buddhist Scriptures: E. Conze: Penguin Books
Zen & Japanese Buddhism: D.T. Suzuki: Japan Travel Bur.
Zen & Japanese Culture: D.T. Suzuki: Pantheon Books
Chinese Poems: Arthur Waley: George Allen & Unwin
The Way of Chuang Tzu: Thomas Merton: Unwin Books
A First Zen Reader: Trevor Leggett: Charles E. Tuttle
The Tiger's Cave: Trevor Leggett: Rider & Co.
The Way of Zen: Alan W. Watts: Pelican Books
Zen Koans: Gyomay M. Kubose & Ryozo Ogura: Henry Regnery
A Western Approach to Zen: C. Humphreys: Buddhist Soc.
Zen & Reality: Robert Powell: George Allen & Unwin
Mysticism: F.C. Happold: Pelican Books
Sumi:E, Self Taught: Kohei Aida: Japan Publications
This is Kendo: Junzo Sasamori & D. Warner: C.E. Tuttle


A U T H O R ' S   P R E F A C E


It will, no doubt, seem strange to the uninitiated, that in this short
discourse, I do not refer by name, to my own teachers.  The reason for
this, is that in the 'ryu' (shool of philosophy) to which I belong, it
is considrered both boastful and ill-mannered to name those from whom
one has learned, and for whom one has respect, except when recommending
a friend for tuition (and under that circumstance, it is custom to first
seek permission from the teacher to mention his name). This aspect of
the philosophy is summarized by the saying,

                   'To boast of one's master
                    is but to try
                    to give credence
                    to one's own words.'

It is a further consequence of that ryu to which I belong that...
                   '...each must seek to be
                    unostentatious
                    in practicing
                    a life of goodness.'

This principle is achieved, in part at least, by choosing a new name for
use when teaching.  In this way, a degree of anonymity is retained, and
the work of the teacher may remain 'hakage ni', hidden under the leaves.
This chosen name should depict the teacher's interpretation of the
philosophy.

My chosen name is Tekisui, which means 'a single drop of water'. The
poem on the next page depicts my own interpretation of my contribution
to the philosophy.  It is from this poem that my chosen name, Tekisui,
was derived.


               All paths lead
               to the gateless gate.
               And here,
               the rivers of enlightenment
               become the boundless ocean
               of eternity.

               And if you seek to find
               my contribution to mankind,
               then you must journey
               beyond the gateless gate,
               and you will find it there,
               a single drop of water.

                                        Tekisui


R O J I :

T H E   C O U R T Y A R D


                    It is customary,
                    before entering
                    the house,
                    to pause awhile
                    in the courtyard.


THE MANY PATHS

Many are the true paths
which to enlightenment do lead,
and there is no enlightened one
who would deny the truth
of any one of these.
But among those paths we must avoid
are those which would deny
enlightenment to those
who other paths have chosen.
And also, false are they
which do but seek to gratify
the body, senses, and the mind,
and those which do require
that we abstain from worldly life.

Apart from these, we have no right
by which we might deny a man
his chosen path,
unless his path denies our right to choose,
or can be seen to do the chooser harm.

True paths all lead
to that estate
which we may call enlightenment,
And all men
have the gift
to reach it
(if they so choose to use it)

                   'to pass beyond
                    that concept of themselves
                    which they, or others
                    have allowed
                    to predetermine
                    what they are,
                    and what they should remain.'

ON CHOOSING A PATH

When going on a journey,
one man may choose the mountain path,
although his friend might choose
the well trod path across the plains.
But that which is important
is not which path is chosen,
the easy or the difficult,
but that the journey is begun.

For there are many
whose lifetimes have been spent
in trying to decide
which path to take,
and so have died
whilst still deciding,
and so have died
still undecided.
So do not sit in contemplation
upon which path to take

                   '...for whilst you contemplate,
                    time does continue
                    upon its endless journey
                    into time,
                    And unlike time,
                    the earthly life of man
                    is finite, and has an end to it.'

And so we must beware,
of never setting out
because we cannot find a path.
For all paths were at one time
never paths at all.
For all paths were started
by some first footstep
with no path to guide the man who made it.
And those who did first tread
the pathways to the gateless gates,
these men we speak of
as the great enlightened ones.


ON CHOOSING A DESTINATION

And neither shuld we try
to choose a destination,
for each man's destination
is where his journey ends.
And journeys end upon the path
where they begin, upon that spot
beneath that first
and final gateless gate.

We should remember
what the early master said,
                   "I thought
                    that I
                    had far
                    to go,
                    until I turned
                    and saw,
                    that I
                    had passed
                    my destination,
                    many years
                    before."


ON CHOOSING A GUIDE

But since we do not know the path,
and since we tend to fear
that which we do not know,
most frequently we choose a path
which has a guide whom we can trust,
and who has experience
of that enlightenment
which we set out to seek.

But it is said, that
                   '... only the enlightened
                    can apprehend
                    enlightenment'
for true enlightened ones
do not profess,
even to their own enlightenment,
for in enlightenment they know
that they can lay no claim
to its originality.
For each enlightened one does know
that he can do no more than give
expression to enlightenment
which did exist before his earthly birth,
and will exist when he departs from living.
And so he does not advertise
that which he has,
but rather does he wear it naturally,
as part, which it now is,
of his true self, his mode of being.

So, when looking for a master or a guide,
do not be deceived by the appearance of the man,
look further, for what you seek to recognise
must be the spirit of the man,
                   'and not the outer coat
                    of earthly personality
                    in which his spirit
                    dwells in life.'
For of enlightened ones
it is required, that each must wear
his true enlightenment
as a leaf might hide a budding flower,
		   'The blossoms
                    that above
                    the leaves do grow,
                    may come
                    to summer fullness
                    first.
                    But if we care
                    to look
                    beneath the leaf,
                    a flower
                    of even greater beauty
                    may be found.
                    And so,
                    when looking
                    for a master
                    or a guide,
                    look to the spirit
                    of the man,
                    and not the clothes
                    his spirit wears.'


THE TIME OF WAITING

But with that right
the student has to choose his guide,
the master also makes his choice
as to whom to teach, and whom to leave alone.
For as the student seeks a master
in whom he sees that which he seeks,
so does the master, through his experience
seek to test the student,
and his willingness to learn.

There is a story we are told,
of a brash young student
who sought tuition in the mystic ways.
The student did regail the master
with tales of what he had accomplished
and had already gained.

He did ask the master
that he might learn from him
that little which, he said,
he might not already know.
The master did not make reply,
but bade the student
take some tea with him.

The student held the cup,
the master poured,
and kept on pouring
even when the cup was full.
The student, soaked with tea,
did cry for him to step.



The master did as he was asked,
but said,
                   'When the cup is full,
                    behold,
                    no room for more.
                    So if this mystic wisdom
                    you would sup,
                    ensure that you come hither
                    with an empty cup.'

A would-be student was warned by a friend that he should show humility
when undergoing his interview with the roshi; his friend warned him.

    "Don't boast to the teacher of what you already know. If you do, he
will take it to meand that 'your cup is full'.  You must always go to a
Zen teacher with an empty cup."

The would-be student approached the master and said,

"My cup is empty, master."

The roshi sent the student away.  Returning to his friend, the young man
told him what had happened.

    "Well", his friend replied, "I did warn you."


K O   M O N :

T H E   L E S S E R   G A T E S


    'Then will the moonbeam
     of delight,
     place tranquility
     within the total man
     and fill him
     with its light.'


THE KINDS OF GATE

Many are the kinds of gate,
but that which is to man
of greatest magnitude,
is that which he creates,
or does permit to be created in his name.
But he who passes through each gate
will surely find, that it was a barrier
only there, within his mind.
If we allow it to be so,
each gate that we encounter
may be a gateless gate,
for as we pass beneath the gate
it does become a gateway
and so becomes a gateless gate.

All gates are barriers when closed,
but, when opened, do become
the means of going out,
of passing through, and coming in.
Such gateways in the mind
are opened simply by refusal to accept
their ability to bar the way.
For barriers which are so set
may thus be left behind,
by passing through them
with an honest heart
and open mind.

But just how many gates there are,
no man can say, for each man
does create his own
by passing through the one
which was before until there are no more.
But should there be a gate
which the man cannot pass through,
that gate then shall be his last,
until, by mystic art, he finds the path
which takes him through that gateless gate,
for that gate then
becomes the gateless gate
which takes him to the next.
    '... for all rightful paths
     lead to the gateless gate,
     and passing through      the gateless gate,
     we walk between
     heaven and earth.'


THE MIND GATEWAYS

There are at least four gates
through which each man must pass,
if he is to find enlightenment.

There may be many more than these,
but these apply to each and every man
who sets out on the path.
And these four, therefore ar the bsrriers,
or if we do transcend them,
the means of entry, to enlightenment.
Each of these gateways does allow
us entry to a new estate,
a mode of being different from the last.

The first gate is the gateway into time,
which we pass through when life does come to us,
and passing through this gateway into time,
we do exist at least,
as other objects do, upon the earth.

But birth provides us with the means
of passing through the second gate.
For man, in life, is animate,
and so responds to his enviroment
by passing through the gateway of the senses.
And so we use this gate
to transcend existence at the level
of the object, and so exist
as living creatues on the earth.

Yet man is even more than this,
for he has reason in which he may abide.
secure in consciousness that he exists.
And so we pass beneath that gate
which leads to reason.
For what the sesnses apprehend,
we comprehend with reason.
That gate which is the third,
leads into reason,
that estate where mindfulness
and 'I'ness also dwell.

But in living, it must be
that man must live as something more as well,
    '... for, in man
     there is a need,
     from time to time,
     to achieve that something
     more than reason,
     in name, tranquility.'
The fourth gate takes us out of reason,
and into tranquility.

THE LEVEL OF THE OBJECT

When we are born, we do exist
as other objects on the earth exist, in time.
But many objects have no senses,
and many have no power of reason.
Such objects have no means
of sensing other things,
anm inasmuch as we can tell,
they have no means of knowing they exist.
They manifest the simple act
of being without knowing,
for even though they have no thought,
they do exist, even if they do exist
in our awareness of them only,
    'The rock pierced by the arrow
     has just as much reality
     as the bowman, for whose bow
     the shaft was loosed.
     For even though the rock
     may not be said to 'know',
     Its reality can be no less
     than the singing of the arrow
     when its flight has ended.'


THE LEVEL OF THE SENSES

Many creatures have no power of reason,
but do have sensibility.
For them, the life of sensory reception only,
has no right or wrong to it,
their mode of being is prescribed,
they have no use for thought.

The creature living in this realm
may seem quite happy with his lot,
but we must ask the question,
'What is this state called happiness?
What is its source?'
For if it functions from the senses only,
we might assume that all creatures have it
(or at least, potential to achieve it).

But if it stems from reason,
we might asume it is peculiar to man.
And now arises the anthropomorphic argument,
for, if man would have his way,
all creatures (and some objects)
would have the very stuff of man,
    'Have you heard
     my dog declare,
     'Woof-woof, I'm happy' ?
     I have a dog,
     and he speaks not,
     but truth to tell
     he wags his tail a lot.'
And so, if we accept
this somewhat doubtful argument,
that dogs with wagging tails, and purring cats,
are manifesting happiness,
then is there that within a man
that makes him differ in his happiness?


THE LEVEL OF REASON

There is indeed a difference
twixt other animals and man,
for animals of many kinds, including man,
may find themselves in happiness
but man, through reason, has the means
of choosing happiness.
But just as reaon is that estate
within which happiness abides,
so also is it that estate
wherein unhappiness is found.
And for this reason, man may choose
rejection of his means of happiness,
lest what he finds might be
that which he fears,
unhappiness.

A master and his student
stood beside a rock.
'I say that rocks exists.'
the master said.
The student did reply,
'And I say it does not,
for the picture that we see
of things perceived,
is only in the mind.'
The master then said,
'Right, take off you shoe
and kick that rock
that isn't there.'
The student laughed
and made reply,
'No thanks, what of the pain
which will result?'
'How can there be a pain
within the toe,
from kicking nothing?'
his teacher asked.
'No pain within the toe',
the student did respond,
'for, as you have taught me,
the pain is in the mind.'
The master then, without ado,
stamped upon
the student's toe.
He lifted up his injured foot,
and danced about.
The master asked,
'And if the pain is in the head,
why do you hold your toe?'
The student turned
to answer him,
and, in turning,
tripped upon the rock.

So if we wish to know if the rock exists,
we should not ask 'Do you exist?',
for it will not answer, as well we know.
But if we kick the rock
then we will surely know,
for what the senses apprehend,
we comprehend with reason.

So reason comprehends, but often does refuse
to leave alone, that which it comprehends.
For reason, product of the mind,
perpetuates itself in thought.

"I, Chuang-tzu,
did have a dream
in which I was
a butterfly.
Am I Chuang-tzu,
or could I really be
a butterfly,
who dreams
that I am he?'

Although he spoke in jest, Chuang-tzu did show
that any man who does allow his mind
to dwell too long in some unreal estate,
might easily become a part
of that unreal estate in which he dwells.

We strive so much for knowledge,
that knowledge does itself become
confused with truth,
for truth is what we know to be
and is not, of itsself, reality,
'...so knowldge, of necessity,
need not be truth.
And in its greatest moment
can only be
true knowledge of reality'.

It is the function of the mind
to distinguish and define.
But that which is distinguished,
that which we may define,
is by its very nature, finite,
and this, the finite, is the level of the mind.
But is the mind aware
of the limit of authority
with which it does command,
does it accept that it itself
cannot exceed its finite boundaries?
And this strange organ that we call the mind,
seems to have the power, if we will let it,
to predetermine for he who should possess it,
what he should, or should not do.
For though the senses apprehend,
they have no power fo comprehension,
this is the function of the mind.
But though it is the function
of the mind, to so decide,
just as the stomach that is over-fed
becomes distended, and so demands more food
to satisfy its need,
so does the mind that's over-trained
demand more problems for it to solve
and to deliberate upon.
And where no problem in reality exists,
the mind which is allowed,
creates its own from unreality.

And there exists the man
who does reject reality
because he finds in his imagination,
all that he desires.
And if his friends will tend his earthly needs,
he may remain wherein imagination takes him.
For some such men, there is no choosing
of this way, reality for them
is too strong for mind to comprehend.
But they have the power of reason.
They start by saying 'I allow the mind to choose'
but very soon the mind declares,
'I choose for you'
and such a mind, which chooses by its own choice
is master of the man,
and if the mind possesses us,
we cannot be its master.

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