Think of Mumon's barrier 関 not as something like a gate but, instead, as the entire human body with its 37.2 trillion cells. In addition, you are interfacing with this barrier — so much so, that the only thing you can be aware of is this barrier! You have no way to escape except to find a Zen master who can give you the right answer.
Sound familiar? When interfacing with this barrier there is nothing more than the barrier. But this barrier has no essence or self-nature; it is completely empty like an illusion. In our frustration and ignorance we are unable to meet with the one who is interfacing. It seems that the barrier always blocks us standing in our way.
After a few years of searching for a good Zen master you realize that there are none out there who can give you the answer that you're looking for. Forlorn, almost without hope, you are about to give up your search for the one who is interfacing with this corporeal body (which is totally different than what it interfaces with). You almost believe that pure Mind/spirit or Suchness (tathatā) which does not arise or disappear is an illusion. Or is it? (Maybe it's the only true reality and all else is an illusion.)
It seems obvious that desire for this body with its 37.2 trillion cells has made all of us a slave to this barrier which we have no means to escape from. What is more, as this body ages it becomes more unbearable and less pleasurable to be with. As we begin to find out, for all the small pleasures it gives us, it gives us more suffering, frustration, and unhappiness in the long run, than we care to experience.
You do realize that Zen Masters don't give you the answer.
Posted by: clyde | February 09, 2021 at 04:46 PM