Goso said: ‘If you meet a man of Tao on the way, greet him neither with words nor with silence. Now tell me, how will you greet him?’
Commentary by Mumon
If you can give an apt answer to the question, it certainly is a matter for congratulation. If you are not yet able to give one, be alert in every aspect of your life.
Poetry by Mumon
If you meet a man of Tao on the way,
greet him neither with words nor silence.
I’ll give him with my fist the hardest blow I can –
get it at once, get it immediately.
‘Meeting a man of Tao on the way’ is taken from The Gateless Gate, a collection of koans by Zen master Wu-men Hui-Kai (1185-1260), a Zen monk and master of the Rinzai school.
The Gateless Gate is reproduced in Zen, a beautifully illustrated guide to Zen.
Koans are an aid to meditation or contemplation. They are paradoxical and enigmatic, for example the classic ‘What is the sound of one hand clapping?’
Also see
Manual of the Warrior of Light
Gospel of Thomas
Like this:
Like Loading...