The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan)

The Gateless Barrier: The Wu-Men Kuan (Mumonkan)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, supplementing the original with his own commentary the

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, supplementing the original with his own commentary -- the first such commentary by a Western master -- making the profound truths of Zen Buddhism accessible to serious contemporary students and relevant to current social concerns.