The Goalless Gate
The word "gateless gate" is a Buddhist paradoxical riddle.
It corresponds to the Buddha's teaching that "only he can find who no longer seeks".
In order to know what we are looking for, we need a clue at the beginning. This is "enlightenment", which is the basic theme of the Buddha. The Buddha did not write down any instructions for awakening, probably because "enlightenment" cannot be explained.
For many years, the teacher of all teachers spent meditating in search of detached absoluteness without knowing it beforehand. He failed in this, had already given up.
When he gave up the search, no longer believed he could find anything, became purposeless, had completely let go, was exhausted and haggard at the end, then awakening hit him, it came to him when he was empty, without wanting, without needing, without concept, without ideas, because at that moment he was able to release himself, turned away from ideas or constructs.
When the answers to all questions come to us on their own, we pass through a gate that cannot be grasped with our hands, that was never a gate, but has opened before us, like a portal from a time travel movie.
The so often mentioned enlightenment is nothing else than the disappearance of our illusions, the tiny moment that lets us see the truth of all things not a roaring party, just the entrance into the stream of ego-lessness, the beginning of security, without any doubt, without usual worries, the realization that there never was a gate.
To know how things really are, the leaving of the fog, the moment of realization, that simply cannot be put into words, my explanations can only prepare for this gateless gate, one cannot find what cannot be found, because there is this gateless gate, and there is just no gateless gate, the moment it opens, it already disappears again.
The gateless gate as a figurative representation of enlightenment can, in principle, explain our conception as seeking individuals.
The opinions we have of enlightenment are in the fog, without contour and outline, the gateless gate can help us.
Too heavy fare?
The "goalless gate" comes from a collection of 48 classical koans by 13th century master Wumen Huikai, was first printed in 1229, according to Wikipedia. Other translations read '"The barrier of Master Wumen".
Hannibal is at the gates!
- Cicero - Roman politician, lawyer, writer and philosopher - 106 to 43 before the year zero.
The light microscope opened the first gate to the microcosm. The electron microscope opened the second gate to the microcosm. What will we find when we open the third gate?
- Ernst Ruska - German electrical engineer and inventor of the electron microscope - 1906 to 1988
The golden gates of happiness open to you.
- Friedrich Schiller - German poet, philosopher and historian - 1759 to 1805
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