July 1965
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010MODEL SUBJECT NO. 86
FROM THE HEKIGAN ROKU
“UMMON’S ‘STORE-ROOM AND TEMPLE GATE‘”
Translation and Commentary by Master Shunryū Suzuki
Roku:
Ummon Bun’en (?-949) was a disciple of Seppō and founder of the Ummon School, one of five schools of Chinese Zen Buddhism (Rinzai, Igyō, Ummon, Hōgen, and Sōtō).
During the political confusion at the end of the Tang Dynasty all the major schools of Chinese Buddhism (Tendai, Hosso, Ritsu, and Shingon) were in decline, except Zen, which was strengthened by the persecutions and the difficulty in traveling to escape persecution and to visit various Zen masters. The hard practice of Seppō and Ummon during that time has been and still is a good example for all Zen students.
Introductory Word:
Introducing, Engo said: To control the world without omitting a single feather, to stop all the streams of passion without losing a single drop, this is the great teacher’s activity. If you open your mouth (in a dualistic sense) in his presence, you will fall in error. Hesitate and you will be lost. Who has eyes to penetrate barriers of this kind? Ponder the following.

