Mumonkan / Wumenguan · CASE 20
A Person of Great Strength
The Gateless Gate
Case
Songyuan said, “Why can't a person of great strength lift a foot?” He also said, “Opening the mouth does not depend on the tongue.”
Verse
Lifting a foot, one overturns the fragrant ocean; lowering the head, one looks down upon the heavens of the four meditations. That whole body has nowhere to lodge— please add one line.1
Footnotes 1
- 香水海 and 四禪天 are Buddhist cosmological terms. The adopted 句 is supported independently by both early Japanese controls and makes the final clause an invitation to continue the verse. ↩
About this version and its sources
- Full source citation
- 大力量人 — CBETA T2005: T48n2005_p0295b25–p0295c04. Controls: Waseda Bunko 31 E1103, PDF pp. 28–29; Keio 110X@509@1, PDF p. 16.
- Method
- Direct critical-edition translation from the cited received base text. Source claims, hagiography, uncertainty, and unresolved readings remain identified in the notes and project record.
- Editorial uncertainty
- Independent philological and reader review remain pending.
- Rights
- Project translation © Tulsa Zen Center Critical Edition contributors. Source text is cited by edition; redistribution policy requires final organizational approval.
- Revision identifier
- e8153ddb14bd
Mumon's commentary
Songyuan may be said to have poured out his guts and emptied his belly. He only lacks someone to take it up. Even if you take it up directly, come to Mumon and receive a painful beating. Why? To recognize true gold, look in the fire.