A student asked his Zen master, “What is the Gateless Gate?”
The master replied, “It is the gate you must pass through without passing through.”
Puzzled, the student asked, “How can one enter without passing through?”
The master smiled and said, “When you realize there is no gate and no one to enter, you have passed through.”
Anonymous
This koan challenges our concept of duality and invites us to go beyond conventional thinking. It encourages us to let go of our attachment to fixed ideas and labels, and to explore the nature of existence beyond our conditioned perceptions. The gateless gate represents the boundless potential of our own awareness, and the realization that true liberation comes when we transcend the limitations of dualistic thinking.
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