The Gateless Barriers Mumokan

Sanbao "three treasures" first occurs in Tao Te Ching chapter 67,
which Lin Yutang (1948:292) says contains Laozi's "most beautiful teachings":

天下皆謂我道大，似不肖。夫唯大，故似不肖。若肖久矣。其細也夫！我有三寶，持而保之。一曰慈，二曰儉，三曰不敢為天下先。慈故能勇；儉故能廣；不敢為天下先，故能成器長。今舍慈且勇；舍儉且廣；舍後且先；死矣！夫慈以戰則勝，以守則固。天將救之，以慈衛之。 ^[1]

The Wumen Guan has an appendix titled "Zen Caveats" (禪箴) with one-line aphorisms dealing with Zen practice The word zhēn (箴) means "caveat", "warning", or "admonition", but it also has the meaning of "needle" or "probe" (as in acupuncture needles) and is sometimes translated as "Zen Needles". As with the main koans, each caveat challenges the Zen student's attachment to dualistic concepts, here those especially related to Zen practice.

Following the rules and protecting the regulations is binding oneself without rope.

Moving freely vertically and horizontally without obstruction is the way of outsiders and the nightmare army.

To preserve the heart mind and to purify it by letting impurities settle to the bottom in quiescence is the perverted Zen of silent illumination.

Neglecting the written records with unrestrained ideas is falling into a deep pit.

To be awake and not ignorant is to wear chains and shoulder a cangue.

Thinking good and thinking evil are the halls of heaven and hell.

A view of Buddha and a view of Dharma are the two enclosing mountains of iron.

A person who perceives thoughts as they immediately arise is fiddling with spectral consciousness.

However, being on a high plateau practicing samadhi is the stratagem of living in the house of ghosts.

To advance results in ignoring truth; to retreat results in contradicting the lineage.

Neither to advance nor to retreat is being a breathing corpse.

Just say, how will you walk?

You must work hard to live in the present and, to finish, all the more. I do not advise the unfortunate excess of continual suffering.

I take a vow to enlighten them all

A message from Sidi Ali Zhuiqan. In the heart of Putrajaya west lake precints, there exist a zen sufic retreat in year of 2014. It had preparatory work, reopened its activities and aims to foster the understanding of Tawhid and Sufism.

Among the means used to this end are translation from Old texts, the glorious Quran, Prophetic Traditions, Zen works and Confucian masters discourses. For future, it planned to bring a true Teacher from West, a Chinese Monk and a Zen Master from Japan.

We quote from First Zen Notes
dated June 1956, Berlin
by Wang Tsing Lung:

Sentient beings are numberless
I take a vow to enlighten them all.

Worldly desires are endless.
I take a vow to uproot them all.

The gates of Mercy-Rahmat are manifold.
I take a vow to enter them all.

The goal of Wisdom-Marifa is ever beyond.
I take a vow to attain it.

Attaining satori

Satori is considered a "first step" or embarkation toward nirvana:

Ch'an expressions refer to enlightenment as "seeing your self-nature". But even this is not enough. After seeing your self-nature, you need to deepen your experience even further and bring it into maturation. You should have enlightenment experience again and again and support them with continuous practice. Even though Ch'an says that at the time of enlightenment, your outlook is the same as of the Buddha, you are not yet a full Buddha.^[7]

The student's mind must be prepared by rigorous study, with the use of koans, and the practice of meditation to concentrate the mind, under the guidance of a teacher. Koans are short anecdotes of verbal exchanges between teachers and students, typically of the Song dynasty, dealing with Buddhist teachings. The Rinzai-school utilizes classic collections of koans such as the Gateless Gate. The Gateless Gate was assembled by the early 13th-century Chinese Zen master Wumen Hui-k'ai (無門慧開).

Wumen himself struggled for six years with koan "Zhaozhou’s dog", assigned to him by Yuelin Shiguan (月林師觀; Japanese: Gatsurin Shikan) (1143–1217), before attaining kenshō. After his understanding had been confirmed by Yuelin, Wumen wrote the following enlightenment poem:

A thunderclap under the clear blue sky
All beings on earth open their eyes;
Everything under heaven bows together;
Mount Sumeru leaps up and dances.

My Cup Tea of Wisdom

On my path to listen to my inner wisdom, I have found clarity through tea culture and ceremony, and wish to share this gift with others.

 Tea is not a drink. Tea culture is Buddhism, is Daoism, is Zen tranquility. As we, or at least I, explore the depth of tea culture, I am not drinking tea. I am absorbing the wisdom of millennium. I am going inward in self-reflection. 

I am growing outward, reaching to the very boundaries of the universe. Inward and outward become one. I am one with everything; everything is within me.

This journey, this quest for unity, is what I wish to share with others.

Tea is the heart of the Chinese tea ceremony and plays a central role in Chinese culture. When sharing tea, the host and ceremony participants smell the tea, taste it and enjoy the many layers of taste discovered with every mouthful.

The tea ceremony reflects the search for beauty in every object of the world, in accordance with the Chinese Dao philosophy. To be one with tea is to be in harmony with nature, with oneself reflecting Buddhist and Daoist teachings.

 Sharing tea is part of everyday life — to say hello, to thank someone, to apologize to them, to honor them. When you pour tea for somebody, you humble yourself before them.

“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.”

Second Note:

Chinese scholars prefer the idiom or words - Chan Cha Yi Wei(禅茶一味), a philosophical definition to combine the tea culture and zen philosophy. It was firstly mentioned by Buddhist Master Yuanwu Keqin(圆悟克勤,1063-1135) in Song Dynasty. His book Biyan Collection written in Jiashan Temple in Hunan province is accepted as the NO.1 Marvelous Book of the World in Southern Korea. His calligraphy masterpiece - Cha Chan Yi Wei, was preserved by Monk Yixiu Zongchun, a respected monk of Japan,and later became the national treasure of Japan as well.

Chancha Yiwei tells us that the Zen share the same taste as the Tea, and deeply speaking, they share the same life philosophy. To be a highlighted part of Chinese culture, Chancha culture is the specific embodiment and show of traditional spirituality of Chinese people in daily life. The core philosophy of Zen and Tea Culture is summarized into four Chinese characters - Zheng (正, Justification), Qing (清, Purification), He(和, Peace) and Ya (雅, Elegance). 

All of which show three main philosophical essences of three spiritual pillars - Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Zheng or Honesty is emphasized by Confucianism. He or Peace is emphasized by Buddhism, and Qing or Purification emphasized by Taoism. Ya or Elegance is the typical characteristics of traditional well-cultivated elites of culture and academics. Drinking tea when talking about the Zen culture is an enjoyment and surely an improvement of life.

The root of Zen is spiritual edification or enlightenment. It is a long-term self-cultivation from the misunderstanding to total enlightenment, and from vulgarity to elegance. Zen & Tea culture is a special form to cultivate the nature and temperament of people. To the popular explanation of Chan Cha Tea Culture, four aspects will be included - gratitude(感恩), tolerance(包容), sharing(分享) and relationship establishment with benevolence, friendship and Buddhism(结缘).

Explained scientifically, drinking tea is much beneficial to health. Good for digestion, wiping off the flood flat and promoting the secretion of saliva or body fluid. However, the light taste and the elegance of tea are an important embodiement of tea culture for life cultivation.
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