On the 5th of January, in the 2nd year of Jōtei (1229),1 I reverently celebrated the sacred anniversary of your Majesty. I, your subject, monk Ekai,2 on the 5th of November of last year, published commentaries on the forty-eight koans given by the Buddhas and patriarchs. I dedicate this book to the throne, praying for your Majesty’s eternal health and prosperity.
I respectfully express my wish that your Majesty’s sacred wisdom may be as bright as the sun and the moon, your royal life as long as that of the universe. May all the people of the eight directions sing the praises of the highly virtuous emperor, and the four seas enjoy your supremely blessed reign.
Respectfully written by
Your subject, monk Ekai,
The Dharma transmitter,
Former abbot of Kudoku-Hōin’yūji Zen temple
Dedicated to Empress Jii3
1. Five years after the enthronement of Emperor Risō of the Southern Sung. Two years earlier, Dōgen Zenji had returned to Japan from China.
2. Mumon Ekai was the compiler of the Mumonkan. Mumon was his Zen name, Ekai his personal name as a monk. He was born in 1183 A.D. during the reign of Emperor Kōsō of the Southern Sung dynasty and died in 1260 at the age of seventy-eight.
Mumon lived in the period of decline of the power of the Southern Sung dynasty due to increasing pressure from two neighboring states, Kin and Gen.
He was ordained as a monk by Master Tenryū. He later studied under Master Gatsurin Shikan and was given the koan, “Dog, Buddha nature” which appears in the Gateless Gate as the first case. He worked persistently on this koan for six years. It is said that when he felt sleepy or in low spirits, he would bump his head against a pillar. One day, standing near the Dharma hall, he heard the sound of the drum signaling lunchtime and was suddenly enlightened. He wrote the following poem about that experience:
A peal of thunder under the bright blue sky!
The multitude of living beings on earth have opened their eyes.
All things in the world bow alike.
Mount Sumeru jumps up and dances Sandai.
(Sandai is a kind of dancing, extremely lively in its movements.) The next day, Mumon presented his understanding of the koan to Master Gatsurin, who confirmed his enlightenment. Mumon eventually succeeded to the Dharma of his master.
When Mumon was sixty-four he founded Gokoku-ninnō Zen temple by order of the emperor. Though he desired to spend his last years in quiet retirement near West Lake, his seclusion was regularly disturbed by visitors eager for instruction.
Mumon’s biographer describes him as follows: “The master looked thin but of clear spirit. His words were artless but profound. His hair was dark, his beard long and rough. He wore a shabby and dirty robe.” In his monastery, Mumon was referred to as the “Founder of the Way.”
3. Twelve years after the death of Empress Jii (wife of the third emperor Kōsō of the Southern Sung dynasty and mother of the fourth emperor, Neisō), a temple was erected for the repose of her soul. Master Gatsurin was invited to be its first abbot. This temple was called Hōin’yūji Zen Temple.