For ease of reference and pronunciation, proper and place names have been given in Japanese instead of Chinese throughout the text of the Gateless Gate, e.g., “Zen” rather than “Ch’an.” The historical Introduction and the vertical lineage charts give both Japanese and Chinese readings, the latter in parentheses, e.g., “Mumon Ekai (Wu-men Hui-k’ai).” The glossaries at the end of the book give complete correlations, Japanese to Chinese and Chinese to Japanese. Because of their increasing familiarity and frequency of use and their specific meaning, the following terms have been regarded as English words and, accordingly, have been left untranslated and unitalicized: koan, mondo, roshi, zazen, kensho, and satori. For the reader new to Zen parlance, the sense of these terms is explained in the Foreword, Author’s Preface, Preface by Father Enomiya-Lassalle, and the Introduction by Thomas Cleary.
In the title of this book the word “commentary” is used. This is an English translation of the word teishō, which is a technical Buddhist term in Japanese for a direct expression of the Buddha mind. In its strictest sense, teishō are nondualistic and are thus distinguished from Dharma talks, which are ordinary lectures on Buddhist topics. It is not explanatory or analytical in intent but a presentation of the awakened state itself. The word “commentary” does not do justice to the powerful teishō of Yamada Roshi transcribed and printed here as the Gateless Gate.