The Realm of Passing Through the Prison Gate

Chan Master Huanglong had a verse saying: “春有百花秋有月，夏有凉风冬有雪，若无闲事挂心头，便是人间好时节。” This describes the state of Chan masters who have passed through the heavy barrier (laoguan). Those who have passed through the heavy barrier attain purity of mind, and their minds no longer crave or cling to the world; they live in the world yet are not entangled by a single affair, no longer attached to any dharma, no longer grasping at their own five aggregates, nor clinging to the true suchness (tathatā) they have realized. Their minds are open and upright, retaining nothing. Although they live in the human world and still pass through the four seasons—spring, summer, autumn, and winter—there is not a single dharma in their minds that binds them. Scenery is scenery, forms are forms, people are people, things are things; all dharmas abide each in their own dharma-position and have nothing to do with the self. While living in the world, they eat and drink as usual, yet they do not crave or cling to the world, because their minds have already attained liberation and are free from all constraint and attachment.