Books Should Be Free Loyal Books Free Public Domain Audiobooks & eBook Downloads |
|
The Gateless Barrier By: Lucas Malet (1852-1931) |
---|
![]()
By LUCAS MALET
NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY
1900 Copyright, 1900 , by
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY UNIVERSITY PRESS
JOHN WILSON AND SON
CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.
Preface
"What is the book?" "According to the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese characters of
the title, we call it Mu Mon Kwan , which means 'The Gateless Barrier.'
It is one of the books especially studied by the Zen sect, or the sect
of Dhyâna. A peculiarity of some of the Dhyâna texts this (story) being
a good example is that they are not explanatory. They only suggest.
Questions are put, but the student must think out the answers for
himself. He must think them out but not write them. You know that
Dhyâna represents human effort to reach, through meditation, zones of
thought beyond the range of verbal expression; and any thought narrowed
into utterance loses all Dhyâna quality.... Well, this story is supposed
to be true; but it is used only for a Dhyâna question...." LAFCADIO HEARN. " Exotics and Retrospectives," pages 83, 84.
The Gateless Barrier
I
Laurence leaned his arms upon the broad wooden hand rail of the
bulwarks. The water hissed away from the side. Immediately below it was
laced by shifting patterns of white foam, and stained pale green,
violet, and amber, by the light shining out through the rounds of the
port poles. Further away it showed blue black, but for a glistening on
the hither side of the vast ridge and furrow. The smoke from the funnels
streamed afar, and was upturned by a following wind. The great ship
swung in the trough, and then lifted as a horse lifts at a fence while
the seas slid away from under her keel. As she lifted, her masts raked
the blue black night sky, and the stars danced in the rigging. This was the first time since his marriage, nearly two years before,
that Laurence found himself alone and altogether his own master. His
marriage was a notable success every one said so, and he himself had
never doubted the fact so far. Yet this solitary voyage, this temporary
return to bachelorhood, possessed compensations. He reproached himself,
as in duty bound, for being sensible of those compensations. He excused
himself to himself. He gave reasons. Doubtless his present sense of
freedom and content took its rise not in his enforced absence from
Virginia, from her bright continuous talk, her innumerable and perfectly
constructed dresses, her perpetual and skilful activities; but in his
escape from the highly artificial and materialised society in which she
lived and moved and had her being. Laurence had certainly no ostensible
cause of complaint against that society. Its members had recited his
verses, given a charming performance of his little comedy in the
interests of a deserving charity quoted his opinions on literature and
politics, and waxed enthusiastic over his strokes at golf and his style
at rackets and polo. He had, in fact, been the spoilt child of two New
York winters and two Newport summers. No Englishman, he was repeatedly
assured, had ever been so popular among the "smart set" of the great
republic. It had petted and fêted him, and finally given him one of
its fairest daughters to wife. And for all this Laurence Rivers was
sincerely grateful. His vanity was most agreeably flattered. His natural
love both of pleasing and of pleasure was well satisfied. Yet such is
the perversity of human nature the very completeness of his success
tended to lessen the worth of it. He even questioned, at moments,
whether that success did not offer the measure of surrounding immaturity
of taste and judgment, rather than of the greatness of his personal
talent and merit. He was haunted by the conviction that he had never yet
given his best, the highest and strongest of his nature, either in
thought, or art, or adventure, or even perhaps he feared it in love.
The demand had been for a thoroughly presentable and immediately
marketable article; and the Best is usually far from marketable, often
but doubtfully presentable either... Continue reading book >>
|
eBook Downloads | |
---|---|
ePUB eBook • iBooks for iPhone and iPad • Nook • Sony Reader |
Kindle eBook • Mobi file format for Kindle |
Read eBook • Load eBook in browser |
Text File eBook • Computers • Windows • Mac |
Review this book |
---|