The Realm of Passing Through the Prison Gate

Chan Master Huanglong had a verse that said: “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 final barrier (laoguan). One who has passed through the final barrier has attained purity of mind; the mind no longer craves the world. Living in the world, one is not entangled by a single matter, no longer attached to any dharma, no longer clinging to one's own five aggregates, and no longer attached to the true suchness (tathatā) one has realized. The mind is open and upright, retaining nothing. Although one still lives in the human world experiencing the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, there is not a single dharma in the mind that confronts the emotions: 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 me. Living in the world, one still eats and drinks as usual, yet does not crave or cling to the world; the mind has already attained liberation, free from all constraint and attachment.