9Zhaozhou's Four Gates
Introduction 垂示
明鏡當臺，妍醜自辨；鏌鎁在手，殺活臨時。漢去胡來，胡來漢去，死中得活，活中得死。且道到這裏，又作麼生？若無透關底眼、轉身處，到這裏灼然不柰何。且道：如何是透關底眼、轉身處？試舉看。
A clear mirror on its stand sorts the beautiful from the ugly all on its own. A sharp sword in hand kills or saves at a stroke, as you decide. The foreigner comes, the local goes; the local comes, the foreigner goes. In the middle of death you find life, and in the middle of life, death. So tell me, when you get this far, what then? Without the eye that sees through the barrier, the place where you turn yourself around, you arrive here and plainly there is nothing you can do. So tell me: what is that eye that sees through the barrier? Where is the place you turn around? Let's look at an example.
僧問趙州：「如何是趙州？」州云：「東門，西門，南門，北門。」
A monk asked Zhaozhou, "What is Zhaozhou?"
Zhaozhou said, "East gate, west gate, south gate, north gate."