Add to ORKGA Zen kong-an is a paradoxical story or statement used to test the clarity of a student's mind. Zen Master Seung Sahn has selected a representative group of kong-ans that he refers to as the "Ten Gates." He says that if you can answer these ten, then you can answer any other kong-an. The Fifth Gate, the famous "Hyang Eom's Up a Tree," is one of the most graphic illustrations of a kong-an. It is a "Kyung Chul Mun" type of kong-an, meaning "everything is stopped." We asked teachers in the Kwan Um School of Zen to comment on this kong-an. Their responses follow; a history of the kong-an itself is in the first commentar