法门

Buddhist origin: 法门 literally 'gate of the Dharma' — a doorway through which one enters Buddhist practice. Each school or method (Pure Land, Chan, Tantric) is a different 法门. The compound 不二法门 (bú'èrfǎmén — 'the one and only way') is now everyday Chinese.

history

法门寺 (Fǎmén Sì — Famen Temple) in Shaanxi, founded in the Han dynasty, houses a finger relic of the Buddha and is one of China's most famous Buddhist sites — the temple's name uses this very compound.