1. Dogen Zenji Amazon
2. Dogen Zenji Movie

Eihei Dogen, sometimes respectfully referred to as Dogen Zenji, was a key figure in the development of Japanese Zen practice and the founder of the Soto Zen sect. Dogen was born about 1200 in Kyoto, Japan. At the age of 17, he was formally ordained as a Buddhist monk. While each of these styles is commonly taught today, Master Dogen recommended only Kekkafuza and Hankafuza. Types edit In his book Three Pillars of Zen, Philip Kapleau says that practitioners in the Rinzai school face in, towards each other with their backs to the wall, and in the Sōtō school, practitioners face the wall or a curtain. An introduction to Soto Zen practice, as told by members of the Silent Thunder Order, filmed at the Atlanta Soto Zen Center. Film created by Annie Wade https.

Comparison chart

1. Dōgen Zenji (1200-1253) The Dōgen Institute is the educational outreach arm of the Sanshin Zen Community. The Institute provides educational opportunities for all who are interested in the study of Dōgen Zenji and his teachings. The primary mission of the Dōgen Institute is to make available Rev. Shohaku Okumura Roshi’s life work on Dōgen.
2. Dōgen Zenji is revered in Japan as the founder of Sōtō Zen. He is ranked as one of the great religious philosophers. Born in 1200, he was responsible for bringing one of the main streams of Buddhist thought from China to Japan. The Sōtō Zen school he founded is.

Buddhism versus Jainism comparison chart

Buddhism	Jainism
Marriage	It is not a religious duty to marry. Monks and nuns do not marry and are celibate. Advice in the Discourses on how to maintain a happy and harmonious marriage.	Marriage is a social convention and not linked to religion. But followers must strictly follow monogamy. Monks, though have renounced material world, hence strictly follow celibacy.
Practices	Meditation, the Eightfold Path; right view, right aspiration, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration	Five vows of Truth, Non-violence, Non-stealing, Non-attachment, control over desires and senses. Greater emphasis on non-violence and truth. Also follow 3 jewels of Right Perception, Right Knowledge and Right Conduct
Place of origin	Indian subcontinent	India.
Belief of God	The idea of an omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent creator is rejected by Buddhists. The Buddha himself refuted the theistic argument that the universe was created by a self-conscious, personal God.	Jainism does not believe in a Creator God.
Use of statues and pictures	Common. Statues are used as meditation objects, and revered as they reflect the qualities of the Buddha.	Common.
Life after death	Rebirth is one of the central beliefs of Buddhism. We are in an endless cycle of birth, death and re-birth, which can only be broken by attaining nirvana. Attaining nirvana is the only way to escape suffering permanently.	Until liberation is achieved, circle of rebirths and deaths continue due to Karma via incarnations in any life form on earth, as also heavenly and hellish life forms.
Founder	The Buddha (born as Prince Siddhartha)	Rishabhdev- 1st Tirthankar in this era, Further revived by Vardhaman Mahavir- 24th and final Tirthankar of this era
Clergy	The Buddhist Sangha, composed of bhikkhus (male monks) and bhikkhunis (female nuns). The sangha is supported by lay Buddhists.	Monks, nuns.
Literal Meaning	Buddhists are those who follow the teachings of the Buddha.	To become a Jina (liberated soul) by following the teachings of 24 Tirthankars (ford-makers/teachers)
Human Nature	Ignorance, as all sentient beings. In the Buddhist texts, it is seen that when Gautama, after his awakening, was asked whether he was a normal human being, he replied, 'No'.	Human suffering is due to negative effects of bad karma and excessive attachment to material aspects of world.
View of the Buddha	The highest teacher and the founder of Buddhism, the all-transcending sage.	Buddha is considered as contemporary of Mahavir
Followers	Buddhists	Jains.
Place of worship	Buddhist monasteries, temples, shrines.	Temple
Original Language(s)	Pali(Theravada tradition) and Sanskrit(Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition)	Ancient texts were written in various languages, predominantly in Magadhi, language prevalent at time of Mahavir and Buddha.
Means of salvation	Reaching Enlightenment or Nirvana, following the Noble Eightfold Path.	Goal is to unshackle the soul from bondages of karma which results in misery due to many rebirths and deaths. Once soul is freed from these bondages, it achieves Nirvana and becomes perfect soul free from all attachments, in an eternal blissful state
View of other Dharmic religions	Since the word Dharma means doctrine, law, way, teaching, or discipline, other Dharmas are rejected.	Comradeship with other Dharmic religions.
Goal of religion	To attain enlightenment and be released from the cycle of rebirth and death, thus attaining Nirvana.	To gain liberation and be released from cycle of rebirths, adopt a path of non-violence towards all living beings.
Status of women	No distinctions between men and women. Women are equal to men, and men are equal to women in the Sangha. The Buddha gave Men and Women equal rights and a major part in the Sangha.	Women can become nuns.
Holy days/Official Holidays	Vesak day in which the birth, the awakening, and the parinirvana of the Buddha is celebrated.	Paryushan festival
Scriptures	Tripitaka - a vast canon composed of 3 sections: the Discourses, the Discipline and the Commentaries, and some early scriptures, such as the Gandhara texts.	Religious scriptures called Agamas. Many other canonical texts.
Principle	This life is suffering, and the only way to escape from this suffering is to dispel one's cravings and ignorance by realizing the Four Noble Truths and practicing the Eightfold Path.	Respect all living things. Attain liberation by avoiding and shedding of bad karma which is the cause of rebirths and all sufferings. Five vows and three jewels.
Time of origin	2,500 years ago, circa 563 B.C.E. (Before Common Era)	Very ancient. One of the oldest religions as origin of 1st Tirthankar is too ancient and obscure. Mahavir (24th Tirthankar) born in 599 B.C.E.
Can atheists partake in this religion's practices?	Yes.	Yes
Population	500-600 million	50-60 million
Views on Other Religions	Being a practical philosophy, Buddhism is neutral against other religions.	Belief in pluralism and respect other religious view points and try to accomodate them.
Religion which atheists may still be adherents of	Yes.	Yes. Jains do not believe in the idea of a Creator God. The laws revolve around Karma. Good Karma lead to spiritual elevation and bad Karma and bad deeds to decline.
Goal of Philosophy	To eliminate mental suffering.	Jainism is a way of life, adhere to teachings of Tirthankars, respect all life forms and end goal is to achieve Nirvana.
Authority of Dalai Lama	Dalai Lamas are tulkus of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. They are cultural figures and are independent of the doctrinal basis of Buddhism.	N/A.
Concept of Deity	n/a. According to some interpretations, there are beings in heaven realms but they are also bound by 'samsara'. They may have less suffering but have not yet achieved salvation (nibbana)	Numerous deities known as Tirthenkaras. But Jains do not worship them in literal sense of idol worship to ask favors. Rather, these Tirthankars are venerated as ideal Men and teachers whose teachings should be followed.
Symbols	The conch, endless knot, fish, lotus, parasol, vase, dharmachakra (Wheel of Dharma), and victory banner.	Swastika(used it long before it became a symbol for antisemitism).
Geographical distribution and predominance	(Majority or strong influence) Mainly in Thailand, Cambodia, Sri lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Japan, Myanmar (Burma), Laos, Vietnam, China, Mongolia, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Other small minorities exist in other countries.	Mainly in India, lower Asian subcontinent throughout, and America. Small groups exist in most countries.
Place and Time of origin	The origin of Buddhism points to one man, Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, who was born in Lumbini (in present-day Nepal). He became enlightened at Bodhgaya, India and delivered his first set of teachings at a deer park in Sarnath, India.	Unending and un-beginning...it has always existed and will continue to do so. Revived in every time cycle. Very ancient, origin obscure dating many millenia
Confessing sins	Sin is not a Buddhist concept.	Sin is defined as harm to another.
What They Believe	The principle of equality: that all living entities are equal	The teachings of the Buddha come from Mahavira. Therefore, are similar.
Teachings about General Conduct	Abstain from evil, strive for nirvana, constantly cleanse the mind.	All actions must strive to be non-violent.
Clothing	Bhikkhus (monks) and bhikkhunis (nuns) are supposed to wear the Buddhist robe. There is no such rule for lay followers.	One of two of the predominant sects wears white clothes. The other predominant sect is unclothed.
Animal Rights	The Buddha taught that animals have equal rights as humans. They are still bound in samsara, and suffer as humans do. Although he urged vegetarianism, he didn't restrict monks from eating meat when it was offered.	As eating the flesh of another is considered harm, it is strictly forbidden.
Moral Obligations	The Buddha taught that karma is the reason that we exist. According to the teaching, all our actions of body, speech and mind, will yield results, either in this state of existence, or in a later one.	The teachings of the Buddha come from Mahavira. Therefore, are similar.
Sexual Conduct	The Buddha taught that a lay follower should subdue sexual misconduct, which includes consciously cheating on one's spouse, sexual intercourse with another's wife or husband, a minor, or an animal. Monks and nuns are celibate.	The concepts from the Buddha come from Mahavira. Therefore, are similar.
Compatibility with Science	Aside from the concepts of karma and rebirth, Buddhism is said to be compatible with many scientific findings. Most Buddhist practices can also be labeled as cognitive science.	The teachings of the Buddha come from Mahavira. Therefore, are similar.
Homosexuality	The Buddha accepted both homosexuals and asexuals into the Sangha. In the Buddhist understanding, it is a natural phenomenon, and not different than heterosexualiy.	Does not accept sexual activity as necessary for anything other than reproduction. Therefore, it is not acceptable.
Sources of Teachings	Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha), and later masters, such as Nagarjuna, Bodhidharma, and Dogen.	All 24 tirthankars of this time cycle.
Offshoot Sects	None. Although Buddhism is divided into many sects in itself. Mahayana and Vajrayana are the two big yanas, while Theravada is closer to earlier Buddhism.	Svetambara and Digambara. There are many offshooting sects.

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[永平] 道元希玄 [Eihei] Dōgen Kigen (1200–1253)

Great Master Jōyō (Jōyō Daishi 承陽大師): honorific title given Dōgen by the Meiji emperor in the late 19th century. Jōyō means 'upholding' (jō 承) the 'sun,' or 'masculine (yang, as opposed to yin) principle' (yō 陽).

Contents

Végh József: PDF: Dógen zen mester élete és művei PDF: Dógen Zen mester magyarul elérhető írásai Összegyűjtötte: Végh József Hrabovszky Dóra: Dōgen Kigen és a Fukan Zazengi Fukan-zazen-gi Általános javallatok a zen meditációhoz Címet fordította: Terebess Gábor; szövegford. Mák Andrea és Fábián Gábor PDF: Fukan-zazen-gi Hakuun Yasutani mester magyarázataival Fordította: Hetényi Ernő A zazen dicsérete Fordította: Végh József Az ülő meditáció szabályai(Sóbógenzó zazengi) Fordította: Végh József A zazen ösvénye Fordította: Szigeti György A szívében a megvilágosodás szellemével élő lény (bódhiszattva) négy irányadó tevékenysége (Sóbógenzó bodaiszatta sisóbó) Fordította: Végh József Életünk kérdése (Gendzsókóan 現成公案) Fordította: Hadházi Zsolt (2006) PDF: Az Út Gyakorlásában Követendő pontok Fordította: Barna Mokurin Gyula

Writings 真字正法眼蔵[Mana/Shinji]Shōbōgenzō 仮字正法眼蔵[Kana/Kaji] Shōbōgenzō 普勧坐禅儀Fukan zazengi 学道用心集 Gakudō-yōjinshūAdvice on Studying the Way 永平清規 Eihei shingiEihei Rules of Purity 永平廣錄 Eihei kōrokuDōgen's Extensive Record 宝慶記Hōkyō-ki Memoirs of the Hōkyō Period 傘松道詠 Sanshō dōeiVerses on the Way from Sanshō Peak DOC:The Zen Poetry of Dogen - Verses from the Mountain of Eternal Peace by Steven Heine Dogen Zenji Goroku. Sayings of Zen Master Dogen by Thomas Cleary (2015) 孤雲懷奘 Kōun Ejō(1198-1280) 正法眼蔵随聞記 Shōbōgenzō zuimonki 修證義Shushō-gi, compiled in 1890 by Takiya Takushū (滝谷卓洲) of Eihei-ji and Azegami Baisen (畔上楳仙) of Sōji-ji as an abstract of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō Kōshō-ji Dōgen founded this temple in 1233 PDF: The Life of Dōgen Zenji Eiheiji published an illustrated version (with 71 full-page woodcuts) of Menzan‘s annotated chronicle, the Teiho Kenzeiki zue 「訂補建撕記図会」 (preface dated 1806, but actually published 1817).

Dogen studies

PDF: Dōgen Studies (Studies in East Asian Buddhism no. 2.)
Edited by William R. LaFleur
Kuroda Institute, 1985

PDF: Zen Master Dōgen: an introduction with selected writings
by Yūhō Yokoi, with the assistance of Daizen Victoria; and with a foreword by Minoru Kiyota
Weatherhill, 1976, 217 p.

PDF: Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dōgen
ed by Tanahashi Kazuaki
North Point Press, Berkeley, 1985

PDF: The Essential Dogen: Writings of the Great Zen Master
by Kazuaki Tanahashi and Peter Levitt
Boston and London, 2013

PDF: Biography of Dōgen
by Richard Bowring

PDF: A Study of DogenHis Philosophy and Religion
by Masao Abe
State University of New York Press, Albany, 1992

PDF: The Dōgen Canon: Dōgen's Pre-ShōbōgenzōWritings and the Question of Change in His Later Works
by Steven Heine
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 1997 24/1–2

PDF: Dōgen and Sōtō Zen
Editor, Steven Heine
Oxford University Press, 2015

PDF: Existential and Ontological Dimensions in Heidegger and Dogen
by Steven Heine
SUNY Press, 1985

PDF: Kōans in the Dōgen Tradition.
by Steven Heine
Philosophy East & West, Volume 54, Number 1, January 2004, pp. 1–19.

PDF: Did Dogen Go to China? Problematizing Dogen's Relation to Ju-ching and Chinese Ch'an
by Steven Heine
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2003, 30/1–2: 27–59.

PDF: Is Dōgen's Eiheiji Temple “Mt. T'ien-t'ung East”?: Geo-Ritual Perspectives on the Transition from Chinese Ch'an to Japanese Zen
by Steven Heine
In: Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist Theory in Practice, 2008, Chapter 4, pp. 139. ff.

PDF: Dogen and the Koan Tradition – A Tale of Two Shobogenzo Texts
by Steven Heine
SUNY Press, 1997

PDF: Critical Buddhism and Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō: The Debate over the 75-Fascicle and 12-Fascicle Texts
by Steven Heine
In: Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 1994 21/1;
and in: Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm Over Critical Buddhism, edited by Jamie Hubbard, Paul Loren Swanson, University of Hawaii Press, 1997, pp. 251-285.

PDF:Dōgen, Zen Master, Zen Disciple: Transmitter or Transgressor?
by Steven Heine
In: Zen Masters / edited by Steven Heine and Dale S. Wright. New York, 2010. Chapter 5

PDF: 石井修道 Ishii Shūdō's Contributions to Dōgen Studies: Examining Chinese Influences on the Kana and Kanbun Texts
by Steven Heine
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 41/2: 387–404 © 2014 Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture

PDF:Dogen’s Shobogenzo, Fascicles “Katto” and “Osakusendaba”
by Steven Heine
In: Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings, edited by William Edelglass, and Jay L. Garfield. 2009, pp. 149-158

PDF:Readings of Dōgen's Treasury of the True Dharma Eye. Columbia University Press, 2020
by Steven Heine

PDF:Dogen’s “Mountains and Waters as Sutras” (Sansui-kyo)
by Graham Parkes
In: Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings, edited by William Edelglass, and Jay L. Garfield. 2009, pp. 83-92
PDF:The Presencing of Truth: Dogen’s Genjokoan
by Bret W. Davis
In: Buddhist Philosophy: Essential Readings, edited by William Edelglass, and Jay L. Garfield. 2009, pp. 251-259

PDF: Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation
by Carl Bielefeldt
University of California Press, 1988

PDF: Eihei Dōgen, Mystical Realist
by Hee-Jin Kim
Wisdom Publications, 2004

PDF: Dogen's Raihaitokuzui and Women Teaching in Sung Ch'an
by Miriam Levering
Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1, 1998, pp. 77-111.

DOC: Dogen, Women, and the Dragon Princess of Lotus Sutra Chapter Twelve: Issues of Context and Interpretation
by Miriam Levering
(prepared for ILSS 2014, Tokyo May 29-June 2)

PDF: Women and Dōgen: Rituals Actualizing Empowermentand Healing
by Paula K. R. Arai
In: Zen Ritual: Studies of Zen Buddhist Theory in Practice, 2008, Chapter 6, pp. 185. ff.

PDF: Doctrine and the Concept of Truth in Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō
by Dale S. Wright
Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Vol 54, No. 2 (Summer 1986) pp 257-277.

PDF: Purifying Zen: Watsuji Tetsurō's Shamōn Dōgen (沙門道元), Steve Bein (trs.),
Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 2011.

PDF: Watsuji’s Reading of Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō
by Ralf Müller

PDF: Philosophy and the practice of reflexivity - On Dōgen's discourse about Buddha-nature
by Ralf Müller

PDF: The Buddha-nature in Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō
by Takashi James Kodera,
Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, Vol 4:4 1977

PDF: Dōgen and the Feminine Presence: Taking a Fresh Look into His Sermons and Other Writings
by Michiko Yusa
Religions 2018, 9(8), 232.

PDF: Dogen on Meditation and Thinking: A Reflection on His View of Zen
by Kim, Hee-Jin

PDF: Zen body, zen mind: Dogen and the question of licensed evil
A thesis to McGill University, Montreal (2007) by Carl Alexander Leslie

Zen Master Dogen (1200-1253) lived and taught at a time of when certain people understood the teachings of “original enlightenment” as license to ignore Buddhist moral constraints. In response, rather than rejecting original enlightenment teachings altogether, Dogen rejects this antinomian “licensed evil” interpretation by teaching the oneness of practice and original enlightenment. For Dogen, there can be no enlightenment outside practice because practice and original enlightenment are inseparable; moreover, practice must be wholehearted and without seeking in order to be the realization of enlightenment. By describing the practices of seated meditation, monastic ritual, and the moral precepts as precisely situations of wholehearted non-seeking, Dogen justifies the need to engage in these activities of practice-enlightenment, and thereby responds to the question of licensed evil.

The Idea of the Mirror in Nishida and Dōgen
by Michel Dalissier

Some Problems in Interpretation: The Early and Late Writings of Dogen
by David Putney
Philosophy East and West, Volume 46, Number 4 October 1996, pp 497-531.
http://www.thezensite.com/ZenEssays/DogenStudies/some_problems_putney.htm
http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-PHIL/putney1.htm

Dropping Off Body and Mind
Dharma Discourse by John Daido Loori, Roshi
Koans of the Way of Reality, Case 108
Master Dogen's Enlightenment
Featured in Mountain Record 21.1 , Fall 2002

The Main Case

Dogen studied with Master Rujing. One evening during the intensive summer training, in the first year of Pao-chang, 1225, Rujing shouted at a disciple, “When you study under a master, you must drop the body and mind. What is the use of single-minded intense sleeping?”
Sitting right beside this monastic, Dogen suddenly attained great enlightenment. Immediately, he went up to the abbot's room and burned incense. Rujing said, “Why are you burning incense?” Dogen said, “Body and mind have been dropped off.” Rujing said, “Body and mind dropped off. The dropped-off body and mind.” Dogen said, “This may only be a temporary ability. Please don't approve me arbitrarily.” Rujing said, “I am not.” Dogen said, “What is that which isn't given arbitrary approval?” Rujing said, “Body and mind dropped off.” Dogen bowed. Rujing said, “The dropping off is dropped.”

The Commentary

Beginning with his ordination at age fourteen, Dogen's relentless search for the Way carried him from teacher to teacher throughout Japan. Yet, the Great Doubt persisted. Finally, at age twenty-four, he crossed the ocean to China. When he arrived there, he immediately resumed his search for an authentic teacher. After visiting a number of monasteries, he discovered Rujing. The monastic environment at Rujing's monastery was marked by a severe and disciplined meditation. By this time, Dogen was as far onto the edge of his practice as anyone can get. When the crack of Rujing's voice shattered the silence of the darkened meditation hall, the universe collapsed and the edge disintegrated for Dogen.
“Body and mind fallen away” is a realm in which there are no doctrines or marvels, no certainties or mysteries. It's just “when you see, there is not a single thing.” Having reached this place, Dogen expressed it to his teacher. Rujing then approved and Dogen bowed. Having passed through the forest of brambles, he then passed beyond the other side, too. Rujing said, “The dropping off is dropped.”
We should understand that this body and mind is not the bag of skin. So I ask you, what is it that is dropped off? Who is it that drops off? This is the place of inquiry that must be clarified. Haven't you heard the words of the teachers of old? When the ten thousand things have been extinguished, there is still something that is not extinguished. What is it?

The Capping Verse

The thought-cluttered bucket's
bottom broken;
Neither water nor the moon
remains.

When we read about the enlightenment experiences of the ancient teachers, we should remember that the person did not exist in a vacuum and that their realization emerged within a specific personal and cultural context. To fully appreciate the nature and significance of a person's enlightenment we need to look beyond the time when they received approval of their insight, and study both the teachings that followed and what preceded their breakthrough.

Everything that occurs before enlightenment is part of the enlightenment experience. To understand Dogen, we need to understand his enlightenment experience, the story of his life, the historical background of his spiritual search, and the evolution of his teachings.

When he was four years old, Dogen learned to read Chinese poetry from his grandmother. At the age of seven, he presented his father with a collection of poems that he had composed in Chinese. He was a pretty extraordinary child, regarded as a prodigy by the local elders and Confucian scholars.

He lost his father when he was three and his mother when he was eight. His mother's death was especially devastating to Dogen. It proved to be one of the pivotal events of his life, deeply impacting him and shaping his early religious and spiritual intentions. With his mother's death, Dogen experienced a profound sense of grief and developed a determination to seek enlightenment.

In the spring of his ninth year, he read Vashubandu's “Abhidharma,” familiarizing himself with a wide spectrum of accessible Buddhist teachings. His uncle, the regent and chief advisor to the emperor of Japan, took Dogen as an adopted son, providing him with thorough classical education and aristocratic connections. The uncle taught him the essentials of political affairs and, when Dogen was thirteen, had him make his debut at the court with the intention of having Dogen become a courtier.

Dogen, however, had different plans. He secretly left his uncle's manor in the middle of a night and went to Mt. Hiei, to study Tendai Buddhism. Another of Dogen's uncles, his mother's brother, was a high priest and a master of the esoteric and exoteric schools at Mt. Hiei. His name was Ryokan. Dogen asked him to be ordained as a monastic. Ryokan was very surprised and pleased, but queried Dogen, “Won't your foster father be angry about this?” Dogen explained, “When my mother was dying, she told me to leave home and study the Way. I also think I should do so. I don't want to be involved in the mundane world. I just want to leave home and be a monastic. I want to become a monastic to requite my debt to my mother and grandmothers.” Ryokan, weeping, took him up as a student.

At the age of fourteen, Dogen had his head shaved by the high priest Koun, and then received the universal precepts and became a monastic. He absorbed himself in the teachings of the Tendai School, the meditation practices of “stopping and seeing,” as well as the esoteric teachings from southern India. By the time he was eighteen, he had read all of the Buddhist canon that was available to him.

As Dogen pursued his studies, he kept returning to an apparent paradox he encountered in his readings. The fundamental teachings of Buddhism proclaimed that the Way is perfect and complete and that all people and sentient beings are innately endowed with the Buddha nature. If that is the case, Dogen wanted to know, why do we have to practice? With time, this question became uppermost in Dogen's mind and consumed him completely. At one point, he brought it to a high priest Koyan, another uncle and a sage, and asked for clarification. Koyan was unable to present a satisfactory answer but advised Dogen to look for resolution to his dilemma within the new school of Buddhism that was arriving in Japan from China — Zen. Koyan said that he heard about a Japanese monastic Eisai who went to China and received the transmission of the Buddha seal that the great master Bodhidharma brought to China from India. To find out about the Zen school, Koyan directed Dogen to go to Kennin-ji monastery in Kyoto or, better yet, to China.

By this time, Eisai had passed away and Myozen was his designated successor at Kennin-ji. Myozen was an accomplished teacher in both the esoteric and exoteric Buddhism. The annals of Kennin-ji stated that “the treasury of the teaching is entrusted to Myozen alone; those who would seek such teachings of Eisai should ask Myozen.” So, in the fall of his eighteenth year, Dogen joined Myozen's community at Kennin-ji.

He was ordained as a Zen monastic, took the precepts again with Myozen and studied with him for a number of years. He was given the robe and bowl symbolic of the Zen tradition, obtained the secret teachings of esoteric rituals, studied the canon of monastic regulations and began to learn about Rinzai Zen. After a couple of years, he received the transmission of Rinzai Zen as well as transmission in the esoteric and exoteric schools.

By the time Dogen reached the age of twenty-four, his background in Buddhist academics and practice was very broad. He had taken up and passed koans, mastered esoteric and exoteric teachings, gained fluency in tantric rituals, and delved into the mystical dimension of Buddhism. All of this was integrated into his persona. Still, he was not satisfied. The question that fueled his search remained unresolved and his mind was not at ease.

After seven years of study at Kennin-ji, he decided to head for China with Myozen. There, he met a number of teachers. He tested and was tested by them. He encountered Master Ryutan, who asked him, “When did you arrive here?” Dogen responded, “Four months ago.” Ryutan continued, “Did you come this way following a group?” Dogen answered, “How is it when one comes thus not following a group?” Ryutan said, “This is still coming this way following a group.” Dogen said, “Since this is coming thus following a group, what's right?” Ryutan slapped him and exclaimed, “A talkative priest.” Dogen persisted, “Not that there is no talkative priest, but what's right?” Ryutan said, “Stay for some tea.”

Later, Dogen visited Master Shicho. He asked him, “What's the Buddha?” Shicho answered, “The one in the shrine.” Dogen pressed on, “If it's the one in the shrine, how can it pervade the universe?” Shicho said, “Pervading the universe.” Dogen parried, “Fallen in words.” These dialogues suggest that Dogen was pretty arrogant while checking out the Chinese teachers. He clearly was not impressed with their appreciation of the dharma, not satisfied with any of them.

Just about the time when he was ready to give up his pilgrimage and head back for Japan, Dogen met Master Rujing. He was immediately taken by Rujing's wisdom, integrity and discipline of practice. Soon after arriving at Tien-tung monastery, he wrote a letter to Rujing, stating, “I have set my heart on enlightenment and, since my youth, I have sought the way from various teachers in my own country and came to know something of the basis of cause and effect. I still didn't know the ultimate goal of Buddhism and lingered in the externals of names and forms. Later I entered the room of Zen Master Eisai and first heard the way of Rinzai Zen. Now I have come to China with Master Myozen and have gotten the opportunity to join your congregation. This is the luck of a past blessing. Now I pray that in your great compassion you will allow a foreigner, an insignificant man from a distant place, to freely come to your room and ask about the teaching, without the question of time or manner. So please be merciful and kind, and permit me this.” And Rujing did let Dogen come anytime, day or night, to do face-to-face interviews.

Dogen found the right teacher, “a teacher who, regardless of age or prestige, comprehends the right Dharma clearly and receives the certification of a true teacher. He or she gives no precedence to words and letters or to intellectual understanding. With an unusual ability and extraordinary will power, he or she neither clings to selfishness, nor indulges in sentimentality. He or she is the individual in whom living and understanding correspond to each other.”

In one account of his practice with Rujing, Dogen wrote, “After hearing the truth of the sole importance of zazen from the instruction of my teacher, I practiced zazen day and night. When the other monastics gave up zazen temporarily for fear that they might fall ill at times of extreme heat or cold, I thought to myself then, I should still devote myself to zazen, even to the point of death from the attack of disease. If I do not practice zazen, even without illness, what is the use of taking care of my body? I shall be quite satisfied to die from a disease. What good fortune it is to practice zazen under such a great teacher of a great country of Sung, so to end my life and be disposed of by good monastics. Thinking thus continuously, I resolutely sat zazen day and night, and no illness came at all.”

Then came the decisive moment. Dogen was doing zazen in a dark and quiet zendo. It was early in the morning, about three o' clock according to most records. In the stillness of the zendo, Rujing bellowed at one of the monastics, “When you study under a master, you must drop body and mind. What's the use of single-minded intense sleeping?” Rujing's exclamation was not a very profound statement. But Dogen was poised; his whole body and mind were ripe. Sitting right next to the sleeping monastic, his doubts fell away and he attained great enlightenment.

There are many stories about Zen practitioners who, at the sound of a pebble hitting bamboo or seeing a falling blossom or hearing a single word from a teacher, are transformed by the event and realize themselves. When we try to understand how that happened, we study the moment and its immediate ingredients looking for clues. But that moment will not provide us with the full appreciation of what happened. Most stories of the enlightenment experiences don't tell us about the struggles that preceded realization. They don't tell us about the endless quest to resolve the question of life and death.

Dogen carried his doubts for over twenty years, desperate to find the answers, studying completely at every juncture. He was intellectually brilliant and a very diligent practitioner. As he made the journey to China, he drew closer and closer to the edge of his practice, the spiritual tension of his quest primed. On that edge, a spring breeze or a floating feather could have knocked him off it. What did knock him off was Rujing's “you must drop body and mind.”

Dogen went to the abbot's room and offered incense. Rujing probed and Dogen said, “Body and mind have been dropped off.” Rujing replied, “Body and mind dropped off. The dropped-off body and mind.” Dogen wasn't sure about this, so he said, “This may only be a temporary ability. Please don't approve me arbitrarily.” Without hesitation, Rujing exclaimed, “I am not.” What did he see? How did he know? Anybody can walk into a room, light incense and say, “Body and mind have dropped off.” How does a teacher know that something has actually transpired?

The fact of the matter is that realization transforms the entire body and mind. It's not something that is felt only internally; it manifests externally. It affects how you stand, walk, eat, dress and relate to people. There are a hundred thousand ways of seeing it without a word being uttered. If Dogen had not gone up to the abbot's quarters and lit incense, Rujing would still have seen it. He probably wouldn't have approved Dogen right off. He would have probed, poked at him, to get it to fully blossom in Dogen's own consciousness.

As the exchange began, Dogen was not aware of the full implications of what transpired. He just knew something had happened. “Please don't approve me arbitrarily.” Rujing said, “I am not.” Dogen said, “What is that which isn't given arbitrary approval?” Another way to say that is, “What is it that you see that makes you say it's not arbitrary?” Rujing answered, “Body and mind dropped off.” He saw in Dogen body and mind dropped off.

What does that mean? The commentary says, “Body and mind fallen away” is a realm in which there are no doctrines or marvels, no certainties or mysteries. It's just “when you see, there is not a single thing.” Dogen takes this up throughout his writings in the Shobogenzo (“The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye”). In Genjokoan, he states, “To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things. To be enlightened by the ten thousand things is to drop off body and mind of self and other. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment continues endlessly.”

That last line is the key. “No trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment continues endlessly.” Rujing said, “Body and mind dropped off.” Dogen bowed. Rujing responded, “The dropping off is dropped.” That's “No trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment continues endlessly.” The commentary amplifies this: Having passed through the forest of brambles, he then passed beyond the other side, too. How did he pass beyond the other side? What is the other side?

The commentary continues: We should understand that this body and mind is not the bag of skin. So I ask you, what is it that is dropped off? Who is it that drops off? This is the place of inquiry that must be clarified. Haven't you heard the words of the teachers of old? When the ten thousand things have been extinguished, there is still something that is not extinguished. What is it?

Later on, Rujing said to Dogen, “You have the discipline of the ancient buddhas. You will surely spread the way of Zen. My finding you is like Shakyamuni Buddha finding Kayashapa.” An echo of that exchange found its way to our transmission ceremony. At one point during the ceremony, the disciple who's receiving the transmission is kneeling in shokei and the teacher is passing oral teachings to them. The student then takes several steps in shokei toward the high seat where the teacher is sitting, and the teacher rubs the crown of their head. In China, when a child was born, traditionally, the parents would rub the crown of the baby's head. While rubbing the crown of the disciple's head, the teacher says, “The Buddha had Mahakayashapa and now I have you.” This is one expression of a deep sense of bonding between a teacher and a student.

In 1225 Dogen was formally recognized as a successor to Rujing. Rujing instructed him: “Return to your native country and spread the Zen way. Live in obscurity deep in the mountains and mature your enlightenment.” Dogen travelled back to Japan and immediately went to Kennin-ji. While he was in China, Myozen died, and Dogen brought his ashes to the monastery. Then, within a year, he expressed the sense of mission he was embarking on. He said, “In the first year of the Shao-ting Era [1228-1233] of the Sung Dynasty, I returned to my native place in Kyoto and vowed to propagate the Dharma and save all beings in the world. I felt then that a heavy load was on my shoulders.” In the fall of the same year, he wrote Fukanzazengi, a basic instructional text on zazen.

He stayed at Kennin-ji for three years. Slowly, people became aware of the particular style of Zen that he was teaching. His name became famous and he started to attract disciples. As his views were uncompromising and not in line with Kyoto orthodoxy, he started to get pressure from Mt. Hiei. Eventually, to escape the political distractions, he moved to an abandoned temple in Fukakuza called Annu-in. It was there that he wrote Bendowa.

In Bendowa, Dogen stated, “In our country the principles and practice of zazen have not yet been transmitted. This is a sad situation for those who try to understand zazen. For this reason I have endeavored to organize what I learned in China, to transcribe some of the wise teachers' teachings, and thereby to impart them to those who wish to practice and understand zazen.” We must recall that zazen, single-minded meditation, was not very prevalent in Japan at this time. This was the case even at Kennin-ji where koan tradition was being advanced. To Dogen, zazen was the pivotal factor in coming to realization. For him, practice didn't have anything to do with the observance of rituals or enigmatic shouts. It had to do with what he was doing with his mind during periods of deep zazen.

In 1233, Dogen moved again. He rebuilt and dedicated a temple, naming it Koshohorin-ji. There, he began to develop the monastic form of Zen, brand new in Japan at that time. Based on the Chinese model, he constructed buildings to accommodate authentic practice of zazen, established monastic regulations, and the way the monastics were to be trained. He was able to realize the vision of Paichang who started the first Zen monastic communities in China. Very quickly, Koshohorin-ji was emerging as one of the most powerful centers of Buddhism in Japan.

Dogen opened his monastic community to everyone, regardless of intelligence, social status, sex, and profession. His religion was, through and through, the religion of the people. Dogen taught that everybody was capable of realization and encouraged everybody to practice. He abolished the separation between monastics and lay persons, declaring, “Those who regard the mundane life as an obstacle to the Dharma only know that there's no dharma in secular activities. They do not yet know that no secular activities exist in the Dharma.” Monastics and laity are in essence one and the same. Enlightenment depends solely upon whether you have a sincere desire to seek it, not upon whether you live a monastery or in the secular world.

It was around this time that Ejo became his disciple. When he arrived, Ejo was already a mature practitioner. He became the first shuso of the temple. Soon, other members of the Daruma school followed. These were monastics who had done koan study based on teachings of Master Dahui. Responding to their background and inclinations, Dogen wrote forty-four of the chapters of Shobogenzo, including some of the most profound fascicles. He seeded his talks with the three hundred koans he collected in China. And in the Shobogenzo, he started to present these koans and the buddhadharma in a radically fresh way.

As Dogen's popularity continued to rise, his stubbornness and zealous sense of mission to bring Buddhism back on an authentic track irritated the traditionally-minded Buddhists, especially the Kyoto religious establishment. These were people of great power. Kyoshohorin-ji became increasingly threatened by these traditionalists. Dogen was given attractive invitations to relocate in Kamakura. He flatly refused, primarily because the offers were coming from within the ruling hierarchy. He did not want to sell out.

Finally, he received an invitation from Hatano, one of his lay students and a member of the shogunate, to move to Ichizen province. Hatano offered Dogen his own property for the site of a new monastery. Dogen accepted. His original vision of the monastic ideal was difficult to carry out in the urban surroundings and under the political pressures. His dream was to disappear into the mountains and to maintain a traditional monastery there. He probably also remembered Rujing's instructions: “Don't stay in the center of cities or towns; do not be friendly with rulers and state ministers; dwell in the deep mountains and valleys to realize the true nature of humanity.” And then there was Dogen's unquenchable yearning for nature, reflected by his writings on mountains and rivers and the teachings of the insentient that emerge during this period.

In July of 1243 Dogen moved again. With a small group of followers, he entered a desolate temple named Kippo-ji. In the fall of that year, he began teaching a handful of monastics, probably just three or four, given the references he made in his talks to teachers in antiquity who had only few disciples. As winter arrived and the snow got deeper, the temperature dropped in his dilapidated and drafty monastery. The morale of his monastics must have faltered. Dogen had to inspire them; convince them that what they were doing was the only genuine way to practice. In many of his talks during this period, he elevated monastic practice above lay practice, glorifying home-leaving.

While he was putting down lay practice, his main lay practitioner and supporter, Hatano, was building him the new temple, called Daibutsu-ji, the Great Buddha Temple. Dogen moved in the new temple in 1244. The dharma hall and the monastics hall were built in rapid succession. In April of 1245 Dogen announced the opening of the monastery and changed its name from Daibutsu-ji to Eihei-ji. “Eihei” means “eternal peace.” At last, Dogen realized his long-cherished dream, the establishment of an ideal monastic community in the bosom of the mountains and rivers.

At Eihei-ji, Dogen wrote only eight chapters of the Shobogenzo. His efforts were directed primarily toward the formulation and guidance of the moral precepts and the disciplinary rules for the monastic community. He concentrated on the ritualization of every aspect of monastic life.

In 1253 he wrote the last fascicle of the Shobogenzo, “The Eight Characteristics of the Enlightened Person.” At the end of the chapter Ejo inserted the comment that Dogen had hoped to compose a total of one hundred chapters for the Shobogenzo but could not accomplish it. “Unfortunately,” Ejo wrote, “we cannot see the one-hundred chapter version. This is a matter for deep regret.” That was in January of the year 1253. In July of that same year, Dogen appointed Ejo to be his successor as the head of Eihei-ji monastery and, following Hatano's advice, left Ichizen for Kyoto on August 5, accompanied by Ejo and several other disciples in order to seek medical care. He was treated at the home of a lay disciple there, but his illness, aggravated by the journey, was already too advanced to be cured. On August 28, he bade farewell to his grieving disciples and died in the posture of zazen at age 53.

The capping verse:

The thought-cluttered bucket's bottom broken;
Neither water nor moon remains.

This is a capping verse that my teacher, Maezumi Roshi, wrote when we were working on one of the books at Zen Center of Los Angeles. I was collecting capping verses and he looked through his notes and pulled this one out. I loved it and I still love it.

The thought-cluttered bucket's bottom broken. The bucket is the container, the bag of skin, the illusion, the thing that we think we are. It's the thing that's in a constant state of becoming and change, the thing that we cling to, put our armor around, and try to protect so desperately. It's the illusion that separates us from everything else, from everything that we need and from everything that we love. The illusion. When the thought-cluttered bucket's bottom is broken, the body and mind fall away. The illusion falls away.

Neither water nor moon remains. The water — mind. The moon — enlightenment. Both gone. What is it that remains? You should understand that when the ten thousand things have been extinguished, there is still something that is not extinguished. What is it?!

If you don't know, you have an imperative to find out.

John Daido Loori, Roshi is the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery. A successor to Hakuyu Taizan Maezumi, Roshi, Daido Roshi trained in rigorous koan Zen and in the subtle teachings of Master Dogen, and is a lineage holder in the Soto and Rinzai schools of Zen.

ARTICLES
Maître Dogen
http://www.buddhaline.net/Maitre-Dogen

Faire voeu de n'agir que pour le bien de tous les êtres par Maître Dogen
Faut-il avoir un maître ? réponse de Maître Dôgen par Maître Dogen
Fukanzazengi - La Voie est foncièrement parfaite. Elle emplit tout par Maître Dogen
Genjō Kōan - L'existence comme expression de l'éveil par Maître Dogen
Hosso - Dharma - La réalité de tous les phénomènes par Maître Dogen
Immo - Ce qui est par Maître Dogen
L'obéissance (Rai Hai Tokuzi) par Maître Dogen
La loi réalisée de l'Univers par Maître Dogen
Les huit facultés dont dispose un grand homme - Hachi-Dainingaku par Maître Dogen
Les quatre conduites du Bodhisattva par Maître Dogen
Moment Propice par Maître Dogen
Pratique équilibrée et reconnaissance par Maître Dogen
Quatre chevaux ? par Maître Dogen
Samadhi le roi des samadhis par Maître Dogen
Se prosterner et réaliser l'essence de la Voie par Maître Dogen
Shōji - Naître et mourir par Maître Dogen
Shobogenzo Zuimonki - 1.19 par Maître Dogen
Shobogenzo Zuimonki - La Voie est foncièrement parfaite par Maître Dogen
Shobogenzo Zuimonki - Ne pas remettre au lendemain par Maître Dogen
Shushogi - Les bonnes raisons de la pratique et de la réalisation par Maître Dogen
Zenki : Zen Attitude par Maître Dogen

Œuvres complètes :
DŌGEN, Dōgen zenji zenshū (道元禅師全集), 2 vols., ed. par OKUBO Dōshū, Chikumashobō, Tōkyō, 1969-1970.
DŌGEN, Dōgen zenji zenshū (道元禅師全集), 7 vols., ed. par KAWAMURA Kōdō, Shunjūsha, Tōkyō, 1988-1993.

FAURE, Bernard, La vision immédiate : nature, éveil et tradition selon le « Shōbōgenzō », Le Mail, 1987.

Dogen Zenji Amazon

NAKIMOVITCH, Pierre, Dōgen et les paradoxes de la bouddhéité: introduction, traduction et commentaire du volume De la bouddhéité (Trésor de l'œil de la loi authentique), Droz, Genève, 1999.

Dogen Zenji Movie

Shōbōgenzō : La vraie Loi, Trésor de l'Œil, 6 vols., trad. fr. par ORIMO, Yoko, Sully, 2005-2012.