Dogen
Dogen
1200 – 1253
Eihei Dogen was the founder of the Soto school of Zen in Japan and one of the most profound religious philosophers in world history. Born into a noble family in 1200, he entered the monastery as a child and came to question why, if all beings are originally endowed with Buddha nature, they still need to practice. Unable to find a satisfying answer in Japan, he traveled to China in 1223 and studied with Tiantong Rujing, under whom he experienced the moment of "dropping off body and mind." He returned to Japan in 1227 and spent the rest of his life teaching, writing, and establishing the Soto monastic tradition.
Dogen's masterwork, the Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye), is a collection of fascicles that approach the fundamental questions of Buddhist philosophy—time, being, impermanence, the body, language, and awakening—with extraordinary depth and originality. His core teaching is that practice and realization are not separate: to sit in zazen is itself the expression of Buddha nature, not a means toward it. His instruction for zazen, the Fukanzazengi, remains the definitive guide to Soto sitting practice. The teaching of shikantaza—"just sitting"—points to a quality of wholehearted, non-striving presence that Dogen considered the complete expression of awakening itself.
Names
Teachers
Students
Teachings
- proverbNot Aware of Enlightenment
Do not think you will necessarily be aware of your own enlightenment.
- proverbContinuous Practice
Continuous practice, day after day, is the most appropriate way of expressing gratitude.
- proverbFlowers Fall
Flowers fall amid our longing, and weeds spring up amid our antipathy.
- sermonFirewood and Ash (Genjokoan)
Firewood becomes ash, and it does not become firewood again. Yet do not suppose that the ash is after and the firewood before. You should understand that firewood abides in the dharma position of firewood, which fully includes before and after, and is independent of before and after. Ash abides in the dharma position of ash, which fully includes before and after. Just as firewood does not become firewood again after it is ash, you do not return to birth after death.
- sermonEnlightenment Is Like the Moon Reflected in Water (Genjokoan)
Enlightenment is like the moon reflected in water. The moon does not get wet, nor is the water broken. Although its light is wide and great, the moon is reflected even in a puddle an inch wide. The whole moon and the entire sky are reflected in dewdrops on the grass, or even in one drop of water. Enlightenment does not divide you, just as the moon does not break the water. You cannot hinder enlightenment, just as a drop of water does not hinder the moon in the sky.
- sayingTo Study the Self
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 free one's body and mind, and those of others. No trace of enlightenment remains, and this traceless enlightenment is continued forever.
- sermonBeing-Time (Uji)
An ancient Buddha said, "For the time being, I stand on the highest mountain peak. For the time being, I move along the deepest ocean floor." 'For the time being' here means time itself is being, and all being is time. Each moment is all being, is the entire world. Reflect now whether any being or any world is left out of the present moment. Being-time has the quality of flowing. Today flows into tomorrow, today flows into yesterday. This flowing does not mean that time moves from today to tomorrow. Today is the time of today; yesterday is the time of yesterday. They are not separate, and yet they do not merge.
- sayingSpring Does Not Become Summer
Firewood becomes ash, and does not become firewood again. Yet do not think that the ash is after and the firewood is before. Firewood abides in its dharma-position as firewood, with its own before and after. Spring does not become summer. We do not say that spring becomes summer. There is spring, and there is summer. Each abides in its own dharma-position completely. This is being-time. Life does not become death. Death does not become life. Life is its own complete moment; death is its own complete moment. They are like winter and spring—we do not say that winter becomes spring, or that spring becomes winter.
Master Record Sources
Yongping Daoyuan
Caodong
1200-1253
Dogen
Soto
Tiantong Rujing (Shakyamuni Buddha and the Two Founders)