Steven Heine

Eihei Dogen

John Daido Loori

Taigen Dan Leighton

Shohaku Okumura

Eihei Dogen, the 13th-century Zen master who founded the Japanese Soto School of Zen, is renowned as one of the world's most remarkable religious thinkers. As Shakespeare did with English, Dogen utterly transformed the language of Zen, using it in novel and extraordinarily beautiful ways to point to everything important in religious life. Dogen's Extensive Record is the first-ever complete and scholarly translation of this monumental work into English. This edition contains extensive and detailed research and annotation by scholar, translator, and Zen teacher Taigen Dan Leighton, as well as forewords by the 18th-century poet-monk Ryokan and Tenshin Reb Anderson, former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center ? plus introductory essays from Dogen scholar Steven Heine and the prominent American Zen master John Daido Loori.

A Translation of the Eihei Koroku

Dogen's Extensive Record

The classic Buddhist text in three engaging new translations, with commentary from contemporary Zen masters. One of the greatest religious practitioners and philosophers of the East, Eihei Dogen Zenji (1200–1253) is today thought of as the founder of the Soto school of Zen. A deep thinker and writer, he was deeply involved in monastic methods and in integrating Zen realization into daily life. At times The Shobogenzo was profoundly difficult, and he worked on it over his entire life, revising and expanding, producing a book that is today thought to be one of the highest manifestations of Buddhist thought ever produced. Dogen’s Genjo Koan (Actualization of Reality) is the first chapter in that book, and for many followers it might be thought to contain the gist of Dogen’s work—it is one of the groundwork texts of Zen Buddhism, standing easily alongside The Diamond Sutra, The Heart Sutra, and a small handful of others. Our unique edition of Dogen’s Genjo Koan contains three separate translations and several commentaries by a wide variety of Zen masters. Nishiari Bokusan, Shohaku Okamura, Shunryu Suzuki, Kosho Uchiyama. Sojun Mel Weitsman, Kazuaki Tanahashi, and Dairyu Michael Wenger all have contributed to our presentation of this remarkable work. There can be no doubt that understanding and integrating this text will have a profound effect on anyone’s life and practice.

Three Commentaries

Dogen's Genjo Koan

"This text consists of Master Dōgen's own words, albeit through the filter of his Dharma successor, Koun Ejō, who wrote down the spoken words of his teacher. The title of the text, Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki, can be translated as "True Dharma Eye Treasury: Record of Things Heard." It also distinct from Dōgen's magnum opus (called just Shōbōgenzō) in that it consists of relatively straightforward and accessible teachings, making more limited use of the allusion, word-play, and metaphor that characterize the essays that comprise Shōbōgenzō. Record of Things Heard can be read as a highly practical manual of Buddhist practice, essentially a primer of Sōtō Zen. Dōgen's words express fundamental aspects of Buddhist practice in terms that are both concrete and straightforward in Japanese society in the thirteenth century. Among the many topics covered, Dōgen especially emphasizes the following points: seeing impermanence, departing from the ego-centered self, being free from greed, giving up self-attachment, following the guidance of a true teacher, and the practice of zazen, specifically shikantaza, or "just sitting". Record of Things Heard is a bilingual edition with extensive notes which help to provide the reader with a new way of approaching the text. As bonus material, this edition also includes translations and commentary of Dōgen's luminously evocative waka poetry, formerly published under the title White Snow on Bright Leaves. The book also includes a selection of Dogen's waka poetry with commentary"--

The New Annotated Translation—Also Including Dogen's Waka Poetry with Commentary

Dogen's Shobogenzo Zuimonki

Francis Dojun Cook

The writings of Zen master Dogen are among the highest achievements not only of Japanese literature but of world literature. Dogen's writings are a near-perfect expression of truth, beautifully expressing the best of which the human race is capable. In this volume, Francis Cook presents ten selections from Dogen's masterwork, the Shobogenzo, as well as six of his own essays brilliantly illuminating the mind of this peerless master.

Zen Practice as Taught in Master Dogen's Shobogenzo

How to Raise an Ox

"Dogen's famous text on Zen practice comes alive in the hands of a modern meditation master." —Carl Biefeldt, Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University and author of Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation This is the definitive English translation of a foundational work of Zen Buddhism—the Bendowa ("On the Endeavor of the Way") by Eihei Dogen, founder of the Soto school of Zen in Japan. Written in 1231, it contains the master's essential teachings on zazen, or seated meditation, which is the fundamental pathway to Buddhist enlightenment. The first part of the book introduces the notion of "wondrous dharma" and looks at the role of the individual to society and notions of time and interconnection. The second part of the work is cast in the form of a dialogue, the Q&A format offering answers to questions a Zen novice might pose regarding the paths to enlightenment: How can passively sitting being a means of attaining enlightenment? Why is sitting so key to meditation? Can seated meditation be combined with other practices? How can I maintain a practice that accords with my other responsibilities in life? What sets this edition apart are the contemporary insights by modern Zen master Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, which tackle some of the difficulties readers face in comprehending Dogen's guidance and demystify some of the terms and concepts central to an understanding of zazen practice and Buddhist philosophy. He discusses the notion of dharma as presented in the text and looks at Buddhist thought through the lens not of abstraction, but in terms of its concrete realities.

A Translation of Eihei Dogen's Bendowa: A Discourse on the Practice of Zazen

Master Dogen's Zazen Meditation Handbook

"Dogen's famous text on Zen practice comes alive in the hands of a modern meditation master." --Carl Biefeldt, Professor of Religious Studies, Stanford University and author of Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation This is the definitive English translation of a foundational work of Zen Buddhism--the Bendowa ("On the Endeavor of the Way") by Eihei Dogen, founder of the Soto school of Zen in Japan. Written in 1231, it contains the master's essential teachings on zazen, or seated meditation, which is the fundamental pathway to Buddhist enlightenment. The first part of the book introduces the notion of "wondrous dharma" and looks at the role of the individual to society and notions of time and interconnection. The second part of the work is cast in the form of a dialogue, the Q&A format offering answers to questions a Zen novice might pose regarding the paths to enlightenment: How can passively sitting being a means of attaining enlightenment? Why is sitting so key to meditation? Can seated meditation be combined with other practices? How can I maintain a practice that accords with my other responsibilities in life? What sets this edition apart are the contemporary insights by modern Zen master Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, which tackle some of the difficulties readers face in comprehending Dogen's guidance and demystify some of the terms and concepts central to an understanding of zazen practice and Buddhist philosophy. He discusses the notion of dharma as presented in the text and looks at Buddhist thought through the lens not of abstraction, but in terms of its concrete realities.

A Translation of Eihei Dōgen's Bendowa: a Discourse on the Practice of Zazen

Eihei Dogen, the thirteenth-century Zen master who founded the Japanese Soto School of Zen, is renowned as one of the world's most remarkable religious thinkers. As Shakespeare does with English, Dogen utterly transforms the language of Zen, using it in novel and extraordinarily beautiful ways to point to everything important in the religious life. He is known for two major works. The first work, the massive Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye), represents his early teachings and exists in myriad English translations; the second work, the Eihei Koroku, is a collection of all his later teachings, including short formal discourses to the monks training at his temple, longer informal talks, and koans with his commentaries, as well as short appreciatory verses on various topics. The Shobogenzo has received enormous attention in Western Zen and Western Zen literature, and with the publication of this watershed volume, the Eihei Koroku will surely rise to commensurate stature. Dogen's Extensive Record is the first-ever complete and scholarly translation of this monumental work into English and this edition is the first time it has been available in paperback. This edition contains extensive and detailed research and annotation by scholars, translators and Zen teachers Taigen Dan Leighton and Shohaku Okumura, as well as forewords by the eighteenth-century poet-monk Ryokan and Tenshin Reb Anderson, former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center - plus introductory essays from Dogen scholar Steven Heine, and the prominent, late American Zen master John Daido Loori.

The classic Buddhist text in three engaging new translations, with commentary from contemporary Zen masters. One of the greatest religious practitioners and philosophers of the East, Eihei Dogen Zenji (1200-1253) is today thought of as the founder of the Soto school of Zen. A deep thinker and writer, he was deeply involved in monastic methods and in integrating Zen realization into daily life. At times The Shobogenzo was profoundly difficult, and he worked on it over his entire life, revising and expanding, producing a book that is today thought to be one of the highest manifestations of Buddhist thought ever produced. Dogen's Genjo Koan (Actualization of Reality) is the first chapter in that book, and for many followers it might be thought to contain the gist of Dogen's work--it is one of the groundwork texts of Zen Buddhism, standing easily alongside The Diamond Sutra, The Heart Sutra, and a small handful of others. Our unique edition of Dogen's Genjo Koan contains three separate translations and several commentaries by a wide variety of Zen masters. Nishiari Bokusan, Shohaku Okamura, Shunryu Suzuki, Kosho Uchiyama. Sojun Mel Weitsman, Kazuaki Tanahashi, and Dairyu Michael Wenger all have contributed to our presentation of this remarkable work. There can be no doubt that understanding and integrating this text will have a profound effect on anyone's life and practice.

Eihei Dogen

Books

Your next favorite book is out there