Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist

Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist PDF Author: Hee-Jin Kim
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861718399
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 370

Book Description
Eihei Dogen, the founder of the Japanese branch of the Soto Zen Buddhist school, is considered one of the world's most remarkable religious philosophers. Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist is a comprehensive introduction to the genius of this brilliant thinker. This thirteenth-century figure has much to teach us all and the questions that drove him have always been at the heart of Buddhist practice. At the age of seven, in 1207, Dogen lost his mother, who at her death earnestly asked him to become a monastic to seek the truth of Buddhism. We are told that in the midst of profound grief, Dogen experienced the impermanence of all things as he watched the incense smoke ascending at his mother's funeral service. This left an indelible impression upon the young Dogen; later, he would emphasize time and again the intimate relationship between the desire for enlightenment and the awareness of impermanence. His way of life would not be a sentimental flight from, but a compassionate understanding of, the intolerable reality of existence. At age 13, Dogen received ordination at Mt. Hiei. And yet, a question arose: "As I study both the exoteric and the esoteric schools of Buddhism, they maintain that human beings are endowed with Dharma-nature by birth. If this is the case, why did the buddhas of all ages - undoubtedly in possession of enlightenment - find it necessary to seek enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice?" When it became clear that no one on Mt. Hiei could give a satisfactory answer to this spiritual problem, he sought elsewhere, eventually making the treacherous journey to China. This was the true beginning of a life of relentless questioning, practice, and teaching - an immensely inspiring contribution to the Buddhadharma. As you might imagine, a book as ambitious as Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist has to be both academically rigorous and eminently readable to succeed. Professor Hee-Jim Kim's work is indeed both.

Dōgen Kigen, Mystical Realist

Dōgen Kigen, Mystical Realist PDF Author: Hee-Jin Kim
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780816505135
Category : Zen Buddhism
Languages : en
Pages : 384

Book Description


Dōgen and the Kōan Tradition

Dōgen and the Kōan Tradition PDF Author: Steven Heine
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791417737
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 364

Book Description
This book has three major goals in critically examining the historical and philosophical relation between the writings of Dōgen and the Zen koan tradition. First, it introduces and evaluates recent Japanese scholarship concerning Dōgen's two Shōbōgenzō texts, the Japanese (Kana) collection of ninety-two fascicles on Buddhist topics and the Chinese (Mana) collection of three hundred koan cases also known as the Shōbōgenzō Sanbyakusoku. Second, it develops a new methodology for clarifying the development of the koan tradition and the relation between intellectual history and multifarious interpretations of koan cases based on postmodern literary criticism. Third, the book's emphasis on a literary critical methodology challenges the conventional reading of koans stressing the role of psychological impasse culminating in silence.

Treasury of the True Dharma Eye

Treasury of the True Dharma Eye PDF Author: Kazuaki Tanahashi
Publisher: Shambhala Publications
ISBN: 0834828367
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 1280

Book Description
Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Shobo Genzo, in Japanese) is a monumental work, considered to be one of the profoundest expressions of Zen wisdom ever put on paper, and also the most outstanding literary and philosophical work of Japan. It is a collection of essays by Eihei Dogen (1200–1253), founder of Zen’s Soto school. Kazuaki Tanahashi and a team of translators that represent a Who’s Who of American Zen have produced a translation of the great work that combines accuracy with a deep understanding of Dogen’s voice and literary gifts. This eBook includes a wealth of materials to aid understanding, including maps, lineage charts, a bibliography, and an exhaustive glossary of names and terms—and, as a bonus, the most renowned of all Dogen’s essays, "Recommending Zazen to All People."

Realizing Genjokoan

Realizing Genjokoan PDF Author: Shohaku Okumura
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861716019
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 326

Book Description
"A clear and concise commentary on one of Dogen's most difficult pieces." Brad Warner, author of Hardcore Zen --Book Jacket.

Dōgen on Meditation and Thinking

Dōgen on Meditation and Thinking PDF Author: Hee-Jin Kim
Publisher: State University of New York Press
ISBN: 0791480909
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 186

Book Description
Thirty years after the publication of his classic work Dōgen Kigen—Mystical Realist, Hee-Jin Kim reframes and recasts his understanding of Dōgen's Zen methodology in this new book. Through meticulous textual analyses of and critical reflections on key passages primarily from Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō, Kim explicates hitherto underappreciated aspects of Dōgen's religion, such as the ambiguity of delusion and also of enlightenment, intricacies of negotiating the Way, the dynamic functions of emptiness, the realizational view of language, nonthinking as the essence of meditation, and a multifaceted conception of reason. Kim also responds to many recent developments in Zen studies that have arisen in both Asia and the West, especially Critical Buddhism. He brings Dōgen the meditator and Dōgen the thinker into relief. Kim's study clearly demonstrates that language, thinking, and reason constitute the essence of Dōgen's proposed Zen praxis, and that such a Zen opens up new possibilities for dialogue between Zen and contemporary thought. This fresh assessment of Dōgen's Zen represents a radical shift in our understanding of its place in the history of Buddhism.

Impermanence Is Buddha-Nature

Impermanence Is Buddha-Nature PDF Author: Joan Stambaugh
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824812577
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 168

Book Description
D?gen Zenji was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher born in Ky?to, and the founder of the S?t? school of Zen in Japan after travelling to China and training under the Chinese Caodong lineage there. D?gen is known for his extensive writing including the Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma or Sh?b?genz?, a collection of ninety-five fascicles concerning Buddhist practice and enlightenment. The primary concept underlying D?gen's Zen practice is "oneness of practice-enlightenment". In fact, this concept is considered so fundamental to D?gen's variety of Zen-and, consequently, to the S?t? school as a whole-that it formed the basis for the work Shush?-gi, which was compiled in 1890 by Takiya Takush? of Eihei-ji and Azegami Baisen of S?ji-ji as an introductory and prescriptive abstract of D?gen's massive work, the Sh?b?genz? ("Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma"). Dogen is a profoundly original and difficult 13th century Buddhist thinker whose works have begun attracting increasing attention in the West. Admittedly difficult for even the most advanced and sophisticated scholar of Eastern thought, he is bound, initially, to present an almost insurmountable barrier to the Western mind. Yet the task of penetrating that barrier must be undertaken and, in fact, is being carried out by many gifted scholars toiling in the Dogen vineyard.

A Primer of Soto Zen

A Primer of Soto Zen PDF Author: Dōgen
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 9780824803575
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 132

Book Description
Zen was popularized in the West largely through the writings of Dr. D.T. Suzuki, who followed the school of Rinzai Zen. Although it remains relatively unknown in the West, Soto Zen eventually attracted the greatest number of followers in Japan. With its gentle, more intellectual approach, Soto Zen relies on deep meditation (zazen) rather than the "sudden," direct method (using koan) of Rinzai Zen, in striving for enlightenment. The Shobogenzo Zuimonki consists largely of brief talks, horatatory remarks, and instructional and cautionary comments by the Soto Zen Master Dogen (1200-1253). Translated, shobogenzo means "the eye of the true law." Roughly translated, zuimonki means "easy for the ears to understand," or "simplified."

Opening the Hand of Thought

Opening the Hand of Thought PDF Author: Kosho Uchiyama
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0861713575
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Book Description
This book offers with infused and wise humor, an eminently practial presentation of meditation, and with clarity shows how Zen Buddhism can be an ever-unfolding path of inquiry.

Flowers Fall

Flowers Fall PDF Author: Hakuun Yasutani
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 157062674X
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
Written by the founder of Japanese Zen, Eihei Dogen (1200-1253), the Genjokoan is often considered to be the key text within Dogen's masterwork, Shobogenzo. The Genjokoan addresses in terse and poetic language many of the perennial concerns of Zen, focusing particularly on the relationship between practice and realization.