Dogen
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also Master Dogen · Dogen Zenji · Eihei Dogen
Summary
Dogen is the Japanese Buddhist master whose teaching is recorded in Shobogenzo. As a boy he wanted something reliable in his life; later, in the temple, he asked why we need to study so hard if we are all perfect. Back in Japan from China, he began to write and to give talks.
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he felt he wanted to find out something in his life which was reliable
The Life of Master Dogen June 2005 — Lotus Centre
The most important texts
- The Life of Master Dogen ●●● June 2005 — Lotus CentreDogen's doubt about original nature · Dogen's four teachings · Master Dogen's life · search for something reliable
if we are all perfect, why do we need to study so hard? But nobody could answer him
- Dogen and Modern Life ●●● August 2012 — DibbavanaDogen as an orphan and aristocrat · Dogen's inexperience of the ordinary world · Dogen's writings in modern society · talking in simple human terms · what kind of man Dogen was
we have to try and imagine what kind of man, what kind of person he was
- An Introduction to Shobogenzo ●●● June 2005 — Lotus CentreDogen without mysticism · Dogen's decision to write · Dogen's word games
what Master Dogen is talking about is not actually theoretical or strange or mystical
Other texts
- Making Dogen's Words Our Own ●●● August 2012 — DibbavanaDogen as an orphan and aristocrat · guessing what Dogen meant · revering the teaching without following it · what kind of man Dogen was
what kind of smile he had, what his voice sounded like. So we have to imagine it.
- Freedom and the Teacher’s Character ●●● August 2011 — DibbavanaDogen's unhappiness like ours · Dogen's writings nothing like reality
Master Dogen's writings are nothing like reality
- MMK 1: The Four Conditions ●●● Summer 2008 — Nagarjuna’s MulamadhyamakakarikaKumarajiva's Chinese translation · parallels between Nagarjuna and Dogen
my purpose was simply to see if Nagarjuna said the same kind of thing that Dogen said
- Introduction to the Shobogenzo ●●●legend of the burned monastery · Master Dogen's life
I will briefly outline the life of Master Dogen
translated from Czech - Genjo-koan 1: Four Viewpoints ●●● Summer 2002 — Genjo-koanwindow into a lifetime of effort
the writing is a window into somebody's lifetime of effort
- Bussho 1: Having Buddha-Nature ●●● Summer 2005 — Busshodeconstructing conceptual thinking
He’s trying to deconstruct our conceptual thinking whilst using language to do it
- Ikka-no-myoju 5: The Four Views ●●● Summer 2006 — Ikka-no-myojuDogen and relativity · Dogen's holistic view
it's got a holistic view of life, it's not one-sided. And that's why it contains so many contradictions
- Kuge 3: The Whole World in Each Flower ●●● Winter 2007 — KugeDogen’s different reading of the poem
Master Dogen’s interpretation says something different
- Karma, Cause and Effect ●●● July 2009 — Brnoquietly insisting on belief
over the years we form a belief. Then we can insist on our belief quietly. This is what happened to Dogen
- Buddhism Free from ‘Buddhism’ ●●● September 2009 — Earth Spiritreading Dogen critically
So it’s necessary for us to look very critically even at what Dogen wrote. The thirteenth century is a very long time ago.
- Reading Dogen from Experience ●●● May 2014 — Banský Studenecreading Dogen from real experience
If we interpret his writings based on our own real experience here and now
- Understanding the Shobogenzo ●●●contradiction in Dogen's descriptions
the book appears to be, and in fact is, full of contradictions
- Preface ●●● Shobogenzosuggesting reality with words
he sometimes used poems, he sometimes used old Buddhist stories that suggest reality, and he sometimes used symbolic expressions
- Introduction to Master Dogen’s Thought ●●● May 1987 — Gudo Wafu NishijimaDogen's doubt about original nature
if human beings have this pure natural nature, why should human beings study Buddhism
- Introductions 1: Rules and Reality ●●● Summer 2003 — Introductions to Shobogenzo Chaptersreversing subject and object
to reverse the subject and the object in his language
- Uji 2: An Alternative to Linear Time ●●● Winter 2004 — UjiDogen against traditional Buddhism
It was against traditional Buddhism. Master Dogen wanted to strip away all the misinterpretations and strange beliefs
- The Buddha’s Discovery ●●● June 2005 — Lotus CentreMaster Dogen's paradigm
So he talked in a different paradigm. So it takes some time to understand Master Dogen's paradigm.
- Bussho 1: Names and Reality ●●● Winter 2005 — Busshoreversing subject and object
This is one of his favourite techniques. If we turn the sentence around
- Bussho 5: Our Fundamental Nature ●●● Winter 2005 — Busshoassertion that cannot be proven
an assertion which we can’t prove, but it’s definitely something that we can assert
- Ikka-no-myoju 2: Undivided Reality ●●● Summer 2006 — Ikka-no-myojucontradiction in Dogen's descriptions
we shouldn’t be surprised that his descriptions contain contradictions, because reality contains contradictions when we think about it
- Shoaku Makusa 2: Not Doing Wrong as a State ●●● Winter 2006 — Shoaku Makusareading Dogen from real experience
I had to reinterpret the words to suit my experience, not look for experiences that suited the words
- Koan Stories and Being Here and Now ●●● June 2007 — Padmafarmathree hundred koan stories
He collected together three hundred stories, and they were written in Chinese
- Not Making Practice Special ●●● July 2021 — Skalní faraonly one Buddhism
He wasn't saying, There's only what I'm saying. He was saying there's only one teaching, but it has come into different places.
- Practice and Theory in Buddhism ●●●Dogen's search for the right words
He put all his energy into finding the words to describe what the truth is, what Buddhist practice is, and how we should live.
- Bussho ●●● Shobogenzopaintings at A-iku-o-zan
On the wall of the west corridor I see paintings of the transformed figures of the thirty-three patriarchs
- Bussho 3: Beyond the Process View ●●● Summer 2004 — Busshowhy Dogen wrote so much
That’s why he wrote, he just wrote
- Uji 1: The Depth of the Present ●●● Summer 2007 — Ujikaleidoscope of images
It’s more a whole kaleidoscope of images, concepts, and so on, around the subject of ‘What is time? What is existence?’
- MMK 4: Constructs and the Present Moment ●●● Summer 2008 — Nagarjuna’s Mulamadhyamakakarikasame experiment in the dojo
is that because he read him or was it because he was doing the same experiment?
- Yunmen’s Lantern Without Mystery ●●● September 2009 — Earth Spiritfollowing Dogen outside Soto Zen
Although I follow Dogen, I am not a member of Soto Zen
Keywords
Ideas (8) reversing subject and object2 assertion that cannot be proven Dogen's four teachings Dogen's holistic view Dogen's word games only one Buddhism quietly insisting on belief suggesting reality with words
Themes (27) contradiction in Dogen's descriptions2 Dogen as an orphan and aristocrat2 Dogen's doubt about original nature2 Master Dogen's life2 reading Dogen from real experience2 what kind of man Dogen was2 deconstructing conceptual thinking Dogen against traditional Buddhism Dogen and relativity Dogen without mysticism Dogen's decision to write Dogen’s different reading of the poem Dogen's inexperience of the ordinary world Dogen's search for the right words Dogen's unhappiness like ours Dogen's writings in modern society Dogen's writings nothing like reality following Dogen outside Soto Zen guessing what Dogen meant Kumarajiva's Chinese translation Master Dogen's paradigm parallels between Nagarjuna and Dogen reading Dogen critically revering the teaching without following it search for something reliable talking in simple human terms why Dogen wrote so much
Images and stories (5) kaleidoscope of images legend of the burned monastery paintings at A-iku-o-zan same experiment in the dojo window into a lifetime of effort
Works (1) three hundred koan stories