Dōgen

Eihei Dōgen (Japanese: 永平道元, Eihei Dōgen), Dōgen Kigen (Japanese: 道元希玄, Dōgen kigen, are rare Dōgen mystery) or main Zen Dōgen (Japanese: 道元禅師, Dōgen Zenji) (January 19th 1200 - September 22nd 1253) is the largest schoolmaster Sōtō, which it introduced with the Japan since the China.

Its life

Childhood

Dōgen was born in 1200 with Uji, close to Kyōto. His/her Michichika father belonged to the clan of Minamoto and was downward of the emperor Murakami (947-967). At that time, Japan crosses one period of disorders. The country is subjected recently to a double capacity: that of the emperor and his court installed with Kyōto, traditional capital, and that of the Shogun S, kind of supreme general who holds the military capacity, bench has Kamakura. In this feudal company the big families dispute the capacity. Most famous are the Fujiwara and the Minamoto. His/her mother was the girl of Fujiwara Motofusa, another important personality of the imperial court. Dōgen thus saw the day within an aristocratic good in place and influential family. But his/her father died whereas itself was two years old and his/her mother when it was eight years old. The Dōgen young person accepted education appropriate to such a family and as of age the four years it could read Chinese poems. In spite of that, it passed an unhappy and solitary childhood, looking at the illusory character of the fight to be able it in a world of sorrow and impermanency. Right before dying, his/her mother recommended to him to become monk in order to help with the hello of all the beings. Very early this child, confronted with such phenomena, carried out the need for seeking the truth beyond the world of appearances. Orphan, Dōgen was accommodated by one of his uncles, Minamoto Michitomo, a famous poet who made him discover poetry, which will strongly impregnate all its future works.

Discovered Buddhism

During its thirteenth year, it went up to the Hiei mount, close to Kyōto, with the monastery of the center of the Buddhist studies, and it was established in the school Tendai. Its first Master was Koen, one of the superiors of this monastery. But at that time, the Tendai school entered a phase of decline, insisting too much on the ceremonies, mixing the esoteric and exoteric doctrines, developing the formalism of the monastic life. Moreover, monks soldiers appeared on the mount Hiei and the monastery became a military fortress. Dōgen concentrated day and night on its practice, but more and more of doubts attacked it and it could of nothing carry out its aspirations. During these a few last years in this monastery, Dōgen knew the great doubt and its key question was: “In Buddhist teaching, it is known as that all the beings have originally the nature of the Bouddha. If it is thus, why is it necessary to involve and adopt ascetic practices to reach the state of Buddha? ” Nobody could answer him in a satisfactory way.

It thus decided to leave the Hiei mount, just as other monks such as Honen (1133-1212) or Eisai (1141-1215), founders of the schools Jodo and Rinzai, renovating famous of Japanese Buddhism. Dōgen then met main Eisai, recently sunken of China, which taught Zen Rinzai. With the temple of Kennin-ji, he became the disciple of Myozen, successor of Eisai. Although this school did not satisfy it completely, it practiced deeply and felt to develop its interest for the practice of Zen. Scholar, having a thorough knowledge of many Buddhist texts, his remarkable requirement unceasingly pushed it in the search of new Masters. He then decided to go to China, with the sources of the zen Buddhism.

Travel to China

The Caodong school

It left Japan on February 22nd 1223, accompanied by Myozen and two other monks. On its arrival, Dōgen decided to remain some time on board boat to prepare its tour. At this point in time an old monk goes up on board to buy mushrooms. This monk, old of more than seventy years, was tenzo (cook) in a temple of the mountain close to Shanghai. Its face reflected one great depth and Dōgen was intrigued by it. It invited it to spend the night on the boat, wishing to discuss with him. The monk answered that it was to turn over the evening even to the temple because it was to cook. “In a large monastery such as yours, known as Dōgen, there are certainly other monks who can prepare the meal. - I am old, answered it, and I am tenzo . It is the practice of my old days. How could I leave with others what I must do? - Worthy monk, answered Dōgen, why elderly as should do this work to you if testing instead of reading and to study will sutras them? ” The monk burst of laughing and known as: “Young friend come from abroad, you seem quite ignorant of what the practice and the teaching of Buddhism mean! ” It invited it to come to visit him in the temple of its Master, and it greeted it. Dōgen was very impressed by this meeting and a day, in 1225, it went to the temple of Nyojo, then higher of the Keitoku-ji temple on the Tendo mount, in Minshu.

Satori

During a conversation he asked the tenzo : “Which is the direction of the letter? How does one have to read will sutras them? - 1-2-3-4-5” answered the old monk. And Dōgen still required: “How to make to study the Way, true Buddhism? - Nowhere the Way is not dissimulated. ” Dōgen insisted: “How to make to study will sutras them, true Buddhism? - 1-2-3-4-5” rétorqua the tenzo . This old monk incarnated for him authentic Buddhism, rejoining all knowledge which it had been able to accumulate and making him include/understand I' importance of work, the body practice and all the acts of the life. Maître Nyojo was a demanding and rigorous being. One day, during a Sesshin , Dōgen accepted a great shock. Whereas he had sat in Zazen, its neighbor fell asleep on his Zafu . Nyojo of a strong voice exclaimed: “ Shin jin datsu raku! Reject the body and the spirit! ” And it strongly struck the monk with his sandal, making it fall from its seat. By hearing these words, the spirit of Dōgen undergoes an interior revolution. After the zazen , it returned visit to its Master in his room. He says to him: “ Shin jin datsu raku (I gave up the body and the spirit)”. Nyojo answered him: “ Datsu raku shin jin (again gives up the body and the spirit)”.

Dōgen remained still two years at Nyojo, then decided to go back to Japan. Its Master assure him that it was then time to transmit to his turn I' teaching Buddhism by helping the others to wake up with the universal truth.

Return to Japan

From China, Dōgen anything else brought back only the practice of the zazen , Shikantaza , such as had taught its Master to him. One asked him: “That did you report? ” Dōgen answered: “I returned the empty handeds. ” In its collection Eihei Koroku , he will write later: “Having only studied with my Nyojo Master and having fully realized that the eyes are horizontal and the vertical nose, I return at home the empty handeds… Morning after morning, the sun rises to the East; harms after night, the moon is inserted in the West. The clouds disappear and the mountains express their reality, the rain ceases falling and the Four Mountains (birth, old age, the illness and death) are levelled. ” Dōgen settled initially with Kennin-ji, temple of Myozen, its first Master with whom it had left for China and which had died during the voyage. It is in this temple that he writes its first collection: the Fukanzazengi , universal rules for the practice of the zazen . It is the essential point of its teaching: to only sit down in an exact posture without seeking anything, while letting pass the thoughts like clouds in the sky.

The Kosho-ji temple

Then Dōgen left the temple of Kennin-ji successively to settle in three temples, all located in the area of Kyōto: Annyoin, a small hermitage, in 1230, then Kannon Dorin in 1233 and finally Kosho-ji where, thanks to donations, it built the first monastery Zen truly independent of Japan in 1236. In Kosho-ji it began the drafting of the first chapters of its monumental work: the Shōbōgenzō , ( the Treasury of the eye of the True Law ), ninety-five chapters which contain the gasoline of its philosophical and religious vision. Between 1233 and 1243, many disciples joined it and followed his teaching. Its fame did not have cease to grow. It encouraged to practice assiduously and deeply like had taught its Nyojo Master to him. The success of Dōgen, the new breath that it brought to sclerosed Buddhism, attracted animosity to him, then a growing hostility of the clerical hierarchy. And in 1243, of the monks of the Hiei mount tried to set fire to its temple of Kosho-ji.

Dōgen then decided to move away from the agitation of the cities and the disorders which they can create in the spirit. Thanks to the support of a laic disciple, lord of the province of Echizen (nowadays prefecture of Fukui), in the North-East of the country, on the coast of the Sea of Japan, it built a new temple, which it baptized later Eihei-ji, temple of the eternal peace, whose Ejo later will be the superior after his death. There, in the calm one of the mountain, it continued to teach Zen with its disciples and continued the drafting of the Shōbōgenzō . II left this temple only once during the winter of 1247-1248 to go to the court shogun to Kamakura, on the invitation of the general Hojo Tokiyori. Tokiyori was completely fascinated by Dōgen and proposed to him to remain close to build him and him a large monastery. Dōgen refused, preferring loneliness. It continued to write and practice the zazen until 1252 when, old only fifty-two years, it fell seriously sick. It went to Kyōto to be made look after, without success. It died out on September 22nd, 1253 with the temple of Takatsuji.

Its philosophy

By the depth and the originality of its thought, Dogen is often regarded as the largest philosopher of the Japan and one of the most important thinkers of all the history of Buddhism, the equal one of Nagarjuna.

One of the most original aspects of its thought relates to its design of the relationship of the part with the whole. According to Dogen, one can seize the reality of the things only in one given form. Thus, the Buddhist truth can appear only in one given form. Each part of the totality of the world represents this totality in a particular form. One can thus seize all the universe through the presence of only one grass bit, on the condition of seizing all the nature of this grass bit. The presence of a grass bit can thus represent the Buddhist truth. This design also applies to time. Time appears to him also only in one called given form urgent . The successive design of last/present/future is illusory. Only the moment present is real. Consequently, each moment, also in short is it, " Re-présente" time in its totality without it being necessary to wait other moments. The Buddhist truth of time is time such as it is, the instantaneous present, now.

One moment which represents every moment, a bit of involved grass which represents all the beings symbolize the Buddhist truth in a way much more adequate than by the language. The Buddhist truth is thus always more or less in conflict with the conceptual expressions which try to express it. This is why the various expressions of this truth through the history are only various expressions of this conflict.

The thought of Dogen zenji is the form the most radical catch by philosophies of here and now. This is why, if it is married, it represents with its manner all philosophies of the presence. Among these philosophies, that of Heidegger was compared with Dogen. The bringing together between Dogen and Heidegger makes it possible to include/understand why the work of this last caused a great number of studies in Japan.

Its works

the Shōbōgenzō , ( the Treasury of the eye of the True Law ), ninety-five chapters which contain the gasoline of the philosophical and religious vision of Dogen.
Shinji Shōbōgenzō, (" Treasury of the eye of the True Law in characters chinois"), personal collection of accounts Zen (" kôans") in three parts of 100 each one.
Tenzō kyōkun" , " Instructions with the cook zen"
Eihei Shingi, collection of the rules of the temple Eihei
Gakudô Yōjinshu

See too

Refer

Dogen, Trans. Norman Waddell and Masao Abe; The Heart off Dogen' S Shobogenzo; SUNY Near, Albany; ISBN 0-7914-5242-5 (1st Edition, hardback, 2002).
Steven Heine; The Zen Poetry off Dogen: Pour off from the Mountain Eternal Peace; Tuttle Publishing, Boston; ISBN 0-8048-3107-6 (1st edition, paperback, 1997)
Reiho Masunaga; A To precede Soto Zen off; East-West Center Close, University off Hawaii; ISBN 0-7100-8919-8 (1st edition, paperback, 1978)
Thomas Cleary; Rational Zen, The Mind off Dogen Zenji; Shambhala Publications, Inc., Boston; ISBN 0-87773-973-0 (1st edition, paperback, 1992)
Yuho Yokoi; Zen Master Dogen; Weatherhill Inc., New York; ISBN 0-8348-0116-7 (6th edition, paperback, 1990)
Steven Heine; Dogen and the Koan Tradition: Tale Two Shobogenzo Texts has off; SUNY Near, Albany; ISBN 0-7914-1773-5 (1st edition, hardback, 1994).
William R. LaFleur, ED. ; Dogen Studies; The Kuroda Institute; ISBN 0-8248-1011-2 (Hardback, 1985).
Yoko Orimo, Le Shôbôgenzô de Maître Dôgen, the True Law, Treasure of Oeil; Preface of Pierre Hadot; ED. Sully; 2003; ISBN 2-911074-59-9
Yoko Orimo, Le Shôbôgenzô, the True Law, Treasure of the Eye; Integral translation - Volume 2; ED. Sully; 2003; ISBN 2-911074-88-2

External bonds

Dōgen, presentation, biography, works
Dōgen, Main Zen Sōtō
''' IMMO ''', text written by Dogen (translation in French)
''' RAHAITOKUZY ''', text written by Dogen (translation in French)
''' HOSSO ''', text written by Dogen (translation in French)
''' JUKAI ''', text written by Dogen (translation in French)
'' Bukkyo '', text written by Dōgen
'' Raihai Tokuzui '', text written by Dōgen (translation in English)
'' Tenzo Kyokun '', text written by Dōgen (translation in English)
'' Oryoki Fushukuhanpo '', text written by Dōgen (translation in English)
'' Jippo '', text written by Dōgen (translation in English)
Creative Commons-licensed, translations of Dogen Genjo Koan, Bendowa, and Uji
Genjo koan, text written by Dogen (translation in French)
Tenzo Kyokun, text written by Dogen (translation in French)
Boulli-Editions translation in French of 33 chapters of Shobogenzo of Master Dôgen Creative Commons-licensed
Boulli-Editions translation in French of the notebook of voyage in Creative China of Master Dôgen Commons-licensed
Of the texts of Dōgen on Buddhaline
the interior voyage of Dogen Master, interview of Yoko Orimo by Nguyen Thanh Thiên.

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