Often most of Dogen’s written work is lumped together under the title Shobogenzo, or “Treasury of the True Dharma Eye.” However, Shobogenzo is not one single, definitive collection of Dogen’s work. There are several Shobozengos containing different numbers of texts, and there are important texts not included any of the Shobogenzos. Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師; 19 January 1200 – 22 September 1253), also known as Dōgen Kigen (道元希玄), Eihei Dōgen (永平道元), Kōso Jōyō Daishi (高祖承陽大師), or Busshō Dentō Kokushi (仏性伝東国師), was a Japanese Buddhist priest, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan.
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The Shōbōgenzō is the recognized spiritual masterpiece by the thirteenth century Japanese Sōtō Zen Master Eihei Dōgen. It is comprised of discourses that he gave to his disciples, in person or in writing, at various times between 1231 and his death twenty-two years later at age fifty-three.
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Shobogenzo Tanahashi
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Food for Thought...
The important thing is not to think much,
but to love much;
and so, do that which best stirs you to love.
Saint Teresa of Avila
If you are seeking closeness to the Beloved,
love everyone.
whether in their presence or absence,
see only their good.
if you want to be as clear and refreshing as
the breath of the morning breeze,
like the sun have nothing but warmth and light
for everyone.
Shaikh Abu-Said Abil-Khair
You do not have to struggle to reach God,
but you do have to struggle to tear away
the self-created veil that hides him from you.
Paramahansa Yogananda
O, friend! Nobody veils you, but yourself.
In your path there is no thorn or weed, but yourself.
You asked: shall I reach the Beloved or not?
Between you and the Beloved there is nobody, but yourself.
Awhadoddin Kermani
All those who are unhappy in the world
are so as a result of
their desire for their own happiness.
All those who are happy in the world
are so as a result of
their desire for the happiness of others.
Shantideva
Before you ask God for what you want,
first thank God for what you have.
Babylonian Talmud, B'rachot 30b
How long will you keep pounding on an open door
begging for someone to open it?
Rabi'a al-'Adawiyya
I do not desire suffering;
yet fool I am, I desire the cause of suffering!
Shantideva
Wisdom tells me I am nothing.
Love tells me I am everything.
Between the two my life flows.
Nisargadatta Maharaj
In the morning, the one who does not understand will
consider what he will do,
while the one who understands will
consider what the one will do with him.
Ibn 'ata 'illah
Until you become an unbeliever in your own self,
you cannot become a believer in God.
Shaikh Abu-Said Abil-Khair
Student: Sir, if one gave up the I, nothing whatsoever would remain.
Ramakrishna: I am not asking you to give up all of the I. You should give up only the 'unripe I.' The 'unripe I' makes one feel: 'I am the doer. These are my wife and children. I am a teacher.'
Renounce this 'unripe I' and keep the 'ripe I' which will make you feel that you are God's servant, His devotee, and that God is the doer and you are His instrument.
Sri Ramakrishna
Worn-out garments are shed by the body,
worn-out bodies are shed by the dweller within the body,
new bodies are donned by the dweller, like garments.
Not wounded by weapons, not burned by fire,
not dried by the wind, not wetted by water,
such is the one.
Not dried, not wetted, not burned, not wounded,
innermost essence, everywhere, always,
being of beings, changeless, eternal, for ever and ever.
Bhagavad-Gita 2:22
Where are you hurrying to?
you will see
the same moon tonight
wherever you go!
Izumi Shikibu
There is no difference in the destination,
the only difference is in the journey.
Inayat Khan
All the violence, fear and suffering
that exists in this world
comes from grasping at 'self'.
What use is this great monster to you?
if you do not let go of the 'self',
there will never be an end to your suffering.
Shantideva
In the pursuit of learning,
every day something is acquired.
in the pursuit of Tao,
every day something is dropped.
Lao Tzu
Correct behavior
means that you are
occupied with commendable activity.
Ibn 'Ata'
There is only one virtue
and only one sin
for a soul on the path:
virtue when he is conscious of God
and sin when he is not.
Shobogenzo Book
Abu Hashim Madani
There is only one truth,
but there are many ways of misunderstanding it.
Abraham Joshua Heschel
satyameva jayate
truth alone is victorious
Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.6
I see now
that all creatures
have perfect enlightenment
- but they do not know it
Buddha (Zen tradition, Shobogenzo)
Whilemoving from the UK to live in the Czech Republic at the beginning of 2018, I realisedthat I had a large amount of unpublished material dating from 1977 that I thoughtmight be of interest to others – texts of early translations of chapters of theShobogenzo, cassette tapes of recordings of Nishijima Roshi’s lectures at hisSaturday seminars in Tokyo and at Tokein, the temple in Shizuoka where he heldall of his sesshins throughout the 80s and 90s, videos, booklets that wepublished and many photographs of the activities of Dogen Sangha through theyears. As one of the founder members of Dogen Sangha and as Nishijima Roshi’sfirst Dharma heir, I began to feel a duty to make all this material availableto all interested people. I am slowly editing this material and putting it onthis website so that it can be accessed easily. Thanks to Ralph Hoyte for convertingall the cassette tapes into MP3 files and to Andrew Deakin and members of DogenSangha UK for typing in the Shobogenzo chapters, which I had typed on anold-fashioned typewriter in my flat in Tokyo before personal computers werereadily available. Thanks also to Pavel Fencl for setting up the site andhelping to administer it. I am happy to add other material that other membersof Dogen Sangha may have. Please contact me at mike.luetchford (@) gmail.com ifyou have other resources that you would like me to add.
This is a work in progress and I hope that you will find something of value here. Listening to Nishijima Roshi’s voice recorded in the early 1980s takes me back to the years when our small group of his students felt that we were involved in something important for the world. Certainly, this was what Nishijima Roshi felt and expressed to us in those formative early years of Dogen Sangha when we established the Hideo Ida Zazen Dojo in Moto Yawata in Tokyo, started to hold monthly one-day retreats there and worked to make the teachings of Zen Master Dogen available in English. It is only in retrospect that I realise what we achieved during that time, and what is still being achieved. Nishijima Roshi’s legacy lives on in all his dharma heirs in Japan and throughout the world.
Mike Luetchford
Hradec Kralove
Czech Republic
June 2019