Warm Zen Practice: A poetic version of Dogen's Bendowa

by Tai Sheridan

Warm Zen is an easy to read and understand poetic interpretation of Dogen's complex philosophical essay 'Bendowa'. Dogen's writing is based on the Buddhist philosophy and experience of 'no-self' and the unconditioned reality of existence-being, also called the 'dharmakaya', the mystical and transcendent body of light. Topic headings and contemporary verses give insight into spiritual awakening. Warm Zen is an easy to read and understand poetic interpretation of Dogen's complex philosophical essay 'Bendowa'. Dogen's writing is based on the Buddhist philosophy and experience of 'no-self' and the unconditioned reality of existence-being, also called the 'dharmakaya', the mystical and transcendent body of light. Topic headings and contemporary verses give insight into spiritual awakening. This clear presentation of the complexities of 'Bendowa' eliminates the redundancies, dogmatism, circularities, anachronisms, Buddhist terms, and dialectical arguments of the original. Dogen's difficult and non-dual philosophical essay has been recast into contemporary verse and subdivided into topics.

Genres: Buddhism

31 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 23, 2011

About the author

Also see Taisan Sheridan

Reviews

[Lynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspirational and soothing, easy to read

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some months ago, I discovered a little book of Zen prayers written by this author. I read from it daily. It sustains my practice. Calms and inspires me.
This verse translation of Dogen’s Bendowa is uplifting and brings some clarity to the Zen master’s challenging style. I look forward to returning often to this gem of translation, interpretation, and inspiration. Deep bows of gratitude to Tai Sheridan, a true bodhisattva, who so generously offers his insights and encouragement free of charge!

[Luke Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of this book went right over my head as a novice to Buddhist practice. However there were a lot of inspirational ideas that I could grasp. Repeated readings could reveal more.