Did Dogen Go to China?: What He Wrote and When He Wrote It

by Steven Heine

Dōgen (1200-1253), the founder of the Sōtō Zen sect in Japan, is especially known for introducing to Japanese Buddhism many of the texts and practices that he discovered in China. Heine reconstructs the context of Dōgen's travels to and reflections on China by means of a critical look at traditional sources both by and about Dōgen in light of recent Japanese scholarship. While many studies emphasize the unique features of Dōgen's Japanese influences, this book calls attention to the way Chinese and Japanese elements were fused in Dōgen's religious vision. It reveals many new materials and insights into Dogen's main writings, including the multiple editions of the Shōbōgenzō , and how and when this seminal text was created by Dōgen and was edited and interpreted by his disciples. This book is the culmination of the author's thirty years of research on Dōgen and provides the reader with a comprehensive approach to the master's life works and an understanding of the overa
trajectory of one of the most important figures in the history of Buddhism and Asian religious thought.

Genres: Buddhism

316 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[A. Jesse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nevermind. This is an exhaustive, scholarly inquiry into the Japanese Zen Master Dogen's great work, the Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma Eye or something like that). Its primary question is not whether Dogen went to China (the author admits that Dogen certainly did go -- it's just a provocative title). Rather, the author is interested in every single edition of the Shobogenzo that has ever been published between the time of Dogen in the 1200s and the present day. He details which of Dogen's writings were included in which edition, and in what order, and with which amendments and deletions. That's it. That's the book. As far as I could tell before I ran away screaming from boredom.

If you're one of the world's preëminent Dogen scholars this might be a nice beach book for you; otherwise, please move along and waste not the time I've lost attempting to parse this book. Better to read Kaz Tanahashi's "Moon in a Dewdrop" (a contemporary translation of Dogen), practice Zen meditation, and look into your own true nature.