Dogen 1200 – 1253
Eihei Dogen was a 13th-century Japanese Zen Buddhist priest and philosopher, the founder of the Soto school of Zen in Japan. After studying in China and returning to Japan in 1227, he established Eihei-ji monastery in Echizen Province, which remains one of the two main temples of the Soto school today. His monumental work the Shobogenzo or Treasury of the True Dharma Eye is a vast philosophical and religious text exploring the nature of being, time, practice, and enlightenment. His teaching that practice and enlightenment are inseparable, that sitting meditation is itself the realisation of awakening, defined the subsequent Soto Zen tradition. His treatment of being-time, in the chapter Uji, has attracted comparison with the work of Heidegger and other 20th-century philosophers of time.
Key facts
- Nationality
- Japanese
- Era
- Medieval
- Movements
- Buddhism
Selected quotes
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Attributed to Dogen:
“To study the Buddha way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things.”
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Attributed to Dogen:
“Time itself is being, and all being is time.”
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Attributed to Dogen:
“Practice and enlightenment are one.”
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Attributed to Dogen:
“When you walk in the mist, you become wet without knowing it.”
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Attributed to Dogen:
“Do not follow the ideas of others, but learn to listen to the voice within yourself.”