Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation

Quite an interesting study into the likely sources, development, and revisions of Dogen's Fukenzazengi. Dogen is the possibly the most well known, and cryptic, of Japanese Zen Masters. Responsible for planting the seeds of Caodong Chan in fertile Japanese soil; what resulted is the long lasting Soto Zen school, which values and emphasizes the practice of zazen. It's a popular sport in Zen/Chan literature and modern discussion to debate the merits and efficacy of meditation (and whether zazen is even meditation). This study makes some headway into shedding some light into these arguments, though the reader is likely to end up where they started (but with a good deal more insight into the origins of Dogen's work).

Zen Buddhism is perhaps best known for its emphasis on meditation, and probably no figure in the history of Zen is more closely associated with meditation practice than the thirteenth-century Japanese master Dogen, founder of the Soto school. This study examines the historical and religious character of the practice as it is described in Dogen's own meditation texts, introducing new materials and original perspectives on one of the most influential spiritual traditions of East Asian civilization.

The Soto version of Zen meditation is known as "just sitting," a practice in which, through the cultivation of the subtle state of "nonthinking," the meditator is said to be brought into perfect accord with the higher consciousness of the show more "Buddha mind" inherent in all beings. This study examines the historical and religious character of the practice as it is described in Dogen's own meditation texts, introducing new materials and original perspectives on one of the most influential spiritual traditions of East Asian civilization. show less