SOTOZEN-NET

Dogen Zenji

Dogen Zenji, the founder of Soto Zen School as well as of Daihonzan Eiheiji, was born on January 2, 1200 CE. This was during the Kamakura Period of Japanese history, the year following the death of Minamoto Yoritomo. It is said that his father was Koga Michichika, a government minister, and that his mother was Ishi, the daughter of Fujiwara Motofusa. Presumably, young Dogen Zenji lived in comfort. However, at the age of thirteen, he climbed Mt. Hiei, and the next year he shaved his head and became a monk. It is said that he became a monk because he felt the impermanence of the world on his mother’s death when he was eight years old.

However, Mt. Hiei at that time, as reflected in the eyes of Dogen Zenji, had become decadent because of connections with people in power. Among the priests there was much worldly greed for fame and wealth.

Disappointed, Dogen Zenji left Mt. Hiei walking in search of the true Dharma (the true Buddhist teaching). He visited temples in many different districts, considerably confused and agitated. In Shobogenzo Zuimonki, Dogen Zenji is quoted as saying, “I was unable to meet a true teacher or any good friends of the Way and consequently confused and evil thoughts arose. However, when I learned of eminent monks of the past, I realized that the thoughts I had been thinking were despised and hated by such people. So, I changed my way of thinking, realizing that I should think of my eminent predecessors, the great priests of China and India, rather than the monks in Japan.”

True to his words, he traveled by boat to China at the age of 24 in search of the true way of Buddha. Nevertheless, there were no teachers in China who were able to fulfill the pure ideals of Dogen Zenji. Just as he was about to return to Japan, however, he met Nyojo Zenji on Mt. Tendo where there was true practice focused on zazen.

“I sat zazen day and night. When it was extremely hot or cold, many of the monks stopped sitting for a while because they were afraid of getting sick. At the time, I thought to myself, ‘I’m not sick and if I don’t practice, then it would be useless for me to have come all the way to China. Dying from illness because of practice would be in accord with my original wish’ and so, I continued to sit.” (Shobogenzo Zuimonki) It was to this extent that Dogen Zenji devoted himself to zazen. Many Japanese monks who went to study and practice in China brought back a mound of Buddhist sutras as souvenirs when they returned to Japan, but Dogen Zenji came back empty handed. The only thing that Dogen Zenji brought back with him was having made the teaching of only/just single-minded sitting his own (shikan-taza).

In order to encourage as many people as possible to practice zazen, Dogen Zenji wrote  “A Universal Recommendation of Zazen” (Fukan-zazengi) in which he carefully explained the significance of zazen and how to practice it.

He also wrote “An Account of Discerning the Way” (Bendowa), a question-and-answer format in which he taught that the practice of zazen is the true Way of Buddha. In his representative work The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Shobogenzo), material that stretches for more than ninety chapters, Dogen Zenji thoroughly conveyed the mind of spiritual awakening.

In 1243, at the invitation of his supporter Hatano Yoshishige, Dogen Zenji left Kyoto and moved to the mountains of Echizen.
It has been said that this move was because of pressure from priests at Mt. Hiei, but it is also true that he left Kyoto because of Nyojo Zenji’s advice to “live in the deep mountains and secluded valleys, protecting the teaching of Buddha and ancestors.”

In 1244, the monastery that had been funded by Hatano Yoshishige was completed. At first named Daibutsuji, the name was later changed to Eiheiji. This is the present-day Daihonzan Eiheiji.

It was here that Dogen Zenji continued to practice strictly while fostering his disciples. In 1253, he fell sick and died at the age of 53.