Dōgen Zenji

Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師; also Dōgen Kigen 道元希玄, or Eihei Dōgen 永平道元) (19 January 1200 - 22 September 1253) was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher born in Kyōto, and the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan.


 Sourced

 Shobogenzo Zuimonki (1975)

tr. by Reiho Masunaga. (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press; New Ed edition, June 1975)


* Zazen is the ultimate practice. This is indeed the True Self. The Buddhadharma is not to be sought outside of this.
o II,22

* Just practice good, do good for others, without thinking of making yourself known so that you may gain reward. Really bring benefit to others, gaining nothing for yourself. This is the primary requisite for breaking free of attachments to the Self.
o III, 3

* When other sects speak well of Zen, the first thing that they praise is its poverty.
o III, 7

* Something you want badly enough can always be gained. No matter how fierce the enemy, how remote the beautiful lady, or how carefully guarded the treasure, there is always a means to the goal for the earnest seeker. The unseen help of the guardian gods of heaven and earth assure fulfillment.
o III, 14

* Because monks come from the midst of purity, they consider as good and pure what does not arouse desire among other people.
o IV, 11

* Students of the Way must not study Buddhism for the sake of themselves. They must study Buddhism only for the sake of Buddhism. The key to this is to renounce both body and mind without holding anything back and to offer them to the great sea of Buddhism.
o V, 2

* People who truly follow the Way would do well to conceal the fact that they are Buddhists.
o V, 3

* Students today should begrudge every moment of time. This dewlike life fades away; time speeds swiftly. In this short life of ours, avoid involvement in superfluous things and just study the Way.
o V, 8

* Just study Buddhism. Don't follow the sentiments of the world.
o V, 9

* If he cannot stop the mind that seeks after fame and profit, he will spend his life without finding peace.
o VI, 9

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