![]() This question was, in large part, prompted by the Tendai concept of original enlightenment (本覚 hongaku), which states that all human beings are enlightened by nature and that, consequently, any notion of achieving enlightenment through practice is fundamentally flawed. If this is the case, why did the Buddhas of all ages - undoubtedly in possession of enlightenment - find it necessary to seek enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice? According to the Kenzeiki (建撕記), he became possessed by a single question with regard to the Tendai doctrine:Īs I study both the exoteric and the esoteric schools of Buddhism, they maintain that human beings are endowed with Dharma-nature by birth. Early training Īt some later point, Dōgen became a low-ranking monk on Mount Hiei, the headquarters of the Tendai school of Buddhism. His mother is said to have died when Dōgen was age 7. He eventually broke relations completely with the powerful Tendai School, and, after several years of likely friction between himself and the establishment, left Kyoto for the mountainous countryside where he founded the monastery Eihei-ji, which remains the head temple of the Sōtō school today.ĭōgen is known for his extensive writing including the Shōbōgenzō ( Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, considered his magnum opus), the Eihei Kōroku ( Extensive Record, a collection of his talks), Japanese poetry, commentaries, and the Eihei Shingi, the first Zen monastic code written in Japan.ĭōgen was probably born into a noble family, though as an illegitimate child of Minamoto Michitomo, who served in the imperial court as a high-ranking ashō ( 亞相, "Councillor of State"). Upon his return to Japan, he began promoting the practice of zazen (sitting meditation) through literary works such as Fukanzazengi and Bendōwa. He remained there for four years, finally training under Tiantong Rujing, an eminent teacher of the Caodong lineage of Chinese Chan. Originally ordained as a monk in the Tendai School in Kyoto, he was ultimately dissatisfied with its teaching and traveled to China to seek out what he believed to be a more authentic Buddhism. We avoid using tertiary references.Dōgen Zenji (道元禅師 26 January 1200 – 22 September 1253), also known as Dōgen Kigen (道元希玄), Eihei Dōgen (永平道元), Kōso Jōyō Daishi (高祖承陽大師), or Busshō Dentō Kokushi (仏性伝東国師), was a Japanese Buddhist priest, writer, poet, philosopher, and founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. ![]() This idea is reinforced by the writings of Dogen who said, “ To study the Buddha Way is to study the self, to study the self is to forget the self, and to forget the self is to be enlightened by the ten thousand things”.Įgely Wheel has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. Practising zazen meditation puts us in a place where human desires and thoughts melt away, and this brings us into a state where we can just “ be”. By sitting in this position we suppress our bonpu, which is our non-enlightened side, and is thought to be directly connected to our minds. The idea is to unite the whole body, including the mind into a single organism. He wrote, “ sit in kekka-fuza with body, sit in kekka-fuza with mind, sit in kekka-fuza of body-mind falling off”. However, some modern scholars interpret Dogen’s writing to say that the practice is merely sitting in a correct kekka-fuza position, and nothing more. By doing this is, it implies the idea of the mind as separate from the body. ![]() According to the writings of Dogen, there should be little manipulation of the mind-such as the practice of counting or visualizing breaths-as there is in other meditation techniques. ![]() Some writers like to equate this style of meditation with that of the yoga traditions, but there is some disagreement.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |