The Heart of Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō

by Brinda Charry

Book Overview

Two of Dōgen's most esteemed translators provide key chapters from his Zen masterpiece, the Shōbōgenzō, in English with annotations to guide the reader.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0791452425
• ISBN13: 9780791452424
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Length: 132 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.5" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

A spectacular effort by the translators.

I do not wish to critique Dogen himself at this time but instead to offer some praise to the translators. By first selecting some central fascicles of the Shobogenzo and then painstakingly elucidating them through concise translation and a liberal use of footnotes, Dogen becomes a little more approachable. Now, Dogen is still Dogen and reading his works is much like "scratching a fingernail across polished granite," but the footnotes in the text are amazing. I often find myself reading footnotes by some authors and quickly conclude that they have only superfluous or trivialities to add. I sure you have encountered this too. However, the caliber of insight offered in Waddell and Abe's notes is simply marvelous. Each one is not only useful, but interesting. Although this is Dogen's work, the translators' knowledge on the subject comes through quite powerfully, adding a layer of depth to this text. I found myself clinging to each footnote as if it were as important as the text itself. In some cases, I found the text to be completely un-understandable until I read Waddell and Abe's notes. Also, there are just so many references to Chinese and Indian Buddhist sources that this makes easy work for tracking down future topics of research. If you are interested in Dogen, I think you will find the insight lent by the translators to be nothing short of amazing. I also hope you find them as enlightening as I did.

Abe and Waddell Set the Dogen Translation Standard

Many readers are probably fairly familiar with both the authors...Norman Waddell being an excellent translator of various Japanese works, and Masao Abe being an important figure in the influential Kyoto School who has helped interpret traditional and modern Japanese philosophy for Western audiences for many, many years. With a cast of expert authors like this, how can you lose? This book, as other reviews have noted, is actually a compilation of various translated articles that first appeared as a series in the "Eastern Buddhist" journal. These translations of selected essays out of Dogen's masterwork (the Shobogenzo- lit. "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye"- which actually is a shared title with a koan collection) have always been highly regarded by Buddhaphiles world-wide. In fact, Waddell and Abe set the standard for later translations of Dogen's material with these excerpts in Eastern Buddhist. While there have since appeared many partial and full translations- as well as scholarly studies- of Dogen's zen teachings, to my mind none of the recent translation work achieves the accuracy combined with a smooth flow that Waddell and Abe rendered. Add to this high-level translation achievement the informative (if brief) notes that accompanied the texts, and you have a resource that should be in the library of anyone who is a fan of zen, regardless of how many other books on Dogen one may already possess. This compilation of their translations into one volume, then, is a welcome resource. As anyone who has studied his writings is aware, tackling Dogen's essays is a tough task in itself. Dogen packs a lot into condensed space, and the only way to really begin to appreciate his style of expounding is to take small doses at a time, and chew on each tidbit. That was probably his original intent anyway. Readers of popular modern zen works who first encounter Dogen often are mystified at his style, as Dogen likes to look at a topic through multiple lenses at the same time, and if one reads too carelessly, one will miss important nuggets where Dogen expounds from an "absolute" view even in simple-appearing statements. All this to say, Dogen isn't casual reading. Dogen "beginners" reading this book might do well to start out with some of the simpler material, such as Zazenji and Shoji (Birth and Death). The latter is one of my favorite brief pieces, having a simple "Pure Land" feel- heck, it's always nice to start out with a bang and get birth and death clarified, at least Dogen-style, before moving on to more complex material. Examples of the latter include essays such as Ikka Myoju ("One Bright Pearl"), supposedly a saying of an illiterate old fisherman-slash-chan master named Gensha. I'm not sure about Gensha, but when Dogen takes that famous saying and tweaks it all sorts of ways as he typically does, you may end up wishing you had gone fishing instead :-). The most famous essay, GenjoKoan, is also not particularly beginner material, although English

Masterful Translations of Dogen's Shobogenzo - Deeply Rewarding

The Heart of Dogen's Shobogenzo offers the complete translations of nine of Eihei Dogen's most important works. These translations, initially published in the journal, The Eastern Buddhist, are considered by many scholars to be the most reliable English translations to date. Each translation is prefaced with an introduction and provided with complete, detailed notes that explain terms, highlight implications, and draw the readers attention to Zen sources as well as Dogen's own unique handling of language. Eight of these works come from the Zen master's magnum opus, Shobogenzo. The Shobogenzo (Treasury of the True Dharma-Eye), Eihei Dogen's masterpiece, is considered one of the most important works of Buddhist literature, and even one of the highest achievements of world literature. The translations from the Shobogenzo that are included here represent eight of the most essential chapters making up this voluminous work. Bendowa (Negotiating the Way)... is a detailed examination and explanation on what Dogen considered as the authentic message, and practice Zen Buddhism. Much of this chapter consists of a "question and answer format" wherein Dogen outlines the authentic teaching of Zen, while simultaneously debunking some of the major aberrations of the Zen teachings of his day. Ikka Myoju (One Bright Pearl)... is one of Dogen's most creative, yet accessible expressions on the nature of life and death according to the Mahayana teachings of nonduality and emptiness. Dogen uses a classic Zen koan as the foundation of his exposition that the "whole universe is one bright pearl." Genjokoan (Actualizing the Fundamental Point)... may be the most direct expression of Zen practice and enlightenment in all of Dogen's work. Dogen's 95 chapter Shobogenzo was defined by one Zen master as, "simply footnotes to Genjokoan." Louie Wing's commentary (in The Flatbed Sutra of Louie Wing) refers to the Genjokoan as, "Skeleton Key" to the Shobogenzo, claiming it presents all of the major points of the entire Shobogenzo. Uji (Being-Time)... is Dogen's remarkable explication on the nature of time and existence, being and time. Demonstrating the nondual quality of time and existence, Dogen reveals the profound implications this has for practice and enlightenment. Bussho (Buddha-Nature)... is a beautiful and complex work. In this essay, Dogen takes up and examines nothing less than the essential nature of reality itself. This is easily the most challenging (and rewarding) fascicle of Waddell and Abe's, The Heart of Dogen's Shobogenzo. The detailed notes on this masterful translation are alone worth the price of the book. Truly a profound analysis of Dogen's majestic treatment of the function and essence of Buddha-Nature. Sammai-O-Zammai (The King of Samadhis Samadhi)... is an in-depth treatise on what it means to actualize the authentic method of Zen meditation. This unique treatment on the methods and implications of the enlightened mind includes detailed i

Beautiful and Brilliant in Equal Measure

Eihei Dogen Zenji (1200-1253), founder of the Soto Zen school, is one of the greatest prose stylists and thinkers in the history of Buddhism. His best works are penetrating and beautiful, vivdly and directly evoking the realized state of a Zen meditation master. His main legacy of writings is contained in the many-volume Shobogenzo, or Treasury of the True Dharma Eye. Shobogenzo is a collection 90 fascicles of short writings spanning his teaching career. This new collection of Dogen's writing contains eight key fascicles from Dogen's Shobogenzo, superbly translated by Norman Waddell and Masao Abe. These translations were gathered for publication after being issued independently in the scholarly journal The Eastern Buddhist. These translations have long been praised by Dogen scholars for their clarity, accuracy, and erudition. This is a very important collection for the Dogen enthusiast, whether scholar, practitioner, or interested reader. It brings together translations of several of the most important fascicles, including Genjokoan (Manifesting Suchness), Bendowa (Negotiating the Way), Uji (Being-Time), and Bussho (Buddha Nature). They are masterfully translated by two scholars who have spent many years studying and clarifying their grasp of Dogen Zenji's thought. This book is particularly important for its footnotes, which are invaluable for the student who has found Dogen to be inpenetrable or incomprehensible. The footnotes provide an unobtrusive but crucial commentary, explaining the wealth of subtle allusions and references that abound in Dogen's writings. These stock images would have been recognized immediately by the monks Dogen spent his life with, but for us they can be (mis)taken as enigmatic and meaningless. Waddell and Abe roundly dispell this misapprehension and convey a Dogen who had something important to say, and who used every means he had at his disposal to say it. In brief, he points to the non-dual nature of all things that resides beyond the breaking point of words and ideas. There are several published translations of part or all of Dogen's Shobogenzo available. Because of the great difficulty in translating Dogen into English, it is worthwhile to own several translations. The four-volume Nishijima and Cross translation of the entire work is serviceable and consistent, but rather wooden in style. Kaz Tanahashi has translated many important fascicles beautifully in Moon in a Dewdrop and Enlightenment Unfolds.