My 2025 "Cutting In" project is studying
Shōbōgenzō (
Treasury of the True Dharma Eye) by Sōtō Zen founder and master Dōgen. The Shobogenzo consists of a series of essays (fascicles) written primarily for the monastic communities in which he lived and taught. The original Shobogenzo was a 75 fascicles edition, with a later 12 fascicle edition published later in his life. Dogen's hope was to create a 100 fascicle edition, but that was never fully realized.
The reasons for this study are manifold, but the primary motivations include:
- My own journey into the practice of Zen.
- Having a lot of time on my hands. (Thank you, broken arm.)
- Discovering the poetry and pleasure of Dogen's writing, even amidst its density and weirdness.
- Discovering that commentaries really help to unlock some of Dogen's more opaque concepts and word play.
- Encountering excerpts from many of the pictured books during Dharma teachings at sittings with Olympia Zen Center and South Sound Zen.
- Listening to what my own sangha (community) members and Zen teachers/mentors are referencing and recommending.
- Lifelong learning!
To date, this has been a wonderful and challenging experience.
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Books pictured above for the project. (So far!)
Center, center: Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, edited by Kazuaki Tanahashi. This is the "Bible" of this project, so to speak. It includes translations of 96 essays/fascicles, plus a ton of supplementary material.
Center, right: Dōgen's Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki, edited by Shohaku Okumura. These are teachings that were delivered to the monks of his communities, and recorded/transcribed by Dogen's disciple and Dharma heir/successor Ejō. It also includes Dogen's waka poetry with commentary. It has been valuable in unlocking some of the mysteries of the Shobogenzo.
Center, left: Shōbōgenzō: Zen Essays by Dōgen, translated by Thomas Cleary. This includes thirteen essays that Cleary considers key. It's interesting to read these in another translation.
Top, left: Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen's Shobogenzo, translated by Shohaku Okumura. A book-length commentary that helps to unlock a single Dogen essay, Genjokoan. One of my mentors considers this particular essay to be the best piece of spiritual writing ever written.
Top, center: Mountains and Rivers Sutra: Teachings by Norman Fischer, transcribed and edited by Kuya Minogue. The Buddhism Today Reading Group read this book. It's an interesting book because there are three voices speaking throughout. Dogen's Sansuikyō (Mountains and Rivers Sutra) kicks things off. Then there are 52 teachings by Soto Zen priest Zoketsu Norman Fischer, each paired with a suggested practice from Kuya Minogue and/or members of a yearlong group that studied these teachings with Kuya Minogue.
Bottom, center: Receiving the Marrow: Teachings on Dogen by Soto Zen Women Priests, edited by Eido Frances Carney. This includes eleven commentaries by female Zen priests on Shobogenzo essays/fascicles. I'm looking forward to this one, especially since I've had the opportunity to sit with the editor.
Bottom, right: Master Dōgen's Zazen Meditation Handbook: A Translation of Eihei Dōgen's Bendōwa, with commentary by Zen Master Kōshō Uchiyama Roshi, translated by Shohaku Okumura and Taigen Daniel Leighton. I'm interested in this one partly because of the master and disciple relationship of Uchiyama and Okumura and how it is informed by Dogen's Bendōwa. It's another book-lenght commentary on a single fascicle.
