The ''Shinji Shōbōgenzō'' (真字正法眼蔵) or ''True Dharma Eye 300 Cases'' (''Shōbōgenzō Sambyakusoku''), or ''Treasury of the True Dharma Eye'' (''Mana Shōbōgenzō''), compiled by
Eihei Dōgen in 1223–1227, was first published in Japanese in 1766. The literary sources of the ''Shinji Shōbōgenzō'' are believed to have been the ''Keitoku Dentōroku'' and the ''Shūmon Tōyōshū''. It is written in
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
, the language of the original texts from which the ''kōans'' were taken.
Background
Regardless of a few instances where Dōgen criticized the study of ''kōans'', legend states that the young monk stayed up all night copying the ''
Blue Cliff Record
The ''Blue Cliff Record'' () is a collection of Chan Buddhist kōans originally compiled in Song China in 1125, during the reign of Emperor Huizong, and then expanded into its present form by Chan master Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135; ).K. Sekida, ...
'' before his journey China (although this story is likely apocryphal, given the great length of the text). Dōgen's first teacher,
Eisai
was a Japanese Buddhist priest, credited with founding the Rinzai school, the Japanese line of the Linji school of Zen Buddhism. In 1191, he introduced this Zen approach to Japan, following his trip to China from 1187 to 1191, during which he w ...
, taught the importance of ''kōan'' introspection. While establishing the
Kōshōhōrin-ji
''Kōshōhōrin-ji'' (), more commonly known by its abbreviated name ''Kōshō-ji'' () and sometimes by its full formal name ''Kannondori Kōshōhōrin-ji'' (), was the first independent zen temple in Japan. While Kennin-ji was established in 1202 ...
, Dōgen gathered the three hundred ''kōans'' featured in the ''Shinji Shōbōgenzō''.
English translations
*
*
See also
*
Shōbōgenzō
is the title most commonly used to refer to the collection of works written in Japan by the 13th century Buddhist monk and founder of the Sōtō Zen school, Eihei Dōgen. Several other works exist with the same title (see above), and it is som ...
*''
101 Zen Stories
''101 Zen Stories'' is a 1919 compilation of Zen koans including 19th and early 20th century anecdotes compiled by Nyogen Senzaki, and a translation of ''Shasekishū'', written in the 13th century by Japanese Zen master Mujū (無住) (literally, ...
''
*''
The Gateless Gate
''The Gateless Barrier'' ( Mandarin: 無門關 ''Wúménguān''; Japanese: 無門関 ''Mumonkan''), sometimes translated as ''The Gateless Gate'', is a collection of 48 Chan (Zen) koans compiled in the early 13th century by the Chinese Zen maste ...
''
*''
Blue Cliff Record
The ''Blue Cliff Record'' () is a collection of Chan Buddhist kōans originally compiled in Song China in 1125, during the reign of Emperor Huizong, and then expanded into its present form by Chan master Yuanwu Keqin (1063–1135; ).K. Sekida, ...
''
*''
Book of Equanimity
''Book of Equanimity'' or ''Book of Serenity'' or ''Book of Composure'' (Chinese: 從容錄, Cóngróng lù; Japanese: 従容錄, ''Shōyōroku'') is a book compiled by Wansong Xingxiu (1166–1246), and first published in 1224. The book comprise ...
''
References
External links
*
Introduction to the Shinji Shobogenzotranslated by Gudo Wafu Nishijima - Edited by Michael Luetchford & Jeremy Pearson
by Daido Loori, delivered at th
at Stanford University
comments on koans from Dogen's ''Treasury of the True Dharma Eye''by
John Daido Loori
John Daido Loori (June 14, 1931 – October 9, 2009) was a Zen Buddhist rōshi who served as the abbot of Zen Mountain Monastery and was the founder of the Mountains and Rivers Order and CEO of Dharma Communications. Daido Loori received shih ...
, in ''
Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly''
The 300 koan-s of the ''Mana Shōbōgenzō''
13th-century books
Soto Zen
Zen texts
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