''Zazen shin'' (), rendered in English as the ''Acupuncture Needle of Zazen'', ''Lancet of Zazen'', or ''Needle for Zazen'', is a book of the

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 ...

by the 13th century

Sōtō Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān L ...

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

monk Eihei Dōgen. It was written on the 19th of April in 1242 at Dōgen's monastery

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 120 ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

. The book appears as the 12th book in the 75 fascicle version of the

, and it is ordered 27th in the later chronological 95 fascicle ''Honzan'' editions. The title ''Zazen shin'' refers to a poem of the same title written by

Hongzhi Zhengjue Hongzhi Zhengjue (, ), also sometimes called Tiantong Zhengjue (; ) (1091–1157), was an influential Chinese Chan Buddhist monk who authored or compiled several influential texts. Hongzhi's conception of ''silent illumination'' is of particular ...

. Hongzhi's poem is quoted verbatim in Dōgen's ''Zazen shin'' and also presented again in modified form later in the text.

References

Soto Zen Zen texts {{Japan-lit-stub