Shobogenzo
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The Shōbōgenzō (正法眼蔵), lit. "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye", is Dōgen Zenji's collection of Zen Buddhist fascicles, written between 1231 and 1253 -- the year of Dōgen's death (Dōgen, 2002, p. xi). Unlike earlier Zen writings originating in Japan, the Kana Shōbōgenzō was written in Japanese -- not Chinese. Other works by Dōgen, notably the Eihei Koroku and the Shobogenzo Sanbyakusoku, are written in Chinese. Shobogenzo Sanbyakusoku consists of over 300 Koan (open cases), and is distinct from the Kana Shōbōgenzō discussed herein. See: Heine, Dogen and the Koan Tradition.)
Modern editions of Shōbōgenzō contain ninety-five fascicles, though earlier collections in the Soto Zen tradition varied in number (seventy-five, sixty, twenty-eight). Dogen himself considered only 12 of these fascicles to be complete. The essays in Shōbōgenzō were delivered as sermons. Some of the fascicles were recorded by Dōgen, while others were likely recorded by his disciples.
The Dōgen Zenji Zenshu contains all 95 Japanese fascicles, untranslated. The Nishijima/Cross translation, Master Dogen's Shobogenzo, and Shobogenzo, The Eye and Treasury of the True Law, by Kosen Nishiyama and John Stevens, are the only English translations of the complete Kana Shobogenzo. The Stanford-based Soto Zen Text Project, an ambitious project to translate Dogen and other Soto texts, has completed several fascicles, and many other translations of individual fascicles are available. See references and external links.
[edit] References
- Dogen, Trans. Thomas Cleary; Shobogenzo: Zen Essays By Dogen; U. of Hawaii Press, Honolulu; ISBN 0-8248-1014-7 (1st edition, hardback, 1986).
- Dogen, Trans. Norman Waddell and Masao Abe; The Heart of Dogen's Shobogenzo; SUNY Press, Albany; ISBN 0-7914-5242-5 (1st edition, hardback, 2002).
- Dogen, Trans. Thomas Cleary; Rational Zen: The Mind of Dogen Zenji; Shambhala, Boston; ISBN 0-87773-689-8 (1st edition, hardback, 1992).
- Dogen, Trans. Gudo Nishijima & Chodo Cross; Master Dogen's Shobogenzo; Windbell Publications, London; ISBN 0-9523002-1-4 (four volumes, paperback, 1994).
- Dogen, Ed. Kazuaki Tanahashi; Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen; North Point Press, San Francisco; ISBN 0-86547-185-1 (hardback, 1985).
- Yuho Yokoi; Zen Master Dogen; Weatherhill Inc., New York; ISBN 0-8348-0116-7 (6th edition, paperback, 1990)
- Steven Heine; Dogen and the Koan Tradition: A Tale of Two Shobogenzo Texts; SUNY Press, Albany; ISBN 0-7914-1773-5 (1st edition, hardback, 1994)
- Carl Bielefeldt; Dogen's Manuals of Zen Meditation; University of California Press, Berkeley, Los Angeles, London; ISBN 0-520-06835-1 (paperback, 1988?)
- Dogen, Trans. Shohaku Okumura and Taigen Daniel Leighton, with commentary by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi: The Wholehearted Way; Tuttle Publishing; ISBN 0-8048-3105-X (first edition, paperback, 1997).
- Roshi P. T. N. H. Jiyu Kennett; Zen is Eternal Life; Shasta Abbey Press; ISBN 0-930066-06-5 (third edition, paperback, 1987).
- Dogen, Trans. Eido Shimano Roshi & Charles Vacher; Shobogenzo Uji; ISBN 2-909422-24-0 (1997); and Shobogenzo Yui Butsu Yo Butsu and Shoji; ISBN 2-909422-37-2 (1999).
- Dogen, Trans. Kosen Nishiyama and John Stevens; Shobogenzo: The Eye and Treasury of the True Law, Volume One; Nakayama Shobo, Tokyo, Japan; ISBN 0-87040-363-X (hardback, 1975). Volume Two; same ISBN (hardback, 1977). Volume Three; same ISBN (hardback, year unknown). Out of print.
