Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Wild Fox Zen

Home
Buddhist
Was Dogen Enlightened? And An Important New Book On Genjokoan

Was Dogen Enlightened? And An Important New Book On Genjokoan

Last updated on: May 9, 2010 at 7:50 pm by Dosho Port

Was Dogen Enlightened? And An Important New Book On Genjokoan 2010-05-09T19:50:00-06:00 Dosho Port

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Shohaku Okumura’s new book, Realizing Genjokoan: The Key to Dogen’s Shobogenzo, will be coming out soon – June 1, I believe – through Wisdom Publications. Preorder now!

I was asked to endorse the book and so I’ve had the chance to read it. I found it to be a great offering. Here’s the blurb I wrote for Wisdom (not sure if they decided to use it):

Shohaku’s sincere and devoted zazen heart illuminates this tender book, kindly and persistently examining words as if they were his eyeballs and in so doing, deepening the reader’s understanding and appreciation of ordinary mind. Importantly, Shohaku places Dogen’s pivotal work, Genjokoan*, in the context of general Buddhism and demonstrates in detail how the teaching of Genjokoan penetrates and is mutually embraced by the whole of Dogen’s Zen. A heartfelt reading of this book will show the reader how to study the buddhadharma and those who wish to realize the fundamental point will find a guide and an obstacle right here.*

Obstacle? Yes – that’s high praise. It might be such a barrier that it will encourage people to realize genjokoan for themselves, not relying even on old, dead, Dogen.

And that’s just where I don’t see eye-to-eye with Shohaku. We’ve been around this one at least several times going back many years.

Shohaku (and many Soto Zen scholars and priests in Japan) argue that Dogen was against “personal” enlightenment or kensho. Kensho is now associated with the Rinzai lineage and shikantaza with the Soto line.

Both sides of this debate trot out passages from Dogen that show that he was against kensho and that he was for it. There was a long discussion of this over at the Zen Forum International so I’ll spare you that for now.

Imv, the abundance of evidence for both sides points to the likelihood of a third option – Dogen’s view on kensho was more nuanced and complex than contemporary sectarian politics admit.

This is going to be the theme of my next book. For now, I want to look at one of the arguments Shohaku makes about Dogen’s enlightenment. He says it didn’t happen.

You might know the story (and even seen it happen in the movie). After Dogen meets Rujing, he sits long and devotedly, finally hearing Rujing scold the monk who is sitting and sleeping next to Dogen, “Zen study is dropping mind and body.”

“Hearing this, suddenly Dogen was greatly enlightened.”

Or so says an important work by Keizan, the third ancestor after Dogen, Transmission of Light. Dogen himself does not tell the story of his own enlightenment in any of the extant works credited to him. So Shohaku and a number of other eminent Dogen scholars argue that Keizan made it up.

I gotta say that Soto Zen is one hinky sect! Our claim to Buddhist legitimacy is that our founder was not enlightened and the second founder, Keizan, was a big fibber! Or that Dogen was so pure that he didn’t have a mere personal enlightenment. Kinda odd, don’t you think?

Anyway, I respectfully disagree with this position for both historical and buddhadharmical reasons.

First on the historical side. Dogen didn’t say a lot about himself personally and when he did it usually wasn’t to blow his own horn. The stories in the Tenzokyokun, for example, have Dogen bested by old tenzos.

Further, Dogen doesn’t comment on some really important things – he doesn’t say why he didn’t take the full vinaya ordination, why he left Kyoto, why he didn’t hang out longer with the Shogun in Kamakura, etc.

Dogen wasn’t a modern guy who went on and on about himself at dinner until his date was deliriously bored.

Also, Keizan was well-connected with Dogen’s inner circle. His grandmother was a close student of Dogen. Keizan studied closely with several of Dogen’s direct descendants. Probably a bunch of monks in his assembly had close connections with those teachers as well and so fabricating an enlightenment story would have made waves.

Another thing that’s fishy about arguing that Dogen didn’t have kensho is that even if he didn’t, what about all the Chinese ancestors whose kensho stories are well-known? What about the Buddha? What about the many Soto Zen kensho stories after Dogen? Keizan, Gento Sokuju, and Katagiri, to name just a few, all report an experience that sounds very much like kensho, whether they used the “k” word or not.

It seems to me that the story of Dogen’s enlightenment was probably passed orally from Dogen to Keizan via his grandmother or mother or one of his teachers.

Then there’s the buddhadharmic side. Everyone I know who’s had a taste of kensho sees the turn-around characteristic of that experience in Dogen’s work. Dogen is inspiring to many for just this reason – he beautifully and powerfully presents the possibility of radically opening the heart and manifesting that openness in the world in ways that really count.

It is for this primary reason, imv, that Dogen’s Zen has so much to offer the helpless ones in the future who depend on our practice and enlightenment.

So … did Dogen have a personal enlightenment?

Yes, but he didn’t take it personally.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

May 9, 2010

Ingredients of Community: Wholehearted Play Webinar 8

Next Post

May 12, 2010 One More Thing about Dropping Body and Mind

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 August 2021 June 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 August 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 December 2016 October 2016 June 2016 April 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 August 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which city did David conquer and make his capital?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Gibeon Jerusalem Bethel Hebron