Zen students will rejoice at this new perspective on traditional Zen practice. Compiled by Dogen, the thirteenth-century founder of the Japanese Soto Zen sect, with commentary by a renowned American Soto Zen master, these three hundred koans will provide fresh material for many Zen students. Koans are enigmatic teaching tools unique to Zen, such as "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" Although Dogen's Soto sect did not emphasize koan study as much as the rival Rinzai sect that made koans famous, Dogen nevertheless did use koans. This collection represents those koans he discovered on his journeys to China and brought back with him to Japan. Following the traditional format for koan collections, Loori has written commentary and accompanying verse for each koan. Each of the three hundred chapters begins with the main case, or koan, selected by Dogen from Chinese Zen lore or Buddhist scripture. Then follows commentary, a capping verse, and line-by-line notes by Loori. The book also contains a glossary of Zen names and terms, a Zen lineage chart, and a bibliography showing the original sources of each koan. When the thirteenth century master Eihei Dogen, one of the most influential thinkers in Zen Buddhism and founder of the Japanese Soto school, returned to Japan after four years of study in China, the fruit of his pilgrimage was recorded in a collection of koans called theChinese Shobogenzo,also known asShinjiorMana Shobogenzo. This collection of three hundred main cases was first published in 1766 under the titleShobogenzo Sambyakusoku(Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Three Hundred Cases), and was known to have provided the raw material for much of Dogen's better known Japanese-languageKana Shobogenzo. Dogen's collection of koans may come as a surprise to students of Zen as Dogen and the Soto school are generally known for the practice ofshikantaza, or "just sitting," rather than for koan practice. Nevertheless, a careful study of Dogen's work reveals that he did use koans extensively in his writing and teaching, not only in theKana Shobogenzo, but most of his other works as well. Zen students and scholars will findThe True Dharma Eyeto be a source of deep insight into the mind of one of the world's greatest religious thinkers, as well as the practice of koan study itself. Following the spirit of Dogen's pioneering efforts to carry the dharma across cultural divides, John Daido Loori Roshi, one of the West's most respected Zen teachers, has added his own verses and commentaries to each koan. The resulting volume presents readers with a uniquely contemporary perspective on Dogen's profound teachings and their relevance for twenty-first-century Western practitioners of Zen.
