Reading Buddhist Priory

Last Sunday we celebrated the Festival of Great Master Eihei Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen in Japan in the 13th century. As Dogen holds such an important place in our tradition study of his teachings is highly recommended. That said, Dogen's unique use of language and the fact that he was writing in a time and culture so different from our own can make such study rather a daunting prospect so I'd like to suggest a few ways in to his writings.

The first recommendation is to read a small amount at a time, perhaps just a paragraph, and not be too concerned if no immediate sense of its meaning comes to mind. Come back to it later, or another day, and read a little more. Just wait and see what understanding the words may call forth from you. You could start with one of the early chapters of Shobogenzo, such as Bendowa or Genjokoan, or with the much smaller book Shobogenzo-zuimonki.

A good commentary can also be a great help, and the newly-published 'Realizing Genjokoan' by Shohaku Okumura is definitely worth reading.

And last but by no means least I highly recommend the book 'Buddha Recognizes Buddha' by Rev. Master Daishin Morgan, the abbot of Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey who says at the start of the book that it is 'strongly influenced by the writings of Dogen Zenji, the founder of Soto Zen in thirteenth century Japan. His interpretation of the Buddha's teaching is a great inspiration in my life.'

Yesterday I visited the Bath meditation group and we had an afternoon retreat together and looked at the verse from Genjokoan (quoted from 'Realizing Genjokoan'):

To study the Buddha Way is to study the self. To study the self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be verified by all things.To be verified by all things is to let the body and mind of self and the body and mind of others drop off. There is a trace of realization that cannot be grasped. We endlessly express the ungraspable trace of realization.

Hope this whets your appetite!