Who was Dogen, the founder of Soto Zen? A brief introduction to its key points. (Difficult terms are in bold; explanations at the end.)
In one phrase, Soto Zen is “just sitting to steady one’s way of living.” Shikantaza means just sitting; make everyday life itself the practice; practice equals realization; a quiet Zen that tunes posture and breath.
Dogen (1200–1253): Born in Kyoto and orphaned young. After study on Mt. Hiei he kept asking, “If we are originally Buddha, why practice?” In 1223 he went to Song China and trained under Rujing at Tiantong; during zazen he realized Shinjin datsuraku (“dropping off body and mind”). After returning he wrote Fukan zazengi and Shobogenzo, insisting on Shikantaza (“just sitting”) and that every act of daily life is the Buddha-way. In 1244 he opened a monastery in Echizen, later known as Eiheiji, and put kitchen work, cleaning, and other communal duties at the heart of training.
1200 — Born in Kyoto
1223–1227 — Goes to Song China; trains with Rujing; realizes Shinjin datsuraku; returns to Japan
1227 — Writes Fukan zazengi
1244 — Founds a monastery in Echizen (later Eiheiji)
1253 — Dies in Kyoto
Shikantaza: rather than koans, sit plainly and directly; sitting itself is awakening at work.
Shusho itto: practice and realization are one; realization works within practice.
Everyday conduct as the path: walking, standing, sitting, lying down—meals, cleaning, work—make the whole of life a dojo; texts like Tenzo kyokun set concrete standards.
Shingi and community: schedules, roles, and decorum are precisely defined; Eiheiji’s norms continue to influence practice.
Teaching approach: in Shobogenzo, scriptures and koans are re-read as guidance for “this very body, now,” keeping ri (principle) and gyo (enactment) together.
Explanations of bold terms:
- Shikantaza — wholehearted “just sitting,” seeking nothing.
- Shinjin datsuraku — freedom from attachment to body and mind; awakened ease.
- Fukan zazengi — Dogen’s early zazen manual written after his return (traditionally dated 1227).
- koans — classic cases from Zen ancestors; Rinzai emphasizes them as a graded curriculum, while Soto uses them as living guidance.
- Shusho itto — practice and realization are not separate; practice itself is realization.
- Tenzo kyokun — “Instructions for the Cook,” framing kitchen work as practice and emphasizing three minds (joyful, caring, magnanimous).
- Shingi — monastic regulations shaping communal practice.
- ri / gyo — principle / enactment, understood together in Soto’s reading.