Dogen's Pure Standards for the Zen Community: A Translation of Eihei Shingi (SUNY series in Buddhist Studies) - Softcover

Leighton, Taigen Dan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0791427102 ISBN 13: 9780791427101

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1995

Synopsis

Presents a complete, annotated translation of Dogen's writing on Zen monasticism and the spirit of community practice. Dogen (1200-1253) is Japan's greatest Zen master.

This is a complete translation of Eihei Shingi, the major writing by the Japanese Zen master Eihei Dogen (1200-1253) on monastic practice and the role of community life in Buddhism. Dogen was the founder of the Soto branch of Japanese Zen, but his teaching was not limited by any particular school of Buddhism. His writings are generally regarded today as a great summit of Japanese Buddhist philosophy, meditation practice, psychology, and poetic insight into the nature of reality.

Eihei Shingi contains Dogen's principal guidelines and instructions for everyday life and rituals in the monastic training center he established. Included are a collection of dramatic teaching stories, or koans, on the attitude and responsibilities for practitioners in the community, the only collection of traditional koans with this practical focus.

In addition to the translation, the book includes detailed annotation, a substantial introduction, glossaries of Japanese technical terms and persons mentioned, and lineage charts, all providing relevant background in historical and religious context. "This book represents the best translation so far of a famous collection of essays that provide a great deal of concrete information on the practice of Zen monasticism." -- Carl Bielefeldt, Stanford University

About this title

About the Author

Taigen Daniel Leighton is a priest and teaches at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Muir Beach, California. He also teaches at the Institute of Buddhist Studies at the Graduate Theological Union. Shohaku Okumura is Chief Priest and Head Teacher at the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center.

Edition details

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 1995
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0791427102
• ISBN 13: 9780791427101
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 294