Shinji Shōbōgenzō

The Shinji Shōbōgenzō (真字正法眼蔵) or True Dharma Eye 300 Cases (Shōbōgenzō Sambyakusoku), or Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Mana Shōbōgenzō), compiled by Eihei Dōgen in 1223–1227, was first published in Japanese in 1766. The literary sources of the Shinji Shōbōgenzō are believed to have been the Keitoku Dentōroku and the Shūmon Tōyōshū. It is written in Chinese, the language of the original texts from which the kōans were taken.

Background

Regardless of a few instances where Dōgen criticized the study of kōans, legend states that the young monk stayed up all night copying the Blue Cliff Record before his journey China (although this story is likely apocryphal, given the great length of the text). Dōgen's first teacher, Eisai, taught the importance of kōan introspection. While establishing the Kōshōhōrin-ji, Dōgen gathered the three hundred kōans featured in the Shinji Shōbōgenzō.

English translations

• Nishijima, Gudo Wafu (February 1, 2003). Master Dogen's Shinji Shobogenzo. Windbell Publications. ISBN 9780952300267.
• Loori, John Daido; Tanahashi, Kazuaki (December 13, 2005). The True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Three Hundred Koans. Shambhala Publications. ISBN 9781590302422.

See also

• Shōbōgenzō
• 101 Zen Stories
• The Gateless Gate
• Blue Cliff Record
• Book of Equanimity

External links

• Miller, Gregory (2007). "Review of Zen Master Dōgen's Three Hundred Kōans". Journal of Buddhist Ethics. Archived from the original on June 15, 2010.
• Introduction to the Shinji Shobogenzo translated by Gudo Wafu Nishijima - Edited by Michael Luetchford & Jeremy Pearson
• Dogen's 300 Koans by Daido Loori, delivered at the Symposium on Dogen Zen at Stanford University
• comments on koans from Dogen's Treasury of the True Dharma Eye by John Daido Loori, in Buddhadharma: The Practitioner's Quarterly
• The 300 koan-s of the Mana Shōbōgenzō