ABSTRACT
Dogen is the founder of the Soto (C: [Caodong Ts’ao-tung]) school of Zen Buddhism in Japan, and is by common consent one of the finest philosophers his country has produced. His many writings cover all aspects of Zen, from its metaphysical bases to practical regulations for the organization of monastic communities, together with suggestions for the correct practice of zazen (seated meditation) which he regarded as essential to Zen. His major work, the Shobogenzo (Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma), consisting of ninety-three fascicles or essays in its standard edition, is regarded as one of the greatest of Japanese philosophical texts. In it, he takes the ideas of the Chinese Zen masters and develops them with rigour and originality.
