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The Shobogenzo (lit. "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye") is Dogen Zenji's collection of Zen Buddhist fascicles, written between 1231 and 1253 -- the year of Dogen's death (Dogen, 2002, p. xi). Unlike earlier Zen writings originating in Japan, the Kana Shobogenzo was written in Japanese -- not Chinese. (Note: Other works by Dogen, notably the Ehei Koroku and the Shobogenzo Sanbyakusoku, are written in Chinese. Shobogenzo Sanbyakusoku consists of over 300 Koan cases, and is distinct from the Kana Shobogenzo discussed herein. See Heine, Dogen and the Koan Tradition.)
Modern editions of Shobogenzo contain ninety-five fascicles, though earlier collections in the Soto Zen tradition varied in number (seventy-five, sixty, twenty-eight). Dogen himself considered only 12 of these fascicles to be complete. The essays in Shobogenzo were delivered as sermons. Some of the fascicles were recorded by Dogen, while others were likely recorded by his disciples.
The Dogen Zenji Zenshu contains all 95 Japanese fascicles, untranslated. Currently, there is no complete English translation of the complete Kana Shobogenzo. However, a number of fascicles have been translated. See, for instance, The Heart of Dogen's Shobogenzo, Shobogenzo: Zen Essays By Dogen, and Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen.
References
- Dogen, Trans. Thomas Cleary; Shobogenzo: Zen Essays By Dogen; U. of Hawaii Press, Honolulu; ISBN 0-8248-1014-7 (1st edition, hardback, 1986).
- Dogen, Trans. Norman Waddell and Masao Abe; The Heart of Dogen's Shobogenzo; SUNY Press, Albany; ISBN 0-7914-5242-5 (1st edition, hardback, 2002).
- Dogen, Trans. Thomas Cleary; Rational Zen: The Mind of Dogen Zenji; Shambhala, Boston; ISBN 0-87773-689-8 (1st edition, hardback, 1992).
- Dogen, Ed. Kazuaki Tanahashi; Moon in a Dewdrop: Writings of Zen Master Dogen; North Point Press, San Francisco; ISBN 0-86547-185-1 (hardback, 1985).
- Yuho Yokoi; Zen Master Dogen; Weatherhill Inc., New York; ISBN 0-8348-0116-7 (6th edition, paperback, 1990)
- Steven Heine; Dogen and the Koan Tradition: A Tale of Two Shobogenzo Texts; SUNY Press, Albany; ISBN 0-7914-1773-5 (1st edition, hardback, 1994)
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