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From the Author
The opening paragraph of Shobogenzo contains the expression "the samadhi of receiving and using the self." My teacher and co-translator Gudo Nishijima has for many years explained that "the samadhi of receiving and using the self" expresses balance of the parasympathetic and sympathetic nerves. This balance is facilitated when the spine lengthens naturally, through the anti-gravity action of the postural reflexes. My understanding of this process has become much clearer due to training in the FM Alexander Technique. Nishijima Roshi himself has recently confirmed that, in his view also, "Buddhism and the Alexander Technique are based on the same principles. Relying upon the common basis we can explain both Buddhism and the Alexander Technique." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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The Nishijima/Cross translation of the Kana Shobogenzo (in four volumes), supported by the Japan Foundation, is a fine translation of the 95 chapter edition of Shobogenzo, the magnum opus of Eihei Dogen [1200-1253], the First Japanese Soto Zen Buddhist Ancestor. The translation adheres closely to the original Japanese, with a clear style and extensive annotations.
The various fascicles of the Kana Shobogenzo were written between 1231 and 1253 (the year of Dogen's death). Unlike earlier Zen writings originating in Japan, including Dogen's own Shinji Shobogenzo, which were written in Chinese, the Kana Shobogenzo was written in Japanese.
Modern editions of the Kana Shobogenzo contain 95 fascicles, though earlier collections in the Soto Zen tradition varied in number (75, 60, and 28). Dogen began a process of revision late in his life that resulted in 12 of these fascicles being revised, but it is thought that he intended to cover them all. There is debate over whether these revisions represented a shift in his views. The essays in Shobogenzo were delivered as sermons in a less formal style than the Chinese-language sermons of the Eihei Koroku. (The Eihei Koroku (translated as Dogen's Extensive Record) is Dogen's second major work. It is a collection of all his later teachings collected by his disciples, including short formal discourses to the monks training at his temple, longer informal talks, and koans with his commentaries, as well as short appreciatory verses on various topics).
There are, to my knowledge, four translations of the complete Kana Shobogenzo available. In order of publication, they are:
1) The Nishiyama/Stevens translation 'Shobogenzo, The Eye and Treasury of the True Law' in four volumes (out of print)
2) The Nishijima/Cross translation, 'Master Dogen's Shobogenzo' in four volumes (this volume plus Master Dogen's Shobogenzo: Book 1, Master Dogen's Shobogenzo, Book 3, Master Dogen's Shobogenzo: Book 4).
3) The Shasta Abbey translation 'Shobogenzo: The Treasure House of the Eye of the True Teaching' (available free at the Shasta Abbey Web Site)
4) The Tanahashi translation Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: Zen Master Dogen's Shobo Genzo in two volumes.
The Stanford-based Soto Zen Text Project, a project to translate Dogen and other Soto texts, has completed a number of fascicles (22 at time of writing), and many other translations of individual fascicles are available.
As with any translation of a text that is as rich as Dogens, I often feel it best to consult a number of translations. Different translators will invariably translate terms in different ways and being able to consult a number of translations can help bring out different aspects of a text.
The Shobogenzo is not an easy text and is probably best for slightly more experienced practitioners.
Fascicles contained in book 2 are:
[22] BUSSHO - The Buddha-nature
[23] GYOBUTSU-YUIGI - The Dignified Behavior of Acting Buddha
[24] BUKKYO - The Buddha's Teaching
[25] JINZU - Mystical Power
[26] DAIGO - Great Realization
[27] ZAZENSHIN - A Needle for Zazen
[28] BUTSU-KOJO-NO-JI - The Matter of the Ascendant State of Buddha
[29] INMO - It
[30] GYOJI - [Pure] Conduct and Observance [of Precepts] - Parts 1 & 2
[31] KAI-IN-ZANMAI - Samadhi, State Like the Sea
[32] JUKI - Affirmation
[33] KANNON - Avalokitesvara
[34] ARAKAN - The Arhat
[35] HAKUJUSHI - Cedar Trees
[36] KOMYO - Brightness
[37] SHINJIN-GAKUDO - Learning the Truth with Body and Mind
[38] MUCHU-SETSUMU - Preaching a Dream in a Dream
[39] DOTOKU - Expressing the Truth
[40] GABYO - A Picture of Rice Cake
[41] ZENKI - All Functions
Appendices
For a good general introduction to Dogen I would recommend Eihei Dogen: Mystical Realist by Hee-Jin Kim.
The works of Zen Master Dogen (1200-53) are profound. They express the point-of-view of an enlightened Master. Such works, especially when written in a sinograph-based language such as Japanese or Chinese, present very real problems of interpretation, and there are few who are equal to the task of competently translating them. Of these few, Nishijima Roshi would certainly seem to be one.
Born in 1919 in Yokohama, he is a graduate of the prestigious Law Department of Tokyo University. Between 1940 and 1973 - when he became a Zen priest - he combined a career in the Ministry of Finance with daily practice in Zazen and study of the 'Shobogenzo.' In his brief but extremely interesting Preface he writes:
"I think that reading Shobogenzo is the best way to come to an exact understanding of Buddhist theory, because Master Dogen was outstanding in his ability to understand and explain Buddhism rationally" (page ix).
In comparing the present translation with three four others I have on my shelves, I was struck by what seems to me to be its greater clarity. Here, for example, is Norman Waddell's translation of the closing lines of Book 1, Fascicle 11 - Uji - Existence-Time :
"Such investigations in thoroughgoing practice, reaching here and not reaching there - that is the time of being-time" ('Eastern Buddhist,' Vol XII No.1, May 1979, page 129).
Here is the Nishijima-Cross translation of the same lines :
"When we experience coming and experience leaving, and when we experience presence and experience absence, like this [i.e., as in the immediately preceding scriptural quotation], that time is Existence-Time" (page 118).
One of the reasons for the difference between these two readings may have to do with Nishijima Roshi's expressed preference for a literal, as opposed to a more literary translation, as when he commented : "I like the translation from which Master Dogen's Japanese can be guessed" (page xi). But whatever may be the case, whereas the Waddell reading conveys little to me, the Nishijima-Cross reading immediately evokes such things as the felt presence of the absence that is death.
Besides its greater clarity, there are many other fine things in this book. These include the use, where appropriate, of Chinese characters, and the fact that all passages have been keyed to the 'Gendaigo-yaku-shobogenzo,' Nishijima Roshi's 13-volume edition of the 'Shobogenzo' in Modern Japanese, features the advanced student will greatly appreciate. In addition, all of Dogen's extensive quotations from the Chinese Buddhist scriptures have been italicized, and the value of this becomes instantly apparent once one starts reading.
The book is rounded out with three Appendices: 1. A table of the Chinese Masters; 2. A detailed Glossary of Sanskrit terms; 3. Four Bibliographies.
The book is bound in a strong glossy wrapper, stitched, and well-printed on excellent paper. Those who may be new to Dogen would probably be better off starting with a book of selections such as Kazuaki Tanahashi's 'Moon in a Dewdrop,' but advanced students will certainly want to have this set.
All in all, it has to be one of the finest and most useful translations of the 'Shobogenzo' that we have ever seen. But since this second volume contains only fascicles 22-41 of the complete 95-fascicle text of the 'Shobogenzo,' to get the complete text you will of course also have to acquire Volumes 1, 3, and 4.
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