Introduction

With this blog I intend to go through the Shobogenzo analysing the text in detail. I'm not an authority on Dogen or Buddhism nor do I know Japanese, although I am a practicing Zen Buddhist. The real purpose of this blog is to further my own understanding. Hopefully this will be useful for other students of Dogen and I would really appreciate any feedback.

The Shobogenzo is a long and, at times, difficult text. While much of it is relatively conventional there are sections (such as the Genjokoan), which consist of sometimes paradoxical style of poetic philosophy which is difficult to make sense of without reference to Buddhist texts which may now be obscure.

Let me be clear. I don't think that the deep meaning of Buddhism can be grasped with the intellect, however it can be indicated. If we can't even see the finger clearly, how will we find the moon it points to?