Encyclopedia of Buddhism

(Elle) #1

Monastery on Mount Tiantong. There, he received
dharma transmission from the abbot, Tiandong Ru-
jing (1163–1228), in the Caodong (Japanese, Soto)
LINEAGE. Returning to Japan in 1227, Dogen estab-
lished Koshoji, a monastery near the capital of Heian-
kyo (modern Kyoto), making it one of the first
Japanese institutions to introduce the Song-dynasty
style of Chan monastic practice. Dogen soon attracted
a following, including monks of the so-called Daruma
school, who would become the leaders of the early
Sotocommunity. In 1242 Dogen left the capital area
for Echizen (modern Fukui prefecture), where he
founded Eiheiji (originally named Daibutsuji), the
monastery that subsequently became the headquarters
of one faction of the Sotoschool. Except for a brief trip
to the new military capital at Kamakura in 1247, he
spent his remaining years at Eiheiji, returning to
Heian-kyoonly in the last days of his final illness.


Dogen was a prolific author who composed essays
on Zen practice such as the Fukan zazengi(Universal
Promotion of the Principles of Seated Meditation) and
Gakudo yojinshu (Admonitions on the Study of the
Way); treatises on Zen monastic rules, later collected
under the title Eihei shingi(Eihei Rules of Purity); a
record of his study with Rujing entitled Hokyoki
(Record of the HokyoEra); and Japanese verse collected
as Sanshodoei(Songs of the Way from Mount Sansho).
Dogen’s teachings were collected in a ten-volume work
entitled Eihei koroku(The Extended Record of Eihei).


Among his writings, Dogen is best known for
SHOBOGENZO(Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma),
a collection of vernacular essays composed over many
years. Modern editions contain approximately ninety-
five texts, but the work has come down in several
redactions, and the original form of the collection re-
mains uncertain. Though there is some variation in
genre, the majority of the essays develop their themes
through comments on passages from the literature
recording the teachings of the Chinese Chan masters,
from which the collection takes its name. Though
seemingly little studied for several centuries after their
composition, the texts of the Shobogenzobecame a pri-
mary source for the development of SotoZen doctrine
during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and
the Shobogenzo has been the object of many com-
mentaries from that time up to the present. In the
twentieth century, the work became highly regarded
as a classic of Japanese Buddhist thought and was
much studied by scholars of philosophy, religion, in-
tellectual history, language, and literature. The texts
of the Shobogenzo have been translated several times


into modern Japanese, as well as into English and
other Western languages.

See also:Chan School; Japan; Tiantai School

Bibliography
Bielefeldt, Carl. Dogen’s Manuals of Zen Meditation.Berkeley:
University of California Press, 1998.
Bodiford, William. SotoZen in Medieval Japan.Honolulu: Uni-
versity of Hawaii Press, 1993.

CARLBIELEFELDT

DOKYO

Dokyo(Yuge zenji, d. 772) was a powerful monk of
the Hosso(Yogacara) school who attempted to estab-
lish a Buddhist theocracy in Japan. Dokyois said to
have spent several years performing austerities on the
Katsuragi mountain range, an early seat of what would
later be known as mountain religion (SHUGENDO). The
earliest record of his presence in Buddhist circles of the
Nara capital is dated 749, when he participated in a
sutra copying ceremony.
Royal instability led to a growth in the power of
Buddhist institutions and monks through the mid-
eighth century. Emperor Shomu (r. 724–749) and his
consort Komyoestablished Todaiji, which still stands
today as a massive symbol of court patronage of Bud-
dhism. When her father retired, Empress Koken (Ae
no Himemiko, 719–770) ascended the throne in 749
and attended the massive inauguration of Todaiji.
Buddhist cultural and political power seemed to rule,
and it is almost a foregone conclusion that Dokyowit-
nessed these events.
Empress Koken, however, was not married, and the
absence of a male heir is probably what caused her to
abdicate in 758 in favor of the imperial prince Oi, who
ascended the throne under the name Junnin. Three
years later, the retired empress fell ill and Dokyoper-
formed rites for her recovery, marking the second time
Dokyo’s name appears in historical records. He would
have engaged in “secret rites of heavenly constella-
tions” (sukuyohiho), about which there are no details,
although it is clear that the aristocracy’s interest in this
aspect of esoteric Buddhism began to rise around that
time. His ministrations were deemed successful, and
the retired empress came to regard Dokyoas her per-
sonal healer (zenji), as well as her spiritual adviser, and

DOKYO

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