Editing Dōgen (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===
Dōgen was probably born into a noble family, though as an illegitimate child of [[Minamoto no Michichika|Minamoto Michichika]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Kodera |first=Takashi James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TZFTAQAAQBAJ |title=Dogen's Formative Years: An Historical and Annotated Translation of the Hokyo-ki |date=2013-10-16 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-54315-1 |pages=21–24 |language=en}}</ref> His foster father was his older brother [[Minamoto no Michitomo]], who served in the [[Imperial court in Kyoto|imperial court]] as a high-ranking {{nihongo|''ashō''|亞相||"Councillor of State"}}.<ref name="Bodiford_22_36">{{harvp|Bodiford|2008|pp=22–36}}</ref><ref name=":7" /> His mother, named Ishi, the daughter of [[Matsudono Motofusa]] and a sister of the monk Ryōkan Hōgen, is said to have died when Dōgen was age 7.<ref name=":7" /><ref>{{harvp|Kim|2004|p=19}}</ref>

===Early training===
In 1212, the spring of his thirteenth year, Dōgen fled the house of his uncle [[Matsudono Moroie]] and went to his uncle Ryōkan Hōgen at the foot of [[Mount Hiei]], the headquarters of the [[Tendai|Tendai school]] of Buddhism.<ref name=":7" />  Stating that his mother's death was the reason he wanted to become a monk, Ryōkan sent the young Dōgen to [[Jien]], an abbot at Yokawa on Mount Hiei.<ref name=":7" /> According to the ''Kenzeiki'' ({{lang|ja|建撕記}}), he became possessed by a single question with regard to the Tendai doctrine:
{{blockquote|As I study both the exoteric and the esoteric schools of Buddhism, they maintain that human beings are endowed with [[Buddha-nature|Dharma-nature]] by birth. If this is the case, why did the [[Buddha (general)|Buddhas]] of all ages — undoubtedly in possession of [[Bodhi|enlightenment]] — find it necessary to seek enlightenment and engage in spiritual practice?<ref>{{harvp|Bodiford|2008|p=22}}</ref><ref>{{harvp|Ōkubo|1966|p=80}}</ref>}}

This question was, in large part, prompted by the Tendai concept of [[Hongaku|original enlightenment]] ({{lang|ja|本覚}} ''hongaku''), which states that all human beings are enlightened by nature and that, consequently, any notion of achieving enlightenment through practice is fundamentally flawed.<ref>{{harvp|Abe|1992|pp=19–20}}</ref>

The ''Kenzeiki'' further states that he found no answer to his question at Mount Hiei, and that he was disillusioned by the internal politics and need for social prominence for advancement.<ref name="Bodiford_22_36"/> Therefore, Dōgen left to seek an answer from other Buddhist masters. He went to visit Kōin, the Tendai abbot of [[Mii-dera|Onjō-ji Temple]] ({{lang|ja|園城寺}}), asking him this same question. Kōin said that, in order to find an answer, he might want to consider studying [[Chan Buddhism|Chán]] in China.<ref>{{harvp|Tanahashi|1997|p=4}}</ref> In 1217, two years after the death of contemporary Zen Buddhist [[Eisai|Myōan Eisai]], Dōgen went to study at [[Kennin-ji|Kennin-ji Temple]] ({{lang|ja|建仁寺}}), under Eisai's successor, Myōzen ({{lang|ja|明全}}).<ref name="Bodiford_22_36"/>

===Travel to China===
In 1223, Dōgen and Myōzen undertook the dangerous passage across the [[East China Sea]] to [[Song dynasty|China]] ([[Song dynasty]]) to study in Jing-de-si (Ching-te-ssu, {{lang|ja|景德寺}}) monastery as Eisai had once done. Around the time the [[Mongol Empire]] was waging wars on the various dynasties of China.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

In China, Dōgen first went to the leading Chan monasteries in [[Zhejiang|Zhèjiāng province]]. At the time, most Chan teachers based their training around the use of ''[[Koan|gōng-àn]]'' (Japanese: ''kōan''). Though Dōgen assiduously studied the kōans, he became disenchanted with the heavy emphasis laid upon them, and wondered why the sutras were not studied more. At one point, owing to this disenchantment, Dōgen even refused Dharma transmission from a teacher.<ref>{{harvp|Tanahashi|1997|p=5}}</ref> Then, in 1225, he decided to visit a master named [[Rújìng]] ({{lang|zh|如淨}}; J. Nyojō), the thirteenth patriarch of the [[Caodong|Cáodòng]] (J. Sōtō) lineage of Zen Buddhism, at Mount Tiāntóng's ({{lang|zh|天童山}} ''Tiāntóngshān''; J. Tendōzan) [[Tiantong Temple|Tiāntóng temple]] in [[Ningbo|Níngbō]]. Rujing was reputed to have a style of Chan that was different from the other masters whom Dōgen had thus far encountered.  In later writings, Dōgen referred to Rujing as "the Old Buddha".  Additionally he affectionately described both Rujing and Myōzen as {{nihongo|''senshi''|先師||"Ancient Teacher"}}.<ref name="Bodiford_22_36"/>

Under Rujing, Dōgen realized liberation of body and mind upon hearing the master say, "cast off body and mind" ({{lang|zh|身心脱落}} ''shēn xīn tuō luò''). This phrase would continue to have great importance to Dōgen throughout his life, and can be found scattered throughout his writings, as—for example—in a famous section of his ''[[Genjōkōan]]'' ({{lang|ja|現成公案}}):
{{blockquote|To study the Way is to study the Self. To study the Self is to forget the self. To forget the self is to be enlightened by all things of the universe. To be enlightened by all things of the universe is to cast off the body and mind of the self as well as those of others. Even the traces of enlightenment are wiped out, and life with traceless enlightenment goes on forever and ever.<ref>{{harvp|Kim|2004|p=125}}</ref>}}

Myōzen died shortly after Dōgen arrived at Mount Tiantong. In 1227,<ref>{{harvp|Tanahashi|1997|p=6}}</ref> Dōgen received [[Dharma transmission]] and ''[[Dharma transmission|inka]]'' from Rujing, and remarked on how he had finally settled his "life's quest of the great matter".<ref>{{harvp|Tanahashi|2011|p=144}}</ref>

===Return to Japan===
[[File:Dogen.jpg|thumb|upright|Dōgen watching the moon. [[Hōkyō-ji]] monastery, Fukui prefecture, circa 1250.]]

Dōgen returned to Japan in 1227 or 1228, going back to stay at [[Kennin-ji]], where he had trained previously.<ref name="Bodiford_22_36"/> Among his first actions upon returning was to write down the ''Fukanzazengi''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://web.stanford.edu/~funn/zazen_instructions/Fukanzazengi.pdf|title=Fukan zazengi|website=www.stanford.edu|access-date=4 October 2019|archive-date=31 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131133342/https://web.stanford.edu/~funn/zazen_instructions/Fukanzazengi.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> ({{lang|ja|普観坐禅儀}}; ''Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen''), a short text emphasizing the importance of and giving instructions for ''[[zazen]]'' (sitting [[meditation]]).<ref>{{harvp|Kim|2004|p=38-40}}</ref>

However, tension soon arose as the Tendai community began taking steps to suppress both Zen and [[Jodo Shinshu|Jōdo Shinshū]], the new forms of Buddhism in Japan. In the face of this tension, Dōgen left the Tendai dominion of Kyōto in 1230, settling instead in an abandoned temple in what is today the city of [[Uji, Kyoto|Uji]], south of Kyōto.<ref>{{harvp|Tanahashi|1997|p= 39}}</ref>

In 1233, Dōgen founded the Kannon-dōri-in<ref>{{harvp|Tanahashi|1997|p=7}}</ref> in Fukakusa as a small center of practice. He later expanded this temple into [[Kōshōhōrin-ji]] ({{lang|ja|興聖法林寺}}).<ref>{{harvp|Kim|2004|p=40}}</ref>

===Eihei-ji===
[[File:Eihei-ji Temple, Fukui Prefecture; September 2019 (01).jpg|thumb|Eihei-ji Temple]]
In 1243, [[Hatano clan|Hatano Yoshishige]] ({{lang|ja|波多野義重}}) offered to relocate Dōgen's community to [[Echizen Province|Echizen province]], far to the north of Kyōto. Dōgen accepted this offer to relocate, because of the ongoing tension with the Tendai community, and the growing competition the [[Rinzai school|Rinzai]]-school<ref name="Dumoulin_2005b_62">{{harvp|Dumoulin|2005|p=62}}</ref>

His followers built a comprehensive center of practice there, calling it Daibutsu Temple (Daibutsu-ji, {{lang|ja|大仏寺}}). While the construction work was going on, Dōgen would live and teach at Yoshimine-dera Temple (Kippō-ji, {{lang|ja|吉峯寺}}), which is located close to Daibutsu-ji. During his stay at Kippō-ji, Dōgen "fell into a depression".<ref name="Dumoulin_2005b_62"/> It marked a turning point in his life, giving way to "rigorous critique of Rinzai Zen".<ref name="Dumoulin_2005b_62"/> He criticized [[Dahui Zonggao]], the most influential figure of [[Song dynasty]] Chán.<ref>{{harvp|McRae|2003|p=123}}</ref>

In 1246, Dōgen renamed Daibutsu-ji, calling it [[Eihei-ji]].<ref>{{harvp|Kim|2004|p=47}}</ref> This temple remains one of the two head temples of Sōtō Zen in Japan today, the other being [[Sōji-ji]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Touring Venerable Temples of Soto Zen Buddhism in Japan Plan|url=http://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/temples/jp/sojiji.html|publisher=SotoZen-Net|access-date=July 29, 2021|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922183207/https://global.sotozen-net.or.jp/eng/temples/jp/sojiji.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Dōgen spent the remainder of his life teaching and writing at Eihei-ji. In 1247, the newly installed [[Shikken|shōgun's regent]], [[Hōjō Tokiyori]], invited Dōgen to come to [[Kamakura, Kanagawa|Kamakura]] to teach him. Dōgen made the rather long journey east to provide the shōgun with lay ordination, and then returned to Eihei-ji in 1248. In the autumn of 1252, Dōgen fell ill, and soon showed no signs of recovering. He presented his robes to his main apprentice, Koun Ejō ({{lang|ja|孤雲懐弉}}), making him the abbot of Eihei-ji.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

===Death===
At Hatano Yoshishige's invitation, Dōgen left for Kyōto in search of a remedy for his illness. In 1253, soon after arriving in Kyōto, Dōgen died. Shortly before his death, he had written a [[death poem]]:

<poem>Fifty-four years lighting up the sky.
A quivering leap smashes a billion worlds.
Hah!
Entire body looks for nothing.
Living, I plunge into Yellow Springs.<ref>Quoted in {{harvp|Tanahashi|1997|p=219}}</ref></poem>