Editing Dōgen (section)

==Writings==
[[File:Fukan-Zazengi-Instructions-for-Zazen-1233.png|thumb|Universally Recommended Instructions for Zazen ({{lang|ja|普勧坐禅儀}}, ''fukan zazengi'')]]

While it was customary for Buddhist works to be written in Chinese, Dōgen often wrote in Japanese, conveying the essence of his thought in a style that was at once concise, compelling, and inspiring. A master stylist, Dōgen is noted not only for his prose, but also for his poetry (in Japanese ''[[Waka (poetry)|waka]]'' style and various Chinese styles). Dōgen's use of language is unconventional by any measure. According to Dōgen scholar [[Steven Heine]]: "Dogen's poetic and philosophical works are characterized by a continual effort to express the inexpressible by perfecting imperfectable speech through the creative use of wordplay, neologism, and lyricism, as well as the recasting of traditional expressions".<ref>{{harvp|Heine|1997|p=67}}</ref>

===Shōbōgenzō===
Dōgen's masterpiece is the ''[[Shōbōgenzō]]'' ({{lang|ja|正法眼蔵}}, "Treasury of the True Dharma Eye"), talks and writings collected together in ninety-five [[Fascicle (book)|fascicle]]s. The topics range from [[zazen]], [[koan]]s, [[Buddhist philosophy]], monastic practice, the equality of women and men, to the philosophy of language, being, and time.

==== Shushō-gi ====
The ''[[Shōbōgenzō]]'' served as the basis for the short work entitled ''Shushō-gi'' ({{lang|ja|修證儀}}), which was compiled in 1890 by a layman named Ouchi Seiran (1845–1918) along with Takiya Takushū ({{lang|ja|滝谷卓洲}}) of Eihei-ji and Azegami Baisen ({{lang|ja|畔上楳仙}}) of Sōji-ji. The compilation serves as an introductory compilation of key extracts from the ''[[Shōbōgenzō]]'' which help explain the foundational teachings and concepts of Dōgen Zen to a lay audience.<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ja:修證義 (修証義) |title=Shushō-gi |url=https://terebess.hu/zen/dogen/shushogi.html |access-date=2022-12-16 |website=terebess.hu |archive-date=7 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907114226/https://terebess.hu/zen/dogen/shushogi.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Shinji Shōbōgenzō===
Dōgen also compiled a collection of 301 koans in Chinese without commentaries added. Often called the ''[[Shinji Shōbōgenzō]]'' (''shinji'': "original or true characters" and ''shōbōgenzō'', variously translated as "the right-dharma-eye treasury" or "Treasury of the Eye of the True Dharma"). The collection is also known as the ''Shōbōgenzō Sanbyakusoku'' (The Three Hundred Verse Shōbōgenzō") and the ''Mana Shōbōgenzō'', where ''mana'' is an alternative reading of ''shinji''. The exact date the book was written is in dispute but Nishijima believes that Dogen may well have begun compiling the koan collection before his trip to China.<ref>{{harvp|Nishijima|2003|p=i}}</ref>

Although these stories are commonly referred to as ''kōans'', Dōgen referred to them as ''kosoku'' (ancestral criteria) or ''innen'' (circumstances and causes or results, of a story). The word ''kōan'' for Dogen meant "absolute reality" or the "universal Dharma".<ref>{{harvp|Yasutani|1996|p=8}}</ref>

===Collections of dharma discourses===
Lectures that Dōgen gave to his monks at his monastery, [[Eihei-ji]], were compiled under the title ''[[Eihei Kōroku]]'', also known as ''Dōgen Oshō Kōroku'' (The Extensive Record of Teacher Dōgen's Sayings) in ten volumes. The sermons, lectures, sayings and poetry were compiled shortly after Dōgen's death by his main disciples, [[Koun Ejō]] ({{lang|ja|孤雲懐奘}}, 1198–1280), [[Yōkō Senne|Senne]], and Gien. There are three different editions of this text: the Rinnō-ji text from 1598, a popular version printed in 1672, and a version discovered at Eihei-ji in 1937, which, although undated, is believed to be the oldest extant version.<ref>{{harvp|Kim|2004|pp=236–237}}</ref>

Another collection of his talks is the ''[[Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki]]'' (Gleanings from Master Dōgen's Sayings) in six volumes. These are talks that Dōgen gave to his leading disciple, Ejō, who became Dōgen's disciple in 1234. The talks were recorded and edited by Ejō.

===Other writings===
Other notable writings of Dōgen are:<ref>See {{harvp|Kim|2004|loc=Appendix B, pp. 243–247}} for a more complete list of Dōgen's major writings.</ref> 
* ''[[Fukan zazengi|Fukanzazengi]]'' ({{lang|ja|普勧坐禅儀}}, General Advice on the Principles of Zazen), one volume; probably written immediately after Dōgen's return from China in 1227.
* ''[[Bendōwa]]'' ({{lang|ja|弁道話}}, "On the Endeavor of the Way"), written in 1231. This represents one of Dōgen's earliest writings and asserts the superiority of the practice of shikantaza through a series of questions and answers. 
* ''Eihei shoso gakudō-yōjinshū'' (Advice on Studying the Way), one volume; probably written in 1234.
* ''[[Tenzo kyōkun]]'' (Instructions to the Chief Cook), one volume; written in 1237.
* ''Bendōhō'' (Rules for the Practice of the Way), one volume; written between 1244 and 1246.
* The earliest work by Dōgen is the ''Hōkojōki'' (Memoirs of the Hōkyō Period). This one volume work is a collection of questions and answers between Dōgen and his Chinese teacher, Tiāntóng [[Rújìng]] ({{lang|ja|天童如淨}}; Japanese: Tendō Nyojō, 1162–1228).  The work was discovered among Dōgen's papers by Ejō in 1253, just three months after Dōgen's death.{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}