Shōbōgenzō

Name: Shōbōgenzō
Author: Eihei Dōgen

Eihei Dōgen

— 1253 —

“

To study the self is to forget the self.

The record

Time
An eveningA season
1280 pages, about 26 hours: the length of 4.0 typical books on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climb
One reader reports stalling at thirteen pages after evenings of trying.
What it gives
Plot and actionIdeas to live by
In 11 reviews from critics and book blogs, none credit the plot and 10 credit the ideas or a change in how they live.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else does
Translator Kazuaki Tanahashi says Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind, on the shelf at 146 pages, puts its teaching in plain language.

on the poetic passages
“not understanding at all but moved by them nonetheless”
Zenshin Florence Caplow · Inquiring Mind, 2011
on the Uji fascicle
“Uji is one of my favorite fascicles of Dogen’s Shobogenzo”
a book blog
on the Nishijima translation
“the translators have realized a monumental achievement by furnishing English readers with a reliable text”
Unsigned review · Wordtrade.com, 2011
on the Being-Time fascicle
“a rich mosaic illuminating our being–time, each aimed at helping us find deep awakening”
Shinshu Roberts · Lion's Roar, 2020

on the Nishiyama translation
“isn’t much explanatory material in it for the reader who wants more detail and nuance”
Norman Fischer · Lion's Roar, 2010
on the length
“the fat tome has spent these past ten years gathering dust on my shelf”
Leath Tonino · Tricycle, 2024
on Mahayana philosophy
“like trying to understand Picasso’s creative image of a chair without ever having seen”
a Zen practice forum
on the opaque prose
“the words and ideas seem difficult or opaque at first reading”
Alan Senauke · Inquiring Mind, 1999